Today's High-Def Headlines

Verizon FiOS TV Picks Up MGM HD - B&C
MGM HD, the HD channel from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer that draws on the studio’s extensive feature-film library, secured carriage on Verizon Communications’ FiOS TV service. The channel is set to roll out across all FiOS TV systems in late 2008 -- part of the company’s aggressive plan to add 150 HD channels by year’s end.

HDTV Makers Struggle to Stand Out - AP
HDTV manufacturers are trying to make the task of buying an HDTV set much more difficult than just choosing between LCD and plasma, 42 inches or 46 inches. To stand out amid fierce competition, they're adding exotic features, and even a little bit of color to the plain black bezels that have been de rigueur. They're also chasing each other to zero — zero thickness, that is. Apparently, you can't be too thin if you're a TV.

ESPN XGames Go HD This Weekend - B&C
This weekend ESPN's Winter X Games will take the HD half-pipe challenge as the network looks to make its most ESPN-centric product a full HD experience. Approximately 59 HD cameras -- a mix of Grass Valley, Sony and Panasonic gear -- will be used to cover the action. There will be one or two non-HD cameras, like POV cameras on snowmobiles, as the technology has still not caught up with the need.

Super Bowl TV Sales Could Soar 50%: NRF - TWICE
Shoppers plan to purchase 3.9 million TVs for Super Bowl Sunday, up more than 50 percent from last year, according to a new consumer survey by the National Retail Federation (NRF). Young adults, ages 18 to 24, will be the best customers, the survey suggested, with nearly one in 10 (9.8 percent) planning to buy a TV for the Feb. 3 event.

NPD Confirms Huge Blu-ray Share Jump - TWICE
Market research firm The NPD Group today confirmed numbers sent to members last week showing Blu-ray Disc player sales accounted for 90 percent of dedicated HD disc player unit sales and dollar volume during the week ending Jan. 12, but the firm wasn’t ready to declare a trend resulting from Warner Bros.’ HD DVD defection.

Weather Channel HD Facility Nears Finish Line - MCN
The Weather Channel said its 12,500-square-foot high-definition TV production facility in Atlanta is on track to be completed this month, and has set June 2 for the premiere of its first HD studio programs. Once construction is complete, workers will install 10,000 square feet of access flooring and 480 electric circuits for studio lights in the facility, which is adjacent to The Weather Channel’s existing headquarters.