DirecTV launches 21 new HD channels
By Ben Drawbaugh 
posted Sep 26th 2007 8:25AM
posted Sep 26th 2007 8:25AM
- A&E (Channel 265)
- Animal Planet (Channel 282)
- Big Ten Network (Channel 220)
- CNN (Channel 202)
- The Discovery Channel (Channel 278)
- The History Channel (Channel 269)
- The Movie Channel East (Channel 544)
- NFL Network (Channel 212)
- Showtime West (Channel 540)
- Showtime too (Channel 538)
- The Smithsonian Channel (Channel 267)
- The Science Channel (Channel 284)
- Starz Comedy (Channel 519)
- Starz East (Channel 522)
- Starz West (Channel 540)
- Starz Edge (Channel 520)
- Starz Kids and Family (Channel 518)
- TBS (Channel 247)
- TLC (Channel 280)
- Versus / The Golf Channel (Channel 604)
- The Weather Channel (Channel 362)
WOOT! I did good, right ben?
but now, I'm going back to bed.
Not sure I know what you're referring to.
You can customize your guide to remove the SD versions of the HD channels. That way there is no confusion. It's very easy to do under the menu/favorites section of the setup menu.
Thanks for that info!!
I WILL REMOVE ALL SD!!!!!!!! lol.
Exactly - this is very easy. I've already done it for SNY and Yes.
I'm shocked - I'm actually in shock that this has finally happened. Someone pinch me!
I can't wait to get home to check them out!
Is there a way to automatically switch your season passes over to the HD channel?
I still bummed that FX, SciFi and ESPNews aren't live yet :(
It seems that on the H20 if you direct dial, they go to SD, and on the HR20 it goes to the HD. Maybe they just need to update the H20 software.
Ben, read the third comment on this list.
No food network my wife is going to be ticked
Yeah, I read it, I read every comment. The fact of the matter is that most people don't use that feature so they won't notice. Personally I don't mind either way, but I would prefer it if they'd remap all the HD channels together.
The new graphics on The Weather Channel HD are amazing!
wow if you take away the premiums like Starz and showtime and the movie channel youre left with only about 13 new channels. and only 3 of those are not on Dish already. Damn I became a Dish FanBoi. :-)
Dang it. I just got my HD receiver last night and now I have to wait 7 hours until i get off work just to check if they guy installed the BBC!
@x24, i had an HD receiver installed over a month ago and they installed the BBC, it came in the HD receiver box, so i wouldnt worry :)
Its great that they are here, no if we could just get them to actually broadcast HD. Only 4 channels were giving HD programming this morning.
BTW to fix the tuning preference from SD to HD update your software. Press the reset button next to the card and when the blue screen comes up tellin you your reciever is "starting up" type 02468 on your remote. That will force a software download.
That worked! It downloaded new software onto both my HD units!
I did the software update. Got it no problem, but now my TODO list is EMPTY! I'm hoping it just takes some time to populate again...
Anyone know?
I'm receiving all of the new channels fine, but when I updated the software on all of my H20's, the only Guide I get is "All Channels". Is this normal?
argh, they tell me i need to subscribe to Discovery HD, but they took away my Discover SD... this is just a tad bit frustrating and I have no say over what goes on the plan, so I can't call them up and ask what the heck is going on!
Anyone know a quick resolution to this?
Gee, how impressive. I watch exactly one of those channels.
I'm only receiving the HD channels I had before, and this is happening on all 3 of my HD receivers in my house, I do have the b-band converter on them all and have reset them all, have tryied software update with typing in 02468 on startup, anyone else having issues?
Mine was not getting the Congrats page and no signal on the 103b satellite. When they installed the new dish and receivers they were supposed to put a new 6x8 multi switch and didn't. After putting one of those in I was fine.
check to see if you are getting the smithsonian channel. That seems to be the only HD channel that was added for me. I can see the channels, but they say I don't subscribe to any of them. I just don't understand... argh!
To those having trouble getting the new channels:
1) Good help available at http://dbstalk.com
2) The HR10-250 (DirecTV's HiDef TiVo box) cannot receive these channels. Only the HR20 DVR or the H20 or H21 HD receivers can.
3) BBCs must be attached inline on the back of the box and a 5-LNB dish must be installed.
4) The most common installation issue is obsolete multiswitches. If you have more than 4 total DirecTV cables in the house, you have a multiswitch somewhere before the dish cables split off to the various rooms. According to posts, some contract installers have been installing older multiswitches as late as yesterday.
ONLY THE ZINWELL WB68 (or the WB616) WILL WORK. I don't care what the installer or DirecTV's customer service people tell you. ONLY THE ZINWELLS will work with the new satellite.
Call directv tech. support and have them replace your dish with the new version.Its free but before you let go the techn have them properly align the dish and see to it you are getting all satelites, critical is sat 103 & 99
I was so happy when I got home from work this morning and BLAM! New Channels!
Mexigun
No sci-fi, no FX, no cartoon network. No switch, somebody wake me up when they get the good channels up :)
Were there any changes to the listings for the old HD channels as well, i.e. is ESPN HD still 73, or is it now 206.1?
Sure wish they would be a little more transparent on dates too :p.
Reading the satellite forums this morning after this is the best comedy around. It shows how many of the so-called experts are truly clueless based on their comments. The best comedy in months. Clearly, so many people talk themselves into what they want to believe is so, its very revealing.
@ zoltek
Thanks. I couldn't resist and went home for lunch just to check my box and the guy did install the BBC. I also checked and he installed the Zinwell WB68.
I believe the new channels showed up sometime last night around 11pm Eastern. I was trying to edit my favorites when it changed to the "downloading software" screen. I thought I pressed the buttons on the remote too fast that it launched something (there's quite a lag on the H20). After that the GUI fonts changed to something very clear, and the channel list on the favorites menu scrolled smoothly. Plus I've seen some of the channels on the "new" list working last night.
Also, there is a partial HD authorization problem.
Some folks are not receiving all the HD movie channels, such as StarzHD, even though they subscribe to that movie package. The solution is for customer service to flip HD authorization off and on. Somehow that causes the full HD package to be enabled.
I was one of those. They readded each channel individually.
I really want Sci-Fi. I wish it was part of the original distribution. They say it will be in October, but knowing DirectTV, it will be October 31st instead of October 1.
- Roger
Troubleshooting FAQ here:
http://www.dbstalk.com/showpost.php?p=1127841&postcount=1
Great news, but the creation of the HD Extra Pack sucks however. $4.99 extra to get some channels that were already available. While HDNet is nice, I'm not sure I want to pay $5 extra for it.
Agreed, but that $4.99 will also include MGM, and in any event if you had HD Access yesterday, you will not pay that $4.99, at least for a while.
can't use diplexers, thanks to Kevin and his troubleshooting link, now I see the new HD channels, but I lost my backup off-air antenna for those bad weather days
There is a way to diplex, but it is not DirecTV approved at this time.
Move the BBC on that line to the far end of the far diplexer. This works for reasonable cable run lengths. This way the BBC converts the frequency before the diplexed segment, avoiding interference. But line loss increases. YMMV.
The only channel I lament not having on Dish Network is TWC. All the others are either carried by Dish or I don't care about.
wheres the other 79 21 is great and all and if they promised 21 and i got 21 i would be a directv fanboy but when you promise 100 and deliver less than a quater of what you promise that is incompotence and they do not deserve on single one of my hard earned half pennes
I really wish Dish would quit paying these guys to slam any DirecTV HD info out there. I for one really like only needing one dish. Oh and the promise for 100 HD is by the end of the year.... SO CHILL!
I've had nothing but prtoblems since DirecTV started offering the new package yesterday. My HD in the bedroom works great but the one in the family room is another issue. Most often, I get "searching for signal." Don't understand why the upstairs HD works but the downstairs doesn't and they are on the same sattellite dish. There is something hanging from the dish that looks like a splitter of some sort to transfer the signal to 3 tv's we have in the house.
I was looking to score some major points with my wife by getting HGTV in HD, but I guess I'm still on hold.
Anyone know why HGTV HD and Food HD aren't a part of this first group?
I just had to cycle the power on my old SD RCA box upstairs to get it to work again once the new HD channels went live.
I have the oval 5 LNB dish, but the setup error says "your dish is set to oval 5lnb,but the receiver detected 0 satellite. " Somebody help me, I'm confused.
It's about time we got some more HD-Lite channels! Still, Dish has more HD-Lite channels.
Actually, this deal is bogus. It only applies to RESIDENTIAL customers only. Good for everyone here, we're really happy for you, but when we called DirecTV to inquire they informed us that since we're technically a CORPORATE account, we're NOT F**KING ELIGIBLE for this. Can someone please tell me why this is? The only reason we signed up for satellite television in the first place was so we could receive CNNHD when it came out and now we're doublecrossed.