| DirecTV to Have 1000 HD Channels By 2007 |
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| Home Theater News What Is On In HD News | |
| Written by Jerry Del Colliano | |
| Thursday, 09 September 2004 | |
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satellite TV provider DirecTV announced on Sept. 9 that they will
launch four new satellites - two in 2005 and two more in 2007 - to
provide more HDTV channels for their subscribers. This comes as sales
of DTV sets (capable of HD but not necessarily hooked up to HDTV) have
boomed to 850,000 per month, according to the Consumer Electronics
Association.
Boeing will launch the four new birds and the focus of the programming on for the HD channels will be local. Years ago, DirecTV saw a boom in their subscribers when they were able to deliver traditional NTSC programming to their subscribers. This move gave them the chance to compete directly and favorably with cable. With HDTV, the competition is digital cable, or in many cases, the often sketchy terrestrial (over-the-air) local HDTV signal. More programming will help the boom of DTV sales as well. Early adopters claim there simply isn't enough on and that once you watch a program in HDTV, it is hard to watch NTSC ever again. Other technological advances include new HDTV DVRs, which both DirecTV and Dish Network have just started to sell. If HDTV is recordable and can be waiting for at home for people who can’t be there to watch favorite programs in real time, more consumers will be interested. The cost of producing original material or converting existing shows and movies for HDTV is becoming more affordable. According to the producer of a hit CBS sitcom, the price of converting one half-hour television show to HD is about $10,000, probably about the same as the food budget for a week. Consumers who have the money and have invested in HD are exactly the kind of audience that advertisers want to reach. The addition of these new satellites will provide enough bandwidth for about 1500 more local high-def channels and 150 national high-def stations, so expect to see an onslaught of new HD material coming to a digital TV near you soon. Source: Cnn.com Like this article? Bookmark and share with any of the sites below.        |
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