My colleague Todd Bishop may have dropped his Comcast cable TV service, but I am still tuned in (partly because I need my winter fix of English Premier League soccer matches).

That’s why I was interested to peruse the latest list of channels that are getting the HD upgrade through Comcast. The state’s largest cable TV operator today is introducing 33 new HD channels in select cities in Western Washington, adding to the 31 HD channels it launched in May.

While I didn’t see Fox Soccer Channel on the list, here are some of the recent additions. Comcast has said that it plans to offer 101 HD channels by the end of the year.

The new channels aren’t available yet in Seattle or Tacoma, but Comcast says they’ll be coming soon.

Here’s the list of new channels:
 
588      TMC West HD         
 
589      TMC Xtra West HD 
 
619      CBUT HD     
                                                          
621      ESPNU HD   
 
630      NBA TV HD 
 
631      NHL Network HD    
 
632      Big Ten Network HD          
 
633      CBS College Sports HD     
 
634      Tennis Channel HD
 
635      Outdoor Channel HD         
 
661      MSNBC HD  
 
686      CMT HD       
 
687      VH1 HD        
 
688      MTV HD       
 
689      BET HD        
 
700      MGM HD      
 
701      TCM HD       
 
703      Hallmark Movie Channel HD         
 
704      Comedy Central HD
 
705      Tru TV HD   
 
706      The Weather Channel HD  
 
543      HBO2 West HD       
 
544      HBO Signature West HD   
 
545      HBO Family West HD         
 
546      HBO Latino West HD         
 
547      HBO Comedy West HD      
 
548      HBO Zone West HD
 
564      MoreMax West HD  
                                                          
571      Showtime Too West HD    
 
572      Showtime Showcase West HD     
 
573      Showtime Extreme West HD         
 
440      iNDemand Team HD
Simulcast of select Games from NBA/MLS PPV Sports Packages (ch. 441-450) will be shown.
 
456      iNDemand Game HD          
Simulcast of select Games from NHL/MLB PPV Sports Packages (ch. 457-470) will be shown.
 
New Standard Definition Channels
 
400      ESPN U        
 
500      Hallmark Movie Channel    
 
559      HBO Comedy West
 
550      HBO Zone West      
 
593      TMC Xtra West        
 

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and RealNetworks’ games group ups syndication, reclaims Comcast  

RealNetworks’ video-game group says it has greatly increased its volume of syndication over the last six months, landing 50 new agreements to power the gaming sections of online portals and entertainment destinations. The result, which follows Real’s acquisition of syndication-focused Trymedia, eclipses the four agreements posted by the company in the same period the previous year.

The latest deals include a contract to run the games section on Comcast.net, the cable giant’s online portal. RealNetworks originally won the Comcast games account in 2003, before losing it to rival Oberon Media. The Seattle-based company’s RealGames division says it also has landed new business with social entertainment website hi5 and online media company Giant Realm, among others.

Real also cites existing deals with Yahoo! EU, Telstra, Deutsche Telekom AG, GameStop and Lifetime Networks.

Syndication has "become a very prized asset both inside the company and externally as people depend on us for providing a gaming solution," said Ben Titera, general manager of North American syndication for RealGames.

VentureBeat’s Dean Takahashi explains that RealNetworks needs to expand its syndication business to make up for falling game prices.

The news compes on the eve of the Casual Connect Seattle casual games conference, in which RealNetworks and many other Seattle-area companies are participating.

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and Nirvana versus Pearl Jam  

Pearl Jam today introduced their new single, The Fixer, on their MySpace page — a move that’s given a temporary boost to the struggling social networking site. (When I checked the band’s page earlier this evening, the song had recorded more than 145,000 plays.)

TechCrunch’s MG Siegler wonders why Pearl Jam chose MySpace over Amazon, iTunes or Imeem. But it is the story’s headline –  "MySpace Gets Some Love From The Former Kings Of Grunge" – that is grabbing attention and some really funny comments. It has sparked a debate over what band truly holds the grunge crown, with readers tossing out Nirvana, Screaming Trees, Soundgarden and Foo Fighters.

The discussion prompted Siegler to respond: "Wow, don’t think I’ve had this debate in like 14 years."

As someone who lived through the "grunge era" and moved to Seattle as it was winding down, I must say that I fall in the Nirvana and Screaming Trees camp.

Anyway, I got a kick out of the discussion.

You can also listen to Pearl Jam’s new song on their official Web site, with the new album — Backspacer — set to debut Sept. 20. And you can track Eddie Vedder and company on Twitter where they have more than 32,000 followers.

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RealNetworks’ very own Oscars  

RealNetworks threw an "intimate" awards show Tuesday night at the Experience Music Project for developers of video games distributed through its online network. The ceremony came complete with its own custom statuettes, and a rare sighting of Rob Glaser in a tux.

The RealNetworks CEO and his RealGames division president, John Barbour, handed out "Great Games" awards to fourteen game developers on the eve of the Casual Connect casual games convention in Seattle. Game of the Year honors went to "Mortimer Beckett and the Time Paradox" from the Paprikari development studio.

Those in attendance included Matt Hulett, the former Mpire CEO and newly acknowledged chief revenue officer for RealGames North America (starting next month). A RealNetworks employee early in his career, Hulett said he got lots of ribbing after Glaser compared his return to Ken Griffey Jr. coming back to the Seattle Mariners.

"All my friends, said, hey, he’s a .220 hitter, kind of in the twilight of his career," Hulett said, laughing and explaining that he would prefer to think about Griffey’s role as a "team leader" instead.

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