TSN has announced plans to take its flagship news program SportsCentre into high definition by September, making the channel the first in Canada to provide its news in HD.

The studio portion of the daily show will air in HD, as will select reports and highlights from the field. TSN says nearly 50% of its programming will be in HD by September, eventually hitting 100%

TSN – co-owned by Bell Globemedia and ESPN – already boasts an HD lineup that includes broadcasts of the NHL, NFL, NBA, CFL, golf, NASCAR, and, yes, poker. However, some sports, such as tennis, and most golf tournaments, have not yet made the switch.

Switching to HD will also mean change for independent producers. TSN president Phil King says the broadcaster is asking producers to shoot in HD, but is not yet mandating it. HD is, on average, 10% more expensive to shoot than conventional TV.

‘We all know independent producers work on pretty strict margins and budgets, [but] there will come a day where we simply won’t accept analog,’ says King. ‘You don’t want to be the last independent producer trying to push your analog tapes to TSN, because you’ll probably find yourself off the schedule.’

Six independent productions, including International Air Rally and Celebrity Ride ‘N Drive, currently air in HD on TSN. No additional upcoming HD shows are confirmed at this time.

Back in the studio, TSN will change its on-air graphics, introduce new set elements, adjust lighting and makeup, and outfit its stringers with HD cameras.

The channel will also have to account for the fact most of Canada’s 12 million TV households still have older, 4:3 aspect ratio TVs, rather than the wider screens that can accommodate HD. King says the older sets will still be supported, by cropping the sides of 16:9 shots to fit 4:3 screens. King would not reveal how much the changes will cost TSN.

TSN’s main rival, Rogers Sportsnet, broadcast 9% of its programming in HD last year, including NBA and MLB games and NASCAR races. Executives at the channel were not available for comment on this story.

Sportscaster The Score is also rolling out a significant HD package for live events over the next three months, says general manager David Errington, including NCAA and NBA coverage. Its newscasts are expected to switch over next year.

‘[TSN] is the leader in HD,’ Errington acknowledges. ‘We have to be there, and we’re going to be there within the next 12 to 18 months.’

HD broadcasts on CBC include the Grey Cup and much of its recent Olympics coverage, but not its newscasts.

‘We are looking at [HD newscasts], but we’re not committed to it at this point,’ says Fred Mattocks, the net’s executive director, English television production and production resources.

King says the decision to go HD was made six months ago. ‘The thinking is it’s hard to maintain [the number one] position if you don’t have the best sound and pictures,’ he says. ‘And because we want to continue to be the leader, we wanted to be the first to offer not just sports news, but any news, in high definition.’

TSN’s sister network CTV is aggressively pursuing HD programming and has switched all of its Canadian scripted programming (i.e. Corner Gas and Degrassi, but not Canadian Idol) into HD.

A statement from Global TV’s parent, CanWest Mediaworks, says only that the net has ‘no plans to announce at this time.’