Satellite : Why Hasn't DIRECTV Added Fox News HD?

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Why Hasn't DIRECTV Added Fox News HD?
The company's new ownership may have something to do with it.
By Swanni

Washington, D.C. (September 16, 2008) -- In the summer of 2007, a DIRECTV executive told TVPredictions.com in confidence that the satcaster would add Fox News HD by year's end.

Now, more than a year later -- and almost five months after the launch of Fox News HD -- DIRECTV has still not added the channel. The omission seems strange considering that DIRECTV claims to be the HD leader, boasting 130 HD channels, and Fox News is the top-rated cable news network.

Comcast and Time Warner, the nation's top cable operators, both carry Fox News HD, but not DIRECTV.

So, what's up? What has happened since the summer of 2007?

Two things:

1. Timing
1. Fox News HD was expected to launch in late 2007 when DIRECTV had plenty of capacity on its new satellite for new high-def channels. However, the network dragged its feet on the HD launch, ceding the high-def 'high ground' to rival CNN, which became the first major news network to launch an HD channel in September 2007.

When Fox News HD finally launched at the end of April 2008, DIRECTV's HD satellite capacity was nearly maxed out, leaving little room for new channels. Even now, with the launch of a new satellite, which became operational this month, DIRECTV's capacity for new channels is limited.


Many DIRECTV fans would like to see Megyn Kelly in HD.

2. Ownership Change
When the DIRECTV executive made his comment about Fox News HD in the summer of 2007, the satcaster's principal owner was News Corp, which just happens to own Fox News. At the time (and before and since), corporate politics bore considerable influence on DIRECTV's channel additions, despite company protests to the contrary. So long as News Corp. was the controlling owner of DIRECTV, Fox News HD was a likely candidate to be added to the lineup. (By example, DIRECTV was one of the few TV providers to add Fox Business Channel HD last October after its launch.)

However, in February 2008, John Malone's Liberty Media officially took control of DIRECTV in a stock swap with News Corp. Suddenly, News Corp. did not have the same influence at DIRECTV's headquarters, making Fox News HD less of a priority in the satcaster's lineup.

However, that didn't mean that politics stopped influencing which channels would be added to DIRECTV's menu. In August, DIRECTV added four new HD networks, one of which was the brand new Planet Green HD, which is owned by Discovery, of which Liberty Media has an investment stake.

Coincidence? Hardly.

So, will DIRECTV ever add Fox News HD? Yes, but it's no longer the priority it once was