Amazing Race Getting HD Upgrade

Exclu: At last: After nearly a decade on the air and winning outstanding reality competition Emmys for seven years in a row, The Amazing Race is getting an HD upgrade.

“Yes, yes, yes,” said entertainment president Nina Tassler in a Q&A from the premiere issue of Hollywood Reporter’s new weekly magazine. “We are doing Amazing Race in HD next year. I just announced it, there you go.”

Scripted broadcast shows made the HD leap years ago, followed by many top reality shows. All the while, Race fans have been longing to see the scenic globetrotting series in the high-resolution format, and even host Phil Keoghan got into the debate in September.

“I would love to see the show in HD,” Keoghan told RealityBlurred. “I think it makes sense for the show to be in HD. I don’t really know all the reasons why it isn’t. But I would love to see the show in HD, and I do hear it a lot from fans. And I do think it is something that needs to come to the show.”

Producers have previously cited the cost of converting a worldwide production crew to the more expensive HD gear, plus concerns about the portability and durability of HD cameras.

Some of those reasons were brushed aside a couple years ago when CBS’ own Survivor made the HD leap, along with the release of Discovery’s HD masterpiece Planet Earth.

The full Tassler Q&A is available in the Nov. 3rd issue of Hollywood Reporter.