DirecTV just announced a new HDTV package for $10.99 a month. The good news is that it includes ESPN HD and Discovery HD Theater, as well as some NFL games for the upcoming 2003 season. The bad news is that to watch local channels in HD you still need to install a regular TV antenna, and the selection of channels is still limited. The press release claims that HDNet Movies will offer 24 hours worth of blockbuster movies, but HDNet, while technically superb, has been disappointingly thin on content. The price, $10.99, also seems pretty steep when you consider that it's the same cost as a premium movie channel.
I suppose I should install the Winegard antenna I bought. Watching the NBA Finals in HD is mildly tempting. Someday our kids will wonder how we watched standard definition TV, just as I can barely remember what it was like to have fewer than 100 channels of programming to choose from.