I'm wondering how long it will be before DirecTV will get some mid sized or smaller TV markets in its HDTV lineup. I live in SE Washington state, and I have no way of getting HD networks. I heard DirecTV is launching a couple of new satellites. Will this be enough to get most of the rest of the country plugged in?
From what I've read, the new satellites are for HD content, including local channels in HD. So, expect all of their current local channels to show up in HD in a few months. I don't know if they intend to expand their local channel lineup. They are switching to mpeg4 compression for HD which will free up a ton of bandwidth. So, theoretically, they should be able to add more local channels.
If you have Comcast for a cable company, I highly recommend that you switch. I just did and the HD DVR they have for $10/month works great. In 2006 Comcast will have an HD Tivo available as well...Tivo is by far the best DVR on the market...so that will be amazing..I can't wait!