HBO to go HD on all 26 of their channels
Currently only two of HBO's channels are available in HD: HBO and Cinemax (they count both East and West as one). But today HBO's CEO Bill Nelson announced that HBO will upgrade all 26 of their channels to HD. They would also like to upgrade their video-on-demand service, but cite "copy-protection concerns relating to older HDTV sets." We're guessing he's referring to concerns about using "selectable output control," which could cause component outputs to be downconverted. The next obvious question is, who's going to carry all these new HD channels? And once again DirecTV is the only provider who has already announced carriage, but unfortunately they will only carry 10 of them. The new channels will start to roll out later this year, and all 26 are due by the end of Q2 2008.Full list after the break.
HBO Branded Channels/Feeds Cinemax Branded Channels/Feeds
HBO (East/West) Cinemax (East/West)
HBO2 (East/West) MoreMAX (East/West)
HBO Signature (East/West) ActionMAX (East/West)
HBO Comedy (East/West) ThrillerMAX (East/West)
HBO Family (East/West) WMAX (East)
HBO Zone (East/West) @MAX (East)
HBO Latino (East/West) 5StarMAX (East)
OuterMAX. (East)
Filed under: HBO-HD, Cable, Satellite, New content
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Doc @ Jun 12th 2007 8:44PM
this is great news IMO....the more channels the better and this only puts more pressure on other channels to step up to the plate although details as to what providers will be getting these channels would be nice.
WASD John @ Jun 12th 2007 9:34PM
I think the second half of 2007, and 2008 are going to start a flood of new HD channels. I only wish that the cable networks could figure out how to add them quicker to their HD lineups. I mean Cox Communications down here in New Orleans adds HD channels like old people f***, ah I mean make love ( You get the idea).
Kevin Murphy @ Jun 13th 2007 3:34AM
"do they still crop 2.35:1 movies down to 16:9 like they used to do?"
Not always. The recent HD broadcast of Star Wars was properly 2.35:1
One really good thing to note here: DirecTV, which promised to get to 100 HD channels only took 9 more feeds. Looks like they're not lacking in HD content from other sources. Bet you there's a HD-HBO tier, tho.
John B @ Jun 12th 2007 10:37PM
Yeah, but do they still crop 2.35:1 movies down to 16:9 like they used to do? As far as I'm concerned HD doesn't mean sh*t if you're not going to see the movie in its original aspect ratio.
JohnDoe303 @ Jun 12th 2007 11:13PM
This is good news, the more HD content the better.. I'm waiting to see what happens with DTV later but for now I have Comcrap, hopefully they get these channels soon.. I don't even watch SDTV any longer..
Alex @ Jun 12th 2007 11:23PM
hmmm if I were smart I would think they released this to try and stave off the flood of cancellations with the end of Sopranos.
Not that it matters, TimeWarner probably won't add any of them so I am gonna cancel anyway. When I can get something better than TW I will cancel them too.
Bradley Robertson @ Jun 13th 2007 11:10AM
"Not that it matters, TimeWarner probably won't add any of them so I am gonna cancel anyway. When I can get something better than TW I will cancel them too."
Not that I am a fan of TW, but why wouldn't they add all of them? They own HBO.
Jeff N. @ Jun 12th 2007 11:42PM
John B. I recently watched the Original Star Wars in HD on HBO and it was in letter box 2:35 ratio.
Jeff N. @ Jun 12th 2007 11:52PM
I wonder when HBO will start to show 'Inside The NFL' in HD? Almost every NFL game is shown in HD on the regular networks so watching the highlights in standard def seems old fashioned.
Sobriquet @ Jun 13th 2007 11:31AM
EDITOR: It's "cite," not "site." Tsk, tsk, Engadget HD editor. For shame.
007baf @ Jun 13th 2007 6:26PM
I doubt Comcast will pick them all up, but this could be a harbinger of things to come. More quality content driving the technology and market to be able to deliver it. For some reason HBO HD On-Demand only offers Sopranos whereas Starz offers movies and specials, etc... This can only be construed as good news and demonstrates HBO's leadership in the marketplace.
Jimmyz408 @ Jun 23rd 2007 7:53AM
I have been planning to subscribe to Dish Satalite TV because they offer Voom TV in HD. There are alot of great Channeles on Voom HD. I just heard that The Cable Co in the New York area is going to provide Voom HD. When and will Comcast add this lineup to there service? This would keep me in the family of Comcast and make alot of people happy!!!! Please respond to let me know what comcast plans are for this service and when will the cable Card 2.0 or the M-Card be available in my area I currently use a cable card but this could be alot better. The card works excellent for what it is but it needs to be bi-directional. This customer would be thrilled with thease inprovments Please!!!!!!
Vin @ Aug 11th 2007 4:30AM
Hi, I'm from Holland and we're quite surprised about this news (and wishing we could get HBO)... What we're wondering is where will they find the bandwith to do this? I think I can read concern for this question from your article too but I'm not sure... Could someone please elaborate on this?