DirecTV to launch 4 new sats for 2007 HDTV roll out

This is the stuff we like to hear, but the time frame is just painful: DirecTV plans to have a full complement of HDTV programming by 2007 via four new satellites announced today. The Spaceway 1 (pictured right) and Spaceway 2 will launch next year adding 500 local HDTV channels available for summertime 2005, followed by the DIRECTV 10 and DIRECTV 11, which will launch in 2007 and provide an additional 1,000 local HD channels and 150 national channels. We're guessing DirecTV has privileged the first 500 local HDTV channels to those stations first able to sort out how to make their anchor people not look like haggard old mummies in front of the unforgiving eye of the HDTV camera.