Canada: Bell TV First to offer 100 HD Channels(2)

Bell TV, which serves just under 2 million subs across Canada, said it has become the first TV content distributor in the country to reach the century mark in HD channels.

The cabler did have a leg up on its American counterparts, who could not have done what the Canadian firm did because of the simple fact that a lot of Canadians watch a lot of American television. Thus, in order to reach the 100 goal, Bell added a few American major-market broadcast stations — including KTLA HD in Los Angeles (DMA 2), WPIX HD in New York City (DMA 1), WSBK HD in Boston (DMA 7), as well as cable's AMC HD.

"Reaching 100 HD channels is a significant milestone that both enhances our lead in the industry [in Canada], and supports our strategic imperative to leverage our wireline momentum here at Bell," the firm said in a statement.

Bell TV, which is barely a dozen years old (and used to be known as Bell ExpressVu) has two primary competitors in Canada: Rogers Cable (the largest TV provider) and Shaw Communications.