DISH Goes HD in Los Angeles, Adds New Gear

Satellite TV service announces plans to offer HD channels in the Los Angeles area market as well as showcasing new HD satellite receivers.

Satellite TV service DISH Network yesterday announced they were launching new high definition TV channels in the Los Angeles area market, as well as new satellite receivers designed to accommodate their growing HD customer base.

DISH Network said they will offer four different programming packages to choose from. This coincides with the company announcing they are also expanding their HD channel lineup during the year by adding five new VOOM HD channels, ESPN2 HD and Universal HD, among others.

To accommodate this expansion of new channels, as well as new markets, DISH said they will begin transmitting HD channels in MPEG 4. This will allow them to maximize available satellite bandwidth. To this end, they also yesterday introduced a new ViP series of HD satellite receivers which combine MPEG4 and MPEG2 signal capability. The first model in this family is the ViP211, which will price at $49.99 for new customers.