Digital Home Thoughts: HDNET Finally Coming to Canada

"In a move that can only be described as surprising the CRTC today announced in Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2006-75 that HDNET has been added to the list of eligible satellite services for distribution on a digital basis. Simply put the announcement means that after three years of battling, Canadian cable and satellite operators can now offer HDNet television programming to their customers. HDNet is an American programming service that offers high definition (HD) programming 24 hours per day, seven days per week, using 1080i format. HDNet currently offers several original series, including music and news programs. HDNet acquires programming from several sources, including Paramount, Warner and Sony. Live HDNet sports productions include NHL games, major league soccer games, horse racing, auto racing, boxing, football and basketball games. In the last three years, HDNet has produced and aired more HD television programming than all of the Canadian network and specialty channels combined so the station represents a tremendous increase in the amount of HD programming available in this country."

This is GREAT news. Most people don't realize how HD-starved us Canadians are. I have HD through Shaw, my cable provider, and I get five total channels. It seems that at least half the time, the supposed "HD channels" aren't broadcasting in HD. The only channel that is HD 100% of the time is PBS HD, and that' only interesting for so long. Worse, we can't do over-the-air (OTA) HD like our neighbours to the south can. This is excellent news overall. Now if there was only a Media Center PC with Cable Card support for SHAW...