Partnerships Push HDTV

Television-set manufacturers Samsung Electronics America Inc. and Philips Consumer Electronics Co. have teamed up with Discovery Networks U.S. and ESPN, respectively, to push HDTV set sales to consumers.

The Samsung-Discovery pact is a worldwide effort, the companies said. Samsung will display Discovery HDTV content on 30,000 HD sets in 40 countries, covering exhibitions, public spaces and retail locations.

ESPN HD and ESPN2 HD unveiled the sports giant’s “100 Yard Blitz” campaign. The sweepstakes will award 100 grand prizes of a 42-inch Philips HDTV set, a DirecTV Inc. system and one year of HD service.

Ten-second promos for the sweepstakes will run during pregame shows on ESPN and ESPN2, each containing a codeword.

Viewers can then log on to www.100yardblitz.com and use that codeword to register to win the HD set and DirecTV service.

Winners will be announced on ESPN’s Mike and Mike in the Morning show.