Turner Network Television will present its entire slate of National Basketball Association games for the 2004-05 season in high-definition.
Network officials said all 52 regular-season games, plus extensive playoff coverage, will be shot in native HD, with a minimum of 10 cameras at each game site and five for the drama network’s studio hoops shows.
The network’s production unit -- whether for games or studio programming -- will transmit two separate telecasts: one in 4x3 standard-definition, and the other in 16x9 HD. The NBA telecasts will be broadcast in 1080i (interlaced) native HD using Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, according to network officials.
TNT’s coverage -- which this year includes the addition of NBA insider David Aldridge, who had been serving in a similar capacity for ESPN -- tips off with an election-night doubleheader Nov. 2, with the Houston Rockets visiting the defending champion Detroit Pistons at 8 p.m. (EST). That contest will be followed by the Denver Nuggets visiting Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center at 10:30 p.m.
Also, as part of the NBA's “Premiere Week,” TNT begins its exclusive Thursday-night doubleheader coverage Nov. 4with Shaquille O’Neal’s first home game with theMiami Heat as they host LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, trailed by 2003-04 Most Valuable Player Kevin Garnett and the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Nuggets.
