HBO, Cinemax coming to Comcast's On Demand Online

Cinemax posts

Okay, so Cablevision isn't apt to come right out and say that these newcomers are the replacements for the 15 VOOM HD networks that were marked for deletion late last year, but it may as well have. Coincidentally, 15 new high-def channels are reportedly lined up to join the Cablevision EPG in short order, though every single one is a premium movie channel. Encore HD, Starz Kids & Family HD, Starz Edge HD, HBO Signature HD, HBO Family HD, HBO Comedy HD, HBO Zone HD, HBO2 HD, HBO Latino HD, Action Max HD, More Max HD, @MAX HD, Outer MAX HD and Showtime Too HD are all expected to show up starting on January 21st, with rollouts continuing across all markets until January 23rd. We know, your first reaction is probably something along the lines of "What? All movie channels?," but at least you're getting something out of the deal -- if you opt to pay up, of course.
We already knew that Home Box Office was champing at the bit to rid itself of anything less than pure, unadulterated (okay, maybe just a little bit) HD, and now the outfit is announcing that its Cinemax channel will be going 100% high-def on September 1st. Granted, we're talking about the main channel only here, but this fall / winter is shaping up to be a good one for Cinemax HD. Subscribers will see the pay-TV premieres of The Bourne Ultimatum, Rendition, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and The Darjeeling Limited, and in the near future, viewers will see I Am Legend, Juno, Alien vs. Predator: Requiem and In The Valley of Elah. Of note, the release states that "true HD (1080i)" won't begin until September 6th -- odd, but we suppose a few extra days won't kill us. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]
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.
Cinemax is bringing home all six Star Wars movies in high definition back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back, starting at midnight tonight. If you miss one don't worry, they will be repeating and also are available in many areas in HD on video-on-demand. Otherwise, this is the first time to catch all three original flicks formatted for your HDTV, if you'd like to avoid Jar-Jar Binks in 1080i, take a nap and catch Episode IV: A New Hope at 7:10 AM on Saturday.
Time Warner Cable customers in the San Antonio area is getting a couple more high-def stations. NOTE: This really isn't anything super exciting but hey, more high-def stations is always nice to have. But anyway, Cinemax HD can now be found on station 182 and Starz HD on 382 in the San Antonio area if you have the high-def package with the corresponding premium stations. We would have loved to say that they were getting something like National Geographic HD or HGTV HD rather then more high-def movie stations. Even getting MTVs high-def station, MHD, might have been more exciting. But like we said before, more high-def staitons is better than less high-def stations. Right?









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