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HD channel expansion roundup


Once upon a time, a smattering of new HD channels in one major metropolitan area was a huge deal. Nowadays, it's almost expected that one area or another will experience some HD expansion each week. In order to keep things nice and tidy around here, we deliver high-def expansions, market expansions and anything else dealing with HD channel growth right here. If we missed an area that you're familiar with, drop us a line in comments so everyone can catch up. The more the merrier, we say!

Read - DIRECTV Delivers Local HD Programming to Customers in Harrisonburg, Va.
Read - Telemundo 47 Now Available In HD On Time Warner Cable New York
Read - Bright House Connects With YES 'National' In Orlando
Read - Time Warner adds HD movie channel, expands HD tier 33%
Read - Some Oceanic Time Warner customers can soon watch Smithsonian Networks (Hawaii)

WJXT throws the HD lever in Jacksonville, Florida


Jacksonville residents looking for a new take on the evening news can finally see their dreams come true. As of now, WJXT -- an independent station serving the Florida city and its surrounding communities -- is broadcasting its newscasts in high-definition. At first, the noon broadcast will be the only one in HD, though other airings should follow suit in short order. Locals who rely on DISH Network and DirecTV will sadly be unable to enjoy the new look without an OTA antenna, though WJXT vice president and general manager John Rafferty has assured us that its high-def signal will be picked up by both "soon."

[Thanks, Eric]

South Florida's WSVN converts newscasts to high-definition

South Florida's NBC 6 became the first English-language network in the area to take its newscasts to high-def, but now those who refuse to watch news in SD finally have another choice. Starting this week, WSVN -- the FOX affiliate in the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale market -- will be airing its local news broadcasts in greater clarity, and now that this station has hopped on board, we reckon the outcasts will be following suit in short order.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

AT&T's U-verse TV expands to more South Florida homes


AT&T vowed to make its U-verse TV service available to more homes on an ongoing basis when it first launched in South Florida, and expand it has. One tipster down in sunny Ft. Lauderdale just received a postcard in the mail informing him that the service was available for his domicile, and upon investigating, he found that it was actually available now for the majority of Broward County (including Ft. Lauderdale, Deerfield / Pompano Beach, Coconut Creek, Margate, Coral Springs, and Davie). Chances are, you're probably just kicking back enjoying the break anyway -- why not phone up the carrier and see if your address is in the lucky list?

[Thanks, Sam]

Bright House Networks to host up MLB Network HD in Tampa Bay

We get the feeling that we'll see quite a few carriers proudly announcing carriage deals with MLB Network during the run-up to its launch (January 1, 2009), and Bright House Networks is getting us started by promising its Tampa Bay, Florida customers the channel come the new year. Starting in 2009, MLB Network will be available in SD on digital cable channel 159 and in HD on slot 744, and Joe Durkin, senior director corporate communications at the carrier, has confirmed that it will be added at no extra charge. For those unaware, the channel will carry "live games, original programming, highlights, classic games and coverage of baseball events," and its signature show -- MLB Tonight -- is obviously aiming to take viewers away from Karl Ravech, John Kruk and the rest of the gang at ESPN's 'Baseball Tonight.'

Researchers achieve new efficiency record of blue OLEDs

Ever since Sony's XEL-1 hit the market, pundits have pointed to the (comparatively) short-lived blue OLED material as its biggest hamstring. Researchers have been toiling around the clock in order to bring the blue lifepsan in line with its green and red siblings, and now it seems like a team of Gators are that much closer to the promise land. Reportedly, a gaggle of whiz-kids from the University of Florida have "achieved a new record in efficiency of blue organic light-emitting diodes, and because blue is essential to white light, the advance helps overcome a hurdle to lighting that is much more efficient than compact fluorescents." Franky So (pictured) and his diligent crew were able to reach a peak blue OLED efficiency of 50 lumens per watt, which is halfway to his goal of at least 100 lumens per watt. Hurry it up, folks -- CES is just around the corner.

[Via Physorg]

Cox dumps 14 new high-def stations on Pensacola, Florida


We know it's the season for giving and all, but this is pretty extreme. Cox Communications has sent out a flier to its Pensacola, Florida customers informing them that a staggering 14 new high-definition channels are on the way. Seems about right, though, especially given that the last major HD update in the area came back in early June. We won't bother listing all 14 in this space; instead, we'll direct you to the read link to soak it all in. [Warning: PDF read link]

[Thanks, Scott]

Travel Channel HD follows the road to Comcast's Jacksonville, FL system

We assumed that the solo addition in Houston was an anomaly, but it seems that Comcast may be pushing these stragglers in more locales than that. Out of nowhere, the carrier has added Travel Channel HD in Jacksonville, Florida, a followup of sorts to the two it added just weeks ago. Moral of the story? If you're a Comcast user, be on the lookout for one or two here and there, you just might get lucky.

[Thanks, Matthew]

BHN brings four new HD stations to Tampa Bay, Florida

Well, what do you know? Two of the four HD newcomers that landed in Indy earlier today have appeared down in Tampa Bay, Florida. According to an ecstatic local, Golf HD (739), USA HD (740), Bravo HD (742) and SciFi HD (741) have all appeared in the Tampa / St. Petersburg area, keeping it somewhat in line with its Orlando-area lineup. Happy surfing!

[Thanks, Kaylan]

AT&T lights up U-verse TV in Orlando, Florida


Back in July, AT&T's U-verse services went live in South Florida. Now, those in the central region (Orlando, more specifically) can finally shake the little brother syndrome and indulge as well. On the same day in which AT&T activated U-verse in the Triangle region of North Carolina, it has begun to sell service to select parts of Orlando. The launch will provide the "first serious threat to Bright House Networks' dominance as the main cable provider in Central Florida," much like it's infringing on TWC territory in NC. Sadly, we're still waiting on confirmation of service areas from AT&T, but you can phone your local retail store to see if any information has leaked out to those channels.

Tallahassee enjoys new DirecTV HD locals alone & lonely

Tallahassee, Florida DirecTV customers, we hope you're enjoying your WCTV/CBS, WTWC/NBC and WTLH/Fox high definition locals, because you're getting them alone. This solo market addition to the DirecTV offerings brings the total to 116 (five left for 121), although we're not sure that will make Panhandle residents feel more included. Unofficially, a commenter reports WTTV in Indianapolis is live now as well, maybe you can form a support group?

Bright House gives refunds for 8-hour service outage in Florida

With all the price hikes and complaints about quality, it's not often that you find a story tied to a cable company that's positive. And in fairness, it's totally not positive that Bright House Networks' subscribers in Florida had to deal with an eight hour TV outage starting at around 3:00PM Monday, but just bear with us. In an effort to express its "sincerest apologies," the carrier has decided to automatically issue credits to affected customers. Sure, the refund won't be huge, but it's a sentiment that's rare and much appreciated in today's cutthroat business world. The outage was unlike any other outside of times in which a hurricane had struck, and a corrupt database used to deliver programming to cable boxes was blamed for the incident. We know, you're still upset that you missed the series finale of Boston Legal and / or the trouncing of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but hopefully a few pennies back on your next bill will make things easier to get over.

Comcast adds a few to HD lineup in Naples, Florida


As is happening in many areas across North America, Comcast is shuffling the EPG in Naples, Florida as it looks to transition some analog stations to digital. But aside from the minor SD movers and shakers, we're interesting in the palm-full of new HD stations that'll be coming along for the ride. Beginning on December 8th, viewers in Collier and Lee Counties will see Versus HD and Golf HD emerge as their own separate channels, while AMC HD joins eight days later with the SD feed of MLB Network. Hopefully an HD variant of that last one isn't too far out of the picture.

Comcast gets Cartoon Network HD / E! HD to Jacksonville, Florida

So, what's it like being a Comcast subscriber in Jacksonville, Florida? You know -- to pay oodles of cash for a service and get high-def stations dropped on you in twos and threes rather than by the dozen? From the outside looking in, it's tough to say if the slow and steady approach is actually admired or loathed, but whatever your feelings on the matter, two more are headed to the Florida city. As of now, locals can find Cartoon Network HD and E! HD tucked away in the EPG, and if history is any judge, you will all be seeing a couple more in a month or two. Fingers crossed!

[Thanks, Matthew]

Verizon gears up for FiOS rollout in 27,000 Aimco apartments


It's incredibly obvious that one of Verizon's main opportunities for growth in FiOS TV is locking down contracts with housing facilities and apartment complexes, and while we've seen some small to medium-scale rollouts before, this one takes things to a whole 'nother level. Last year, the provider inked a deal with Aimco that would eventually bring fiber-based FiOS services to residents of some 27,000 apartments in 11 states across the nation. Now, 100 Aimco properties from coast to coast will be lit up with FiOS TV / internet / digital voice services prior to the onset of 2009, and that should make for quite a few happy tenants this holiday season.

[Image courtesy of Apts247]




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