Coda

The high-definition arms race continued to escalate last week, with aggressive lineup expansions unveiled by Dish Network, DirecTV and Verizon Communications’s FiOS TV.

At least for now, Dish Network and Verizon seemed to be ahead in the battle to roll out the most national HD networks, as both said they plan to offer up to 150 national HD channels by year’s-end.

Dish Network’s news followed DirecTV’s announcement last week that it plans to raise its HD channel count to 130 starting mid-August, and that it is launching local HD channels in 44 new markets.

The satellite providers weren’t the only one ramping up their HDTV rosters. Last week Verizon said it is offering 100 HD networks to FiOS TV customers in the New York metro area, while Cablevision Systems Corp. is increasing its HDTV count to more than 60 by adding 15 more HD networks.

Dish Network, the nation’s second-largest satellite provider, also boasted last week that its video-on-demand service will be the first in the pay-TV industry to offer HDTV programming in 1080p, the highest-resolution HD format and the one used by Blu-ray HD DVDs.

DirecTV plans to begin offering 1080p-quality VOD titles by the end of the year.

In its announcement, Dish Network said it has the capacity to offer up to 150 HD channels with the July 16 launch of its Echo XI satellite. Last week the satellite provider added 17 national HD channels, bringing it above its previous 100-channel HD target for the year.

In addition, Dish Network is debuting TurboHD, three all-HD programming packages. The three TurboHD tiers are: Bronze ($24.99/month for more than 40 channels), Silver ($32.99/month for more than 50 channels) and Gold ($39.99/month for more than 55 HD channels).

To deliver the 1080p content, Dish Network started rolling out a system upgrade last Friday to all customers with MPEG-4 HD and HD digital video recorder receivers.

— Todd Spangler and Linda Moss

Orlando, Fla. — ESPN affiliate executive David Preschlack got off a red eye from earthquake-shaken Los Angeles last week to participate in a breakfast panel at The Independent Show. He found the reception there a little rocky, too, as he promptly fielded cable operator complaints about broadband content service ESPN360.

Panelists Steve Friedman, Wave Broadband’s chief operating officer and new chairman of the American Cable Association, and Cable One’s Jerry McKenna, new chairman of the National Cable Television Cooperative, teed off on ESPN360 as unfavorable to distributors.

Friedman said he’s not carrying the broadband sports service because he’d have to pay a fee based on all his high-speed data customers — more than 100,000 — and not just those who want it. Friedman suggested ESPN adopt a revenue-sharing model with distributors for ESPN360.

Added McKenna: “If we’re going to carry a product that uses a lot of our bandwidth, and bandwidth is getting more and more expensive, then it’s got to be win-win for us in terms of offsetting those costs.”

Preschlack, executive vice president for Disney and ESPN Networks affiliate sales and marketing, sprung to the defense of ESPN360, which he described as a robust offering with 3,500 live events a year, 60% of them exclusive to the service, and a drawing card for cable-modem sales.

“We need to have the business model such that we can put the best quality product forward,” Preschlack said. “Without it, the product that you see today doesn’t really exist.”

ESPN360 has won the support of cable operators, even smaller ones, he said. “We have about 30 deals, and I want to say half of them are with small operators,” Preschlack said, and deals for the service represent north of 40% of the broadband marketplace.

“We like the model just the way it is,” he said.

— Linda Moss

New York — Nickelodeon’s Slime Across America tour will conclude this week with stops on Staten Island and Flushing, N.Y., both events in partnership with Time Warner Cable.

The tour featured the network’s first multi-player game to draw fans online, 3D-Multi-players Nicktoons SlimeBall. Up to four players could join to battle it out, playing as avatars they selected from top Nick shows. The Slime Central site also includes slime e-cards for kids to send to friends; an area where kids could use the pass to download and share their virtual slimings, iCarly scenes or where they could do karaoke to The Naked Brothers Band.

They can also download MP3s from Tiffany Evans or Menudo, who have headlined the two-month tour which began June 7 at the Navy Pier in Chicago.

The New York stops include a Nick Live! Slime Edition interactive stage show, a virtual sliming zone and network premium give-aways.

New York — MobiTV, which delivers wireless TV (including many cable networks) and radio services through 15 wireless carriers, has surpassed 4 million subscribers since launching its first mobile television service in November 2003.

The Emeryville, Calif.-based company hit 3 million subscribers in October 2007.

MobiTV is available through Sprint Nextel, AT&T Wireless, Alltel, Rogers, Bell Canada and others. Its service, starting at $9.99 per month, provides more than 50 live and on-demand channels.