New HD Channels on Satellite TV
Satellite TV
New high definition channels are finally making their way to the airwaves this spring, as the big providers have launched new satellites and are expanding their capacity.
Dish Network led off with the announcement that they were now broadcasting 200 HD channels. In actuality they added eight new HD channels including G4. The bad news for most Dish Network subscribers, the rest of the channels were made up of 57 pay per view movie channels, and only available to those who have the latest Dish digital video recorder, the ViP 922.
Direct TV made the announcement the next day they would be adding 30 of their own HD channels over the next two months. In addition, a few brand new 3D HDTV channels in will kick off in June. The main channels that will be added to the Direct TV lineup include the Travel Channel HD, Lifetime HD, and ESPNU in high definition. The successful launch of the DirecTV 12 satellite late last year is giving the company the capacity for 200 HD channels, though the latest offers will bring Direct TV up to the 160 channel range if you are counting all of their pay per view channels as well.
So with these announcements you might still be confused as to who really offers the most high definition content. Even now its really difficult if not impossible to declare either one of these companies as the satellite leader when it comes to high definition. The problem lies in that each company can throw out varying claims about the amount of HD content they offer without a standard for what constitutes a true HD channel. While you and I probably recognize a channel as being an actual network like ESPN or Fox News, satellite companies continue to bend the rules, calling a channel that plays the same pay per view movie for days on end a “HD channel.”
