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BBC to show RBS Six Nations 2007 in High Definition
The BBC will be broadcasting all England, Wales and Scotland home games in High Definition (HD) for the first time during this year's RBS Six Nations 2007 championship. The BBC's HD coverage begins with England v Scotland on Saturday 3 February at 4pm on BBC One. John Inverdale will be the main host and will be joined by fellow presenters Craig Doyle and Jill Douglas. The existing studio line-up of Jonathan Davies, Jeremy Guscott, Andy Nicol, Keith Wood and Austin Healey will be supported by new signings Gregor Townsend, Mark Taylor and Philippe Saint-Andre. Commentators will be Eddie Butler, Nick Mullins and Andrew Cotter, with Brian Moore, Jonathan Davies, Philip Matthews and Andy Nicol as co-commentators. Sonja McLaughlan, John Beattie and Graham Thomas head up the pitchside reporting team. Roger Mosey, BBC Director of Sport, said: "We've had terrific feedback on our trial HD broadcasts in other sports, so this is a major step forward for our coverage of the Six Nations." Carl Hicks, BBC Six Nations Rugby Editor, said: "BBC Sport is looking forward to what should be one of the most open Six Nations championships in years. I can't remember a championship that has been so eagerly anticipated and as our TV trail for this season says: 'anything can happen'." BBC Radio Five Live will carry all five England games live as well as the France v Wales game. Six matches will be on Five Live Sports Extra with reports on the remaining games on Five Live. Ian Robertson continues to head up the Five Live commentary team with seasoned partners Alastair Hignell, Martin Bayfield, Iain Carter, Alastair Eykyn and Jonny Saunders. The team are joined by a panel of expert summarisers from across the British Isles. A new signing this year is former-England, World Cup winning scrum-half Matt Dawson. He will be giving his expert opinion on all England games whilst former Wales captain Rob Jones will be on hand for the Welsh matches. Gavin Hastings and Brian Redpath will provide analysis on the Scottish team and former Irish fullback Hugo MacNeill will use his expertise to discuss Ireland. The BBC Sport website will carry live video coverage of every match (for UK users), plus live audio of most games from Radio Five Live and Five Live Sports Extra. In addition video highlights of every match will be available at half-time and full-time, with extended highlights (15 minutes per match) online, 24 hours after the final whistle. Viewers can also contribute to the Six Nations blog, which will feature TV and radio commentators and reporters, as well as the BBC's own online team. BBC Sport's interactive TV coverage of the 2007 Six Nations Championship will be presented in a multi-screen format for the first time. The Six Nations Multiscreen service will offer a selection from live network coverage, alternative commentaries, updated highlights of the match in progress, and highlights from earlier games. In addition, live coverage from other sports covered during the event will also be available via the Multiscreen. Interactive forums will also run following a number of the Six Nations fixtures (see Notes to Editors for details). Notes to Editors High definition High definition is a step change in television technology which provides far clearer and more detailed pictures than normal standard definition TV. The BBC is running a trial of high definition broadcasting which started last summer and is due to last a year. It includes some of the best sport, drama, events and documentaries from BBC One and BBC Two. The BBC HD trial shows a few hours of programmes a day. The BBC's HD programmes are accessible to viewers with all of the following - an HD Ready television set, a satellite or cable HD service, and an HD set top box. No extra subscription is required. The BBC is using the trial to test technical delivery of HD and also to find out how the audience values BBC HD programming. More information about the trial can be seen at bbc.co.uk/hd. RBS Six Nations 2007 Fixtures (all GMT)
* denotes Interactive Forum Saturday 3 February Italy v France, 1.30pm, BBC One England v Scotland*, 4pm, BBC One Sunday 4 Feb Wales v Ireland, 3pm, BBC One Saturday 10 Feb England v Italy, 1.30pm, BBC One Scotland v Wales, 3.30pm, BBC One Sunday 11 Feb Ireland v France*, 3pm, BBC One Saturday 24 Feb Scotland v Italy, 3pm, BBC One Ireland v England*, 5.30pm, BBC One France v Wales, 8pm, BBC Two Saturday 10 March Scotland v Ireland, 1.30pm, BBC Two (1st half) Scotland v Ireland, BBC One, (2nd half) Italy v Wales, 3.30pm, BBC One Sunday 11 March England v France*, 3pm, BBC One Saturday 17 March Italy v Ireland, 1.30pm, BBC One France v Scotland, 3.30pm, BBC One Wales v England*, 5.30pm, BBC One SB4 | 
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