Not that DirecTV CEO Chase Casey and his chairman John Malone have begun grabbing each other by the ties yet, but reports are flowing that the two aren't in agreement about the future structure of DirecTV Latin America. Liberty Media, which has a controlling stake in the satcaster, could actually spin DirecTV LA off once Liberty gains full control -- at least, that's the vibe being felt from Liberty CEO Greg Maffei. Carey commented that he wasn't "a fan of financial re-engineering," noting that spinoffs and "similar engineering options haven't been particularly successful." On a slightly related note, he also made mention that the satcaster's exclusive NFL Sunday Ticket deal may not remain that way after it expired in 2011 due to "cost considerations." Hate to say it, DirecTV, but we're pretty sure cable / fiber users nationwide won't feel sorry for you.

[Image courtesy of Business Week, thanks Vanbrothers]

With the kickoff of the regular NFL season imminent, and the first full Sunday of football in what seems like forever, you might be wondering which games will be available in your area in HD -- they'll all be in HD, but you know what we mean. Well luckily someone with much more time on their hands then we have, has done all the leg work and created some great maps that make it easy to quickly assess the situation. We expect that each week the maps will be updated with the games on both Fox and CBS, -- which happen to include those games that you may have to watch the first quarter in SD on CBS -- so head on over and check it out, unless of course you have the NFL Sunday Ticket, which of course means you can watch any game you want anyways.

[Via AVSForum]

We'd never doubt our old friend Ken H at AVSForum and his magic 8-ball, so it's no surprise that when Sports Video Group interviewed the VP of engineering at CBS, he confirmed all of the network's NFL games this season will be produced in 1080i. Unfortunately, due to a lack of network capacity, it's possible that the late game of a double header could start out distributed in SD, before switching to a high definition feed later, and halftime highlights will be SD-only. Both of those situations will be resolved by the '09 season when CBS' NFL contract requires it go all-HD, all the time - as the last NFL-free weekend comes to a close, news that the suffering will soon end eases the pain...a little.

[Via HD Sports Guide & AVSForum]

Pardon us for asking when we know the answer, but are you ready for some football? With the Brett Favre saga saturating the NFL headlines, it's a sigh of relief to read something unrelated to the newest New York Jet. AT&T U-verse users who find themselves absorbed in their fantasy football league will be utterly elated to find that Yahoo! Sports' Fantasy Football is now available directly in the U-bar. The interactive application enables users to "conveniently track their fantasy football team and receive customized information on their favorite NFL teams directly on their U-verse TV," though it won't make piecing together a winning team any easier.

Oh yeah, it's that time of year again as this Sunday will kick off the NFL pre-season with the Hall Of Fame game in HD. Every season since we hopped on the HD bandwagon, we've seen more and more games get the HD treatment and the NFL pre-season isn't any different. Unlike regular season NFL games that are produced by CBS, NBC, ESPN and the NFL Network; pre-season games are usually produced by a local station which can sometimes mean, no HD for you. Some are stepping up to the plate to deliver all the HD goodness for the first time this year, and proud of it, but others, not so much. As always, you can check out HD Sports Guide to find out which games will be in HD in your area -- even though they still don't believe CBS is producing all of their NFL games in HD this year -- but it will also be worth your time to check out the NFL Network from time to time which replays just about every pre-season game in the league -- but not all in HD.

Let's face it -- there's hardly a good reason to spend a few good hours of your night glued to a preseason matchup where the starters barely even sniff the field, but those hardcore Bengals fans who vehemently disagree will be thrilled by this. The team has announced that, for the first time, each of the club's four preseason tilts will be broadcast in high-definition and presented by hhgregg. If you're losing your marbles right now in excitement, calm down and give the read link a look for the HD schedule (assuming you don't already know it).

[Image courtesy of Weblo]

For years, we've wondered why Inside the NFL, with its sweet NFL Films footage and in depth coverage of one of the best sports to watch in high definition, was stuck in SD; but the show's move to Showtime has remedied that. TV Week reveals the upcoming season will be produced for your HDTV, the only proper format considering we get the games live in HD and daily highlights on ESPN-HD, why should a weekly magazine show be any different? If you miss an episode Wednesday night at 9 p.m. (starting September 10), expect plenty of opportunities to see it again with about 10 replays per week, hosted by Cris Collinsworth, Phil Simms and James Brown plus a series of guest hosts. Thanks Showtime, for letting HBO know how things should be done -- seriously, Bill Maher going HD first should have been a crime.

We first heard that ESPN believed it had the solution to the NFL Network's carriage problems last week, and today the analysts at SNL Kagan believe they may know what the two sports power houses have in mind. The theory goes that ESPN would take over the network and merge it with another mediocre success, ESPN Classic. Then the two could be offered to providers under a new name -- we're thinking ESPN 8, THE OCHO. Providers would be happy to kill two birds with one stone, since the viewership of ESPN Classic is so low and the NFL Network costs so much, and customers would finally have access to the rest of the NFL games. Makes sense to us.

The NFL Network's strategy to gain carriage on the biggest cable company's most popular tiers, caused quite a ruckus last year when many subscribers almost missed the biggest game of the year, in what ended up being a reverse preview of the Super Bowl -- and a perfect setup for the biggest choke in NFL history. It appears now that with some help from ESPN, we may not be in store for a repeat this year. Although no details have been revealed, it is being reported -- by the journal that require a subscription -- that the four letter network is in talks that may lead to it helping resolve the fledgling network with its struggles to obtain carriage.

Wow, how long have we been waiting for this? The Tiffany Network that practically invented football in HD, has been making way too many HD fans who follow the lower ranked teams in the NFL -- poor Browns' fans -- suffer through SD football just about every Sunday for as long as we can remember. Meanwhile the last broadcast network to go HD, would deliver almost every game in HD, every week. Well enough is enough, and the very credible Ken H from the AVS Forum has brought out his Magic 8 Ball -- which has a much track record then the one on our desk -- and confirmed that CBS is going to live up to its promise that for the 2008-2009 season every single NFL game on CBS will be presented in HD. All we can say is, about time.

Eagles fans, we can't guarantee you'll return to the top of the NFC East this season, but we can say you'll enjoy an Eagles Television Network lineup produced entirely in HD. Owner Jeffrey Lurie's film production experience (and we're sure an overpriced stadium beer or two) is apparently to thank for the transition, facilitated by some forward thinking during a recent master control upgrade, and new cameras from Panasonic. Unfortunately, the monitors in the stadium will still be standard def only, with no chance of an upgrade before 2009 at the earliest, but with Philly's history, odds are we can expect them before another sports championship in the city (though the Flyers may have something to say about that).

One may assume that Bermuda residents / visitors wouldn't even care to spend a spare moment inside watching the tube when the weather outside is so lovely. Said person obviously hasn't heard of Thursday night football on the NFL Network. Starting this month, Bermuda's CableVision has tossed in two new HD networks -- CNN HD (400) and NFL Network HD (407) -- which brings the grand total on the carrier to ten. It also noted that the HD surcharge will remain the same at $12 per month. If you haven't found a way to blow that incoming stimulus check (and you've got a thing for travel), um, here's your sign.

It's no secret: the NFL Network isn't in nearly as many homes as the league had hoped when it launched in 2003. As it stands, the channel has only wiggled into 10 million abodes, whereas the NFL was estimating 32 million. At the network's third annual "upfront" presentation, commissioner Roger Goodell looked media buyers and advertisers in the eye and stated that it would "make the NFL Network a success." Not surprisingly, the biggest obstacle here is distribution, but it seems the league is adamant to find ways to broaden the channel's audience. We suppose the battles will live on, eh?

IPTV providers relying on SES Americom's IP-PRIME service could soon have some excellent news for their customers, as the aforementioned firm has just landed a deal with NFL Network. Just days after announcing that it was bringing HD service to a solid dozen telcos, the outfit is now able to bring NFL Network to its customers. Interestingly, the release doesn't specifically mention carrying SD and / or HD feeds, but hopefully the latter will indeed be made available. It is noted that the station is now accessible by all IP-PRIME operators throughout the US, but each operator will still have to sign "individual carriage deals with NFL Network in order to offer the channel to their subscribers." Oh, goodie.

Good news for folks hankering to get a load of ON Networks' Draftguys TV (in HD) without forking out for an Apple TV -- the channel, alongside Play Value, has just launched on TVTonic. For those unaware, the aforementioned website provides free online TV, some of which is shown in high-definition. Thanks to another recent partnership between it and GTtv, Invisible Walls has also joined the fray, though it's currently being beamed in lowly SD. Ready to dive in? Scoot on over to its website and take a look.