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Abundant programming is available from broadcasters, cable, DBS
With each TV season, the HDTV programming grid gets longer and wider. Today, the millions of Americas with high-def sets can tune into a wealth of HD programming, from The Tonight Show to Trading Spaces , from CSI to Monday Night Football . It's all there.
According to a Broadcasting & Cable survey, more than 20 networks now offer HD programming all or most of the time.
The most popular programming comes from the broadcasters. CBS and ABC have led the way, offering the bulk of their prime time programming in HD. NBC is broadcasting dramas in HD but continues to drag its feet on sitcoms like Friends . The WB and UPN are taking their time. Broadcast reality TV remains largely standard-definition, in part because HD production is still too costly for the low-cost genre.
Cable programmers are delivering, too. The pay-cable networks offer HD versions of themselves. Now HD early adopters can get not only hit movies but also top-drawer originals like The Sopranos , Six Feet Under and Queer as Folk .
And sports. ESPN HD will carry 185 events in high-def this year. TNT HD, a recent addition to the lineup, is slated to debut in May with the NBA and possibly some NASCAR races. Even networks without a dedicated HD channel are making some events available in high-def. Check out USA Network's U.S. Open coverage and TNT's NBA All-Star Game this year.
The rise in HD programming coincides with the ability and willingness of broadcasting, cable and satellite to deliver it. Most TV stations have turned on their DTV stations and can broadcast HD over the air. Cable operators are rolling out HD boxes at little or no cost to subscribers. Systems serving 45 million homes--68% of all cable homes--will now provide HD service. About 500,000 have signed on. For their part, the big DBS players, DirecTV and EchoStar's Dish Network, play up their HD packages. And there's Cablevision's new HD-centric satellite TV service, Voom.
The rise of HD programming also coincides with the ability of consumers to receive it. According to the Consumer Electronics Association, manufacturers shipped 3.5 million HD sets in 2003, and that number will grow to 5 million...