DirecTV Starting To Launch Nets In High-Definition
70 Are Now Set For October Start, 'Favorites’ First
By Linda Moss -- Multichannel News, 9/23/2007 8:00:00 PM
DirecTV last week told its subscribers they would have their “favorite” networks in HD by the end of the month and that there would be more than 70 HD services launching in October.
That was part of a flurry of announcements about new high-definition services. In addition to DirecTV’s update about the status of the long-promised expansion of its HD lineup, there were official announcements about the launches of two new HD-only networks, MGM HD and Smithsonian HD, as well as CNBC HD Plus, a simulcast of CNBC. That was all rather anticlimactic, however, since DirecTV had already let the cat out of the bag about all three, previously saying that it planned to launch them as part of its extensive HD revamping.
Also last week, Cox Communications and Discovery Communications said they had reached a carriage deal for the operator to offer the programmer’s four new HD networks, Discovery Channel HD, TLC HD, Animal Planet HD and The Science Channel HD.
In an internal company memo leaked earlier this month to the Web site Satelliteguys.us, DirecTV said its HD launch would be Sept. 19. Company officials later said the information in that memo was outdated, but some DirecTV subscribers — posting complaints on various Web sites — were still disappointed when the HD expansion didn’t take place last Wednesday, Sept. 19.
Then last Friday, DirecTV added a new HD channel, channel 498, to its lineup, as reported by “The Satellite Dish,” a blog written for Multichannel News by Scott Greczkowski, who also operates www.satelliteguys.us.
The channel displayed a message that said, “Congratulations! Your HD setup is correct and you are seeing this broadcast from our new HD satellite. By the end of this month, we’ll have many of your favorite channels in HD, with over 70 launching in October and up to 100 by the end of the year.”
DirecTV spokesman Robert Mercer claimed that there has been change in the timing of the HD rollout, saying that the company has never publicly released a specific launch date.
“We’ve consistently stated that we’ll launch the first of our new HD channels in September, will have more than 70 in October and up to 100 by end of year,” he said.
However, in a press release earlier this year, DirecTV said it planned to add 100 HD services this year, with “the majority of these channels launched in Q3,” which would be by the end of September. In subsequent releases, DirecTV said it would launch services such as The History Channel HD, as well as HD feeds of Discovery services and Starz, in September.
In August, DirecTV CEO Chase Carey said DirecTV “would launch an HD package with over 70 channels around the end of the third quarter.” At a Liberty Media investors conference, Carey said Friday the 70 channels would be launched “in the coming weeks.”
In its press release last week, Smithsonian HD said it would debut “on or around Sept. 26” on DirecTV, while CNBC HD Plus said it would premiere on the satellite service in October.
Both Smithsonian HD and MGM HD are expected to be part of a DirecTV HD-only tier. The fee for that tier will be $4.99 a month, on top of the monthly $9.99 DirecTV charges for its basic HD package, HD Access.
Apart from its DirecTV carriage, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios said it in talks with one of its owners, Comcast, as well as other distributors about carrying its new domestic HD channel.
Comcast owns a 20% stake in MGM.
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