Direct TV Dish

HBO won eight sports Emmy awards in the 29th Annual Sports Emmy Awards Monday night. ESPN Networks also won eight awards with ESPN claiming four, ESPN.com getting three and ESPN 2 clinching one. Brooklyn Dodgers - The Ghosts of Flatbush and Mayweather-Hatton 24/7 won two Emmy’s each in the documentary category. The best sports journalism award went to ‘Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.’ Fox followed with five Emmy wins, one for MLB on Fox, two for NASCAR on Fox and one each for the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and the MLB pre-game show. CBS got three, which include Super Bowl and U.S. Open tennis coverage and also win by football analyst James Brown.

Britney Spears will perform as a guest star on CBS comedy “How I Met Your Mother”, to be premiered on May 12. During her last appearance on the series, saw a best ratings among the 18-34 and 25-54 age group. Craig Thomas, the series’ executive producer and co-creator, in a statement said “We’re all so thrilled to have Britney joining us once again. And just to head it off at the pass this time around: Yes, Mom, Britney’s very nice and no, I can’t get her autograph for you,”. The show airs at 8:30 p.m. on Monday nights.

NBC affiliate in Kansas City KSHB-TV started broadcasting their local newscasts in high definition on Thursday, April 24. Each and every newscast to be broadcasted in HD, which will also include NBC Action News oday from 5 AM - 7 AM, NBC Action News Midday at 11AM, NBC Action News at 5 PM, NBC Action News at 6 PM, NBC Action News at 10 PM and also all weekend newscasts. Kansas City consumers will have a shaper picture and also enhanced audio. The NBC Action Weatheralso launched high definition weather system, which will give an exact forecast with clearer maps, radars and graphics.

NBC and the National Hockey League (NHL) have extended their broadcast agreement for 2008-09 seasons. NBC and NHL Network will share the revenue instead of NBC paying the league a rights fee. Gary Bettman, the league commissioner said “This is great news for the NHL and its fans. There have been positive signs for the league, both on and off the ice. Ratings were up this year, the Winter Classic in Buffalo was a huge success, advertising sales were healthy, and the product on the ice has never been better, led by young, marketable stars such as Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin” The NHL and NBC signed their original TV rights agreement for the 2004-05 through 2005-06 seasons.

The CBS affiliate in Roanoke, Virginia started its news broadcast in high-definition from April 22. The station started with the 7 AM newscast in HD. The channel has bought new cameras for the HD broadcast and also reconstructed the control room. The weather report will be broadcasted in HD with graphics. “The radar picture is just going to be so clear that you’ll be able to spot where you live, and you’ll be able to spot where the rain is,” says Robin Reed, News7’s Meteorologist.

The ABC affiliate in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, WTVD-TV started its local newscast broadcast in high-definition. The broadcast of the newscast in high-definition started from 21st noon newscast. Other affiliate of CBS in the same region WRAL-TV is offering HD newscast for many years. About 80 local stations offer high-definition local newscast in U.S.

DIRECT TV has informed Federal Communications Commission (FCC) about the satcasters effort in educating its customers about the digital TV transition. DIRECT TV has provided the service department with enough information about the digital TV transition and also FAQ. DIRECT TV is also presenting information’s in their monthly statements for its customers. The digital TV transition is set for Feb. 17, 2009. DIRECTV’s filing was part of a request from the FCC to inform the agency about efforts by pay-TV operators to educate customers about the coming changes.

The CBS affiliate in Salt Lake City, Utah KUTV-TV started broadcasting local news programs in High-Definition. The station KUTV-TV is known as 2NEWS in Salt Lake City started its HD local news end of last week. Kip Greene, Channel 2’s director of engineering said “This is the most exciting thing to happen to TV in my career of 30 years”. The network delivered Salt Lake City Marathon in high-definition using the new HD cameras. Kip Greene also said “As the multicolored sea of people wearing bright jogging clothes passed through the gateway, HD cameras brought clean and crisp images, like never before seen on KUTV airwaves”.

NBC Universal has announced its formation of the new Digital Studioand to develop brand-centric digital content for distribution across its portfolio of digital properties. Marketing giant OmniCom Media Group has signed as the Digital Studio’s first partner and will produce new projects like “Gemini Division,” and “Woke Up Dead” to be premiered during the summer. NBC Universal Digital Studio’s partnership with OMG Digital will give brands “a seat at the table during the development phase of original digital entertainment.,” NBCU said in a statement.

“By using the intrinsic creative assets of NBC Universal to produce and develop custom digital entertainment, we’re ensuring a rich experience for our consumers and client brands alike,” said Zigler. “We’re expanding both the type of content we offer and our distribution methods, and are well positioned to reach entirely new consumers with our content, brands and experiences.”

Lifetime Networks owned by The Walt Disney Company and Hearst Corporation has launched Lifetime Television HD. Lifetime. The channel joins its sister channel Lifetime Movie Network HD, which was launched last year. The programming line-up will include original drama Army Wives and also the upcoming The Tenth Circle. Lifetime Network survey says that about 90 percent of women are involved in the purchase of HDTVs.

Conkling said: “Our research shows that 85 percent of women 18-54 said they were interested in watching movies in high-definition*, far exceeding any other genre. A recent survey also showed that nearly half of women 18-54 want to add either Lifetime or Lifetime Movie Network to their high-definition package. In launching Lifetime Television HD, together with Lifetime Movie Network HD, we are giving women what they want. With these agreements, we’re delighted that AT&T and Verizon will carry all of our networks.” Apart from AT&T and Verizon’s FiOS, the channel has not revealed if they have carriage agreement with DIRECT TV.