Online rabble-rouser and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban announced back in May that several new Comcast markets would start carrying the HDNET channel this year. Now, reports on several user forums suggest the launch is likely to happen this week in Philadelphia, Detroit, Boston, San Francisco, and Seattle. (The Chicago area reportedly started seeing rollouts earlier this month.) Although I’ve seen no official word of the launch date on either the Comcast or HDNET site, the number of details leaking out across the web suggest this rumor’s for real.
If you’re not familiar with HDNET, the content is primarily guy territory: MMA fights, scantily clad women, etc. However, the channel also carries some in-depth news programming, including Dan Rather Reports, and the HDNET Concert Series. In addition to the main HDNET network, there’s also HDNET Movies. No word yet on when that channel might get additional Comcast carriage.
Retransmission negotiations continue to be a major battleground for content and service providers. But when you’ve got a popular network, it seems the content provider is the one likely to win out in the end.