Cable TV & HD: Put Up Or Shut Up!

Washington, D.C. (June 21, 2007) -- DIRECTV says it will offer 100 High-Definition channels by year's end -- and it has revealed dozens of those channels including CNN, TBS, USA Network and 11 HBO/Cinemax networks.

But Phillip Swann, president of TVPredictions.com, says cable TV operators are just offering vague promises about having the "capacity" to offer more high-def channels this year.

In a new video posted at TVPredictions.com, Swanni says cable TV needs "to put up or shut up" and tell high-def owners exactly which channels they will add and when.

"DIRECTV says they will have 100 High-Definition channels by year's end, but they're backing that claim up. They're telling us which channels they will have," Swanni says in the video. "But what are the cable TV operators doing? They're talking capacity! They say they will have the same HDTV capacity as DIRECTV!...But they're not guaranteeing they will have a certain number of channels or when they will add more channels."

Time Warner and Comcast have said repeatedly over the last several weeks that they will be able to meet DIRECTV's 100 channel high-def lineup by expanding its system space.

However, the cable operators have been tight-lipped on when more high-def channels will be added and what they will be.

Cox Communications President Pat Esser said yesterday that he hopes his cable TV service will have the "capacity" for 50 HDTV channels by year's end. But he added that he wasn't promising that Cox would actually offer 50 high-def channels. He also did not reveal any new channels.

"Enough of this capacity talk," Swanni says in the video. "Tell us which channels you will add!"

To see Swanni's video on cable & HDTV, click Swanni

____________________________________________

____________________________________________

Click TVPredictions.com to see today's Swanni Sez.

© TVPredictions.com
____________________________________________
Advertisement

_______________________________________________________

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.

Click TVPredictions.com to read more news and features on TV technology.