OSU @ UM NOT in HD?!?!?

[Bucksluva]

Is this true?

[nakedeye]

yup. not as big as a game as you might thnk. abc is not going to send money on this one.

[whitllam]

I find it really weird that OSU fans think they are entitled to an HD game every single week, as seen multiple times over on AVS (leading up to the Texas game as well as this one). I'm as big of a Buckeye fan as you can get but let's be realistic here, people. We're in the Big Ten...we're stuck with ABC's crappy SD coverage, so let's stop complaining about it. They are only going to start doing regional games in HD when it makes financial sense and it's not to that point for them yet...maybe next year, maybe 4 years from now, but it'll happen eventually. Until then, we just have to wait...it comes with being the minority viewing category.

By the way Naked, what's with the GIGANTIC signature graphic?

[Robbiee19]

It just seems ABC didnot have alot games in HD this season. I guess they like going the cheap route.

[Bucksluva]

No sense of entitlement here......

Just find it odd that ABC would not choose to broadcast this game in HD as the OSU/UM tradition is widely recognized as the greatest rivalry in not only college football, but all of sports.


http://espn.go.com/endofcentury/s/other/bestrivalries.html

[Scott]

I don't think that OSU fans feel that every game should be in HD. In fact, the only rumblings that I recall from this season were the Texas/OSU Game (there were more than just OSU fans bitching about that one, the first place I found information about it not being in HD was a UT forum which had already started a petition), the IU/OSU game, because it WAS in HD on ESPNHD, but blacked out due to ESPN+ coverage, and of course The Game (but did anyone really expect any less?). I guarantee if you do a search on any major college football team and HDTV, you'll find people, somehwere, bitching (especially if they're stuck with ABC regional coverage every week).

[Robbiee19]

What gets me is CBS with every SEC game in HD! If CBS can do the 3:30 games in HD. You think ABC could do one in HD at 3:30.

[nakedeye]

By the way Naked, what's with the GIGANTIC signature graphic?


perhaps when you become touched by his great noodly appendage one day you will see!

[nakedeye]

No sense of entitlement here......

Just find it odd that ABC would not choose to broadcast this game in HD as the OSU/UM tradition is widely recognized as the greatest rivalry in not only college football, but all of sports.


http://espn.go.com/endofcentury/s/other/bestrivalries.html


Shure according to one website. I think while it may be up there, it is only regionaly followed. Do you know that Philly/Dallas is bigger than Dallas/Washington? Or how bout Philly/Atlanta is bigger than Yankees/Red Sox? See it's mostly followed by people who live there and not much more

[mikebaby]

I don't think that OSU fans feel that every game should be in HD. In fact, the only rumblings that I recall from this season were the Texas/OSU Game (there were more than just OSU fans bitching about that one, the first place I found information about it not being in HD was a UT forum which had already started a petition), the IU/OSU game, because it WAS in HD on ESPNHD, but blacked out due to ESPN+ coverage, and of course The Game (but did anyone really expect any less?). I guarantee if you do a search on any major college football team and HDTV, you'll find people, somehwere, bitching (especially if they're stuck with ABC regional coverage every week).

I can understand why the OSU/UofM game would not be in HD, especially considering it's an early game, and half the country will be still waking up when it starts. The Texas game however was inexcusable for not being broadcast in HD. It had National Title contenders, playing in a nationally televised game during prime time. This wasn't a regional game between two teams playing with nothing on the line. ABC really dropped the ball on this one.

mikebaby

[Scott]

I can understand why the OSU/UofM game would not be in HD, especially considering it's an early game, and half the country will be still waking up when it starts. The Texas game however was inexcusable for not being broadcast in HD. It had National Title contenders, playing in a nationally televised game during prime time. This wasn't a regional game between two teams playing with nothing on the line. ABC really dropped the ball on this one.mikebaby

I couldn't agree with you more mikebaby. ABC dropped the ball big time with the UT/OSU game. Night, primetime game, 2 versus 4, doesn't matter the teams, just a huge game. As for this weekend's game, I knew as soon as they announced it being a 1:00PM game (for a while, 4:00PM was kicked around, mostly before UM had their trips and OSU lost to PSU). Like you said, ABC (not this year at least) wouldn't waste their time with a 1:00PM HD game. We have to face it, there is only 6% of the nation who own HDTV's, and of that percentage, only maybe 3% have a good idea how to use them (I know people with HDTVs and an HD package, but still insist or forget and watch the SD channel stretched to hell), and of that 3% maybe only a percentage or two of them are college football fans.... You get the picture!

[MeHDTV]

What was the last National Championship game not broadcast in HD???

Ohio State vs. Miami Fiesta Bowl

[nakedeye]

As was every other championship game before it in SD. For good reason too. I didnt even have an HD set then, and there was no way in hell you were gonna get WSYX-dt at all. Even standing right next to thier transmitter that was a whopping 83 feet above ground

[MeHDTV]

I watched it on WSYX-DT from Gahanna with my yagi antenna, it was low power but came in fine with the TS-160.


Watching HD OTA and DirecHD since 2000.

[spiker]

:) Dont worry guys. When the Bucks beat Michigan they will be in a Big Bowl Game and it will surely be broadcast in Hd.

[Bucksluva]

No sense of entitlement here......

Just find it odd that ABC would not choose to broadcast this game in HD as the OSU/UM tradition is widely recognized as the greatest rivalry in not only college football, but all of sports.


http://espn.go.com/endofcentury/s/other/bestrivalries.html


Shure according to one website. I think while it may be up there, it is only regionaly followed. Do you know that Philly/Dallas is bigger than Dallas/Washington? Or how bout Philly/Atlanta is bigger than Yankees/Red Sox? See it's mostly followed by people who live there and not much more

I respectfully disagree. Yeah, that website was one example, but it was ESPN, the "worldwide leader in sports". The only rivalry you listed that even clomes close to mass fan interest is Yankees/Red Sox. And that, much like OSU/UM, is based on tradition and history. While I agree that ABC can not justify the expense of broadcating the OSU/UM game for the reasons listed (early start time, etc.), to say that this rivaly is only regionally followed is just plain wrong.

OSU-Michigan is often unrivaled in television ratings
Friday, November 18, 2005
Tim Feran
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

When the Buckeyes and Wolverines meet Saturday, the schools will be vying for the 2005 national title — in the Nielsen ratings.

The Game plays well on television in Ohio and Michigan, of course, but also far beyond.

In two of the past five years, the matchup — listed No. 1 in a ranking of college-football rivalries released this week by Fox Sports — has drawn the most viewers among six nationally televised contests between long-standing rivals.

"The reason this game always does so well is the same reason people are hooked on Cleveland Browns football or St. Louis baseball or Boston Celtics basketball," said Gary Danielson, who with Brent Musburger will call the 1 p.m. game for ABC. "The history adds to the enjoyment. People take ownership; it’s their game."

The main competitor to OSU-Michigan: the Notre Dame-USC rivalry, which also topped the ratings twice in the past five years.

The Irish-Trojan showdown finished first in the Nielsens in 2004 and narrowly edged out OSU-Michigan in 2002, the season the Buckeyes won the national championship.

The Oct. 15 game between Notre Dame and the University of Southern California — both top 10 teams — drew more than 10 million viewers.

Saturday’s game will feature the No. 9 Buckeyes against the No. 17 Wolverines, with both teams on a roll.

Yet the strength of the teams doesn’t necessarily explain viewership. The OSU-UM pairing led the ratings in 2003, when the Buckeyes were making a run at a title repeat, but also in 2000, when neither the Buckeyes nor the Wolverines was highly ranked.

Other rivalries examined by Fox Sports: Miami-Florida State, Texas-Oklahoma, Auburn-Alabama and Army-Navy. Fox Sports identified the six matchups (counting OSU-UM and Notre Dame-USC) as the best in college football, based on "how much they’ve mattered, the bitterness of the feud, and what they mean to the college football landscape."

On television, Auburn-Alabama and Army-Navy don’t stack up. In the past five years, the games typically attracted the least number of viewers among the six.

One big exception: In the aftermath of Sept. 11, the Dec. 1 Army-Navy matchup — attended by President Bush — drew the most viewers in 2001, surpassing that year’s OSUMichigan game by almost 2 million.

Kathy Bickel, vice president of outreach for the OSU Alumni Association, has an easy explanation for the widespread interest in The Game.

"We’re one of the largest alumni associations in the country," she said.

At least 90 alumni clubs plan to host game-watching parties on Saturday, according to the association’s Web site. At least 42 Michigan alumni clubs will do the same.

Notable alumni gatherings outside Ohio will include large groups in Florida — "we call that ‘Columbus South,’ " Bickel said — and in Atlanta, where as many as 1,000 fans will gather.

In Alaska, 1979 graduate Ron Rucker — who lives in a gray house with red and white trim on Buckeye Lane — won’t miss the game.

"There are Buckeye house gatherings all over the state," he said. "There’s people in Juneau, Seward, Fairbanks, a bunch in Anchorage. I’m in Wasilla, about 40 miles from Anchorage, and there’s quite a group of us here."

They’ll be watching, too, in West Des Moines, Iowa, where Kevin Huerkamp hopes 60 or more alumni will invade their usual game-day meeting spot: Champps restaurant.

"We try not to associate with Wolverines," said Huerkamp, 46, a 1983 graduate. "We’re surrounded by Hawkeyes here. We have our hands full with them."

Advertisers, too, want a piece of The Game.

"Locally, this is the biggest game of the year regardless of how the team is doing," said Kathleen Ramirez, senior vice president and media director of Fahlgren Inc., a Columbus communication agency.

"It’s a large buy on a national basis as well because the rivalry is not just about Ohio and Michigan," she said. "It’s a nationally followed game.

"The history goes back so many years with so many strong personalities involved, and Ohio State has one of the largest alumni associations in the country — so the passion will affect both coasts in addition to this part of the country."


tferan@dispatch.com

[Scott]

Excellent article to back up your point Bucksluva.

[Scott]

A couple of little videos to get Buckeyes fans pumped up for The Game... Now, they're not in HD, so don't bitch!

http://www.buckeyenut.net (they're big, so if you're on a slow connection, I don't know if I'd even bother)

[zelig2]

Every school has a rivalry. To anyone that went to the school (or is currently attending) that game is the most important game of the season.

The benifit to this weekend's game is that it won't be here so I can easily drive near campus.

[MeHDTV]

Every school has a rivalry. To anyone that went to the school (or is currently attending) that game is the most important game of the season.

The benifit to this weekend's game is that it won't be here so I can easily drive near campus.

Unless you need to travel I-670!

This is sooooo pathetic, at least next Saturday I'll be able to watch my other team, University of Nevada Wolfpack, in HD!

OSU-UM = SD, Nevada-Fresno State = HD.

Are we in the bizarro world or what?

[nakedeye]

No sense of entitlement here......

Just find it odd that ABC would not choose to broadcast this game in HD as the OSU/UM tradition is widely recognized as the greatest rivalry in not only college football, but all of sports.


http://espn.go.com/endofcentury/s/other/bestrivalries.html


Shure according to one website. I think while it may be up there, it is only regionaly followed. Do you know that Philly/Dallas is bigger than Dallas/Washington? Or how bout Philly/Atlanta is bigger than Yankees/Red Sox? See it's mostly followed by people who live there and not much more

I respectfully disagree. Yeah, that website was one example, but it was ESPN, the "worldwide leader in sports". The only rivalry you listed that even clomes close to mass fan interest is Yankees/Red Sox. And that, much like OSU/UM, is based on tradition and history. While I agree that ABC can not justify the expense of broadcating the OSU/UM game for the reasons listed (early start time, etc.), to say that this rivaly is only regionally followed is just plain wrong.

I'm telling you that is the case. This rivalry is followed closely by the people who live in those areas. Yes other may watch it nationwide, but I'll bet more people watched Eagles/Cowboys on monday night this week. Deos not mean that more people follow that rivalry though. I'm telling you that most of the country does not know/care about a rivaly in an area they are not from.