Direct TV to add 1500 HD Channels This Year! (1 Viewer)

[Dick Boneske]

Normally, Direct TV advertising has been honest and accurate. This new ad, however, touting 1500 new HD channels I suspect is misleading.

At present, local channels on Direct TV are not HD in most or all areas. Channel 80 (which Direct TV says is a trial for local HD) in our Wisconsin area is a New York CBS station that broadcasts widescreen HD format at the same time our local CBS stations do--the same HD programs. Quality seems equal to OTA local channels--not better.

Does the "added 1500 channels" mean local HD? It would great if they add more HD channels, but local HD for those of us with antennas won't add anything except a fee for something we already have for no fee.

Do any of you know of plans for added HD channels on Direct TV not including local?

 

[Robert_J]

They never announce anything early. There is usually some rumbling in the satellite hacker forums because test cards will be the first to see the new channel.

-Robert

 

[Dick Boneske]

So, from all the info I've heard regarding the "1500 channels" is that this refers to local channels in HD. If Direct TV doesn't offer more HD programming on other satellite channels (not local channels), there will be a lot of unhappy customers like me with 5 HD channels for $10.99/month plus the $40+ for "other non-HD" channels.

Does anyone know this to be correct?

 

[Robert_J]

There aren't many other national HD channels to add. The DirecTV HD pack is missing TNT HD and ESPN2 HD. The premium channels are missing Starz HD, The Movie Channel HD and Cinemax HD. TMC HD or Cinemax HD is actually shutting down soon so they won't be around to add. There are also a few regional sports channels that broadcast HD.

-robert

 

[Joe Szott]

Not to drive this terminally off topic, but D* and DTV can add all the HD service they like and it isn't going to speed up adoption of the HDTV format. Seriously what needs to happen is all NFL games need to be broadcast in high resolution 1080i/720p format (by that I mean not just upgraded to the HDTV format, but actually filmed in pure 1080i and sent out live.) Once that happens, every supernut fan (like me) will NEED HDTV and then you'll see a lot of new channels popping up to get a slice of the pie. And once you have football, then baseball, hockey, and basketball can't be far behind.

So it's cool that DTV is preparing for the future demands of HDTV bandwidth, but this service is an evolution not a revolution. Get it if you like, otherwise time is your friend.