Hundreds of Choices Now Available in HD; Offering Allows Customers to Start a Video On Demand Show in One Room and Finish it in Another
BEAVERTON, Ore., May 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Comcast, the country's leading provider of cable, entertainment and communications products and services, is launching eleven new high-definition (HD) networks in the Oregon and SW Washington Market and one new standard definition channel, the company announced today. The new HD channels will include: Disney Channel HD, ABC Family Channel HD, Discovery Channel HD, TLC HD, Science Channel HD, Food Network HD, Animal Planet HD, SciFi HD, CNN HD, AMC HD, TBS HD. NHL Network will launch in standard definition on the Sport and Entertainment tier. The addition of the eleven channels is part of the commitment Comcast has made to offer more choice in high-definition content available to Comcast HD customers, along with hundreds of HD choices instantly available through Comcast On Demand.
In addition, Comcast today announced the launch of AnyRoom(TM) On Demand, available now to all Digital Cable customers. AnyRoom allows customers to select Channel 1 On Demand programs on one television and view them on any other TV in the home that has a digital cable box. Digital Cable customers with On Demand do not need to make any changes or add equipment to take advantage of the AnyRoom feature, and it is completely free of charge.
Ten of the new HD networks will launch on the Digital Starter HD service level in Oregon and SW Washington communities, with the Science Channel launching on Digital Classic and the NHL Network launching on the Sports and Entertainment tier. story continues.. On a conference call discussing yesterday's earnings with the media and investors, Comcast said that while they offer 25 to 30 linear HD channels in a typical system now, they expect to push that to 50 to 60 by year's end. The company currently offers switched digital video (which frees up network bandwidth by storing unwatched channels at the edge router) in Denver, Colorado and Cherry Hill, NJ. According to Comcast, their goal is to deploy SDV to about 15% of their systems by the end of the year. More here: Front Pagecomments? Comcast has nailed down a new distribution deal with ION Media Networks, agreeing to continue carriage of the companys flagship network, while picking up IONs digital channels, qubo and ION Life. The qubo property is a multilingual childrens network that focuses on literacy and, per IONs characterization, positive values through entertainment, while the 24/7 wellness channel ION Life offers health and lifestyle programming. More here: Media Weekcomments? A federal judge late Monday temporarily halted Comcast cable's plans to move community access channels higher up the dial today, putting them beyond the reach of thousands of Michigan cable subscribers with analog televisions. The decision by U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts in Detroit temporarily prevents Comcast from moving PEG -- public, educational and governmental access -- channels across the state into the 900-level digital range. The move would require subscribers with analog televisions to buy digital cable-ready televisions or rent or buy a digital converter box for each set to continue receiving those channels. More here: Detroit Free Presscomments? Ralph Roberts, Comcast's founder, has a new pay agreement that pays his 2007 salary and bonuses to his beneficiaries for 5 years after he dies. And John Alchin, Comcast's CFO will retire at end of this year. story continues..comments? The nation's largest cable company, Comcast, told Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) that it already has a carriage agreement with NFL Network and that the channel is already available to anyone who wishes to buy it as part of its Sports Entertainment Package. Cohen was responding to Kerry's letter asking for a meeting with him, Time Warner Cable president Glenn Britt (Time Warner does not carry the network) and National Football League commissioner Roger Goodell in Washington, D.C., next week about finding a way to let more viewers see the New England Patriots at New York Giants game Dec. 29, which is currently on NFL Network. More here: » www.broadcastingcable.com/articl···d=47170comments?
Comcast HD plans05:21PM Monday Dec 10 2007 by TK Junk MailThe new channels include some that Comcast has already announced in other cities such as CNN HD, Food Network HD and Universal HD. The cable operator, like other cable systems, is trying to catch up with satcaster DIRECTV which says it now has more than 80 national HD channels. More here: » www.tvpredictions.com/comcasthd120907.htmcomments? » www.multichannel.com/article/CA6475156.htmlComcast is planning to take the Federal Communications Commission to court after the agency on Tuesday night refused to exempt three set-top boxes from rules intended to promote a retail consumer market for such boxes. The FCC required more than 500 days to act on Comcasts set-top waivers. story continues..1 comment Big Ten TV Network & Comcast at impasse( old news - 03:51PM Monday Aug 27 2007) » www.chicagotribune.com/news/opin···6.storyThe Big Ten Network, a sports junkie's dream, will launch on Thursday. The TV channel dedicated to Big Ten athletics is set to air 35 football games, 105 men's basketball games and 55 women's basketball games in the next year. story continues..1 comment » investing.reuters.co.uk/news/art···6407311Comcast Corp., the largest U.S. cable operator, could see its stock soar nearly 57 percent in the next year due to available cash flows that it can spend on operations, according to the Aug. story continues..comments? The company is taking action, even as it greatly expands the premium digital services being offered. Comcast has stepped up to meet the competitive threat from satellite TV, and customers are rapidly embracing a "triple play" bundle of digital video, high-speed Internet and phone service, which not only brings in more money but makes customers less likely to jump ship. More here: » apnews.myway.com//article/200708···AG1.html2 comments » www.betanews.com/article/Comcast···3065876Over six months after Comcast set-top boxes utilizing TiVo's software debuted at CES, the cable giant has officially certified the platform for deployment to customers. The companies originally announced a deal to work together in March 2005. Neither Comcast nor TiVo said when customers could expect to receive the TiVo software, which will be delivered over the cable network to Comcast's Motorola digital video recorders. Due to specific Comcast and hardware requirements, the interface differs greatly from TiVo's standalone offerings, but the basic features are the same. TiVo inked a similar agreement with cable provider Cox last August. comments? Comcast has gone virtual.( old news - 03:49PM Thursday Jun 14 2007) The nation's largest cable operator has opened "Comcastic Island," a new destination within Second Life, the online virtual world. "Comcastic Island" is a theme park with attractions designed to highlight the speed of Comcast's Internet access services. It includes an auto race track, a jet ski track and a jet pack course... » tvweek.com/news/2007/06/comcast_···life.phpcomments? May 16th 2007 3:35PM by Allan KredaWith news that a New York state judge has ruled that Comcast Corp. can finally move the NFL Network from basic digital cable platforms to a more expensive digital sports tier, does this signal a new era of pay TV for sports? Maybe. This is special territory the monster cable operator has been angling for since it and the league-owned network couldn't reach agreement to place National Football League games on the Comcast-owned Versus network before last season. More here: » www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/05/1···mpanies/ comments? Comcast has announced plans to stop using Microsoft technology to power its on-screen program guide, reports the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. In its place, Comcast will roll out the GuideWorks software and program guide throughout the country. The software will be automatically swapped out beginning in June and running through September. Right now the software is only being used in boxes in Microsoft's home state of Washington, the same state it debuted in three years ago. More here: » www.marketingvox.com/archives/20···e-boxes/comments? Comcast Monday expanded its regional-sports-network portfolio by purchasing Cablevision Systems interests in FSN Bay Area and FSN New England. The deal, valued at $570 million, leaves Cablevision with only New York-based RSNs Madison Square Garden Network and FSN New York... » www.multichannel.com/article/CA6437971.htmlcomments? Comcast Nears Deal with Insight( old news - 08:17PM Wednesday Mar 28 2007) Comcast is close to wrapping up a deal to unwind its Insight Midwest partnership with Insight Communications in a deal that could bring half of Insights 1.3 million cable customers into the Philadelphia companys fold. Comcast has owned 50% of Insight Midwest a partnership that controls all of Insights 1.3 million customers since 2002 when it acquired AT&T Broadband. Comcast has said as far back as two years ago that it wanted to unwind the partnership it gained the right to trigger a dissolution on Dec. 31, 2005 in an effort to simplify its structure... » www.multichannel.com/article/CA6···ing+Newscomments? MSO's Moving Slowly on CableCARD's( old news - 06:34PM Wednesday Mar 28 2007) The nation's 10 largest cable operators are still not installing many removable security modules in customers' homes, even though the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) 's July 1 ban on new digital set-tops with integrated security features is just three months away. Plus, the big MSO's say they're still running into numerous installation problems with these security modules, which are known as CableCARDs. At least two major MSO's claim that they're fielding 1,000 or more "trouble calls" a month concerning the modules... More here: » www.lightreading.com/document.as···site=cdncomments?
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