The data, which has been coveted by advertisers who’ve had a hard time targeting the nascent high-def crowd, will be available in January, 2008.

The Consumer Electronics Association reports that 28 million U.S. homes have high-def sets, but it’s unclear how many are actually watching HDTV programming on any given night, as many HD owners do not have the high-def tuners necessary to display HD channels.

Multichannel News reports that Nielsen’s first challenge in tracking the high-def audience will be to define what is a high-def home.  As of now, Nielsen and clients are considering two such definitions: a home with an HDTV and an HD tuner, and a home with an HDTV, an HD tuner, and reception to at least one channel devoted entirely to HD broadcasts.
 

“People have asked us about the TVs: ‘Is there something wrong with my television’ ‘Is there something wrong with our cables?’” Tony Spires, a local electronics retailer, tells the newspaper. “We just have to do a lot of explaining.”  High-def sleuths in Kentucky are pointing to everything from the local CBS station’s (WKYT) decision to multicast (divide its signal into three channels), to CBS’ source feed, to the transmission of the local cable and satellite providers.

The Herald-Leader reports that even though picture break-up, or sudden blurring, is not uncommon to high-def viewers in any area — especially during sports broadcasts which feature sudden movement –WKYT’s break-ups during March Madness games are a special case.  WKYT  airs three digital channels: the CBS feed, a 24-hour weather channel, and a feed from the CW network.  WKYT officials say they have solved any signal degradation by recently installing new equipment, and are placing the blame on either CBS or the cable or satellite operators.

The Herald-Leader, however, notes that a CBS Sports executive recently blamed signal breakupon multicasting. In support of this assessment, Lexington’s WLEX, for instance, claims its HD picture improved dramatically after dropping a second digital feed.  Nonetheless, WKYT is sticking with its three digital channels: “We were afforded the opportunity to also broadcast The CW network, and we would have been fools not to have taken advantage of that,” said WKYT engineering vp Chas Callaway.

DIRECTV has said it will offer 100 national HDTV channels by year’s end, and Multichannel News reports that DirecTV CFO Michael Palkovic says the satcaster has 70 HD channels under contract.  The company has announced deals with several HD channels yet-to-be launched, including CNN, USA Network, Sci-Fi Channel, the Cartoon Network and The Weather Channel.  Palkovic also added that the 100-channel lineup will include feeds from Sunday Ticket, MLB’s Extra Innings and other sports packages. 

Palkovic said the Sunday Ticket, for example, which offers 13 different NFL games each week, would count as 13 HD channels. “That’s the way you would count that,” Palkovic told Multichannel News.

He said that about 70 or 80 channels would be 24/7, year-round HD channels, and he discounted speculation that DirecTV would add the 15-channel HD lineup from Voom: “First of all, there are no Voom channels, there is nothing like that that people would consider not really quality channels.  We’re talking USA, Sci Fi, some of the Turner networks, The Weather Channel, mainstream programming that’s been around for a long time that’s going to make the leap to HD.”

Tweeter, an early supporter of HDTVs and the new HD DVDs, has seen profits fall over the last year due to shrinking HDTV prices.  Similarly,  Circuit City last month announced the closing of 70 of its stores.

Tweeter says it will restructure the company, investing more heavily in its “Consumer Electronics Playground” stores.  There are currently seven CEP locations, and Tweeter says it will open two new ones in North Carolina this Fall.  Tweeter says all new stores will be CEP.
 

“As we continue to face the challenges of our ever-changing industry, we do so with a renewed focus on the future of our brand and on our ability to deliver the ultimate consumer electronics shopping experience,” said Tweeter CEO Joe McGuire in a statement.

Reuters says the 80GB hard drive will cost roughly $175, and a larger 160GB unit that can record 32 hours of HD programming  will cost about $300.  Once the hard drive is filled to capacity, it can then be removed and stored much like a recordable DVD.
Hitachi says that the hard drives will be introduced next month in Japan, but there is so far no word on when they will be available in the United States; Reuters reports that it could be 1-2 years.

Could this spell trouble for Blu-ray or HD DVD recorders??? 

Multichannel News also reports that Discovery  will debut the Planet Earth episode “Forests” on its Video on Demand channel on March 16.  The on-demand episode of “Forests” will also include behind-the-scenes footage and scenes of upcoming episodes.  Discovery’s on-demand channel is carried by several cable operators, but only Comcast is offering it in HD.   

Planet Earth has been in production for five years and will include 11 one-hour episodes on nature subjects such as mountains, oceans, and forests.  Planet Earth will premiere on the regular Discovery Channel on March 25.
 

The $69 Mega March Madness package (no extra charge for HD games) includes all 64 tournament games, which begin next week.  DirecTV will also offer with the Mega March madness package several interactive features (which require DirecTV Plus receiver).  The Game Mix feature offers up to four broadcasts on a single channel, up-to-the-minute tournament scores and statistics available at the push of a button, and an on-screen tournament bracket that will allow fans to input and track their own game picks.

“This Mega March Madness service is great, because it allows fans to follow their favorite teams and catch the historic moments as they develop throughout the entire tournament regardless of which city fans reside in,” said UCLA basketball coach Ben Howland, whom DirecTV signed as the official spokesman for the Mega March Madness package.

WealthTV is not just a clever name; it’s a network devoted to programming for higher-income viewers.  WealthTV programs now available on TW’s HD VOD include Wealth on the Water, Let’s Shop: Bangkok, and Wealth on Wheels.  WealthTV has struggled to find spots in cable and satellite lineups and hopes to reach a wider audience as part of the HD On Demand menu.

ESPN, the soon-to-be worldwide leader in HD sports, has announced that it will broadcast most all NASCAR, NBA, Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, college football, and NFL Monday Night Football broadcasts in HDTV.  ESPN says it will also air approximately 150 college basketball games in high-def this year.

The high-def games will be on ESPN HD and ESPN 2 HD.

As for the cost of theHDTV expansion, Bryan Burns, ESPN’s vice president for strategic business planning and development, told Broadcasting & Cable that it’s “far less than it was when we started this four years ago. Then, it was massive.”

ESPN will also air 1st and 10 and Cold Pizza in high-def in June, joining shows like SportsCenter, NFL Countdown, and Baseball Tonight on the list of ESPN shows boradcast in HD.