There's nothing here that wasn't apparent already, but SES ASTRA is just now getting around to boasting about a dozen HD channels that it's hosting to broadcast the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Ready for an exhaustive list? The channels broadcasting the Olympics in HD include for the UK, BBC HD, for France, France 2 HD and CANAL+ HD, for Germany, ANIXE HD, for Poland, TVP HD, for the Slovak Republic, STV3, for the Netherlands, 1 HD, for Belgium een HD, for Spain, TELEDEPORTE HD, for Sweden, Viasat HD and SVT HD and for Austria, ORF HD. So yeah, if you somehow missed this for the first week of the Games, at least you're clued in now.

[Image courtesy of Beijing 2008]

SES ASTRA's at it again, this time adding ARTE HD's German programming starting July 1. Francophones can look forward to their edition in HD at a later date, but for now this brings the total number of HD channels on ASTRA up to 35. Unfortunately there's not a cool sports event tie-in like Euro 2008 for this launch but fans of culture and the arts (yeah, sure) should have plenty to check out in HD.

SES Astra doesn't seem to have trouble filling Sat.1 and ProSieben HD's transponder, its latest HD channel is German speaking broadcaster ORF HD. Scheduled to kick off May 1, it should offer all of ORF1's HD content including all 31 UEFA EURO 2008 matches.That's a good number, since SES Astra and SES Sirius now offer a total of 31 HD channels via satellite including BSkyB, BBC, Discovery, National Geographic, Canal+, M6 and others, with plans to reach 100 channels by 2010. Astra and ORF will team up on marketing the new channel and could possibly add more HD programming in the future, which should hopefully bring the end to any more HD contraction stories out of Europe.

As the European HD changes continue to roll out, along comes news that Canal Digitaal is getting set to launch its first HD channels in the Dutch market. Details are fairly scarce at the moment, but we are hearing that National Geographic HD and Discovery Channel HD will indeed be landing in April, and negotiations are still ongoing to throw Dutch Classic Music Channel BravaHDTV into that mix. Reportedly, the HD tier will cost a stiff €9.95 ($15) per month after the first free month that's provided to all that wish to accept, but here's to hoping that becomes a bargain as more channels are added in.

[Thanks, Richard]

Nearly 15 months after ASTRA first promised to bring HD to Spain, the nation's first high-definition channel has gone live. Canal+ HD -- which is part of Sogecable's digital pay-TV package Digital+ -- has launched on ASTRA and promises to deliver "premium movies, series and sports events such as the 2008 European Soccer Championship whose 31 matches will be broadcast all in HD." To promote (and likely celebrate) the occasion, SES ASTRA and Sogecable have entered into a partnership to trumpet its new offer, which will include "joint commercial and marketing activities for retailers, customers and the TV viewers." Counting the addition of Canal+ HD, ASTRA now broadcasts some 29 HD channels across Europe, and of course, it couldn't close out a press release without boldly proclaiming that it "expects to transmit 100 HD channels" by the end of 2010. Trying to keep up with the Joneses, we presume?

It wasn't too awfully long ago that Astra was tooting its own horn about 20 extra HD channels hitting the European front, but not only did the company maintain its word, it exceeded expectations as well. In a recent announcement, the satellite provider boasted that it is now broadcasting 26 high-definition channels across Europe, including BSkyB, Discovery, National Geographic, and The History Channel from the UK, CANAL+, M6, and TF1 from France and Premiere, and ProSieben, Sat1, and Anixe from Germany. As if this weren't good enough (it never is), Astra is also planning to match DirecTV's recent claim and offer up 100 HD channels -- but it'll likely be closer to 2010 before Europe reaches the coveted milestone.

While receiving new HD channels on American soil is certainly exciting news, we get extra giddy each time an overseas destination gets struck by HD goodness. While Poland just received another boost to its HD lineup, Europe and Spain are now set to receive 20 additional HD channels of their own. According to Ferdinand Kayser, president and general manager of Astra, Europeans will receive a bevy of new HD channels such as "Discovery, ProSieben, BBC, Sky, SAT 1, Premiere, Canal Sat and Anixe" before the year's end. While dates aren't as certain on the Spanish front, Astra still plans to deliver these same channels to Spain in the near future, and also stated that the Spanish High Definition Forum is alive and well within their country. Now, when can we North American chaps expect a similar announcement?