NEW YORK - Verizon is making it easier to enjoy the ultimate home-entertainment experience - with a new promotional savings offer for FiOS TV. New customers who subscribe to FiOS TV between now and Feb. 21 will receive their choice of free use for six months of either a high-definition (HD) digital video recorder (DVR) or an HD Home Media DVR. Customers who take advantage of this offer will save between $95 and $119 for the first six months, depending upon the DVR customers choose. Read More ...

Comcast took the wraps off some new triple play bundles with HD as the focus. The new bundles range in cost from $114.99 to $179.99, and feature a mix of HD and SD channels, broadband, and digital voice. The packages are labeled HD Starter ($114.99), HD Plus ($139.99), and HD Premier ($179.99). All include HD STBs, with the Premier package including a HD DVR. Depending on whether the market is wideband capable, the broadband component ranges from 6 Mbps to 16 mbps, or 12 Mbps to 22 Mbps for wideband. The strategy hopes to reach value conscious subscribers who still crave HD and fast broadband. For customers who don’t need HD, Comcast also launched new economy packages, with the cheapest triple play package consisting of 50 SD channels, 1 Mbps broadband, and voice service for $79.85.

Dallas, Texas, October 27, 2008 - In a move that puts it squarely ahead of cable providers' High Definition (HD) channel offerings, AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) today announced several additions to the AT&T U-verse TV channel lineup, including more than 30 new HD channels and new international programming packages for Chinese, Polish, Russian, French and European-sports audiences. Read More ...

HD launch press releases abound this week, as telecompetitors step up their HD game to meet the growing demand for the premium service. Verizon has issued three press releases this week alone, highlighting new HD roll outs. That prompted Comcast to issue a release today crowning themselves the HD king, with a 1,000 HD VOD titles now available. “The Most HD Content Anytime, Anywhere,” they say. DISH announced the expansion of MPEG4 to 32 markets to help facilitate expanded HD. Here’s hoping the economy doesn’t rain on this HD parade.

There is no denying the growing demand for HD. But you have to wonder if much of this most recent demand was fueled by what has turned out to be an unsustainable economic climate. Suddenly that $1,000+ HDTV that was a "no brainer" thanks to easily obtained home equity lines, now looks like an unaffordable luxury. Hell, until recently, you could have even used a credit card that tapped that home equity line, making your buying decision that much easier. By those standards, a 42-inch set seemed awful small. But with the recent economic nosedive, skyrocketing foreclosures, and fewer “make no payments for 24 months” offers, those days are over. Will HDTV sales suffer significantly as a result, thus slowing demand? Somehow, even a $700 set seems like excess these days, even if you can actually afford it. I’m certainly not denying that HD is the future of television – the genie is out of the bottle on that issue. But will HD demand slow considerably, given the tightening economic environment? I don’t see how it can’t. Disagree?

September 30, 2008, Princeton, NJ & Canby, OR – SES AMERICOM and Canby Telcom, a member of the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative (NRTC), announced today that Canby’s IPTV customers can now access 36 channels of High Definition (HD) programming, including more than two dozen channels delivered to Canby via IP-PRIME, from marquee programmers such as Discovery, Disney, Showtime, Fox News, ESPN, A&E and the Food Network, plus a handful of local broadcast services. Read More ...

Verizon announced its FiOS capable networks in the Philadelphia region now have access to 56 new HD channels, raising the total HD channel availability to 86. Philadelphia is home to Comcast headquarters. “As a result of this enhancement to the FiOS TV lineup, Verizon is now offering consumers here more HD than both Comcast and RCN offer,” Verizon says in a company statement. The new HD line-up includes Animal Planet, TLC, Science, Smithsonian, CNN, CNBC, Lifetime, Bravo, TBS, History Channel, Weather Channel, USA and SCI FI channels. Verizon is putting on a full court press in Comcast home turf territory, and is heavily marketing both the new HD line-up and their current free 12 month multi-room DVR promotion. Care to guess how many Comcast employees are signing up for FiOS?

We reported about a soft launch of HD VOD last week and now AT&T has officially confirmed the availability of an HD VOD library. It is available to all U-verse customers. "With an extensive HD channel lineup, HD-capable equipment in every package, excellent picture quality and now HD VOD, AT&T U-verse TV is ready to provide the ultimate HD viewing experience for our customers," said Rich Wellerstein, AT&T vice president of Programming in a company statement. HD services are available to U-verse customers for an additional $10/month.

DirecTV announced that their relationship with TiVo has expanded and they will jointly develop and launch a TiVo powered HD DVR. According to the release, the new HD DVR “…will support the latest TiVo and DIRECTV features and services, including TiVo's Universal Swivel Search and TiVo KidZone. TiVo will develop the new HD DVR for an expected launch in the second half of 2009.” The deal is non-exclusive, and DirecTV will still develop and market its own set top boxes. DirecTV and TiVo began marketing traditional DVRs to the DirecTV customer base back in 2000. The relationship went through a rough patch when DirecTV was controlled by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. But since Liberty Media took a controlling interest in DirecTV, the relationship is on better terms.

HD DVRs are increasingly seen as effective competitive weapons. DirecTV competitors, especially on the telcoTV side with AT&T U-verse, have been leveraging HD DVR to their advantage. DirecTV hopes this development will add some muscle to their existing HD DVR options, since TiVo is seen as a pioneer and leading developer of DVR technology. The move could also help DirecTV continue its lead over DISH. DISH is in real DVR trouble because of a legal dispute with TiVo. So far it’s losing that legal battle, and may suffer serious DVR setbacks if the losing trend continues.

AT&T is apparently soft launching a multi-room DVR and HD VOD service. Readers are reporting to Engadget HD and BroadbandReports.com that AT&T is notifying select customers about the availability of the new services. There has been no official word from AT&T. AT&T is joining Verizon, who is also using a “whole home” DVR solution to try to get a leg up on their cable and DBS competitors. According to the initial communication from AT&T to its customers, the whole room DVR will be a “free” upgrade and will require no swap out of equipment. Verizon is featuring a free year of multi-room DVR service promotion through October 4th. Cable will soon fight back with a networked DVR solution, thanks to a recent court case won by Cablevision. Networked DVR does not require the more expensive DVR set top boxes, and perhaps will provide a cheaper and more differentiated DVR product.

DISH Networks has made much noise with HD recently, culminating with their launch of an all HD package, branded TurboHD. Now comes word that they are the “first” pay-TV provider to go all MPEG-4 with standard and high definition programming. “New customers in 21 designated markets in the eastern half of the U.S. who sign up for any DISH Network HD package will be the first in the nation to receive the industry's most advanced delivery system on all televisions connected to DISH Network service,” said DISH in a company statement. The moves come on the heels of a couple dismal quarters for DISH, including 2Q08, where they lost subscribers for the first time in history.

So will these moves be enough? Maybe. You have to give DISH credit. They faced a major setback in HD earlier this year when they lost a satellite shortly after launch. They’ve managed to get past that hurdle. The MPEG-4 announcement makes for a great press release, but I’m not sure how much of an impact it will have on everyday consumers and their choice in pay-TV service. The TurboHD offering has a better chance of moving the needle for them. In addition, they announced new value programming options of $10/month and $20/month, tied to the DTV transition, echoing similar DTV exploitation strategies being pursued by cable competitors. DISH is feeling competitive heat from all angles, including telcoTV providers. It appears as if they are making some real efforts to meet those competitors head on, and reverse the trend of the past two quarters. Will it work?