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Washington, D.C. mayor signs bill approving FiOS TV implementation


Go 'head, Adrian -- brush your shoulders off. In a day where politicians are allowed to make and break promises with no real repercussions, the Washington, D.C. mayor deserves a hearty round of applause. After suggesting last May that FiOS would be landing in the District by early 2009, we're now informed that he has signed a bill authorizing the carrier to implement its fiber-based services in the region. Adrian M. Fenty has signed legislation into law that will give Verizon the ability to make FiOS TV available throughout DC over the next nine years, with the first residents able to order service within the next dozen months. Sure, there's a hoop or two more to jump through before this is all set in stone, but it's probably close enough to done to start celebrating.

Comcast delivers 29 HD channels in Seattle / Tacoma, Washington

It's officially the holiday season, and Comcast is officially in the giving mood. Hard though it may be to fathom, the carrier has just unloaded no fewer than 29 new high-definition channels in the Seattle / Tacoma, Washington area. We won't even bother boggling your mind by listing all 29 here, but those ready for an HD overload can hit the read link and prepare to be wowed. 29 new high-def stations in a single day -- that's almost too many to digest at once. Almost.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Comcast going all digital in Seattle, bringing DTAs to the Pacific Northwest

You already know what Comcast's Digital Transport Adapter looks like, and for folks in Salem, Eugene and Corvallis, Oregon (not to mention Seattle, Washington), you'll be seeing 'em in the flesh soon enough. Comcast has announced that its all digital transition will be heading up from Portland and into Seattle in the near future, and it's upsetting quite a few locals with Media Center PC / TiVo setups. Of course, these are just the growing (or should we say "changing") pains associated with a mass switch from analog to digital, but at least in theory, the conversion should free up oodles of bandwidth for the carrier to expand its HD lineup. And remember, a cable company choosing to pipe its channels out in digital is very different than the broadcast change coming in February 2009 -- it's confusing, we know, but the read link does a fairly decent job of spelling everything out.

[Thanks, Doug]

FOX News HD joins the HD lineup in Seattle, WA

Not much to say outside of the headline here, but FOX News HD is now available on Comcast in Seattle, Washington. Curiously, this seems to be the only addition for now, but hopefully it's just testing the water before it unloads a whole gaggle of 'em before the holidays. Hopefully.

Verizon's FiOS TV expansions: November 22, 2008


Verizon's not slacking off as the run-up to the holiday season continues -- probably because folks are apt to have all sorts of free TV watching time here in the next month or so -- so we'll get right down to the releases. Up first are the towns of Middleton, Massachusetts, and the corporately-stacked Wilmington, Delaware, which have just granted the company a video license. Next, we head to the Pacific Northwest to see that Camas, Washington and Gresham, Oregon have agreed to do the same. Finally, we're told that Philadelphia-area residents are being treated to 30 new channels (17 of which are in high-def). That's it for this week -- we'll see you back again in seven days for (hopefully) even more.

Read - Philadelphia channels
Read - Washington expansion
Read - Massachusetts expansion
Read - Oregon expansion
Read - Delaware expansion

DISH Network unloads HD locals in a handful of new markets

Of late, it's been DirecTV doing all the dishing of HD locals, but at long last, we've got its biggest, most bitter rival stepping to the plate and doing some damage, too. As it's fall HD locals rollout continues, DISH Network has gone live with 'em in a bevy of new places. We're talking Florence / Myrtle Beach, SC, Fort Myers / Naples, FL, Greenville / New Bern / Washington, NC, Madison, WI and Wilkes Barre / Scranton, PA. As it stands, the satcaster now offers locals in high-def in 70 markets reaching 71% of the US, but really, all that matters is if you're in that 71%, right?

Broadstripe brings new HD trio to Seattle, WA

We already knew ESPNU HD was headed for Broadstripe, but out of nowhere, the carrier has also found it in its heart to dish out three more to the fine citizens of Seattle, Washington. Upon firing up his HD DVR, tipster Steve found that ESPN2 HD had finally been added alongside FX HD and Disney HD. Unfortunately, the slots in the EPG were just black at the time, but they ought to be firing on all cylinders by now. Let us know if not, okay? We'll try to find someone's hand to slap.

[Thanks, Steve]

KCTS 9 (PBS) moves for all-digital conversion, leaves quality HD shows behind


The times, they are a-changin', and with February 2009 getting closer by the minute, we should probably expect even more situations like this. Put simply, western Washington's local PBS channel had a long-standing history of pleasing HD junkies with a whole swath of unique HD programming on Comcast slot 108 (OTA channel 9.5). Due to the transition to all-digital (or so it says), the HD channel has been shifted to Comcast slot 109 and OTA slot 9.1; that there isn't the problem, though. The issue is that with the move, many of its best high-def programs have been nixed, and the leftovers are being presented "in low-quality DTV," as stated by our tipster. The reaction has been overwhelmingly negative, with pages upon pages of angry comments piling up in a matter of hours. Thankfully, management has posted a note that it is taking notice, but only time will tell if the channel will ever return in its full glory.

[Thanks, Aaron]

Verizon gets official with Washington FiOS TV rollout


Back in May, we heard that Verizon was busy building a regional video hub in the great state of Washington, and for those paying attention on a weekly basis, you would've noticed that quite a few video franchises have been granted to the carrier in a bevy of Evergreen State locales. Nevertheless, we felt it prudent to point out that the company has finally gone public with its decision to tow FiOS TV to the far Northwest, bringing 98 high-def channels to over 80,000 households. For users in the area who sign up prior to October 4th, they'll receive a free HD DVR or an HD Home Media DVR for a year; unfortunately, you'll have to be in select parts of Bothell, Brier, Everett, Edmonds, Kenmore, Lynnwood, Woodinville, Woodway and Snohomish County (for now) in order to take advantage.

Verizon's FiOS TV expansions: September 6, 2008


Another week, another round of FiOS TV announcements with Washington in the mix. This past week, Mountlake Terrace, Mukilteo and Redmond voted to approve video franchises for the carrier, as did the villages of New Hempstead, Hempstead and Kenmore, New York. Finally, we're told that select residents of Ashland, Massachusetts can finally place their orders for FiOS TV after hearing that it was coming in June. We'll see you next week -- here's to hoping your neck of the woods gets covered within the next seven days.

Read - Washington expansion
Read - New York expansion
Read - Massachusetts expansion

Verizon's FiOS TV expansions: August 30, 2008


It has been a pretty quiet week for Verizon on the FiOS TV front, and while a slew of new places were treated to FiOS high-speed internet, just a few locales picked up notices of incoming TV service. Nevertheless, Snohomish County, Washington granted the provider a video franchise, as did the village of Fishkill, New York. Glocester and Smithfield, Rhode Island residents, on the other hand, can place their orders right now should their home be within the service area. We'll see you next week -- here's to hoping your neck of the woods gets covered within the next seven days.

Read - Washington expansion
Read - New York expansion
Read - Rhode Island expansion

Verizon's FiOS TV expansions: August 23, 2008


Maybe you haven't noticed, but Verizon has been throwing FiOS TV to Washington cities on a really regular basis. This week, we see Woodway awarding the carrier with a video franchise, while nine more New Jersey cities -- including parts of Salem County, the city of Camden and the city of Paterson -- get the luxury of ordering. Finally, we've got much of Stafford County, Virginia expecting to receive the fiber-based programming service in the future, though Verizon only promises that rollouts will begin "later this summer," with the rest of the place having to wait anywhere between a few months and a few years to get covered. We'll see you next week -- here's to hoping your neck of the woods gets covered within the next seven days.

Read - Virginia expansion
Read - New Jersey expansion
Read - Washington expansion

Verizon's FiOS TV expansions: August 16, 2008


For the second week in a row now, we've got quite a few locales getting blanketed (or at least getting set for coverage) by FiOS TV. Verizon has announced that its fiber-based television / high-speed internet services are now available in Covina, West Covina and Sepulveda, California. Furthermore, Washington state is getting even more FiOS TV love by awarding the carrier a video franchise in Woodinville. We wrap this week up with confirmation that said service is finally headed to Newburgh, New York after initially hearing that a deal was in the works last December. We'll see you next week -- here's to hoping your neck of the woods gets covered within the next seven days.

Read - California expansion
Read - Washington expansion
Read - New York expansion

Verizon's FiOS TV expansions: August 9, 2008


Coming off a somewhat busy week last week, it seems that Verizon's worker bees are still out in full force (begrudgingly or otherwise) in order to keep those FiOS TV installations going at a rapid pace. Up first, we're seeing the fiber-based programming service head to even more apartments in Northern Virginia, this time to Archstone Apartments in 14 NoVA communities. Next, we're seeing that yet another locale in Washington state (Brier) has awarded Verizon with a video franchise, while four more Massachusetts towns (Northborough, Stoughton, Stow and Sutton) now have the ability to order FiOS TV. We'll see you next week -- here's to hoping your neck of the woods gets covered within the next seven days.

Read - Virginia expansion
Read - Washington expansion
Read - Massachusetts expansion

Verizon's FiOS TV expansions: July 19, 2008


You probably realized that our weekly FiOS TV expansion post was nowhere to be found last week. Just an FYI: that's a direct result of Verizon not announcing a single new locale for its service. Apparently it was shoring 'em up, though, as this week a whole slew of neighborhoods are getting service. We've got eight more communities in New Jersey, yet another Bay State region, Hampton, Virginia and the very first community in Washington state to land a FiOS TV video franchise. If you're near any of these places, check out the links below for all the details. We'll see you next week -- here's to hoping your neck of the woods gets covered within the next seven days.

Read - Washington State expansion
Read - Hampton, Virginia expansion
Read - New Jersey expansion
Read - Massachusetts expansion




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