As just about anyone who watches TV now knows, all over-the-air television broadcasts will be converting to the digital format in February. Here in the Boston TV market, we have been inundated with commercials reminding us of this fact.

If you receive your television programming the "old fashioned" way with an antenna on your roof, and your TV is not capable of receiving digital broadcasts, you will need a digital converter box if you want to continue watching TV the way you are now.

If you have cable or satellite TV, you have nothing to worry about and you will not notice any changes in February.

Well-known review site cnet has completed a review of the digital converter box that was recently introduced by DISH Network. Although DISH Network’s primary business is providing satellite TV programming, the company has decided to market digital converter boxes as well.

What’s very nice about the TR-40 from DISH Network is that it costs $40, which is the same value of the coupons that the government is giving away to help consumers pay for the cost of the switch to digital. This means that the TR-40 is essentially free, excluding any shipping and handling costs that might be required.

Although I am a DISH Network satellite customer, we do still have two televisions in the house that are connected to a roof-top antenna and will require a digital converter box to continue working after the switch-over in February.

I’ll be ordering a couple of TR-40 units for our home in the near future.

For more on the switch to digital, check out this site.

Thanks to a new deal with DISH Network, the Golf Channel, the channel will be available in 80 million households.

The new deal is reported to be a multi-year contract, but the details on the length of the contract have not been revealed.

Previous to this new deal, the Golf Channel was available on DISH Network’s "Top 250" programming package, but under the terms of the new agreement, it will be available on the "Top 200" programming package as well.

"This new partnership with DISH Network continues the significant growth we’ve realized since the announcement of our historic partnership with the PGA Tour,” said Golf Channel president Page Thompson in a statement. “We’re excited that more Dish customers will be able to enjoy the great golf action delivered by the biggest names on all the leading golf tours around the world.”

Recent News from DISH Network brings word that the satellite broadcaster is the first television provider to transmit 100 percent of their standard and high-definition programming using the MPEG-4 video coding standard.

Previous to the upgrade to MPEG-4, DISH Network was using the MPEG-2 standard and DISH Network’s competitor, DirecTV is said to be using a combination of MPEG-2 and MPEG-2 currently.

MPEG-4 offers customers a superior picture according to DISH Network.

DISH Network’s chief marketing officer, Jessica Insalaco had this to say about the new development: "DISH Network once again leads the pack in providing customers with an unparalleled entertainment experience. Our complete MPEG-4 solution – which will offer up to 150 HD channels by the end of the year – uses the most advanced technology in the industry to deliver the best quality picture to any television set in the home, perfect for those who have or are considering upgrading to high definition."

One of the most recent additions to DISH Network’s programming choices is INSP: The Inspiration Network.

The new channel launched on DISH network on August 27 and will substantially boost the Inspirations Network’s subscriber base. The  channel was also launched on DirecTV on the same day.

INSP senior vice president John Roos commented about the new deals with the satellite broadcasters and was pleased by more than doubling the network’s distribution footprint, which allow the network to do more original programming, which has been one of its goals.

The Democratic National Convention Committee announced on Tuesday that they have selected Dish Network as their official high-definition satellite TV-service provider for the 2008 Democratic National Convention. The convention will be held in Denver between August 25th and 28th.

Be Sure To Check Out Dish Network’s Latest Deals

Live satellite video feeds will be brought into the convention from various locations around the country. In addition to the programming that the satellite broadcaster will be bringing into the convention, they will also be providing live, uninterrupted and unedited coverage of the convention to their nearly 14 millions subscribers on Channel 211.

Convention coverage will also be offered by Dish Network to television stations for downlink all across the country and to media outlets around the world as well.

Brook Colangelo, Director of Technology for the Democratic National Convention Committee had this to say about the deal with Dish: When we set out to make this convention more inclusive and accessible than ever before, we wanted to do more than get our message out—we wanted to bring the voices of American people into the process, and Dish Network will help us to do just that,” she said. “Whether from inside the Convention hall, at watch parties in communities across the country, or from the comfort of their living room, Dish Network’s  technology and services will enhance the Convention experience for everyone who’s tuning in.”

DISH Network Corporation the nation’s third-largest pay-TV provider and second largest satellite broadcaster, today announced an agreement with NBC Universal (NBCU) to add two high-definition specialty channels to its HD programming line-up that will be dedicated to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The NBC Olympic Soccer Channel and NBC Olympic Basketball Channel will offer subscribers HD coverage of each sport for 24-hours per day during the Games.

Be Sure To Check Out Dish Network’s Latest Deals

DISH Network is also offering a number of Video On Demand (VOD) titles produced by NBC Olympics for its subscribers. With two dedicated HD channels, free VOD and NBCU’s multi-channel distribution, DISH Network offers its customers more than 800 hours of NBCU’s HD 2008 Beijing Olympic Games programming.

“We are excited to utilize the full-extent of our services to offer the best of NBCU’s coverage of the Olympic Games for our subscribers,” said Eric Sahl, senior vice president of Programming for DISH Network. “DISH Network is a leader in sports and HD; our more than 800 hours of NBC’s Olympic coverage demonstrates our ability to use our services to deliver live HD and recorded content, as well as daily highlights and recaps, to ensure our subscribers enjoy comprehensive coverage of the Games.”

“What better way to feel the drama and excitement of the 2008 Beijing Olympics Games than to experience them in HD,” said Bridget Baker, president, TV Networks Distribution, NBC Universal. “We’re proud to partner with DISH and offer their customers unprecedented HD coverage of the world’s premier athletic event.”

DISH Network will provide NBCU’s HD sport-specific channels: NBC Olympic Basketball Channel (Ch. 98) and NBC Olympic Soccer Channel (Ch. 99) to many DISH Network subscribers, and will be found on the program guide under the call letters “OLYMPB.” Both channels will broadcast 24-hours per day of HD content separated into two looping 12-hour blocks of Olympic basketball and soccer action.

The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games will air on a number of NBCU’s channels, which are carried by DISH Network. NBC HD will air 225 hours of HD content; USA HD will air 165 hours of HD content; CNBC HD will air 95.5 hours of HD content; and Universal HD (available to DISH Network subscribers in Platinum HD) will air 379 hours of HD content.

DISH Network is currently offering NBCU’s free Video On Demand (DISH On Demand) content leading up to the 2008 summer games including 60 clips across several categories: Beijing 411; Meet the Athletes; and Team USA Preview. DISH On Demand is available by pressing the DVR button on your DISH Network remote control or by selecting the “TV Entertainment” section on DishHOME (Ch. 100).

At the start of the Games, the In-Games package will feature daily highlights, in addition to access to the best events each day. Content includes overall daily highlights by sport (approximately 15 per day, some in HD), and “Rewind,” approximately five to 10 of the best sessions/games per day.

DISH Network will offer customers NBC’s foreign language coverage from Beijing with commentary in one of the host country’s native languages, Mandarin (Chinese), as well as Korean, for about six hours per day for each language during the Games. The Chinese broadcast will be offered on Ch. 664 under the “OLYMPC” call letters, and the Korean broadcast will be offered on Ch. 655 under the “OLYMPK” call letters, and are live starting on August 8, 2008.

Dish Network is proving that even though they are the number 2 satellite broadcaster for numbers of customers, they are number 1 when it comes to technology.

Today, Dish Network is beginning to roll out upgrades for compatible DVRs and receivers which will provide 1080p HD programming. You can real all about HDTV and 1080p here, if you are unfamiliar with the technology, but if all you want is the quick and simple explanation, 1080p is the highest and best HD picture available today.

DirecTV does not yet offer 1080p and neither does Comcast — at least in my area they don’t. Unfortunately for me, my TV has only 1080i capability which is a step below 1080p. I guess that’s a good excuse to put a new TV in the budget sometime!

Be Sure To Check Out Dish Network’s Latest Deals

In addition, Dish Network is bringing 17 new HD channels online today, which brings the total offering of national HD channels to  114 and plans to offer 150 HD channels by the end of the year.

There has been some pretty fierce competition between the two big satellite broadcasters for bragging rights for the most HD channel. It appears that this latest addition by Dish Network puts them ahead of DirecTV once again.

Dish Network is also offering a new all-HD programming package called TurboHD, which start at $24.99 per month.

The new HD channels that are being added today are: ActionMax HD, CBS College Sports HD, Lifetime HD, Lifetime Movie Network HD, Planet Green HD, Encore HD, HBO 2 HD, HBO Comedy HD, HBO Family HD, HBO Latino HD, HBO Signature HD, HBO West HD, HBO Zone HD, Starz Comedy HD, Starz Edge HD, Starz Kids & Family HD, and Starz West HD.

A brand-new satellite has been launched recently for Dish Network and will allow the satellite broadcaster to increase the number of available HD channels.

Dish Network and DirecTV are competing to offer the most HD channels with Dish planning to reach its goal of 100 HD channels earlier than they had planned and DirecTV is now talking about 150 HD channels by the end of the year.

The new satellite was launched from a seagoing rocket pad operated by Sea Launch Co. in the Pacific Ocean. The satellite was built by Space Systems/Loral of Palo Alto, Calif., and is designed to last 15 years.

The new satellite is being called EchoStar XI and is destined to be positioned at 100 degrees west longitude, where Dish currently has a satellite that has been in service for quite a while.

It may take a month or two to run the new satellite through all the testing that is required to be sure it is working properly.

Another Dish Network satellite launch earlier this year did not go as planned and never made it into the proper orbit.

The analog-to-digital TV converter box currently being sold by Dish network is called the DTVPal, and it has received a nice review from at least one source.

The reviewer seemed most impressed with the DTVPal’s electronic program guide, which offers several days of data. Not having any experience with these analog-to-digital converter boxes myself, I was not even aware the program guide was an option.

My HDTV set receives digital signals as well as my Dish Network VIP-622 DVR, but neither of them seem to have the ability to provide a program guide for over-the-air digital TV signals, like the DTVPal seems able to do.

The DTVPal is one of many brands of converter boxes that will be required by anyone who uses a TV connected to a conventional antenna to receive local over-the-air TV broadcasts. In February, 2000, all TV signals will be switched to digital mode and all the older analog sets will not work without a converter box.

Television viewers that have cable or satellite TV service will not have to purchase a converter box.

Check out the DTVPal review here.

On August 1st, Dish Network will add 17 new HD channels to their programming line-up. This will bring the satellite broadcaster up to the 100 HD channels that were promised.

The new HD channels include ActionMax HD, CBS College Sports HD, Lifetime HD, Lifetime Movie Network HD, Planet Green HD, Encore HD, seven different HBO HD channels and four Starz HD channels.

Be Sure To Check Out Dish Network’s Latest Deals

“In January, we promised our customers that Dish Network would boost our national HD channel lineup to 100 by year’s end,” Eric Sahl, Dish Network senior vice president of programming, said. “Today, we are proud to say that in less than one year, not only did we deliver on our commitment, but we exceeded it.”

In addition to the new HD channels, Dish will be introducing a new programming package called TurboHD which will consist of all HD channels.