When will 58 be on TWC?

[SteveClemetson]

Now that we have 4 and 12 on Time Warner, has there been any word on when 58 will be available?  Then I could ditch my OTA receiver and the switchbox I have to use whenever I want to go from OTA to HBO-HD...

[Tom Snyder]

Last we heard Jim Hall was in negotiations with Time Warner. He said to continue to contact TW to "encourage" a quick completion of those negotiations. Bev Greenberg is the one to talk to there.

[Mike H]

Well when you ditch that OTA tuner please send it my way...

So far I'm very, very disappointed in TWC's quality on the HD feeds.  

To think they are saving bandwidth for i-controls really really bad picture quality.  Will someone please tell TWC OTA HD is much better than their product...  If there is really a threat to the cable industry it is OTA HDTV...  and TWC cutting the quality of the product vs OTA isn't the way to win customers.

 

[gyoung]

 

and TWC cutting the quality of the product vs OTA isn't the way to win customers.

No, but if TWC gets all the locals to HD, then they will have a huge advantage being "first to market".  The average user will just use this, rather than spring $300+ for and OTA HD receiver.

PS - I know that TWC isn't first to market, but they could be first to market with a cheap alternative and the cheap alternative is better than the regular analog that most people are used to.

[kjnorman]

I agree, if over the course of the next few months, TWC starts to offer CBS, FOX (okay not HD, but I would still like their widescreen), WB18, UPN24, and PAX (not sure if PAX will ever offer HDTV) in digital formats, in addition to NBC and ABC currently on.  And along with the premium channels of HBO HD and Showtime HD currently available and perhaps Discovery HD (rumoured on AVSforum for perhaps the end of January 2003) and ESPN HD (from April 2003?) then I think they will have a killer line up and kill the OTA market and get a lot of satelite subscribers as well - at least short term.

Of course though, if TW does not offer any way to record the digital stations, and HD PVRs come out for OTA or satelite, then TW will have a fight on its hands.

Let the games begin!

[btbowen1]

I also agree with the above post, TW cable will be in for a fight next year that they could win. The thought of having ESPN HD and Discovery HD in the line up is exciting. But both of those channels will most likely premium channels, I dunno if I would want to pay an extra $10 per channel for those. TW already said cable will be going up again in Jan. 2003 and digital cable is already expensive. At the prices TW charging, I don't think cable is a cheap alternative, its nice to have all those channels, but if you want to get the best picture for your $2000 tv investment, a OTA might be the best option.
Directv will be dealing with the same bandwidth problem as TW.

[AndrewP]

I will never go back to cable from Dish.
TWC is too behind in PQ.

Andrew

[kjnorman]

   

Originally posted by btbowen1:
Directv will be dealing with the same bandwidth problem as TW.[/B]

But cable has the advantage here.  Not in the short term, but longer term they will be able to offer much more than satelite.

As the digital transition progresses, and as digital cable ready TVs, STBs and PVRs start coming out from 2004 (see cable industry agrees on standards) then I think you will see TW scaling back their analog channels in the 2 to 99 band.  For each analog channel they give up, they can offer one (or two with QAM256?) HDTV channel, or god forbid six SD digital channels.

Now I do not forsee the analog channels disappearing any time soon, afterall there are still a lot of analog cable subscribers out there, but I could forsee it being scaled back so that only channels 2 to 50 are analog.  That could free up enough bandwidth to give 30 to 50 HDTV channels and perhaps even bump up the quality in the current "digital" channels.

Actually, thinking about this a bit more, as TVs become digital cable ready, the cable companies are going to start to lose their revenue from STB rentals.  Therefore I would guess that from 2007 when we are all supposedly digital, TW may dump its entire analog channel range and go completely digital.  This way they'll force any old analog diehards out there to get a digital to analog STB, helping them to bolster their revenue from falling digital cable box rental income.  

I could be all wrong, but that is where my current crystal ball gazing puts my thoughts    .

Kerry

[This message has been edited by kjnorman (edited 11-15-2002).]

[SteveClemetson]

I have yet to do a side-by-side comparison of my OTA signal versus my TWC 3100HD box -- maybe I'll try it with Leno tonight.  Though I'm not a big fan of TWC, I like the idea of making HD reception more accessable to the masses, thus easing or speeding people's transition to "our world".  I further like the idea that my DST-3000 is fetching over $400 on eBay, which gets me almost halfway to the 5.0 megapixal digital camera I want...

[Mike H]

 

Originally posted by gyoung:
PS - I know that TWC isn't first to market, but they could be first to market with a cheap alternative and the cheap alternative is better than the regular analog that most people are used to.[/B]

If cheap is the nature of HDTV some of us have really screwed up so far...  ;-)

Now with a bit less compression say standard signals they could deliver quality and low cost... instead it's their QAM 256 that has me looking at alternatives (OTA & Satellite) And believe it or not the payback on the OTA receiver gets better each and every day...  As TWC threatens guess what - higher prices.


 
 

[gyoung]

 

As TWC threatens guess what - higher prices.

That would be a bad move by TWC.  They have a chance to actually give people a reason to take TWC over satellite.  The average person will think any HDTV is better than analog and TWC will make the mistake by charging more for it.  This will just be another reason to go to satellite.

TWC needs to be careful.  Offer HD to the masses, but price it accordingly so not to give subscribers another reason to go to satellite.

[Joseph S]

If they up the price, it goes out the door as soon as the Sopranos are done this year.

It's that simple.

[gparris]

 

Originally posted by Tom Snyder:
Last we heard Jim Hall was in negotiations with Time Warner. He said to continue to contact TW to "encourage" a quick completion of those negotiations. Bev Greenberg is the one to talk to there.

I do not understand how WTMJ and WISN could get their HDTV feeds into the TWC system and not "CBS58". I don't get it. WTMJ has been the leader in TV for decades and did it - first again, as always. Our forum screamed for months about Channel 12's lack of digital anything and suddenly,not only are they broadcasting full HDTV and 5.1 DD-BUT THRU THE TWC SYSTEM (and they were only broadcasting for a short time, unlike Channel 4 has ). What kind of "negotiations" are "CBS58" in with TWC? The same kind that caused DIRECTV to carry only 3 stations (not theirs) when the sat locals got introduced? Recently, I made inquiries to a Dish Network rep why their company does not offer locals for Milwaukee, what with their offerings of HD Discovery and all, I'd switch from DIRECTV and was told that the reason is because the CBS affiliate here is holding up the line. To carry locals, Dish wants or has to carry all the locals, not just some of them. The bottom line- and my apologies to Mr. Jim Hall of "CBS58" - I can see why we still don't have the CBS HD lineup on TWC yet-even though CBS has more to broadcast than the other networks-and "CBS58" has been broadcasting it for a longer time than WISN: It is a MANAGEMENT problem, isn't it? Just like with DIRECTV,("we're in "negotiations").
Yeah, right!