HDTV arrives in Europe

ProSiebenSat.1 launched high-definition television in Germany last week. The terrestrial station plans to show a wide variety of sports and entertainment programs in HDTV on its two main channels, ProSieben and Sat.1, starting with the movie “Minority Report,” Reuters reported.

Other European broadcasters including Britain’s BSkyB, France’s CanalSat and Italy’s Sky Italia have all promised HDTV by June 2006 in time for the FIFA World Cup, which will be used as a showcase for the format.

Premiere, whose main draw is its coverage of Germany’s Bundesliga soccer games, pushed back its HDTV launch to December 3, saying its set-top boxes would not be available until then.

Back to the top

---