DirecTV Prepares to Launch New HD-Only Programming Tier

Via Multichannel:

DirecTV plans to create a tier of HD-only channels when it rolls out its much-ballyhooed expanded high-definition TV packages, possibly as early as next week.

The new tier will include services that are not simulcasts of standard-definition networks and exist only in high definition. This tier will be one part of the DirecTV’s overall revamping of its HDTV services, which will jump to more than 70 channels this fall.

At one point, the rollout of the satellite provider’s overall expanded HD offering appeared to have been set for next Wednesday, Sept. 19. That was the date cited in an internal DirecTV document first posted on the Web site SatelliteGuys.us.