HBO/Showtime Digital Migration in Louisville

Our Louisville system is in the process of having our last remaining premium channels migrate from analog to digital.  In this case HBO,  HBO2 and Showtime will be removed from the analog lineup and be made available only on digital.

Several customers have posted comments on this blog about this move. 

Michael asked,

Why is it necessary to make users pay for additional digital boxes to see HBO and Showtime.  Is the government driving this change.  How come i don't need a digital box to see all of the other channels?

Three great questions. 

I know that this type of change does not seem to be particularly customer "friendly."  But the fact is, we have to do it and here's why.

We are planning to offer many new services in the coming months and years.  Those services will require significant amounts of bandwidth so we have to evaluate our current usage and find ways to be more efficient.  Unfortunately, analog delivery of video signals is extremely inefficient.  One analog channel takes up as much bandwidth as 10 to 12 standard definition digital channels and 2 to 3 high definition channels.  As you can imagine, recapturing enough bandwidth to enable us to launch many more digital channels is of critical importance to us.

Our broadband service also will require three to four times as much bandwidth when DOCSIS 3.0 is launched in the future.  You may recall from previous posts on this blog that DOCSIS 3.0 will enable us to offer speeds in excess of 100 mbps as more and more heavy bandwidth consuming services are developed in the future.  Again, some of our bandwidth resources for super-fast surfing has to come from somewhere.

We have actually been planning our bandwidth needs for quite some time.  Over the past few years we have migrated certain channels to digital to make room available for other new services.  Indeed, we previously have completed this very migration (HBO and Showtime) in all of our other districts.  Louisville simply was the last to go.

In doing this, we try to minimize the disruption as much as possible.  For new customers, we stopped selling analog HBO, HBO2 and Showtime long ago.  So, over the years, the number of customers receiving those channels in analog has declined dramatically.  Today, fewer than 2% of our Louisville customers will have to switch to digital in order to continue to receive those three channels.

For up to 2 TV's in the household, we are offering analog HBO/Showtime customers a transitional period to insulate them from having to pay for additional equipment just to continue to receive those channels. 

America is in a 3-to-5 year transitional period now, converting from analog TV to digital TV. The really big event is in February, 2009 when the broadcast TV stations shut down their analog transmitters and convert to digital.  Our HBO/Showtime migration is similar to that.   

But, to answer Michael's second question, this move is not directly related to any government action.  It was a decision we had to take in order to make room for many of the new services we plan to offer over the next handful of years.

And finally, to answer your last question, we and most cable operators will continue to deliver channels in analog to you for a few more years to ease the overall transition to digital.  But eventually, sometime in the next decade, you will have to get a digital TV or a digital converter (from us or someone else) in order to continue to watch TV.  Until then, you will see other transitions of services (like the HBO/Showtime transition) that will migrate other highly-inefficient users of bandwidth to make room for exciting new services.

Comments

[UKMA99]

Very informative post. Thank you.

Now, what is Insight's plan for switched digital video (SDV)? I have a cablecard and am wondering how this will affect me.

[Hodgie99]

While I understand your reasons to make this change, I don't understand why you are making it hard on customers. I have the "old" HBO service. When I called in to request a box, I was told that I will get the box free for 1 year, then after that I have to pay for the box. The operator was not able to tell me what kind of box this is (DVR or regular), I was told I have to call a different number. And then worst of all, they will ONLY do installations during the week during the standard times 8 am - 12 noon and 1 -5 pm. What are people who work 8-5 supposed to do? Take a day off for those wide open times. I am not at all happy! I don't understand why they can't install on the weekend like a normal installation. And then, where is the information on this on the insight-com.com website? A search on the website for "HBO migration" only gives a posting for a retirement. You have to get lucky to even find this posting.
Why wasn't this change announced in my billing materials? I think I should just cancel my HBO service. Maybe more...

[hapster]

What I would like to know is, why are the digital counterparts to unscrambled analog channels, scrambled? You know, channels like TBS, TNT, etc. For that matter, why are the HD versions of those same channels also scrambled? Why aren't they "in the clear" for those who have TVs with ATSC/QAM digital tuners?

Is this going to be the trend forevermore? Until Insight starts employing things like switched video, etc., it seems like just another way to force us into renting a box. I don't currently have a box, nor do I want one. Why should I be penalized for that?

[Sandy]

The question I have, is if I buy a new Tv with a Digital Tuner, will I still need the new box from Insight?

[Sandy]

What I am wondering is if I buy a new Tv with a Digital Tuner or if I get one of the Digital boxes, will I still need one of the boxes from Insight?

[Michael Willner]

If you want to rid yourself of all boxes, the only solution will be when tru2way cable cards are available. They are in the early stage of development with six cable operators. You will need a digital TV with tru2way technology build into it. Once we are comfortable that they work well, we will likely make the new cable cards available in our markets too. However, that's not right around the corner.

So for now, in order to get HBO and Showtime, you will need one of our boxes which we are making available as easily as possible.

[Shawn Price]

In your blog post you stated Louisville simply was the last to go. What about Columbus, OH? We still have analog HBO, Showtime and Cinemax.

[Michael Willner]

Oops. Meant to say "one of the last."