Lost amidst the flurry of product introductions at CES was perhaps the most important HDTV announcement in ages -- Directv will add 100 national HD channels to its satellite feed by the end of the year, including many that as of now have not yet begun broadcasting in HD.

This is a huge announcement not just for Directv subscribers (who up to this point have had a relatively lean selection of HD channels), but for digital cable and Dish Network subscribers as well. Why? Because now we know that the following channels will start up HD broadcasts by the end of the year, since these channels were included in Directv's announcement:

- A&E
- History Channel
- Food Network
- HGTV
- MTV
- CNN
- USA Network
- FX
- Sci-Fi Channel
- Cartoon Network
- TBS
- The Weather Channel
- Speed Channel

Directv supposedly has agreements on 60 new national HD channels already in place. Speculation is that the 100 channels will be rounded out by regional sports networks that won't necessarily be available to all subscribers.

TV Predictions thinks that Directv will force competitors to upgrade their HD channel selection, even if they don't have Directv's planned bandwidth. This will lead to some channels, in particular feeds for other time zones, to get bumped off of digital cable and Dish Network's channel grids. Either way though, the HD landscape is going to get a lot more interesting by the end of the year. Looks like 2007 will indeed be the year that HDTV really goes mainstream.

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http://www.tvpredictions.com/dtvanalysis010907.htm