Burlington, MA and BOSTON – (November 12, 2004) – A new era has begun, for the Celtics, for FSN New England, and for basketball fans. Beginning with the Celtics-Charlotte Bobcats telecast at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, November 12, FSN New England will bring basketball fans all remaining Celtics home games in high definition (HDTV) on Comcast’s Channel 882. HDTV will bring New England fans closer to the action. Everything from Paul Pierce’s jumper to Ricky Davis’ baseline drive will be available in crystal-clear HDTV – the next best thing to being at the game.
“Our high-definition telecasts will bring viewers the on-court action like they have never seen it before. The stunning picture quality of HD will showcase the excitement of Celtics basketball under new coach Doc Rivers,” said David Woodman, senior vice president and general manager of FSN New England.
“Since we launched HDTV, the response from sports fans has been overwhelming,” said Kevin Casey, senior vice president of Comcast’s New England region. “Now customers can enjoy all of the Boston area’s professional teams in high definition. This unparalleled value, choice and control is something our competitors can’t match and is available only on Comcast.”
HDTV is a new standard of television featuring a highly detailed picture quality with images up to six times sharper than analog television; a wide-screen picture with a width:height ratio of 16:9, identical to that of most cinema; more than two million pixels per picture and CD-quality Dolby Digital surround sound. The service is available to Comcast Digital Cable customers who have an HDTV-capable television set and an HDTV enabled Digital Cable set-top box, which can be provided by Comcast.
The 2004-05 season is FSN New England’s 24th consecutive year as home to the NBA’s most storied franchise. The Boston Celtics-FSN New England relationship is the second longest team-regional sports network affiliation in the United States, trailing only MSG-New York Knicks.
In addition to FSN New England, Comcast’s HDTV lineup includes ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, PBS, NESN Red Sox/Bruins home games, ESPN, Discovery Home Theatre, HBO, Showtime, Starz!, Cinemax, INHD and INHD2. Customers should call 1-800-COMCAST or visit www.Comcast.com to sign up for HD service and schedule a professional installation by a Comcast technician.
Headquartered in Philadelphia, Comcast Cable is a division of Comcast Corporation, a developer, manager and operator of broadband cable networks and provider of programming content. With a presence in 22 of the top 25 markets, Comcast is the largest provider of cable and broadband services in the United States. Providing basic cable, Digital Cable, high-speed Internet and telephone services, Comcast is the company to look to first for the communications products and services that connect people to what’s important in their lives. The company’s 59,000 employees serve more than 21 million cable television customers and more than six million high-speed Internet customers.
FSN New England reaches more than 3.7 million households in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. FSN New England is owned and operated by Rainbow Sports Networks, a division of Cablevision’s Rainbow Media Holdings, Inc. FSN New England’s programming includes Boston Celtics, Mohegan Sun’s New England Sports Tonight, Mohegan Sun’s New England Tailgate, New England Revolution, The Best Damn Sports Show Period and NASCAR. Visit www.fsnnewengland.com for more information.
FSN reaches more than 82 million homes through its network of 20 regional sports channels. FSN, based in Los Angeles, serves as the cable TV home to 62 of the 81 MLB, NHL and NBA teams based in the United States, and produces over 4,600 live events each year. In addition to home team games, FSN telecasts a wide variety of national sports events and programming, including Best Damn Sports Show Period, I, Max and Beyond the Glory.
(Editor’s Note: A full schedule of FSN New England HD telecasts is attached to this release. The HD telecast schedule is subject to change.)
| November 2004 | ||||
| Fri | 12 | vs. | Charlotte | 7:30 pm |
| Fri | 19 | vs. | San Antonio | 7:30 pm |
| Sun | 21 | vs. | Seattle | 6:00 pm |
| Fri | 26 | vs. | Cleveland | 7:30 pm |
| December 2004 | ||||
| Wed | 1 | vs. | Milwaukee | 7:00 pm |
| Fri | 3 | vs. | Toronto | 7:30 pm |
| Wed | 15 | vs. | Denver | 7:00 pm |
| Fri | 17 | vs. | Utah | 7:30 pm |
| Wed | 22 | vs. | New York | 7:00 pm |
| Fri | 31 | vs. | Washington | 3:00 pm |
| January 2005 | ||||
| Mon | 3 | vs. | New Orleans | 7:00 pm |
| Wed | 5 | vs. | Golden State | 7:00 pm |
| Fri | 7 | vs. | Detroit | 7:30 pm |
| Mon | 10 | vs. | Orlando | 7:00 pm |
| Fri | 14 | vs. | Atlanta | 7:30 pm |
| Wed | 19 | vs. | Chicago | 7:00 pm |
| Wed | 26 | vs. | Indiana | 7:00 pm |
| Fri | 28 | vs. | Phoenix | 7:30 pm |
| Mon | 31 | vs. | Houston | 7:00 pm |
| February 2005 | ||||
| Wed | 2 | vs. | New Jersey | 7:00 pm |
| Fri | 4 | vs. | Orlando | 7:30 pm |
| Wed | 9 | vs. | LA Clippers | 7:00 pm |
| Fri | 11 | vs. | New York | 7:30 pm |
| Sun | 13 | vs. | Sacramento | 6:00 pm |
| Wed | 16 | vs. | Memphis | 7:00 pm |
| March 2005 | ||||
| Wed | 2 | vs. | LA Lakers | 7:30 pm |
| Fri | 4 | vs. | Charlotte | 7:30 pm |
| Sun | 6 | vs. | Minnesota | 6:00 pm |
| Wed | 9 | vs. | Atlanta | 7:00 pm |
| Fri | 11 | vs. | Detroit | 7:30 pm |
| Sun | 13 | vs. | Washington | 6:00 pm |
| Wed | 16 | vs. | Toronto | 7:00 pm |
| Fri | 25 | vs. | Chicago | 7:30 pm |
| Wed | 30 | vs. | Dallas | 7:00 pm |
| April 2005 | ||||
| Sun | 3 | vs. | Philadelphia | 6:00 pm |
| Wed | 6 | vs. | Milwaukee | 7:00 pm |
| Fri | 15 | vs. | Miami | 7:30 pm |
| Wed | 20 | vs. | New Jersey | 7:00 pm |
*HD telecasts subject to change