Broadcast preparations are currently underway for the Euro 2008 football (soccer) championships beginning June 7, which will include the inauguration of Swiss HD telecasts of the event. SRG SSR idée Suisse, the Swiss public broadcaster, said on its Web site is plans to distribute soccer by what it describes as HD that is “lightly compressed,” using its existing SD digital transmission network.
The European soccer federation, UEFA, will oversee the host broadcast coverage in the international feed, which SRG SSR said would be made available in both HD and SD. SGR SSR plans to cover all of Euro 2008’s 31 matches, exclusively, for its regions. The tournament will be staged in both Switzerland and Austria—and also made available outside Switzerland (although not in HD) via Schweizer Fernsehen (Austria) and Televisione svizzera di lingua Italiana (Italy).
SRG SSR said it HD coverage will be featured on its new HD Suisse service. Video will be fed over its existing SD transmission chain using a Media Links HD270 Coax video transport compression system.
SRG SSR’s final Euro 2008 telecast is scheduled for June 29 from Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna.
