*CONFIRMED* WWE to go HD

[chessarmy]

January 14, 2008--World Wrestling Entertainment® fans will soon be getting their weekly doses of high-energy entertainment delivered in stunning high definition. Beginning the week of January 21, WWE’s Monday Night RAW® and A.M. RAW on USA, ECW®: Extreme Championship Wrestling™ on SCI FI Channel, and Friday Night SmackDown® on The CW will all be delivered in HD.

WWE will also broadcast its pay-per-views in HD, starting with Royal Rumble on January 27.

“The move to high-definition programming is another step in WWE’s ongoing mission to provide fans with the most engaging, exciting product possible, and our programs look spectacular in HD,” said Mike Grossman, Senior Vice President, Television Operations. “This upgrade will be the first of many technological advances for our brand in 2008.”

WWE’s switch to high-def was made possible by a series of upgrades to the company’s television studios in Stamford, Conn. The $20 million HD renovations included refitting of equipment to broadcast WWE programming and global pay-per-view programming in high definition on cable and satellite systems around the world. The WWE also worked with NEP Supershooters to build two new state-of-the-art production trucks, and will lease a custom transmission truck designed for HD transmission.

WWE built new sets for RAW and SmackDown for their HD debuts.

WWE programming reaches nearly 16 million people per week in the U.S. “Monday Night RAW” on USA Network is the most watched regularly scheduled program on ad-supported cable television in the U.S. “Friday Night SmackDown” on CW is the No. 1 program on broadcast TV Friday nights among males 18-24.

Additional information on World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: WWE) can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com. For information on our global activities, go to http://www.wwe.com/worldwide/

Source: impactwrestling.com

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I might watch RAW and Smackdown! that week to see how it looks in HD, and also how the new sets look. If I'm not mistaken, this is RAW's first set change since the WWF became the WWE like 6 years ago...not that it really matters lol.

thoughts?

 

[HHHforever]

Very curious to see the new sets. It won't make that much of a difference, but I think it'll be pretty cool to see what they do with it.

Also when I read this earlier I was wonderg, is that why they had HHH destroy the lower screen on the titatron? Or was that just a coincidence? I thought that was kind of strange that he did that and now they're making a new set. Either way though I think it'll be cool to change things up assuming it's done corectly.

I might kind of miss the giant fist on the SD! set though haha. Also is ECW getting a new set? Because on tv it doesn't look bad, but if you've seen that thing live it looks like one of those Playskool tiny things haha.

 

[THE Brian Kendrick's Biceps]

makes no difference what so ever

 

[chessarmy]

^ so uhh...dont post here then?

 

[PeepShow]

This HD shit gets confusing imo. So if you have an HD TV, will you automatically get Raw in HD then?

 

[Dylanfsd]

So we can see the steroids more enchanced now! Woo...

 

[This Guy]

What it means Peep, is before they taped the show in standard format. If you had an HDTV it would scale up the image a little but would not be true HD because the source isn't HD. What it means now is the shows are going to be taped in HD, so if you have an HDTV it will be the sharpest, clearest vibrant picture. If you don't, it will still look a little nicer then what it does now, but not as good as an HDTV.

 

[Switchy]

Nice to see WWE upgrading itself and giving the fans an even better product and I think the new sets may also bring something new to WWE, I wonder if they will have any unique ideas for the sets. I myself don't have an hdtv but if I consider getting one then that's jsut an extra reason why I should.

 

[Soulpower]

Just so you guys know... Unless you guys get the channel USAHD, it won't matter wheter your tv is HD or not.

Fun Fact: There's less people in the US that get USAHD, than there are people who get the NFL Network.

In other words... Not a lot of people will be seeing WWE shows in HD. Of course, WWE has failed to mention that in their numerous ads.

 

[monkeystyle]

Just so you guys know... Unless you guys get the channel USAHD, it won't matter wheter your tv is HD or not.

Was just about to say that. Its the exact same thing here. As a matter of fact. I'm not certain if the Canadian channel that carries Raw even has an HD channel.

 

[PeepShow]

Damn it. How do you get USAHD then? It isn't in any package for DirecTV that Im looking at.