3-D Channels Invade Cable

Pull out your old Avatar glasses and get ready to clock some serious time in front of the boob tube: Two 3-D television channels will begin broadcasting full time in the coming week, according to The New York Times' Media Decoder. Discovery, Sony, and IMAX announced that their joint 3-D venture, 3net, would begin airing on Sunday night, while ESPN 3D is slated to become a 24-hour channel on Monday. 3net will launch with three-hour long nature documentaries starting at 8:00 p.m. EST. Around-the-clock broadcasting is crucial for both channels, but many shows will be televised on repeat as there is not yet a substantial amount of 3-D content to watch. 3net will only be available to subscribers of DirectTV, which already carries a 24-hour 3-D channel powered by Panasonic, n3d.