Cable rapped for falling behind in HD arms race as In Demand steps up and DirecTV charges more for HD channels.

By Shirley Brady

The race betweeen cable and satellite TV operators to roll out high-definition channels is heating up, and focusing, on sports networks.

Case in point: DirecTV is offering hockey games in HD to its NHL Center Ice subscribers this season and is slated to launch the NHL Network this month, while (as of yesterday) Dish Network said it will launch NHL Network HD, which lets hockey fans follow the action (not to mention the puck) in all its high-def glory.

Cable operators, meanwhile, are also promising to offer the NHL Network in HD this hockey season, but so far it's the league's standard def channel this is slated to start rolling out this month on systems operated by Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications and Cablevision.

Original article here