All that glitters on QVC should glitter even more vividly now.
A year after launching an upconverted high-definition simulcast, QVC HD is now available in the 100% native high-definition format.
That makes it the first the home-shopping channel to offer a native HD service, the company claimed.
QVC HD launched in April 2008 as an upconverted HD service, and became 100%-native HD on May 5.
"Our intention was always to go native. Upconversion was just the interim step," Al Ulozas, QVC's senior vice president of affiliate sales and marketing, said in a statement. "Our affiliates told us they ultimately wanted us to offer a native HD service so that, together, we could provide our customers with the best programming possible."
QVC's high-def feed currently carried by Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cablevision Systems, Verizon Communications, AT&T and others.
Sales at the network, a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Media, have been hurt by the recession. QVC in November said it would cut 700 jobs, or nearly 6% of its U.S. workforce.
