The REELZ channel, a channel devoted to everything movies, is normally broadcast in standard definition on DISH Network, but two special programming events, DISH will broadcast REELZ in HD for customers with qualifying programming packages.

The move to HD is is a temporary one and appears to be happening to celebrate the airing of two Emmy-winning movie events. The first event, The Kennedys began airing on Sunday, November 6th and the second, The Pillars of the Earth is set to start on Sunday, December 4th.

A recent press release reveals that DISH Network will be airing all of the REELZ channel’s programming in HD during the time between those two movie events, giving viewers an opportunity to experience REEZ programming such as Hollywood Dailies – a program that is considered to be the channel’s signature entertainment show – in high definition.

“We’re thrilled REELZ will be in high definition nationwide on DISH Network for two Emmy®-winning miniseries in ‘The Kennedys’ and ‘The Pillars of the Earth’,” said Stan E. Hubbard REELZCHANNEL CEO. “DISH viewers will have the opportunity to watch these movie events just as the moviemakers intended in stunning high definition bringing a truly cinematic experience into their living rooms.”

There was no word on whether or not DISH Network subscribers can expect to see REELZ broadcast in HD again or whether it may become a permanent part of the programming offered. Perhaps this is the company’s way of “testing the waters” in order to gauge demand for the channel’s HD version.

DISH subscribers with the “America’s Top 120” package as well as higher-tier programming packages will be able to see REELZ in high definition until December 14th, according to the press release, which details the plan as follows:

“The Kennedys starts on Sunday, November 6, 2011 at 8pm ET and at 8pm PT with the first two episodes airing back to back. The next four episodes air one per night Monday, November 7-10 starting at 8pm ET and at 8pm PT. The two hour conclusion to The Kennedys airs Sunday, November 13 at 8pm ET and 8pm PT.”

“The Pillars of the Earth starts on Sunday, December 4, 2011 at 8pm ET and at 8pm PT with the first two episodes airing back to back. The next seven episodes will air one per night starting Tuesday, December 6-12 at 8pm ET and at 8pm PT.”

I can only imagine how hectic things were for the DISH Network technical staff that were responsible for correcting a major outage with the satellite in the 129 degree orbital location yesterday.

Yours truly did not have a clue anything was wrong until a visitor to my site dropped me a line and asked me if I had any idea when the problem would be corrected. I was unaware of the problem for two reasons. Firstly, I wasn’t watching TV when the outage struck and secondly, I would not have noticed it if I had been watching TV. The reason for that is that my service was upgraded to the “Eastern Arc” installation in the spring and my service is not reliant on the satellite located at 129 degrees.

DISH Network is not saying exactly what caused the problem and is calling it an “anomaly,” but I suppose they have their reasons. I cannot ever remember getting a call or any other notification from my power company advising me what the cause of a power outage was, and a power outage is a lot more disruptive than losing some channels on my television.

Not surprisingly DISH Network’s telephone lines were swamped with calls and many subscribers were not able to get through to the company. Not only are phone systems limited when it comes to the number of calls they can handle, but there are also a finite number of DISH Network employees available to answer phones at any given time and when a crisis of that magnitude hits, there’s little or no chance that the company could handle the massive tsunami of calls that were coming in.

Here’s a little tip for those of you who are not all that familiar with Twitter. DISH Network has their own Twitter account where they posted updates regarding the outage. The beauty of Twitter is that it can handle a huge volume of users who can all monitor the twitter user(s) of their choice. In this case, monitoring DISH Network’s Twitter feed would have provided all the information the company had to offer regarding the outage. Here’s DISH Network’s Twitter feed:

http://twitter.com/#!/dishnetwork

DISH Network subscribers may want to bookmark the above link and check it to stay abreast of what’s going on during any widespread service issues. It really does seem to be the best way to keep yourself informed under those circumstances.

All this satellite stuff is pretty high-tech and as a veteran of the high-tech industry who used to work in technical support, I know this stuff breaks down sometimes and I recall very well the pressure that came to bear on those of us who were responsible for getting things working again.

It appears that the satellite at 129 degrees lost the ability to broadcast HD channels sometime yesterday. The DISH Network Twitter feed included instructions on how to get standard-definition channels back during the outage, so it’s easy to see the value in monitoring the feed during times like that.

My understanding is that all the problems with the satellite at 129 degrees were resolved this morning and all HD channels have been restored. I’m sure the folks at DISH Network are not anxious to see something like this happen again and will be doing everything they can to prevent it in the future.

RFD-TV has been available on DISH Network for quite some time but for big-time HD fans like myself, having it available in HD makes a world of difference. There are times where I find myself looking through the on-screen program listings and will see a program that looks like it might be interesting, but when I see that it is not HD, I won’t bother. Sure, there is standard definition programming I do watch, but it has to be something I’m really interested in.

RFD-TV features programming that is of interest to people who either live or wish to live the rural lifestyle. As you might expect, the channel carries programming related to agriculture, domestic animals, the rural way of life as well as music and entertainment programming.

A small sample of programs that can be seen on RFD-TV include “Heartland Highways,” “Prairie Farm Report,” “Lorianne Crook’s Celebrity Kitchen,” “This Week In Agribusiness”, “Animal Makeover TV,” “Reno’s Old Time Music Festival” and a whole lot more.

That’s a tiny sampling of the programming that was listed on RFD-TV’s web site. Listing all of it would probably require many pages.

According to Patrick Gottsch, founder and president of Rural Media Group, Inc., owners of both RFD-TV and RFD HD, “The beauty of rural America in high-definition is stunning. From day one, DISH Network has been a great partner in our efforts to expand programming to serve the needs and interests of rural America. We, along with the over 80 independent programmers currently on RFD-TV/RFD HD, appreciate the continued strong support from everyone at DISH Network."

Those comments are some that I can definitely relate to since I do live in a rural area – something that’s quite deliberate on my part and something I don’t think I would ever change. Although I’m not a “real” farmer or rancher or any kind of rural professional, I do love living in a rural setting and see the benefits of a resource like RFD-TV. As far as I know, it’s the only channel of its kind on TV.

DISH Network subscribers with America’s Top 200 or better will automatically receive RFD-TV HD as part of the programming line-up at no additional cost.

More local HD channels have been added for DISH Network subscribers in 14 local markets in the U.S. New satellite launches have expanded programming capacity for the company and were probably instrumental in DISH’s ability to offer these new local HD channels.

The fourteen new markets which have new HD channels are: Augusta, GA.; Davenport, IA; Evansville, IN.; Monroe, LA.; Paducah, KY.; Rochester, MN.; San Angelo, TX; Shreveport, LA.; Wichita, KS. and Wilmington, NC.

The remaining new channels are scheduled to be launched on August 18th, when DISH Network will launch local HD programming in Bangor, ME; Macon, GA.; Rochester, NY.; and Traverse City, MI.

Dave Shull, senior vice president of Programming for DISH Network had this to say regarding the new channels: “DISH Network is proud to offer the most HD local coverage in America. We continue to expand our local HD channel service because we know how important it is to our customers to watch sports, movies and their favorite primetime shows in high definition.”

DISH Network offers local HD programming in 170 markets, accounting for 96% of U.S. households.

A number of DISH Network packages are available for every budget and include free installation.

We’ve known for a while that DISH Network and Google have been collaborating on a plan that will bring web content to DISH Network subscribers through their DVRs. Although it may be something that is hard to wrap your head around without actually seeing it, the press release that announces that the plan “seamlessly integrates multichannel television with rich web media content.”

The new features of GoogleTV will allow DISH Network subscribers with the right equipment to simultaneously seek out content across DISH Network, the Internet and their own DVRs. It will also allow users to overlay internet content related to TV programs, movies, actors and more, and it will also link web content back to multichannel TV.

Like most new technologies that are announced, it probably doesn’t sound as cool as it actually is. DISH Network subscribers with HD DVRs will be able to take advantage of this new service when it is brought online. Currently, the companies are expecting it to be available sometime in the fall.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt had this to say about GoogleTV: “We are excited to bring the web to television and enable developers to innovate on the Google TV platform. With DISH Network’s contributions, Google TV delivers a richer user experience and a compelling product for consumers.”

I can think of a number of instances where functionality like this will be useful to get answers to questions that come up while watching your favorite program. I do not understand the exact details of GoogleTV yet, but I can envision a scenario like this:

You’re watching one of your favorite TV programs and an actor appears that you recognize but you cannot figure out where you have seen him or her before. You can probably check the name of the actor just by pressing the “Info” button on your DISH Network remote control, but if not, you will likely see it in the credits at the end of the show.

You could then access Google or Imdb.com and find out what other television programs or movies this actor has appeared in. All without leaving the comfort of your favorite TV-watching chair.

The addition of Galavision HD early in June will make DISH Network the only pay-TV provider that offers all three Univision Networks in HD. Both Univision HD and TeleFutura HD are currently online.

With the addition of these HD channels, DISH will be poised to deliver complete coverage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup from South Africa. Although “football” means something else to many people here in the U.S., much of the rest of the world thinks of soccer when they hear that word and there are huge numbers of fans around the world who do not want to miss a single game.

Executive vice president, distribution sales and marketing, Univision Communications, Tonia O’Connor, has this to say about the new additions: “The availability of our portfolio of networks in HD speaks to DISH Network’s commitment to Hispanic audiences.”

Univision is the number one Spanish-language network in the United States and is also the exclusive, Spanish-language home to the 2010 FIFA World Cup games.

DISH is pretty well known as a leader in international programming and has just proven a continued commitment to bringing new international channels to their subscribers.

Not terribly surprising for me to hear, but Comcast’s latest quarterly report reveals that the company has lost another 82,000 cable TV subscribers. That follows an even bigger loss of 199,000 during the 4th quarter of last year, which may be a sign that the rate of customer flight may be slowing.

Yeah, I’m always tough on Comcast, and for that matter, most cable TV companies. That’s because I cannot recall a single one of them I have ever been satisfied with. I’d estimate that I’ve been a subscriber to at least five different cable companies in my life, and it was always a lousy experience for me.

Today, I’m still a Comcast customer, but only for high-speed internet. Comcast is the only game in town if you want high-speed internet in my area. To be perfectly honest, the high-speed internet service is pretty good. The problem I have with it is the price. Paying $62 a month for an internet connection (and that’s not even the highest-speed option) seems a little over-the-top to me.

Sure, I could get high-speed internet from Comcast cheaper if I signed up for one of their cable TV packages, but when I consider the signal quality, the low number of HD channels and the fact that I have been quite happy with my DISH Network service for the last dozen years or so, the idea of switching to Comcast for my television programming is not an option.

Despite the loss of cable TV customers, the company reports that their revenue per customer has risen about 6%. That’s probably due to increased fees – something I remember very well from my days as a cable TV customer; regardless of what cable company it was.

Even though it’s painfully obvious that Comcast lags behind the satellite providers when it comes to HD channels, I suspect they will continue with their sneaky TV commercials which claim they offer more HD “content” than satellite. There’s a difference between HD “content” and HD channels, so they must be including all their on-demand programming in their calculation of “content” and hoping that consumers will think “channels” when Comcast says “content.”

I guess most companies play games when it comes to making their offerings look good, but my years of experience as an unhappy cable TV customer might make me a little more cynical with regard to cable TV advertising claims.

Or perhaps I should say Xfinity? The cable giant seems to be moving towards changing their name from Comcast to Xfinity, so I guess we can expect to see more of that cool “X” name soon.

Anyway, the latest round of Comcast commercials almost had me rolling on the floor laughing. The ad shows two piles of televisions stacked up; one pile on the right and one pile on the left. The pile on the right is dramatically bigger than the pile on the left.

The ad then goes on to say that the pile on the right represents the number of HD “choices” offered by Comcast, while the pile on the left represents the number offered by satellite TV providers.

Although the ad does not come right out and say “channels,” that is the word that Comcast is probably hoping pops into the minds of those watching that particular commercial.

By “choices,” Comcast has to be including their library of on-demand programming into the equation. Yes, cable has always had more on-demand programming than satellite due to the nature of the way each service is distributed, and I don’t think anyone disputes that. However, I’m far more accustomed to hearing the various pay-TV services comparing their number of HD channels to the competition, which is something Comcast is reluctant to do since that reveals too much of the truth.

Does each on-demand program available in HD format equal an HD channel? I don’t think so, but that would certainly explain the dramatic difference between what Comcast says the satellite companies are offering and what they claims to be offering. How about pouring a little truth into the mix?

I’ve just finished checking the HD channels that Comcast offers in my area. I did not count HBO, Showtime or any of the other premium movie channels. The number if HD channels available from Comcast in my area is a whopping 36.

After that, I checked my DISH Network programming guide to see how many HD channels I could find. Again, not counting any premium movie channels, I counted a total of 64 HD channels on DISH Network. I excluded a number of HD sports channels that I presume are also premium channels, so if anything, the number I came up with for HD channels on DISH is conservative.

To take things to an even more ridiculous level, the new ads claim that Comcast’s HD picture quality is superior to satellite. My experience suggests otherwise. I have relatives that had Comcast cable (before they switched to Verizon FiOS recently) and comparing my DISH Network HD picture quality to theirs left no doubt that Comcast’s picture quality was inferior. My relatives even have a much newer and more expensive HD television set than I do!

Sorry, Comcast, or Xfinity, or whatever you are calling yourself, “choices” does not equal “channels,” and at least where I live, both satellite providers beat you hands down when one takes the time to actually count the number of HD channels from each provider. And from what I can see, as far as picture quality goes, that has not changed in the dozen or so years since I was a cable TV subscriber myself. Satellite delivered a better quality picture then, and still does today.

While the war of words, and the courtrooms (more on that later) continues between the nation’s two largest satellite TV broadcasters, the smaller of the two, DISH Network has launched 9 new HD channels.

While none of these new channels are particularly exciting to me, it’s good to see that DISH is continuing to roll out new HD channels.

The new channels that have been introduced are Fox Soccer Channel HD, Sportsman HD, Hallmark Channel HD, IndiePlex HD and RetroPlex HD, truTV HD, E! HD, BBC America HD and ShowTime HD. The first five on the list are available only on DISH Network as of this writing.

On second thought, I might actually take a look at the Sportsman HD channel from time-to-time, so I guess I am not completely uninterested in these latest editions to DISH Network’s high definition offerings.

DISH Network customers in six different TV markets can now enjoy more local HD programming as a result of the company’s efforts to expand it’s HD offerings and compete with rival DirecTV and the cable television industry.

Here is a breakdown of the new channels recently added and the markets they were added to:

WTVC (ABC) Ch. 9 in Chattanooga, TN; WBNS (CBS) Ch. 10 in Columbus, OH; WICU (NBC) Ch. 12 in Erie, PA; WWMT (CBS) Ch. 3 in Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo-Battle Creek, MI; WTHR (NBC) Ch. 13 in Indianapolis, IN; and WPEC (CBS) Ch. 12 in West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce, FL.

Subscribers who live in those areas and already have an HD-capable receiver or DVR and subscribe to HD programming will receive the new programming at no additional cost.

These new additions bring DISH Network’s local HD offerings to 152 markets nationwide.