“With the first round of the National Invitation Tournament on ESPNU tonight, college basketball fans will be able to see every jump shot and buzzer beater live on DISH in HD,” said Dave Shull, DISH executive vice president and chief commercial officer. “We know how much our customers value quality HD programming and we are pleased to be the leader in college sports.”
ESPNU HD, ESPNews HD, Disney East HD and ABC Family HD channels were previously available in standard definition (SD) only and will be accessible via the electronic programming guide of the DISH channel lineup for customers in the continental United States; while SD versions of the channels remain available, customers in Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands will begin receiving available HD versions March 19. Programming on Disney East HD is aligned to the Eastern time zone while Disney West, which is broadcast in SD, airs programming aligned to the Pacific time zone.