Disney to move into HD with four new channels

Washington (DC) - Thanks to the large-scale investment in high-definition availability, DirecTV has convinced Disney to launch HD feeds of four of its cable/satellite channels next year.

ESPNews HD, ABC Family HD, Disney Channel HD, and Toon Disney HD will all be available by "early 2008", and will initially be exclusive to DirecTV subscribers.

DirecTV claims that it will increase its bandwidth so that by the end of the year it can offer as many as 100 HD channels. This has caused many basic cable networks to begin plans to convert to hi-def.

CNN, USA Network, Sci Fi Channel, and even The Weather Channel are all working on upgrading their equipment to offer HD programming.