Down Under: HD Olympics Coming in... SD?

Despite healthy sales of HD sets in Australia in late 2006, with an estimated 2.3 million receivers now in homes, broadcasters are reportedly not pursuing HD and other digital planning with very much enthusiasm yet.

Australian IT reports the Seven, Ten and Nine networks show "few signs" of launching HD channels. (In fairness, it's been only a few weeks since the government gave broadcasters the go-ahead for HD.) The Seven network is not yet certain it will air the 2008 Olympic Games in HD, even though virtually every event in Beijing will be provided in HD by the host broadcaster, Beijing Olympic Broadcasting.

The tech Web site suggests while it's quite possible that Aussies will eventually be viewing the next Olympics in HD, it remains unhappy with its broadcasters' apparent lack of initial enthusiasm over the costly DTV conversion. (Sound familiar?)