Why can’t we get HD-only TV service?
on March 17, 2010
In a random survey of HD Report readers we found that almost eighty percent of poll-takers would order an HD-only service plan if one was offered. So why aren’t the service providers offering this? It seems like a reasonable request to order only the channel formats which fit your 16:9 HDTV. Full Story

After discussing it for over six months DirecTV and Comcast finally came to an agreement to get Versus back on the satellite’s lineup. DirecTV says Comcast wanted more money for the Versus feed, and Comcast argued DirecTV wanted to cut the channel’s potential audience almost in half from 14 million households. Meanwhile, hockey fans with DirecTV were unable to watch the NHL on Versus.
CNN’s new Atlanta HD broadcast facility will enable the network to go all high-definition starting in late Spring 2010, reports Multichannel. Daytime shows produced in Atlanta like CNN Newsroom will now be in hi-def. CNN also has HD equipped studios in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and their first hi-def facility in New York. In the U.S., CNN will make use of its 20 HD production trucks and 100+ photojournalists to provide content for the network. Standard-def feeds will still come from international content providers who haven’t made the switch yet.
Cox Communications will start rolling out Epix HD and on-demand channel “Vutopia” to its markets on April 1. Epix HD is a premium movie channel from Viacom Inc., Paramount Pictures, MGM and Lionsgate. The channel is normally offered for $9.99 per month. 
If you are a Comcast subscriber in the San Francisco Bay Area you’ll now be able to get Hallmark Channel HD and HSN HD. With the Digital Starter HD service you’ll get Hallmark Channel HD on Channel 793, and with the Limited Basic HD service you’ll get HSN HD on Channel 718. (Do they sound like the same service to you too?) Subscribers in Half Moon Bay, Isleton, Mendocino and Santa Cruz/Scotts Valley, sadly, are out-of-luck. 
Dish Network has added 9 new HD channels to its national lineup, including Fox Soccer Channel HD which launched today (Feb. 11) exclusively to Dish customers. The new channel can be found on Dish 149 if you have Dish’s America’s Top 250 package.
V Network (V HD) has been added to the Shaw Direct lineup in Canada, where the cable provider offers French programming in both standard and high definition. The addition will allow Shaw Direct to provide more coverage of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games, as well as movies and live events.
If you subscribe to Charter Communications you’ll soon be able to get Epix HD, a premium movie channel launched in Oct. ‘09 by Viacom Inc., its Paramount Pictures unit, MGM and Lionsgate. Epix is currently running films like Star Trek, GI Joe, and Paranormal Activity, as well as comedy and concert programming.
Parts of Connecticut are now getting MSNBC and MSNBC HD through AT&T’s U-verse service. The standard-definition version can be found on channel 215 (as part of the U100 package), and the high-definition version on channel 1215.
Cablevision subscribers in the New York Tri-State region will be happy to hear Food Network and HGTV are back online, as the cable provider and Scripps Networks Interactive came to a financial agreement today.
DirecTV officially announced a successful launch of their new satellite, DIRECTV 12, which the company says will allow them to offer 200 HD channels to subscribers. Although this would put them way ahead of competitors, they have not announced any of the channels they would offer.
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