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RichRuggiero
join:2008-07-24
Schaumburg, IL

1 recommendation

RichRuggiero to dishrich

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to dishrich

Re: NEWS - HD channels added to city of Chicago line-up

I'm with Comcast in Chicago. Dishrich is right, we still offer analog basic service in the city. But the expanded basic tier is 100% digital (one of a handful of Comcast systems in the country, although upward of 20% of Comcast communities nationwide should be by year-end, with more to follow in '09). That's what allows us to launch these HD channels in the city first. I don't have a time frame I can share right now on adding these HD channels in the rest of the Chicago market or South Bend, but our plan is definitely to launch broadly these HD channels and more, plus much more HD On Demand.

markofmayhem
Why not now?
Premium Member
join:2004-04-08
Pittsburgh, PA

markofmayhem

Premium Member

When the first 20-ish channels are analog and from 24-ish on up is digital, Comcast refers to this market as an "all digital" market. Until a court trumps franchise agreements, Comcast renegotiates all franchise agreements, or franchise agreements go away; this will be the case. The "lifeline" service of the first 20-ish channels is actually a utilitiy. It's price is regulated, it's service is regulated, it's quality is regulated; all by the franchise authority of your area. "All digital" is for the spectrum that is unregulated. In most towns, it's around channel 24 and above. Freeing up the analog space from 25 to 125 results in 30-50 extra QAM channels for most areas. The problem in doing this across the country is availability of rental boxes and the fact we're on the eve of tru2way. Chicago is currently a bandwidth expansion and reclaimation test bed. It's nice to watch, but most won't see a setup similar until 2010 and beyond.
kb11
join:2007-01-01
South Bend, IN

kb11 to RichRuggiero

Member

to RichRuggiero
said by RichRuggiero:

I'm with Comcast in Chicago. Dishrich is right, we still offer analog basic service in the city. But the expanded basic tier is 100% digital (one of a handful of Comcast systems in the country, although upward of 20% of Comcast communities nationwide should be by year-end, with more to follow in '09). That's what allows us to launch these HD channels in the city first. I don't have a time frame I can share right now on adding these HD channels in the rest of the Chicago market or South Bend, but our plan is definitely to launch broadly these HD channels and more, plus much more HD On Demand.
Ruggiero, Are you saying that Comcast has the room in my area to add the new HD channels but they are just waiting for a certain time to add them? Thanks.
RichRuggiero
join:2008-07-24
Schaumburg, IL

RichRuggiero

Member

No...just that we do plan to add them but don't have a time frame we can share publicly.