PPV channels are not channels," Swanni wrote last week. "If you tune to DIRECTV's channel 144, let's say, to watch The Ruins on PPV HD today, it might not even be on. The satcaster's PPV movies start from 30 minutes to every two hours so if you don't tune in at just the right time, you can't watch the movie. The on-screen message says the movie is not available. How can that be called a channel?


Is DIRECTV cooking the HD books?

"It's not even a 'choice' unless you tune in at the right time," Swanni added, referring to cable TV's use of the word, "choice," to explain its HD VOD lineup. "However, DIRECTV now refers to more than 30 different PPV HD slots as 'channels" so it can claim it has 130 HD channels."

But in an interview with Wired.com, published last night, DIRECTV spokesman Darris Gringeri said Swanni is "misguided."

"We think his (Swanni's) thinking is misguided," Darris Gringeri, a DIRECTV spokesman, told Wired. "We totally disagree -- pay-per-view clearly qualifies as a channel."

Swanni said in his commentary that all TV providers 'pad' the numbers somewhat, an opinion echoed by one analyst in the Wired article.

"I think everyone's puffing up their numbers, to be honest," said Chris Marangi, an analyst with Gabelli & Co. "The real question is how much is enough HD content? Do most subscribers care about watching small, niche channels in HD? I think they're more concerned about broader interest networks like Discovery . . . Being able to point to a number of HD channels makes  a good sound bite, but it's not necessarily valuable information. I haven't spent the time trying to figure out who has the most. I don't think it's worth it from an investment perspective."
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Final Poll Results:
Does DIRECTV Really Have 130 HD Channels?
No -- 80 percent
Yes -- 14 percent
Not sure -- 6 percent

TVPredictions.com Reader Poll taken August 19, 2008

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