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Charter to undergo major channel shakeup in August

Mark — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 23:04:18 -0500

If you're a Charter basic cable customer and really watch those local public access channels, there may be a cable box in your future. Charter Communications is getting ready to shuffle their channel lineup in a big way, and there are a few notable changes in store. According to their website, the shift is part of "an effort to offer more digital and high-definition channels."

Starting August 12th, channels 7 and 19 will no longer be home to local access. In its place, digital channel 978-994 are being slated to hold Charter's local PEG programming. According to a report, this will be dubbed the "public affairs neighborhood," and will allegedly be available to non-boxed cable customers if their TVs have a QAM-capable digital tuner built in. There is no indication on the website what may replace the channels, if anything, in their former channel numbers. Charter's info network on channel 25 will also be moving to digital.

Dozens of channels will be changing channel numbers on August 27th as well, including digital/HD feeds of Green Bay's local channels.

Among the notable additions, Charter will be adding WPNE's digital subchannels (The Wisconsin Channel, Create and PBS Kids) to their digital lineup starting August 27th. Charter will also be adding its new crop of HD channels on August 27th, including Animal Planet HD, FSN Wisconsin HD, a high-def Pay Per View channel, Smithsonian Channel HD, TBS in HD and The Movie Channel HD. The cable carrier will also be adding a substanial slate of Spanish-language channels including Telemundo Wisconsin.

Educational Access (channel 23) as well as five iN DEMAND channels will be deleted entirely in the move.

Charter customers can click on this link to go to Charter's channel change page. Upon entering your zip code, you will see all the changes in the works where you live.

WLUK hopes you'll be "Living With Amy" this September

Mark — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:28:26 -0500

Hot on the heels of reports that a Las Vegas station is starting to bring product placement into its morning newscasts to bolster ad revenue, Green Bay FOX affiliate WLUK is giving it a whirl when they launch a new locally-produced morning show this September, according to a report in the Green Bay Press-Gazette.

Living With Amy, hosted by Good Day Wisconsin personality Amy Hanten, will incorporate product placement into the women-focused local show, according to station GM Jay Zollar. Topics including cooking, women's health, parenting, and decorating will be fixtures of Amy.

The show bumps Rachel Ray out of her current 9:00 AM timeslot, so it will follow Good Day, meaning fans of the uber-perky Food Network host will have to wait until 10:00 AM to catch her. Living With Amy premieres September 29th.

The announcement by WLUK comes shortly after rival Green Bay broadcaster WGBA dropped its entire slate of locally-originated morning programming, opting to pipe in news from Milwaukee sister station WTMJ instead.

Time Warner offering NBC Olympic content on-demand, including HD

Mark — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:01:16 -0500

In advance of this summer's Olympic games, Time Warner Cable Wisconsin and NBC are teaming up to offer Olympics On Demand content to Northeast Wisconsin digital cable subscribers. It is now available on the Sports On Demand channel (1104). High-definition Olympic content will also be available on the HD Showcase channel (1102).

Up until this year's games begin in August, highlights from the 2004 Athens summer games are available. The content is available for free to digitial cable customers.

WBAY shuffles up Retro schedule

Mark — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:34:30 -0500

The weekday and weekend schedule has changed on WBAY's Retro Television Network digital subchannel (2-3), according to their website. Programming apparently changed as of yesterday, though Time Warner Cable's guide data had not yet then updated.

Thanks to my girlfriend Jess for the initial tip, when she let me know yesterday that the 5:00 PM airings of her beloved Get Smart! had been discontinued. A sad day, this.

Have you had a difficult time finding a DTV converter box on local store shelves?

Mark — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:00:53 -0500

* Yes * No

Will recent local news and sports cutbacks at NBC26 affect how much you watch?

Mark — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 11:25:50 -0500

* I watch MORE than before. * I watch about THE SAME as before. * I watch LESS or NOT AT ALL anymore.

NBC 26's Milwaukee outsourcing continues as morning newscasts get axed

Mark — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:25:50 -0500

After firing their sports department back in June in favor of taking sports coverage from Milwaukee sister station WTMJ, the gradual outsourcing continues at WGBA, NBC26 in Green Bay. The Green Bay Press-Gazette confirms that NBC26 is axing their morning and noon hour newscasts, as well as letting go several staffers in the shakeup.

The station will pipe in morning programming from WTMJ with WGBA graphics superimposed, and local weather segments rolled in over Milwaukee's weather reports. On Monday, NBC26 also cut into afternoon programming with a live report from WTMJ on the Midwest Airlines layoffs, which may signify that news coverage outside of the 5:00, 6:00 and 10:00 newscasts will also come from WTMJ.

DISH Network prepping 17 new HD channels for August 1 launch

Mark — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:25:07 -0500

After replacing its roster of VOOM channels with 20 new HD channels back in June, DISH Network is at it again. The satcaster is getting ready for an August 1^st launch of 17 new HD channels. According to its press release, DISH Network claims the addition will push its lineup past the 100 HD networks it promised to offer this year, with five months' time to spare.

Of course, that's 100 HD channels overall, including out-of-market sports channels, pay per view channels and the like, but if that number makes customers all warm and fuzzy, why not? Right?

Unfortunately for most subscribers who don't subscribe to premium channels, they'll only be seeing four of the 17 new HD channels as the additions are mostly premium movie channels (noted in bold below). The new channels coming to DISH Network's lineup include:

ActionMax HD
CBS College Sports HD
Lifetime HD
Lifetime Movie Network HD
Planet Green HD
Encore HD
HBO 2 HD
HBO Comedy HD
HBO Family HD
HBO Latino HD
HBO Signature HD
HBO West HD
HBO Zone HD
Starz Comedy HD
Starz Edge HD
Starz Kids & Family HD
Starz West HD

Charter to add FSN Wisconsin HD, other HD channels August 20th

Mark — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 08:56:48 -0500

Charter Communications has announced it will finally add FSN Wisconsin in HD starting August 20th to its Wisconsin cable systems, according to a report in The Capital Times today.

The late summer addition of the high-definition FSN channel will leave Charter customers with only 11 HD Brewers games this season, six of them with Pittsburgh. Charter had said back in early June that it would add FSN HD but with no official date until now. The article says all Brewers games in 2009 will be in HD.

Charter also announced four more HD channel additions for August 20th, including Animal Planet HD, Smithsonian Channel HD, TBS in HD and The Movie Channel HD. The additions will bring Charter's HD channel count in Northeast Wisconsin from 18 to 23. Also slated to join Charter's lineup in August is an iN DEMAND HD channel.

U-Verse adding four HD channels July 10th

Mark — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 11:41:12 -0500

Those in Northeast Wisconsin who took the U-Verse plunge may find themselves with a handful of new HD channels tomorrow, according to an administrator's post on AT&T's U-Talk forums, as picked up by Engadget HD.

The channels that may show up tomorrow (July 10th) include four NBC Universal-owned networks -- Bravo HD, CNBC HD, USA Network HD and Sci Fi HD. The addition of CNBC and USA Network join Universal HD on AT&T's high-definition roster just in time for the Summer Olympic games. Those networks, in addition to NBC, MSNBC, Oxygen and Telemundo, will be part of a monumental amount of Olympic coverage NBC has planned for this summer. Universal HD will feature high-def Olympic simulcasts and encores of CNBC and MSNBC coverage 24 hours a day during the Games.

U-Verse ad push begins, shutout customers get miffed

Mark — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:02:14 -0500

The signs of U-Verse are everywhere -- on TV, radio, and in your mailbox. However, customers who find themselves ineligible for AT&T's new TV and Internet services are getting steamed.

DirecTV finally rolls out On Demand programming nationwide

Mark — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:56:20 -0500

It's been a long time coming, but DirecTV has officially launched video-on-demand nationwide this week. According to the press release, they will be offering upwards of 4,000 SD and HD titles to customers with a DIRECTV Plus^®HD DVR or R22 DVR, all at no extra charge.

DirecTV's on-demand system relies mainly on a customer's own broadband connection, with titles downloading directly to their DVR. Customers will also be able to schedule on-demand downloads via the Internet.

Each programmer -- such as the Discovery Channel -- that has on-demand content will have their own specialized channel.

Retransmission deal between LIN/WLUK and Charter finalized

Mark — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:45:17 -0500

According to Broadcasting & Cable Magazine, the deal between WLUK parent LIN Television and cable operator Charter Communications has been officially sealed.

Terms of the deal haven't been disclosed, but at least it's all official-like. WLUK acknowledged the deal on-air yesterday. No word yet on when WLUK HD will become available on local Charter lineups.

Should local municipalities start funding and running their own public-access channels?

Mark — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:27:08 -0500

* Yes * No

Will the sagging economy affect your TV service (cable, satellite) spending this year?

Mark — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:26:13 -0500

* Yes, I will cut down the level of service I subscribe to this year. * Yes, I will cancel TV service altogether this year. * No, I will not reduce or cancel my TV service at all.

Time Warner technical snags with Golf/Versus HD, TLC HD solved

Mark — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:22:28 -0500

Last week, Time Warner continued its summer rollout of HD channels with three new networks hitting its lineup. Unfortunately, many customers (including yours truly) are experiencing difficulties seeing TLC HD and Golf/Versus HD.

Though not officially confirmed yet, there have been many reports of customers either not seeing the channels at all, or receiving error messages stating the customer is unauthorized to view the two channels. Personally, I am seeing the channels appearing in my guide, but I am butting up against the 'unauthorized' error when trying to tune them in. Apparently at this time, resetting the receiver does not fix the problem. Calls to Time Warner are reportedly triggering service calls to customers' homes, but one reader reports that their service technician was unable to solve the problem at all.

UPDATE: We have been hearing reports Tuesday night and Wednesday morning that the issues have been resolved.

Is the "same old thing" good enough for Time Warner?

Mark — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 10:37:09 -0500

They've done it before. They've faced competition from DISH Network and DirecTV for years. But with AT&T knocking on their door, will Time Warner Cable rest on their laurels?

Time Warner to add Animal Planet, TLC and Golf/Versus in HD on June 26th

Mark — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 18:31:47 -0500

Buried in the print edition of today's Post-Crescent, the paper reports that Time Warner will be adding three more HD channels this Thursday. The new channels include TLC HD on channel 742, Animal Planet on 743 and the combined Golf/Versus HD channel on 714.

Thanks to Kris for the tip.

Big Ten, Comcast make their deal official

Mark — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 10:39:37 -0500

The Chicago Tribune this morning is reporting that Comcast, the nation's largest cable operator and franchise holder in Manitowoc, is very near a deal for Big Ten Network. Sources expect the deal to be announced as early as this week. The deal will nearly double the footprint of the fledgling regional sports network, especially in the Big Ten conference markets.

All signs seem to point to compromise in getting the deal done, with Comcast consenting to add the channel to its expanded basic tier (with the option to move it later) and Big Ten taking about 70-80 cents a month instead of the $1.00 per subscriber they originally sought. With such a template in place, this could be a good sign that other deals could take place where they don't yet exist, such as Charter and Time Warner Cable.

DirecTV and DISH Network both offer Big Ten Network, and AT&T will offer it on their U-Verse service on their U100 or higher tiers.

UPDATE: A blog on the website of TV station WILX says Big Ten officials are confirming they are about to announce a deal with Comcast.

UPDATE: It's official. It's a deal.

AT&T U-Verse will be first to feature all Green Bay local channels in HD

Mark — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 23:34:25 -0500

With the upcoming launch of AT&T U-Verse in Northeast Wisconsin, it is notable that this is the first provider to feature high-definition feeds from all seven Green Bay broadcasters.

Previously, WIWB (Green Bay's CW affiliate) and WACY (Green Bay's MyNetworkTV affiliate) have not been available on any cable or satellite provider. These channels will join WBAY (ABC), WFRV (CBS), WLUK (FOX), WGBA (NBC) and WPNE (PBS) on AT&T's high-definition lineup.

Missing from the U-Verse lineup, however, are WBAY's StormCenter 2 24/7 (2-2) and Retro Television Network (2-3) subchannels, as well as WPNE's Wisconsin Channel (38-2), Create Channel (38-3) and PBS Kids (38-4) subchannels.