It’s an HD World After All
November 14, 2008Why no HD offerings, FoxSports Ohio? We CBJ fans in Central Ohio have a weekend of TV watching with the team in Buffalo and Minnesota. But the games are not televised in HD. I’m a DirecTV customer, so I thought that perhaps my provider was being cheap and not offering an HD broadcast, so I checked the Time Warner listings. No luck, standard definition only.
Why is that FoxSports Ohio? For tonight, I don’t see a Cavaliers game scheduled at the same time, which would give you the excuse of using your HD equipment for that event. No, those of us with HD sets get to format the picture and watch your broadcast featuring all the technical quality and wizardry of the 1980’s.
I know the ratings aren’t the best, but wouldn’t they improve if you offered a better product? Not the one on the ice, but the one in my home.
What really makes things worse is that I also subscribe to Center Ice and I can see that the Buffalo fans will get the game in HD. You have have the legal right to blackout their signal from the Columbus market, so if my remote accidently tries to tune the MSG-Buffalo broadcast, I get a black screen telling me that I am not allowed to enjoy their quality product.
Earlier in the season, when the team went to Minnesota for a game, it was not televised by FSO, so I was able to watch the game in HD on FoxSports North. It was a real joy and it reminded me how far the Blue Jackets organization needs to go to interest more fans. Watching a standard version of anything on TV, especially sports, is not the same. It’s having your television set restrain itself just to satisfy a local monopoly.
I would love to know why we local fans have to be treated this way. Does some of the blame lie with the team? After all, they can’t be bothered with replays for those fans who pay good money to attend the games at Nationwide. Is there another villain out there? Please let me know, because this is the equivalent of broadcasting the games in black and white. Show it in HD and the FarmersOnly.com audience will double.
-Truth Serum
End of the Bench 
At least if they broadcast it in HD, you have the option to watch. AT&T does not carry the FSOH HD feed.
Actually, I just checked my channel listings… they do carry it. Weird.
I just did a check at DirecTV and there is a sudden, TBA listed for the FSO-HD slot. Since that is the slot used for CBJ hockey, I assume that the game will have an HD broadcast.
But I still stand by my original point; the majority of CBJ games are NOT broadcast in HD and that is wrong in 2008.