COMMENTARY
Alan Pergament: Time Warner finally catching up to HD wave
Time Warner Cable has announced the addition of five more HD channels to its lineup so often lately that it has almost become as comical as elements of “The Daily Show.”
The frequent announcements maximize the attention our largest local cable company is getting for allowing Western New York to enter cable’s 21st century.
After adding Fox News last week in time for tonight’s election coverage and adding local CW affiliate WNLO and three On Demand channels today, the TWC system has 61 HD channels, which a spokeswoman said is equal or close to the number of HD channels that its system in Rochester has had for a while. Why the delay here?
Robin Wolfgang, Time Warner’s local spokeswoman, blamed it on the previous system owner, though she never actually said the name Adelphia.
“The previous company was three years behind in technology,” said Wolfgang. “We had to invest millions of dollars in the structure of the system to bring it up to par to bring it up to the new demand.”
Similarly, she said, TWC couldn’t add its digital phone service here before improving the system.
The addition of all the HD channels is a competitive response to satellite TV, which constantly promotes its superiority in HD channels, and the newly arrived Verizon FiOS.
Before it started its biweekly announcements, TWC said its goal was to get to 50 HD channels by the end of the year. It already has exceeded that with 61 after today’s additions of WNLO and the three OnDemand channels.
The TWC additions haven’t been without some annoying problems or confusion. On some nights, I’ve lost some HD channels, especially ESPN HD, for hours — and I’ve been told I’m not alone.
Wolfgang said that could be an issue linked to where I live.
Some subscribers have also been confused over what exactly is “free HD.” The confusion may have been exacerbated by the way Time Warner rolled out certain HD channels.
It originally gave a free preview to some channels like NHL HD, Outdoor Life HD, National Geographic HD, Toon Disney HD and Lifetime Movie HD that are only free to those subscribers who already have packages that carry those channels.
After a few days, it took those channels away from subscribers who don’t pay for the special $4 monthly sports tier (the one NHL and Outdoor Life are on) and the special $4.99 monthly tier (the one National Geographic, Toon Disney and Lifetime Movie) are on. This infuriated some subscribers who didn’t like the idea of paying an extra $9 monthly for something they mistakenly thought would be free.
The majority of the newly added HD channels — including WNLO and the popular CNN HD and TBS HD — are free to subscribers who get the digital package.
TWC also has a special $5 HD tier that includes Universal HD, HD Net, HD Net Movie and Mojo.
In other words, to get all the HD channels that TWC is offering, subscribers have to pay for digital cable and the three special tiers.
According to Wolfgang, the 41 free HD channels are: Buffalo Sabres, NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, PBS, CW, Fx, MyTV, HGTV, Food Network, Fox Business, Fox News, CNN, TBS, TNT, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN News, MSG, SNY, Travel Channel, TLC, Science Channel, Discovery, Animal Planet, Discovery Theater, Planet Green, A&E, History, ABC Family, Disney, Cartoon Network, Palladia, Yes, Versus/Golf, Game (MLB/NHL), Team NBA, PPV and Hallmark Movies.
HBO, Showtime, Starz and Cinemax are the pay channels carried in HD. The digital variety tier includes National Geographic, Biography, Toon Disney and Lifetime Movie Network in HD. The digital sports Tier carries NHL Network, Tennis Channel and Outdoor Channel in HD. The six stations on the digital high-def tier are MGM Universal, HD Net, HDNet movies and MOJO.
Readers have asked how long it will be before the local affiliates will be broadcasting their newscasts in HD. Don’t hold your breath.
Jim Toellner, the general manager of Channel 2, said it probably is a couple of years away.
“It is a multimillion-dollar investment,” added Toellner.
Keep the antenna
Note to those who got antennas from Time Warner to receive Channel 4 and now that a deal has been struck to bring the CBS affiliate back on cable are being advised how to disconnect by the cable company: You might want to keep using the antenna because it enables subscribers to watch CBS shows while DVRing two other programs at the same time.
If you only use cable, you can’t watch a third channel while DVRing two programs.
