FiOS TV To Add Six MTVN HD Channels

The game of high-definition leapfrog continues, with Verizon Communications announcing the addition of six new high-definition channels from Viacom's MTV Networks' stable to FiOS TV.

The channels, which the telco said will be available in FiOS TV markets by the end of next week, are: MTV HD, VH1 HD, CMT HD, Nickelodeon HD, Spike TV HD and Comedy Central HD.

FiOS TV customers then will have to access 118 to 130 HD channels, depending on the number of local and regional HD channels in the market.

In the New York area, both Time Warner Cable and Cablevision Systems have raced to hit the triple-digit mark with their HD lineups, to compete not only with FiOS but also the 100-plus offerings from DirecTV and Dish Network.

MTVN, for its part, announced in April the launch of those six HD network feeds in MPEG-4 on two SES Americom-New Skies satellites. AT&T added the six pack to U-verse TV last month.