The space race is now measured in number of high definition channels, and DIRECTV is continuing with its successful drive to stress HD coverage to attract subscribers. This week, the company announced that it will be adding more than 30 additional HD channels next month, which adds up to a total of more than 130 HD channels. This increase was made possible by the new DIRECTV 11 satellite, which was launched last March. DIRECTV 12 is slated for launch next year.

The company also announced that it will complete its transition to using MPEG-4 compression for its video, which allows for greater efficiency than the MPEG-2 compression used by many video services. DIRECTV also has plans to offer HD movies in 1080p resolution before the end of the year.

The race to offer the most HD channels is in danger of becoming a bit like adding more blades to a razor. At some point, it becomes just a statistic because you don’t have time to watch all those channels. However, if the additional channel happens to carry content that you care about, then the increase is likely to be more important to you. And DIRECTV clearly wants to give you more choices than any other service.

Posted by Alfred Poor, July 30, 2008 6:00 AM