Discovery HD to Japan, Canada

Discovery Networks International will launch Discovery HD in Japan and Canada by year-end, the programmer said.

In Japan, the 24-hour HD network will launch on Jupiter Telecommunications Co. Ltd.’s digital platform Dec. 14, reaching some 500,000 homes.

And the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s recent approval of a joint-venture agreement between CTV Specialty Television Inc. and Discovery Communications Inc. cleared the way for Discovery HD to launch there by year-end.

Discovery HD offers exclusive content from Discovery’s worldwide library of more than 1,000 hours of HD programming representing 25 television brands.