It's been a long, messy road, but now that TiVo's beaten a victory out of EchoStar in that seemingly-endless DVR patent lawsuit it sounds like the company is trying to exert some muscle -- it's already in talks to bring its service to Time Warner Cable, and sources have told Bloomberg the ultimate plan is to eventually collect royalties from every pay-TV provider in the US. That might sound bullying and even a little trollish, but keep in mind these patents have withstood pretty much every legal challenge EchoStar could throw at them, so TiVo's operating from a position of some certainty here -- especially since it's got license agreements with huge players like Comcast and DirecTV to use as leverage in negotiations as well. Of course, none of this solves any of TiVo's actual problems with its products, and the company's topsy-turvy balance sheet has some analysts thinking its ripe for a buyout by one of the bigs, so things could change dramatically at any minute, but for right now it sounds like your chances of getting the TiVo interface on your cable or satellite company DVR just went up, and that's almost certainly a good thing.

The U.S. Open gets started tomorrow from Bethpage State Park, and beyond the ESPN & NBC coverage, DirecTV is extending its HD Mix channel for all four days for the first time. That should help keep an eye on the leaderboard, main broadcast and whatever combination of specific areas of the course, interviews, or particular golfers one wants to follow, all available in high definition of course. After the Mediate/Woods showdown last year, we hope they're not locked in to doing only four days of broadcasts.

Turns out the rumors were correct, DirecTV has officially announced CEO Chase Carey is resigning as of July 1, and a search for a successor is "under way." Of course, there's no word if the subsequent speculation that the company's next move after its spinoff/merger is a sale to AT&T is at all accurate, but we're sure there will be plenty of viewpoints on the subject in the weeks and months to come.

According to an Associated Press source, DirecTV CEO Chase Carey is in talks to return to News Corp. as Rupert Murdoch's second in command, which at least one analyst believes could be an indication the company will be sold outright soon, possibly to AT&T. Check out the read links for the business details, we're just wondering how a more permanent marriage of the satellite company and U-verse would work.

Read - AP source: DirecTV CEO in talks to join News Corp
Read - Analyst: Carey Departure = DirecTV Sale

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 - Cablevision Adds High-Definition Titles From Starz/Encore To iO TV(R) Video On Demand Service
Read - DIRECTV TO OFFER ESPNU IN ITS CHOICE™ PACKAGE
Read - DIRECTV Delivers Local HD Programming to Customers in Odessa-Midland, Texas
Read - Time Warner adding 5 channels, dropping 2
Read - 21 Additional HD Channels Added to Cox Line-Up in Hampton
Read - COMCAST ADDS ESPNU AND ESPN360.COM TO LINE UP WITH CONTENT
ON TELEVISION, ON DEMAND AND ONLINE

With all the bad news around Windows Media Center this week, many enthusiasts are wondering about the future of Media Center. To say that the past few years have had a few disappointments is an understatement, especially when you think back to the way CableCARD support was implemented and how poorly the Extenders have been supported. Although things look pretty grim for our preferred DVR platform, we're optimistic that things are actually about to get really good in the next year thanks to Windows 7 and some unannounced features and products. Part of the reason we think this is because over the years we've been watching Microsoft develop products that have taken years to catch on and gain dominance. But lets be honest, we're not on the inside and most of what we think will happen is based on rumors and conjecture. With that being said, we've convinced ourselves that the future of Media Center, and the key to wider adoption that we think it deserves, is with Windows Home Server.

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 - DISH Network(R) Adds 30 HD Channels in Hawaii
Read - DISH Network(R) Adds 30 HD Channels in Alaska
Read - DIRECTV to Deliver Local HD Programming to Customers in Lafayette, Ind.
Read - Comcast digital switch update: Bellevue's next, Seattle in fall
Read - FashionTV(R) Introduces New 24/7 FTV(R) HD Channel in the U.S. on DISH Network(R)
Read - National Geographic Channels International Co-Produces Alaskan Killer Shark With Off The Fence Productions
Read - Cox Launches WRIC in HD to Customers in King and Queen County, New Kent, and West Point
Fox News Chicago switched to HD (Thanks, Garst)
Read - Time Warner Cable North East Ohio new HD Channels (Thanks, Justin)
Read - Special Preview: ABC Family HD, Disney HD, HBO2 HD and BET HD (Thanks, Gary)
Read - KMSP Fox 9 news in Minneapolis now in HD (Thanks, Nathan)

It seems DirecTV has gone out of its way to let Charter customers know about the cable company's bankruptcy proceedings, airing ads that said there was no way it could continue to provide more HD channels and that customers needed to be saved from its bankruptcy. Apparently the U.S. District Court in St. Louis agreed the ads went too far in implying the company might be liquidating or about to stop offering service, issuing a temporary restraining order barring the ads. This is far from the first time the law has had to jump in on one side or another of TV providers ads, we're just wondering when they'll jump in on ads touting "choices," highlighting broadband speed without mentioning bandwidth caps and pushing HD channels without copping to known overcompression issues.

We got pretty excited last week when we saw that the DirecTV Twitter feed indicated that the DirecTV HD TiVo was still on track for the second half of 2009 -- as promised. But shortly after the feed was once again updated and the gem isn't due this year after all. We're not sure what caused the mix-up, but it looks like another year of waiting for those TiVo fans who prefer satellite over cable.

DirecTV subs may not notice the company has been spun off, but they might have peeped the new ScoreGuide, letting sports fans watch one channel while keeping scores and start times of live events posted on screen, then letting viewers switch to the appropriate channel easily. Accessed by tuning into any one of DirecTV's sports channels then punching the red button on your remote, it can collapse to show just one game or stay open to show all daily events. Want to avoid clicking over only to find the boxing match is already over two rounds in or you missed a great Kentucky Derby comeback, or yet another triple overtime thriller? We can see how this could be useful.

Hmm, now isn't this interesting? Just months after Liberty Media reached out at the eleventh hour and rescued Sirius XM from imminent bankruptcy, it's now spinning off its entertainment division (Liberty Entertainment) and combining it with DirecTV (which Liberty already controls). We're told that the new Liberty Entertainment will hold 54 percent of DirecTV Group shares and 65 percent interest in the Game Show Network, not to mention three regional sports networks and a few other things not worth mentioning. The move is being made as the "John Malone-controlled vehicle looks to simplify its capital structure," and if all goes well, the paperwork should be completed by the end of the year. Oh, and so far as we can tell, DirecTV consumers won't even notice the shuffling going on behind the scenes.

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)

We can't believe it, but Twitter is really taking over the world. We mean, first celebrities found it and now it seems to be the source of some solid gadget news: like confirmation from DirecTV that the new DirecTV TiVo HD is on schedule to be released by the end of this year. It's been over six months since DirecTV and TiVo announced plans to once again work together, but after the announcement that DirecTV suspended its Media Center tuner project, we had fears that whatever put that project ice, affected the TiVo project as well. Don't get too excited just yet though, as there is still no word if the new DirecTiVo will be missing key features like TiVoToGo and Multi-Room Viewing, like the old one.

DirecTV HD DVR owners keeping an eye on Cutting Edge releases got a special treat this weekend with a new update that enabled multiroom viewing and dual live buffers on HR2x and R22 receivers. Allowing users to pause one tuner for up to 90 minutes while they watch the other, DBSTalk notes this test release is a "Very High Risk" so don't bother calling customer service if it doesn't work properly, and if you missed the downloading window Friday then you'll have to wait for the next test period -- or whenever DirecTV is confident it has worked out all the kinks -- to give the new (or old, if you're a DirecTivo owner) features a try.

[Thanks, Kevin]

Just that quickly, DirecTV's come through with some of the 1080p video on demand promised earlier, debuting Quantum of Solace in both HD and 1080p today. Seven other Bond movies in the "007 Collection" are also available (in HD) until May 7: Casino Royale, Diamonds Are Forever, Die Another Day, Dr. No, From Russia With Love, Goldeneye and Goldfinger. The services is still claiming "the highest HD resolution format available for HD video enthusiasts" and one of the easiest to use on demand interfaces, let us know if they're getting any co-signs from the audience.