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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Saturday, November 3, 2007

Oceanic cable, DirectTV add more high-definition channels

By Sean Hao
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawai'i's high-definition TV lineup is growing.

Oceanic Time Warner Cable is adding 10 HD channels to its local lineup, including HD versions of seven "value" channels and three "premium" channels.

Separately, satellite provider DirecTV last week started offering HD versions of local affiliates Fox, ABC, CBS and PBS to its Hawai'i customers.

"We just started getting them the other night," said DirecTV subscriber and Waikele resident Randy Dixon. "I'm impressed."

The Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act, passed by Congress in 2004, requires both DirecTV and Dish Network to offer Hawai'i customers digital versions of local affiliates as of June.

However, DirecTV postponed adding the channels because of an unexpected delay in launching a satellite. Dish Network added HD versions of most local channels to its lineup in June.

The new channels give DirecTV customers a total of 72 HD channels, compared with 12 offered locally by Dish Network, said Jason Gardner, owner of the Satellite Guy Inc. in Honolulu.

At Oceanic Cable, which is Hawai'i's largest TV service provider, the HD channel lineup has roughly doubled during the past year to 21 channels, including pay-per-view and premium channels such as HBO HD and Showtime HD.

Starting Monday, that list will grow to 31 channels with addition of an HD version of MTV, Home & Garden HD, Food HD, CNN HD, History HD, A&E HD and Lifetime Movie Network HD. Three new HD premium channels were added last week— Cinemax HD, TMC HD and STARZ HD.

Oceanic Cable's lineup already includes HD versions of most local network affiliates except CBS.

"HD programming continues to be a hot topic, especially as more consumers are purchasing high-definition TVs," said Alan Pollock, vice president of marketing at Oceanic in a news release.

Oceanic Cable plans to add more HD channels to its lineup by the end of the year.

"HD programming offers enhanced quality over the standard channels in terms of the viewer's experience and it is our intention to expand this option choice with the continued acquisition of HD networks in the future," Pollock said.

Reach Sean Hao at shao@honoluluadvertiser.com.