Verizon Targets 150 HD Nets
By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 11/4/2007 7:00:00 PM
Verizon Communications — right along with the cable industry — has been feeling the heat from DirecTV's marketing campaign promising “up to 100” high-definition channels this year.
To try to parry the satellite thrust, Verizon last week announced FiOS TV will deliver a lineup of 150 linear high-definition channels and 1,000 HD on-demand titles by the end of 2008, and that it plans to launch “a major expansion of sports and multicultural programming” next year.
In the spring of 2008, Verizon said, it will initially double the current number of HD channels, on a market-by-market basis, to more than 60, including additional sports channels. Currently, FiOS TV offers 20 national HD channels, including five premium movie channels, as well as local broadcast channels in HD.
In addition, Verizon said it will begin offering HD video-on-demand programming. Before the end of 2007, Verizon expects to introduce “a limited number of HD on-demand titles,” which will increase to more than 1,000 HD titles in 2008.
Verizon is not ready to announce which HD channels it will add, director of media relations Sharon Cohen-Hagar said. The company also declined to provide details about how it expects to deliver the expanded lineup.
The company plans to update its whole-home digital video recorder service to let customers record HD shows and watch them from any room in the house with an HDTV and an HD set-top box.
Verizon reiterated claims that it does not currently compress high-definition signals it receives from programmers, a practice it said it will maintain in expanding to 150 HD channels. As a result, according to the telco, FiOS TV delivers better HD picture quality than competitors. Some cable and satellite operators “rate shape” or re-encode the signals to gain efficiencies in distributing them over their networks.
“Unlike some other service providers, Verizon doesn't compromise quality by compressing programming into limited bandwidth,” Verizon vice president of video solutions Shawn Strickland said in a statement.
As of Sept. 30, Verizon said it had 717,000 FiOS TV customers in 12 states, an increase of 39% from the prior quarter. The service was available to 4.7 million households, with an average penetration of 15.2% across all markets.
| High-Def Tally |
|---|
| FiOS TV's current lineup of national HD channels: |
| SOURCE: Verizon Communications |
| Standard Channels: TNT HD, ESPN HD, ESPN2 HD, NFL Network HD, HD Net, HD Net Movies, Universal HD, Discovery HD Theater, Wealth TV HD, National Geographic Channel HD, MHD, Food Network HD, HGTV HD, Lifetime Movie Network HD and A&E HD |
| Premium Channels: HBO HD, Cinemax HD, Showtime HD, TMC HD and Starz HD |
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