EchoStar Communications' DISH Network satellite TV service will carry local high-definition TV channels, via its satellite TV service, to customers in New York City and surrounding counties.
Customers who sign up for any of the new DishHD packages can take advantage of more than 1700 hours of HD programming every week, including their local HD broadcasts.
DISH Network offers local channels via satellite to New York area customers in 14 counties.
DISH Network said it would launch HD local channels through its satellite service in up to 50 markets in 2006, starting with New York and reaching more than 50 percent of U.S. TV households with local HD channels by year's end. To make this possible, the company is beginning to transmit newly added HD channels using MPEG-4 signal compression.
