Comcast continues to grow its HD channel offerings (versus its much-publicized VOD HD "choices") mostly in its medium and smaller markets. The nation's largest TV service provider now says it has expanded its HD tier in the Richmond, Va. market (DMA 58) and several mostly rural counties in central Virginia to total 80 HD channels.
That 80-channel menu is nearly double what it was before Comcast added the HD feeds of more than three dozen channels (some of which having first been made available to cablers and DBS firms in HD several months ago).
A few of Comcast' new offerings in the Richmond area (and five adjacent counties extending nearly as far west and south as Charlottesville) include the HD versions of: Bravo, CMT, Hallmark Movie Channel, MGM, MSNBC, Nick, and The Weather Channel.
Comcast has not forsaken its marketing approach to offering VOD choices, as well as actually fulltime channels. In a statement on its Richmond activities, the cabler said it continues to offer its subs "3,000 HD choices" — via both free and PPV video on-demand.
Comcast, when asked, indicated it still has no immediate plans to add these same HD channels to their local systems in the largest market closest to Richmond — the Washington, D.C. region (DMA 9).
