Greece may be undergoing its worse financial crisis since World War II, but HD will go on. Literally.
Nova, a Greek satellite service, has announced plans to initiate HD service before the end of the summer. It said it will tap into transmission assignments available in the Hot Bird "neighborhood" of the Eutelsat satellite (13 degrees East) to offer what will essentially be a growing list of premium HD venues.
Novacinema HD and Novasports HD will be included in a major marketing strategy that will also include Eurosport HD, said Nova.
Novacinema, Nova's prime movie-channel offering, now has deals in place with several Hollywood film houses, including: Columbia, Disney Studios, 20th Century Fox, HBO Films, Lionsgate, MGM, Paramount, Universal, and Warner Brothers.
Novasports will air one or more soccer matches weekly from the Greek football federation ("Superleague") — and additional matches from both the Champions and Europa Leagues, as well as NBA basketball from America.
Nova, which first began DBS services in Greece about a decade ago, said its HD set-top box will be a modified version of its current Pace box (model DS830). HD DVR-equipped STBs will become available in late 2010 or early next year, Nova said.
