Noting that "litigation and hyperbole are running hot," media analyst Craig Moffett Friday offered his analysis of what DirecTV's promised 150-channel HDTV lineup may look like.
In a somewhat cheeky report, Sanford C. Bernstein's Moffett agreed that DirecTV, the nation's largest direct-broadcast satellite provider, is "winning the HD PR war," citing the company's latest TV ad with Pamela Anderson. But he suggested that there may be less there than meets the eye when DirecTV talks about 150 HD channels.
Moffett calculated that sports will make up more than 50% of DirecTV's HD lineup. He believes the DBS providedr will count each of its 22 regional sports networks as an HDTV service, even if a subscriber has to be living in the market "of the RSN in order to receive most of these channels ... no matter. They all count."
In his report, Moffett also suggested that DirecTV will count the MLB Extra Innings package as an additional 15 "channels."
He added, "It's not just sports where this liberal interpretation of a 'channel' is employed." Moffett noted that in a recent announcement, the satellite provider counted Starz HD as five channels, which included Starz East and Starz West, the same programming airing three hours apart.
Moffett poked fun at DirecTV's high-profile ad campaign, which is the subject of a pending lawsuit by Time Warner Cable.
"We know DirecTV is the best because of the panel of experts that DirecTV has assembled to weigh in on the matter," Moffett wrote. "Authoritative figures such as Jessica Simpson, Shannon Elizabeth, the crew of the Starship Enterprise and [yes] Pamela Anderson [nice ensemble; we wonder what DTV's target market is] have in a series of commercials over the last year been confirming what we all think to be true about HDTV."
Moffett also took a swipe at cable and its HDTV promotion.
"No slouches themselves at obfuscation and bewilderment, Comcast recently announced a target of 800 HD 'choices,' clearly and meticulously counting every lame HD stream that a consumer could conceivably order up," he wrote.
Moffett claimed that Time Warner Cable, emboldened by its switched-digital-video deployment, has "out-hyperboled everyone, promising 'unlimited HD channels.'"
In summation, Moffett wrote, "Inflated claims aside, HD demand is going to revolve around the availability of --at most -- a few-dozen key channels for some time ... The rest is just noise -- noise with great picture clarity."
