While DirecTV continues to outpace its satellite competitor, Dish Network, in the local HD department, the EchoStar DBS firm is not far behind. Dish has promises of its own to keep, and despite some recent financial and hardware setbacks that have seen its subscriber list shrink a bit (attributed, in part, to the faulty U.S. economy), it continues to push for attaining at least 100 local HD markets by New Year's Eve.
Dish said it continues to be the third-largest pay-TV producer (after Comcast and DirecTV) and five recent additions have grown Dish's local-into-local HD penetration to 70 markets. The satellite service said its footprint from space now reaches slightly more than 70 percent of American TV households.
The five most recent local HD add-ons include these small and medium markets: Florence-Myrtle Beach, S.C. (DMA No. 104); Ft. Myers-Naples, Fla. (DMA No. 62); Greenville-New Bern-Washington, N.C. (DMA No. 103); Madison, Wis. (DMA No. 85); and Wilkes Barre-Scranton, Pa. (DMA No. 54).
