Posted on 05/27/2007 5:48:15 AM PDT by Las Vegas Dave
EL SEGUNDO, Calif., BUSINESS WIRE -- DIRECTV, the nation's leading satellite television service provider, continues to set the stage for its unprecedented expansion of HD services. With agreements in place to launch four Discovery HD channels, five HD channels from Starz, CNBC and Chiller in HD, along with recently completed deals with The History Channel and A&E, DIRECTV is on schedule to roll out up to 100 national HD channels by year-end to satisfy the appetite of its HD customers, who have doubled over the last year.
"Earlier this year we called 2007 the 'Year of HD' and we're going to deliver on our commitment to offer more HD channels than any other multichannel provider," said Derek Chang, executive vice president, Strategy and Development, DIRECTV, Inc. "In addition to the networks we've signed to date, we will continue to add more HD programming to our launch list between now and year-end. Demand for HD continues to grow, and with the dramatic expansion of our capacity this summer and the nationwide reach of our service, we are uniquely positioned to lead the industry in the carriage and delivery of HD programming."
Under the agreement with Discovery Communications, DIRECTV will launch four simulcasts - Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet and The Science Channel - and two other channels to be named and launched by Discovery at a later date. The HD feeds of the four existing networks will launch in September.
DIRECTV also has an agreement in place with Starz to launch three new HD movie channels: Starz Edge, Starz Comedy and Starz Kids & Family, as well as Starz's East and West coast HD feeds. The new Starz HD channels, featuring first-run hit movies, and the Starz East and West HD channels, will also launch in September.
The History Channel and DIRECTV recently announced that DIRECTV will be the first to launch The History Channel HD, a new 24-hour HD network, and A&E HD in September.
As it continues to beef up its HD channel lineup, DIRECTV has also become the platform of choice for the debut of exclusive HD programming. Disney Channel is providing DIRECTV the exclusive rights to broadcast the premiere HD version of High School Musical 2, the highly anticipated sequel to the global sensation for kids and families. DIRECTV will air the movie in HD a few days after its standard-definition premiere Friday, August 17 on Disney Channel.
In addition to the networks listed below, DIRECTV also plans to offer the HD feeds of regional sports networks on a nationwide basis this fall, and has commitments from a number of other networks to launch their HD simulcasts. They will be added to the lineup for launch by year-end and will be announced at a later date.
To date, DIRECTV has signed agreements or agreements in principle, to launch the following networks. -0- *T -- A&E -- National Geographic -- Bravo -- NFL Network -- Cartoon Network -- SciFi Channel -- CNN -- Speed -- Food Network -- TBS -- Big Ten Network -- The History Channel -- HGTV -- The Weather Channel -- MTV -- USA Network -- Disney Channel -- Versus HD -- Toon Disney -- TLC -- ABC Family -- Animal Planet -- ESPNNEWS HD -- The Science Channel -- Starz E/W feeds -- Discovery Channel -- Starz Edge -- The Tennis Channel -- Starz Comedy -- Showtime West -- Starz Kids & Family -- The Movie Channel -- CNBC -- Chiller *T
HD networks currently offered by DIRECTV include ESPN HD, ESPN2 HD, Discovery HD Theater, HDNet, HDNet Movies, TNT in HD, Universal HD, HBO HD, Showtime HD, an HD pay per view/special events channel and HD feeds from NY- and LA-based broadcast networks ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX (for eligible customers). DIRECTV also offers local HD broadcast channels in 60 cities, representing more than 70 percent of U.S. TV households.
DIRECTV's industry leading lineup of HD sports programming includes up to 10 MLB games a week in HD, and DIRECTV plans to offer all MLB games produced in HD beginning with the 2008 season. DIRECTV also offers NBA and NHL games in HD, and through its exclusive NFL SUNDAY TICKET(TM) Superfan subscription, DIRECTV customers have access to more than 150 NFL games in HD. In total DIRECTV offered more than 200 HD games last season, nearly twice as many as cable.
DIRECTV announced earlier this year that it will have the capacity to launch up to 100 national HD channels by the end of 2007, and offer local HD channels in up to 75 markets, following the launch of its D10 satellite this summer. The satellite will be operational and new HD services will begin rolling out in Q3.
The DIRECTV 11 satellite will be launched early next year to support further HD expansion. With the two satellites, DIRECTV will have the ability to deliver more than 1,500 local HD and digital channels and 150 national HD channels, in addition to new advanced programming services for customers.
I quit watching about 1975, then restarted about 1985 figuring that after a decade things would have at least gotten fresh. But the Liberal bias of most of the shows was too much and quit probably for good some 15 years ago. Radio runs all day and night: I know a tremendous amount about UFOs and the Philadelphia Experiment and Area 51.
what package do you get...? I have all the channels and hardly a spanish channel.
Maria Bartiromo
Joey Ramone
What’s happening on Wall St.
What’s happening at the Stock Exchange
I want to know
What’s happening on Squawk Box
What’s happening with my stocks
I want to know
I watch you on the TV every single day
Those eyes make everything okay
I watch her every day
I watch her every night
She’s really outta sight
Maria Bartiromo
Maria Bartiromo
Maria Bartiromo
What’s happening with Yahoo!
What’s happening with AOL
I want to know
What’s happening with Intel
What’s happening with Amazon
I want to know
I watch you on TV every single day
Those eyes make eveything OK
I watch her every day
I watch her every night
She’s really outta sight
Maria Bartiromo (5x)
What’s happening on Wall St.
What’s happening at the Stock Exchange
I want to know
What’s happening on Squawk Box
What’s happening with my stocks
I want to know
I watch her at the big board every single day
While she’s reporting you best stay out of her way
I watch her every day
I watch her every night
She’s really outta sight
Maria Bartiromo (3x)
Since we got Direct TV we have not watched ABCCBSNBC at all. We watch Fox News, The History Channel, The Travel Channel, Outdoor Life Channel, Discovery and movies. I could not tell you what is going on with the regular channels. Except the other night we had a guest for dinner and she wanted to watch the Dancing With The Stars finals. We had never heard of it.
Wow that’s a lot for Sat. service, time to check out the other guy, and get the new customer deals they offer.
All HDTV signals are comressed.
What is *E? I searched but couldn’t find anything for it.
Thanks again.
Total choice—135 channels. I’ve really never counted the Spanish stations but there are a lot of them.
E! is Entertainment on mine. Ch. 236.
Ditto with Time Warner Cable (who I’m kinda stuck with)
“Until I can be assured that there is a DVD player/recorder on the market that will play the over 1000 DVDs (non-HD) I have in my movie library, Im not ready to jump into HD. My biggest fear is my library will be obsolete.”
Check out the newer dvd players that “upsample” the signal - older DVD players only send out a “normal” resolution, and the newer players upsample to provide a higher resolution for HDTVs. It’s not real HD, like you’ll get with BlueRay, but it’s better than what you would get without upsampling. The good news is you can get them fairly affordably now, under $100.
I have DirectTV HD (no Tivo) on a 42” plasma, and it’s wonderful. The lineup is lacking, but I got the reciever as a gift, and it’s a nominal charge, so I went for it. Newer movies in HD are great, older material is so-so, sports is amazing, Planet Earth in HD is worth the price of admission.
When I get Mythbusters in HD, I will be happy.
Be warned, to get HD you need the *3* LBN dish from Directv, minimum, right now, and when the new sats go online. I had a dual, for the non HD tivo unit, and it would not pick up the HD sat. I went for the 5 lbn dish, for HD and to support tivo in teh future, and it’s a BIG dish. Installer said my current receiver would get the MPEG4 signal, but the tivos out there would need to be replaced, but he’d heard rumors of a free or $99 trade-in program for the new dvr that will use the MPEG4, and was’nt sure if the new dvr would be Tivo or the horrible proprietary system the current HD dvr uses.
The one thing HD has done for me is it’s made watching Comcast cable impossible - even the non-HD signal on Directv is mush better than what’s pumped through the line on Comcast - watching a freind’s tv the other day, I was shocked at the compression on the premium channels, and horrified as some of the others - and she pays a LOT more than I do, and gets less.
I’d love to have DIRECTV. Unfortunately it is to sophisticated for us moroons in Canada, so the gubmint won’t allow them in the country.
Stock whores and real estate pimps in HD. Ugh.
We just got Verizon Fios in my neighborhood and I am going to ditch Time Warner, I have the cable modem and TV with them now and will go with the FIOS for internet and phone. I already have DTV with locals so I won’t miss the cable tv part, it was just cheaper to do it that way with the internet bundle. Now, I will have everything on one bill as verizon bundles the DTV (w/a 6.00/mo discount) on the phone and internet bill. I will be saving about $60-70 per month.
I don't know about pimps, but whore in HD might sell.
review this.
I think you're wrong on two fronts:
Cable, or at least Comcast cable, is not additionally compressed beyond the initial compression done at the broadcast station. In other words, it should be the same as off-the-air (OTA), but maybe a little better since it shouldn't lose as many packets in transmission.
Regarding the public perception of compression, it is quite noticable, even by Joe or Jane 6-Pack. Where it is most noticable is in moving scenes - like in an action sequence or anything with a panning camera. These scenes result in massive macroblocking - think of it as ugly digital blurring.
A case of this being noticable is when KQED, my local Communist Propaganda Outlet (otherwise known as PBS station) switched their night-time profile from one small SD subchannel and the rest dedicated to HD, to (at least) 3 (? or 4?) full-time SD-subchannel with the rest for HD. Everyone now comments how horrible the once pristine HD channel now looks. What once was a joy to behold (for non-political content) is now an unwatchable mess.
They supposedly are using advanced bit-tweaking hardware to "steal" bandwidth cleanly, but it isn't working. All this to run PBS-Kids, Spanish programming, and another PBS (largely propaganda) subchannel 24-7. Insane.
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