Austin360 blogs > Digital Savant > Archives > 2008 > January > 07 > Entry
Dish Network to roll out more HD in Austin and freeze some pricing
Dish Network announced it is expanding its high-definition TV service to offer 100 high-definition channels and is freezing some of its subscription package pricing until 2009.
Austin will be one of 11 of the first U.S. markets to get the new HD channels, the company announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. It is increasing the number of national HD channels it carries to 100, up from 76, and is bringing local high-definition channels to 65 new markets, bringing that number to 100 markets.
One hundred seems to be the magic number among TV content providers. Last year, competitor DirecTV boasted that it would offer 100 HD channels by the end of 2007. Currently, it offers about 85 and plans to have HD local channels in 76 markets by the middle of this year. Both companies are locked in fierce battle with cable operators such as Time Warner, who are also rolling out high-definition channels. All are looking to serve the growing number of households buying up high-definition TV sets and looking for programming that takes advantage of an HDTV’s ability to display a clearer, higher-resolution image than standard televisions.
Dish Network gave no timetable about when the new HD channels would be rolled out, what new channels will be added or what pricing would be. The company said in a news release that new HD packages would be available starting Feb. 1, with packages “as low as $10.” Calls and e-mails to Dish Network were not returned on Monday.
The company also said on Monday that it will waive activation fees and freeze the pricing on some of its existing programming packages until 2009. It did not say whether this would include prices for new HD tiers of programming.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment Categories: Austin, Gadgets, TV
Comments
Click here to report comment abuse.
By Omar Gallaga
January 8, 2008 10:38 AM | Link to this
I think this roll-out would add local HD channels in those markets that don't already have it. DirecTV's roll-out has also been including adding HD-locals to their line-ups. That requires a huge amount of bandwidth.
I live in New Braunfels and only get locals in HD with an over-the-air antenna. I'm getting ready to move to their next-gen HD receiver/PVR, which I'm hoping will add HD locals to my lineup. (Unfortunately, they're San Antonio stations.)
When the rollout reaches Austin with Dish, I still doubt that KXAN would be included for the time being.
By James
January 8, 2008 7:34 AM | Link to this
If we can just get KXAN 36-LinTV to get on board
with HD broadcasting on Dish and Direct TV.
They won't answer the questions about this
service problem.
Guess they just do not care about losing viewers!
By M3
January 7, 2008 11:22 PM | Link to this
I love Dish, but they gotta get the local channels in high def. Having to use an OTA antenna is just crazy in this day and age!