AMC

It may be several episodes into the fourth season of Mad Men, but DISH Network customers are finally getting AMC in high definition, according to TV Predictions.

According to the site, AMC HD is now available on channels 130 and 9529 on DISH.

Rival satcaster DirecTV has yet to offer AMC in high-def, though the company's Twitter page has stated that negotiations are ongoing.

Mere hours before the midnight deadline of their current contract expired, DirecTV reached a new pact with Rainbow Media and parent company Cablevision, according to Multichannel News.

The new agreement keeps popular channels AMC, We TV, IFC, Fuse and Sundance Channel on its customers' lineups, as well as regional sports networks MSG and MSG Plus.

Less publicized in the shadow of Time Warner Cable's troubles with Fox, DirecTV is still in last-minute negotiations of its own with Rainbow Media and its parent company Cablevision.  The current long-term deal between the two expires on New Years Eve, and several key networks are at risk should negotiations go unresolved.

Rainbow Media's networks involved in the talks include AMC, IFC, and We TV.  Cablevision's New York sports channels MSG and MSG Plus, and music network Fuse, are also in the discussion.  The new We TV spinoff channel Wedding Central and the recently-acquired Sundance Channel are also on the bubble.

For the third week in a row, Time Warner Cable has quietly graced its customers with new HD channels, but this time the good news comes times three.

Yesterday, Time Warner Cable Wisconsin launched high-definition versions of AMC (channel 1277), BBC America (channel 1225) and BIO (Channel 1140).  AMC HD is available to standard cable customers with a digital cable box, while BBC America HD and BIO HD are only available to those with the Digital Variety package.

Time Warner has been rolling out at least two new HD channels each week for the past three weeks, and more channels are coming before year's end, presumably on Thursdays if the past pattern holds.

After a drought of HD channel additions in the last several months across all pay TV providers in the area, Time Warner Cable is promising at least 10 new HD channel additions by the end of the year.

In a pamphlet posted online related to their upcoming channel reorganization, Time Warner says "before the end of the year, more HDs are coming, including ESPNU HD, Disney XD HD, Cartoon Network HD, BBC America HD, Turner Classic Movies HD, E! HD, AMC HD, Outdoor Channel HD, Headline News HD and FOX Business HD."

No word on when these new channels will be added, what packages they'll fall into or whether other channels are planned.

The pamphlet also breaks out what digital channels will fall into each of the new digital cable channel packages, though pricing is not specified.