Cable & Satellite Still Lack Space For HD

News Analysis
Cable & Satellite Still Lack Space For HD
Despite all the talk, TV providers are struggling to provide more high-def.
By Swanni

Washington, D.C. (March 31, 2008) -- If you listened to the satellite and cable operators, you would think they could offer hundreds of HDTV channels with the flip of a switch.

Comcast CFO Michael Angelakis said this month that his company has the capacity to offer more than 150 High-Definition channels. (It now offers around 30-35 in some markets.) Time Warner CFO Landel Hobbs boasted last year that it would have "virtually unlimited" high-def capacity by the end of 2007.

And DIRECTV aired several TV commercials in 2007 boasting of more capacity for HD than any TV provider in the world.

But despite the talk, the undeniable truth is that all cable and satellite operators are still struggling to find system space for more high-def channels and services. For instance:

* DIRECTV hasn't launched a HDTV channel this year.

* Dish Network hasn't launched a national HD channel in months and the satcaster openly laments that it needs new satellites to expand its high-def lineup. (Dish hopes to get three new satellites up this year; one recently failed, but still might be saved.)

* Cablevision this month wouldn't even comment on whether it would offer MLB 'Extra Innings' games in high-def this season. (The HD games require more system space.)

* Comcast this month had to drop six premium movie channels in the Tallahassee, Florida area to make room for more High-Definition channels. The nation's largest cable operator also says its local systems haven't decided whether they will offer MLB 'Extra Innings' games in high-def this season. (The season started yesterday.)

Add it up and you can see that the so-called unlimited capacity talk is more rhetoric than reality. The cable and satellite services are trying to put a good face on a difficult situation.

In the coming months, DIRECTV and Dish should have more space thanks to new satellites. (DIRECTV this month also launched a new satellite and it should be operational in September, the company says.)

Additionally, the major cable operators continue to implement and experiment with a new technology called Switched Digital Video that's designed to expand capacity. But SDV is not ready in most markets and may not be for some time.

So, high-def viewers, you'll see more HD channels this year. But they might come more slowly than you have been led to believe.

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Swanni (Phillip Swann) is president and publisher of TVPredictions.com. He has been quoted in dozens of publications and broadcast outlets, including CNN, Fox News, Inside Edition, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Financial Times, The Associated Press and The Hollywood Reporter. He can be reached at swann@tvpredictions.com or at 703-505-3064.

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