Those channels will be locals in
HD and not 500 HD channels available to everybody to watch. That is alot of wasted bandwidth in my opinion.
I am perfectly happy with my HDTV service from comcast where I get all major networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX,
PBS, WB) and ESPN-HD, INHD1&2, SHO-HD, HBO-HD, Starz-HD, CinemaxHD, Discovery HD. Also there is a special events channel that shows all the local sports home games in HD (Comcast SportsNet Chicago) and NFL game of the week.
We miss TNT, Bravo and HDNet.
I really doubt there will be too many new HD channels in next year or so. ESPN2 is announced in january. Comcast hd and Dishnetwork Hd is a big different on the image quality, Dish has a much better quality than comcast.
Plus they just added HDTV Video on demand section (with no listings yet).
Also I have a HD DVR for $9.95 a month (which includes box rental and service).
All I can say is, competition is a good thing and we will all benefit from it, but 500 channels that Directv plans to add is not a big deal. It is a big deal for those who cant receive their local networks in HD over the air.
My 2 cents.