Hi!

When I searched through the news archives of the famoust german star wars site www.starwars-union.de i discovered something interesting that could be something to investigate.

In the year 2001 the Star Wars trilogy SE was broadcasted, 16:9 enhanced anamorph and in german dolby digital 5.1 on german pay tv for the first time. We know that already.

The channel broadcasted Star Wars Episode I as well. On 1st of april 2001 (over 6 months before dvd launch) was the first viewing, in 16:9 anamorph, and in german dolby digital 5.1 surround.

This is both audio and videowise interesting for preservations and fan edits.

Video:

Theatrical Version
Anamorph 16:9
DVB Source

Audio:

Dolby Digital 5.1 german audio of Theatrical Version

We all know that the DVD/Blu Ray got its own sound mix and is not the theatrical edit.

The original news can be read here:

http://www.starwars-union.de/nachrichten/1113/StarWars_im_digitalen_Format/

The remaining question is if fans have recorded one of the broadcasts back then. With research among the german fanclubs I am quite sure this treasure can get found and preserved.