More local stations available in HD

KGMB's HD signal remains inaccessible to most isle viewers

Satellite television company DirecTV has added four local stations' high-definition signals in Hawaii, adding to the 72 DirecTV HD channels it announced in mid-October.

Competitor DISH Network has offered local stations' HD signals since earlier this year, according to KITV President Mike Rosenberg.

DirecTV added KHON, KITV, KGMB and KHET on Wednesday, according to its statement released yesterday afternoon.

That means the Colts-Patriots game tomorrow on CBS affiliate KGMB-TV will be seen in HD over-the-air and via both satcasters -- but not on Oceanic Time Warner Cable.

"We were really pleased to have been able to structure a deal which will work for both (KGMB and DirecTV)," said Rick Blangiardi, KGMB senior vice president.

Except for a one-day deal to carry the 2007 Super Bowl, the station and Oceanic have not reached agreement for KGMB-HD carriage.

Payment for HD content is the sticking point.

"It appears Oceanic can't make this decision on a local level," he said. "We're prepared to make a deal."

Oceanic has some 400,000 subscribers statewide, far more than DISH and DirecTV combined.

Oceanic recently designated 10 new channels for HD, which will bring its HD tier to 31 channels on Kauai and Oahu.

Three are operating now, while seven will debut over the next week.

It plans 50 HD channels by the end of next year.

NBC affiliate KHNL has an HD slot on Oceanic, but it is not part of either satcaster's HD lineup due to technical issues, according to Jason Gardner, president of the Satellite Guy, a local retailer for both services.