Report: DirecTV plan to go all-HD ahead of schedule

Could DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV) reach its earlier stated of goal of going all-HD a year early and have the task completed by the end of 2015?

TV Predictions ponders this distinct possibility in a Monday blog post, noting that with upgrades to HD of WE TV and Sundance Channel on Friday, the satellite operator is ahead of schedule.

As the blog noted, Philip Goswitz, senior VP of space and communications for DirecTV, said in October 2012 that the satellite operator would have all of its channels converted by 2016 using local-into-local Ka-Band satellite capacity. Goswitz also noted that having all standard-def channels upconverted would free up 1 gigahertz of satellite spectrum for Ultra HD signals.

However, with the launch late last year of the DirecTV 14 satellite, TV Predictions suggests that Goswitz's timetable has been moved up.

The blog notes that DirecTV has about 60 channels to upconvert before full-HD status is achieved, a list that includes Game Show Network, FXM, Disney West, NASA, El Rey, Discovery Life, Oxygen, Logo, Pivot, Sprout, Nick Jr., TV One, Esquire, Al Jazeera and HSN.

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