DirecTV's current offer is what I received.

Get 4 months free of their premium package if you sign up for the NFL Sunday Ticket (4 paymets of $69.99) + free installation + free HD receiver + $50 Visa gift card (mail-in). Their HD package is $9.99 per month.

I am glad I finally am able to get DTV. Their rates have only gone up once I think in the last few years. Cable rates go up every year. I'm saving about $20-$30 per month by going with DTV over cable.

Yeah, it's a sports package....with a bunch of other stuff I probably would never watch. No NFL Network for me.

21 new channels just launched this morning on D*.

http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/global...setId=P4360044

Look great too

New HD channels in Houston looking good!

I ran home to check mine out at lunch. For some reason Versus and The Golf Channel are sharing ONE HD channel between them. Perhaps neither of them have enough programming to fill it on their own. Whatever was on CNN wasn't broadcasting in HD at the time, so it had the Pillarbox HD bars similar to ESPN.
NFL Network looked good.

I think only some of their New York based shows will be HD for now.

You would think that anything at an anchor desk should and could be HD very easily. What are their New York shows?

Did you mean that 3 digital SD channels fit into the space of 1 analog SD channel? Cause 1 analog is not 3 times as large as 1 HD channel. HD takes about 6 times as much space as SD in digital. And HD was partly designed at the size it is to fit one channel into the same bandwidth given to one current analog channel so the spectrum didn't have to be redefined on that level. So basically same size, analog a bit smaller, I believe. Otherwise we might have better quality (or worse) considering HD truly starts at ~52 times the size of what hits our TVs.

And the "ton" of bandwidth is pretty small at this point. They changed how much they are keeping vs auctioning. The space in the spectrum comes from a mandate to get out of VHF and into the mostly untapped UHF area. And from removing the high-end UHF that really isn't very useful for TV in the first place and should never have been part of the NTSC definition.

There's going to be a lot of this at first. DirecTV isn't in charge of getting actual HD content, so their marketing schlock is just about getting HD signals to us. Don't assume their commercials have anything to do with content. The channels have to acquire and use HD equipment on their own. And of the 60 or whatever channels that have been in test mode for the last couple months, they are certainly not all HD 24/7.

Everything I've read from quite a few industry sources have said that for every analog channel a cable company takes off, that leaves room for 2-3 high-def channels. Maybe that doesn't apply to broadcast; if I was making an incorrect assumption there, I apologize.

One example:

With the way cable providers are multiplexing and overcompressing channels, some are already cramming 3 HD channels into that space.

Ah. Yes, that explains it. Jerkoff executives cramming more than actually fit. Hell, we can put 100 HD channels in that 6MHz if we make them crappy enough.

6MHz = 1 full bitrate HD channel.

Well, I suppose a cable company can also use MPEG4, which would give them twice the space. OTA is limited to the original ATSC spec, which is MPEG2.

NFL looks good when they replay NFL games from earlier in the week, but it seems like none of their studio stuff is HD. I really can't think of anything easier than being HD in a studio with about three cameras that don't ever have to go anywhere.

Smithsonian HD looked truly amazing.

I can cancel comcast at any time. I'll have to call DTV and find out how much they want my business back. I still have the satellite.

USA, Bravo,Sci-Fi a few regional sports channels and HBO West have launched today

Music HD (MHD) on channel 332 was added this morning.

I'm a bit confused about DirectTV....the HD is $9.99/month + $4.99/month for HD add-on pack, correct?

I was looking to save some cash, but it seems to be more expensive than Comcast.

Live this morning:

CNBC (355)
Food HD (231-1) not a simulcast of Food Network on 231
MGM (255)
National Geographic (276)

Sweet! I just saw a commercial last night for some show coming up on Nat Geo with a guy screaming like a girl when he gets bit by a Python. I can't wait to see that in HD!

Live this morning:

229-1 HGTVHD (1080)
248 FXHD (720)
296 TOONHD (1080)
359 FBNBHD (1080)
607 SPDHD (720)
612 FUELHD (720)
636 FSDHD (720)
643 FSSWHD (720)
652 FSWHD (720)
653 FSPTHD (720)

FX , Speed and FSN Southwest

Here's what I have from Comcast:

NFL HD
Mojo
Universal HD
A&E HD
Food TV
Home&Garden TV
Discovery HD Theatre
National Geographic HD
TNT HD
ESPN HD
ESPN2 HD
Comcast Sports Network HD

All the movie channels (HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, Starz)
Networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CW, PBS)

Two RSN's added this morning... FSN Pittsburgh (Channel 628) and FSN MidWest (Channel 647-1). Meh.

DIRECTV launched 23 more HD Channels today:

Full Time National Channels:

299: Nickelodeon (NIK1HD)
325: Spike HD
327: Country Music Television (CMTHD)
331: MTV HD
335: VH1 HD

Games Only Regional Sports Networks:

620-1: Comcast Sports Net New England HD
630-1: FSN South HD
631-1: SportsSouth HD
632-1: Sun Sports HD
634-1: FSN Florida HD
637-1: FSN Ohio HD
638-1: FSN Cincinnati HD
641-1: FSN North HD
644-1: Altitude HD
645-1: FSN Rocky Mountain HD
649-1: FSN Arizona HD
651-1: FSN Northwest HD
654-1: FSN Bay Area HD

...plus five more HD pay-per-view channels