Michael's Insight

Insight now offers 100 HD channels in Louisville

They're finally here!

In December, we launched our digital upgrade in the Louisville area with the promise that it would allow us to begin offering more than 100 HD channels to area customers. 

I’m proud to announce that, as of today, our efforts have been rewarded -- all of the new HD channels are now available. And these aren’t just any channels, but the most popular channels around in HD.

We’re committed to keeping our customers on the cutting edge of the most advanced technology and this is a big step toward that goal. And it’s only just the beginning.

In the coming days, we will be transitioning the remaining few channels still available in analog to 100% digital in Louisville. This will allow us offer more HD channels and even faster broadband speeds in the future. 

This now brings us to 100 HD channels in Louisville, Lexington, Northern Kentucky, and Columbus and our Digital 6.10 Upgrade is well underway in Evansville and Bowling Green. I look forward to making further announcements in those areas in the very near future. 

I would also like to highlight our new promotion, “100 Days of HD.” This is an interactive  game where customers can learn more about Insight's HD offerings. Also, the first time you play the game, you can enter for a chance to win a 22" or 42" HDTV, free HD/DVR service or a 10 Pack of free HD movies. Prizes will be awarded weekly over 100 days. For more information, please click here.

Here at Insight, we’re proud to provide our customers with the most advanced and reliable services found anywhere in this area. For your convenience, a full list of all the new HD channels (A subscription to programming packages or premium networks is required for access to some channels) and their channel placements that have been added to the Insight lineup in Louisville is copied below:

•  MSNBC HD - 907  
•  CNN Headline News HD - 909  
•  Univision HD - 911  
•  Cooking Channel HD - 913  
•  WBNA (ION) HD - 916 (will be launched soon)
•  DIY Network HD - 917  
•  RedZone HD - 919 (will be available when the NFL season starts, assuming that it does – I’m keeping my fingers crossed!)
•  Fox Soccer Channel HD - 921  
•  CMT HD - 942  
•  VH1 HD - 943  
•  MTV HD - 944  
•  Investigation Discovery HD - 948  
•  Encore HD - 950  
•  Fox Movie Channel HD - 956  
•  Turner Classic Movies HD - 957  
•  Starz Edge HD - 958  
•  Starz Kids & Family HD - 959  
•  HBO Family HD - 960  
•  HBO Signature HD - 961  
•  ActionMAX HD - 962  
•  The Movie Channel HD - 963  
•  Showtime Too HD - 964  
•  Smithsonian HD - 965  
•  MGM HD - 966  
•  BET HD - 967  
•  CBS College Sports HD - 968  
•  Outdoor Channel HD - 970  
•  VERSUS HD - 971  
•  Golf Channel HD - 972  
•  Tennis Channel HD - 973  
•  G4 HD - 975  
•  BIO HD - 977  
•  Nickelodeon HD - 978  
•  Disney XD HD - 980  
•  Cartoon Network HD - 981  
•  Lifetime Movie Network HD - 986  
•  Hallmark Channel HD - 987  
•  WE: Women's Entertainment HD - 988  
•  E! Entertainment HD - 989  
•  Style HD - 990  
•  BBC America HD - 992  
•  Planet Green HD - 993  
•  Spike TV HD - 994  
•  truTV HD - 995 (was launched at the start of this year’s NCAA Tournament)
•  Comedy Central HD - 997

Louisville TV market ratings of regional basketball final surpass Super Bowl

Kentucky’s Monstrous TV Ratings [Louisville Courier-Journal]

On Sunday, the University of Kentucky men’s basketball team advanced to its first Final Four in 13 years, and it seems just about everyone in the Louisville television market was watching. 

The game averaged a rating of 37, which includes all televisions in Louisville. The peak of this average occurred during the last part of the game, when the ratings grew to 44.3. The game also had an average share of 56 percent of the TVs that were turned on during that period in Louisville. This share also peaked at the end of the game, rising to a 63 share. 

These ratings were higher than the Super Bowl that aired in February. For comparison, CSI: Miami, the popular show that also aired on Sunday, had an 11 rating and 17 percent share.

The Louisville television market is known nationally as the top market for March Madness - with the highest ratings for the college basketball tournament of all TV markets year after year.

The Regional Final ratings were also higher than the Sweet 16 matchup between UK and Ohio State.  That game drew and average rating of 34 and a 49 percent share.

Overall, ratings for the tournament nationally are up 11 percent over last year due to the tournment games being split between CBS and cable networks TBS, TNT and TruTV, allowing viewers to watch every game from tipoff to the final horn. 

Insight launches truTV HD in Louisville in preparation for March Madness

The brackets are drawn and the seedings have been made - March Madness is here and I have some good news for customers in our Louisville district with regard to the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.

For the first time ever a signicant number of games in the tournmaent's initial rounds are exclusively appearing on cable channels TBS, TNT and truTV, allowing viewers to watch every game live. With the addition of 3 teams to the field of 68, there are four play-in games on Tuesday and Wednesday that appear on truTV. In order to bring our customers every second of the tournament in HD, we have moved up the launch of truTV in high definition in Louisville to this week. 

TBS, TNT and truTV are now available in full HD in our Louisville, Lexington and Northern Kentucky districts.

Games appearing on truTV can be watched in HD on channel 995. For a full schedule of games, check SportsonInsight.com. 

In other March Madness news, cn|2's Kentucky Sports Television is giving viewers the opportunity get in on the basketball hoopla with the KSTV Championship Challenge. Viewers can submit their bracket picks for the chance to win a 40" HDTV. Head over to the KSTV Championship Challenge for contest rules and information on how to enter your picks.

 

Insight and Raycom agree on three year extension

I'm thrilled to report that Insight and Raycom Media have reached an agreement to continue to deliver Raycom's WAVE in Louisville, WFIE in Evansville and WXIX in Northern Kentucky to Insight's customers. 

Both companies decided to put customers first by avoiding an interruption in programming, and signed a compromise deal that will guarantee Raycom carriage on Insight's systems for three more years.

Too often, recently, we have seen retransmission negotiations between broadcasters and other cable operators break down, leading to a programming blackout. I applaud Raycom for working with us to reach a win-win solution for our customers who also are their viewers.

 

Insight’s boxless solution all-digital pilot project in Louisville

Last month, I announced the transition of our channel lineup in Louisville to an all-digital network. At its completion, we’ll be working towards offering more than 100 HD channels, an Internet service even faster than our currently available 50 Mbps, multi-room DVR and many more advanced products. Just this week, customers throughout the area will begin receiving communications detailing the steps they need to take to make this transition a seamless one.

We’ve launched similar projects in Lexington and Northern Kentucky and those efforts are nearing completion.

In an effort to offer even more options to customers to make the transition to an all-digital service, we’re launching a “pilot project” in Louisville that will provide customers with one more digital option.

If you are a customer in the Louisville area and have a television in your home that has a built-in digital tuner, you’ll only have to perform a channel re-scan to continue receiving our basic and classic lineup.

The advantages of this approach include the fact that no extra equipment is needed, customers can use the remote that came with their TV and can continue to get local broadcast channels in HD.

Most (but not all) newer flat panel TVs have built-in digital tuners; most older TVs don't. If you’re interested in using this option and don’t know if you’re TV has a digital tuner or how to re-scan it, we’ve got a step-by-step manual at www.610upgrade.com. Carefully follow the simple "TV Check" steps for each TV to see if this option will work for you and to get your TVs ready for the change.

And if you’re TV doesn’t have a digital tuner or an Insight digital box already on it, you can still order our small, simple Mini Box which is very easy to install.

We’ve decided to launch this option as a pilot project in Louisville and at this point, we’ve made no decisions about rolling this same solution out in other districts. If it goes well in Louisville, we may look into offering the boxless option elsewhere. However, that will be a decision that would be made down the road.

I'll keep you posted as to how this goes and as I’ve mentioned, stay tuned for additional announcements in the near future concerning great new products that will roll out soon.

Insight launches Broadband 50.0 in Louisville

On the heels of this week’s announcement concerning Louisville moving to an all-digital network, I’m pleased to make another big announcement concerning our largest market – Insight’s 50.0 broadband service is now available in Louisville.

It required a tremendous amount of work to upgrade our network to the DOCSIS 3.0 platform throughout the region (not to mention in our other markets we’ve already rolled out – Northern Kentucky, Evansville and Bowling Green), but that work is now complete and we’re thrilled to provide by far the fastest Internet available in the Louisville area.

As I’ve mentioned in previous announcements, this new service will offer 50 Mbps download/5 Mbps upload speeds to customers throughout Louisville.

And just as we did last week in Northern Kentucky, Evansville and Bowling Green, if you’re a Broadband 20.0 customer, you’ll be receiving an email today inviting you to become one of the first to experience Broadband 50.0. In the coming days, all of our broadband customers will be receiving communications letting them know that they are also eligible for the upgrade.

There’s a lot going on here at Insight right now and more will be more coming in other districts very soon. Stay tuned.

Insight’s Louisville network going all-digital

  Earlier this year, we announced that Lexington and Northern Kentucky would be Insight’s first two markets to transition to an all-digital format. Once that transition is completed, customers will have access to more than 100 HD channels, multi-room DVR and the fastest Internet speeds available.

At that time, I told you that we planned to make this digital conversion in each of our districts and to “stay tuned.”

Today, we are announcing that Louisville will be our next market to transition to an all-digital service. As a result, these incredible TV and Internet products that we announced in Lexington and Northern Kentucky will also be coming to our customers in Louisville.

In early December, we will begin communicating with our customers to tell them what they need to to in order to prepare for this transition, called the Digital 6.10 Upgrade. Channels that are currently transmitted in analog will be provided in digital after this conversion.

As we’ve done previously, we’re committed to making this conversion as seamless as possible. In fact, you might be interested to know that we’re very close to reaching the 100% mark in Lexington of customers who have access to digital and we’re now well above 95% in Northern Kentucky. And that's no small accomplishment. Remember it's not just about the big TV in the family room (which is likely to be watching digital already) but also the seldom-used TV in the guest bedroom as well.

I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating; this is a complicated process that won’t happen overnight. We’ll be certain to keep you posted about our progress as we work hard to minimize any disruptions caused by the process. When we begin to transition channels in Louisville – something that won’t begin to happen until next year - we’ll be communicating to every customer to make sure the transition is as seamless as possible.

And as I previously mentioned, for those of you in other Insight markets, stay tuned. We will be announcing the timing of the rest of the districts as soon as we finalize our schedule.

UK vs. Georgia football on Insight

For the second time this year, the University of Kentucky football team is preparing to play on the Comcast Sports Network – a channel Insight doesn’t carry. And for the second time this year, we’re making it available to our customers throughout Kentucky and Southern Indiana. 

This Saturday’s UK-Georgia game will air at 7:30 pm ET on the Comcast Sports Network, and our customers in Louisville, Lexington, Northern Kentucky, Bowling Green and Evansville/Henderson will be able to see it live.

Here’s how you can see the game:

• Louisville - For customers with a digital box, the game can be seen on channel 503. For customers without a digital box, it may be seen on channel 15.
• Lexington - For customers with a digital box, the game may be viewed on channel 503. For customers without a digital box, the game can be seen on channel 14.
• Northern Kentucky - For customers with a digital box, the game can be seen on channel 503. For customers without a digital box, the game can be seen on channel 99.
• Bowling Green - For customers with a digital box, the game may be viewed on channel 503. For customers without a digital box, it can be seen on channel 5.
• Evansville/Henderson - For customers with a digital box, the game may be viewed on channel 503. For customers without a digital box, it can be seen on channel 74.

One note of importance for customers without a digital box is that you may need to run a channel scan on your TV to pick up the analog feed.

Here at Insight, we work hard to make sure our customers get the services they want – especially when it comes to the best in local sports. I’ve mentioned it before, but if you love sports, keep an eye on cn|2.  A regular sports show is in the works and we plan to make an announcement on that very soon.

And of course for the most updates on sports action on the Insight network, don’t forget to log-on to SportsOnInsight.com for the latest news.

UK vs. WKU football game on Insight

As we all know, University of Kentucky sports are a big deal for people in a large part of Insight’s service area. So when UK plays football against Western Kentucky University, another important university in our service area, well, that means our customers need to be able to see the game – even if it’s not on a channel we carry. 

Such is the case with tomorrow’s UK-WKU game, airing tomorrow night at 7:30 pm ET on the Comcast Sports Network, and our customers in Louisville, Lexington, Northern Kentucky, Bowling Green and Evansville/Henderson will be able to see it live.

Here’s how you can see the game:

• Lexington - Channel 14
• Bowling Green – Channel 5
• Northern Kentucky - Channel 422 for digital cable customers and Channel 99 for non-digital customers.
• Louisville - Channel 503 for digital cable customers and Channel 22 for non-digital customers.
• Henderson-Evansville, Ind., area - Channel 503 for digital cable customers and Channel 74 for non-digital customers.

We work hard to make sure our customers get the services they want – especially when it comes to the best in local sports.  If you love sports, keep an eye on cn|2.  A regular sports show is in the works.

And for the most updates on more sports action on the Insight network, don’t forget to log-on to SportsOnInsight.com for the latest news.

Announcing cn|2

For those of you who follow this blog, you probably know that I’ve spent my entire career working in television.

As my bio says on the Insight website, it all started when I was a young kid and would ride my bike down to the local NBC station in Miami.  It was an era when the staff could allow me to help out in the studio while they produced and aired an after school children's show and the local news.

Since then, I’ve always paid close attention to what’s going on in the television world – especially when it comes to news.

Some of us remember when we could turn on the local news and find all of the information that really mattered in our lives.  Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, what we saw on those local news shows changed. It became less in-depth and less relevant than it once was.

That doesn’t mean the real news wasn’t still out there waiting to be covered. to the contrary, it just seemed like the news that mattered got pushed aside in favor of more trivial topics that were simply easier to cover. The news has definitely changed and so has the way we get our information too.

That’s why I’m proud that, after a “soft launch” period over the past few weeks, Insight’s very own channel is now up and fully operational – cn|2 – a brand new kind of news and information network.

These days, our customers simply don’t get their news and opinions in the same old way they used to. They are looking for more local, more timely, and more thorough coverage of issues that impact their lives. There is a new day dawning in the type of information our customers are looking for and the various ways they receive it.

That is where cn|2 comes in.

cn|2 is now on channel 2 in our Louisville, Northern Kentucky, Lexington, Evansville and Bowling Green markets. It is starting out as a 24 hour all-weather channel that provides up-to-the-minute, in-depth coverage of the most reliable local forecasts. Customers will get their local weather forecasts round the clock, every 10 minutes, starting at the top of the hour. And if a severe storm is nearby, cn|2 will stay with the coverage. This format will continue on until the Fall when we plan to roll out new programming focusing on local news, the Fall political campaign season, and sports.

In fact, our cn|2 Politics efforts have already begun with the addition of Kentucky’s top political writer to the cn|2 team, former Lexington Herald-Leader reporter Ryan Alessi. Ryan will be featured on political shows this Fall, but he’s already started up a new website focusing on Kentucky politics. You can check it out here, or, if you’re a fan of Facebook, visit the new cn|2 Politics page.

In some of our markets, you may have noticed some outdoor billboard ads announcing cn|2. We’re also now running TV spots on our cable networks to promote the channel.

Insight has always been committed to the communities we serve, but cn|2 represents one of the most significant investments we’ve ever made in serving our customers.

The potential for cn|2 is limitless and I look forward to keeping you posted as more announcements are made in the weeks to come.

Kentucky Derby has largest television audience in 18 years

Plenty of TVs tuned into Super Saver's win [Louisville Courier-Journal]

Even the rain couldn't dampen the most exciting two minutes in sports on Saturday afternoon in Louisville. While a record crowd of over 155,000 watched the race in person at Churchill Downs, another near-record crowd watched 9-to-1odds, Super Saver with Calvin Borel aboard, win the 136th running of the Kentucky Derby on television. Nielsen reports that overnight ratings indicate that the Kentucky Derby's television viewership was at its highest since 1992.

With LA Dodgers' manager Joe Torre having a horse in the race, I wonder if the Los Angeles ratings were a boost.  Overnights measure viewership from among the nation's top television markets, and while final numbers will be made available later this week, the Derby drew a 10.3 overnight rating and 23 share. That means 23 percent of households watching television on Saturday afternoon were watching the Kentucky Derby. In 2008, Nielsen reported a 9.5 rating/21 share for the Derby and in 2009 the Derby earned a 10.2 rating and 22 share.

The last time this many people were watching the Derby on television was in 1992 when Lil E Tee won the race.  Torre's horse finished 16th on a track that was, as clear as ever, looking very sloppy and wet on today's high definition TV's.

Insight is the Louisville Arena's Official Advanced Communications Partner

Louisville is bringing one of the most advanced arenas in America to its riverfront. When it came time to pick the most sophisticated, world-class communications technology, the Arena Authority turned to Insight. You may have heard the news by now, but Insight has entered into a ten-year agreement with the Louisville Arena Authority as its official advanced communications partner.

By bringing Insight’s sophisticated fiber network to the exciting new building, the Louisville Arena will be receiving high-definition video on the hundreds of televisions that will be stationed throughout the arena, which means you won’t have to look far to find a high-definition replay of that game-winning shot. And after the exciting finish of a game, reporters will be able to file their stories over the arena's 45 Mbps super high-speed internet service which will be available to them throughout the arena.  Or, if they prefer, they can do it the old fashioned way, by calling in the results over Insight Business Service's business class, phone service.

The arena has become the heart of downtown Louisville’s revitalization, and we at Insight are thrilled to be part of making it a world class venue.

Insight celebrates a decade serving Kentucky this month

Ten years ago this month, Bill Clinton was President, TLC and Ricky Martin topped the Billboard charts, and the Yankees swept the Braves to win their second consecutive World Series. Seems like a long time ago, doesn’t it? But for many families in Kentucky, October 1999 also marks an occasion that would change the way they stay connected every day. This month marks the tenth anniversary of Insight Communications providing service to communities across Kentucky.

By the time Insight purchased these cable systems, customers had seen their fair share of operators come and go. Local employees, tired of the revolving door of owners listened skeptically, believing that Insight would last only a year or two, like the previous owners before them. In the face of those expectations, we declared that we wanted to plant our roots in the Bluegrass State serving Kentuckians and nearby communities in Ohio, Illinois and Indiana. We promised to do all we could to improve the services that our new customers received from their cable provider.

Ten years later, I believe we’ve made good on that promise. Sure, we had some bumps in the road, but all in all, Insight customers are among the most satisfied cable, broadband and phone customers in the nation according to JD Powers, Broadband Reports and other independent polls and studies. Along the way, Insight has become Kentucky’s largest provider of cable television and broadband Internet service and is now, by far, the fastest growing provider of home phone service.

As the Commonwealth’s largest technology provider, Insight launched the fastest Internet service in Kentucky twice in just three years, providing 10 Mbps service and now up to 20 Mbps service. We’ve upgraded to digital cable systems, moving from 64 channels to hundreds and hundreds of channels, adding many high definition channels and On Demand programming in the process. Recently, we’ve weathered some of the worst natural disasters the region has ever experienced, while working constantly to provide the most technologically advanced and reliable services available anywhere.

Insight has become one of Kentucky’s largest employers now employing or contracting with more than 3,500 Kentuckians. We have also moved our hub of operations, our after-hours and tiers II and III call centers and our Network Operations Center to the Commonwealth. And we’ve invested millions of dollars in infrastructure to build a smart network that delivers the most advanced technology in the state.

Here at Insight, we’re proud to be Kentucky’s technology leader. But just as importantly, we’re proud to be a big part of this community – the home team when it comes to telecommunications services. Through jobs, investment and time and money spent on various charitable and philanthropic needs, Insight is committed to improving the quality of life for more Kentuckians.

After reflecting on these ten years, I’m reminded of the old Loretta Lynn song, “We’ve come a long way, baby.” But here at Insight, we’ve only just begun. In fact, we’re looking forward to announcing, in the very near future, additional upgrades to help keep you in-step with the most reliable and innovative products and services available anywhere in the nation.

Technology has changed rapidly over the past decade and here at Insight, it shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. As technology continues to change, Kentucky’s families can count on the dedicated men and women who make up the Insight Team to keep them on the cutting edge. It’s a commitment we’ve made for the past ten years and it's something our customers can continue to count on each and every day.

Governor's Cup to be available to all Insight customers in Lexington and Louisville

I know a good sports fan when I see one.  Takes one to know one and if you're a college football fan in Kentucky, chances are you have next Saturday, September 19th circled on your calendar. This year's Governor's Cup match-up between the University of Louisville Cardinals and University of Kentucky Wildcats promises to be another great game. But when the game was picked up in July by ESPNU, some fans became concerned tha Insight carries ESPNU on our digital service only.  Analog customers would have to go to a friend's house or miss the big game.

Here at Insight, we have a busload of enthusiastic UK and UofL fans, and after hearing customer concerns about missing the game coverage, they began moving quickly to address this issue. We know that our friends at ESPN are true sports fans themselves so we appealed to their soft spot for fellow enthusiasts and asked them to allow us to bring the Governor's Cup to both Insight Digital 4.0 and our analog customers in the Louisville and Lexington markets. ESPNU will be available to all Insight cable customers as a free preview during the UK-UofL game, which is scheduled to kick off at 12 noon Eastern time on September 19th.

So, college football fans, here's where you need to turn the channel for the Governor's Cup:

• Louisville (Analog customers):  Channel 11.
• Louisville (Digital customers):  514 for SD, 922 for HD
• Lexington (Analog Customers):  Channel 6.
• Lexington (Digital customers):  514 for SD, 922 for HD.

One important note, digital customers will not be able to see the game on the analog channels (11 in Louisville, 6 in Lexington), they will see normally scheduled content on those channels. Only analog customers will have ESPNU on those analog channels.

This was a very special move by ESPN and I want to thank them for doing this.  I also want to tell you that this is a one-time-only agreement and fans who want to see other games that are carried by ESPNU and other digital channels should still consider our digital service. 

Best of luck to both teams (I know better than to take sides on this one), and enjoy the game!

Hackers steal $415,000 from one Kentucky county's bank account

$415,989 taken from Bullitt bank account [Louisville Courier-Journal]

While it's not clear yet exactly how it happened, it appears that hackers have absconded with over $400,000 from the county government's bank account in Bullitt County, Kentucky. According to this story from the Louisville Courier-Journal, hackers managed to infiltrate the email account of a county employee, and used the information within that account to impersonate the county employee to initiate several transfers of county funds out of the county's bank account.

The county was notified by its bank that a set of transactions was set to occur last month, which tipped them off that someone was using the account in an unauthorized fashion. Using that information, the county and the bank were able to determine that some money had already been stolen. Since some of the stolen funds were transferred to other banks in the U.S., some of the money has been recovered and returned to the county. This article indicates that prospects are dim for finding all the stolen cash.

Though this article doesn't indicate how the hackers gained access to the county's bank account, phishing scams are a popular method for hackers to steal funds out of bank accounts. These scams involve hackers sending an email that purports to be from a legitimate bank, and links within the email to resolve to a site that appears to be legitimate. But the site is hosted by the hacker, and if any user name or password information is entered into the site, it will be used by hackers to siphon funds out of the legitimate bank account. Microsoft has a good guide to identifying and protecting yourself from phishing fraud emails.

Only 3.3 million Amercian homes unprepared for DTV

Fewer than 3% of U.S. Homes Unready for Digital TV Transition [Nielsen Wire]

We're just a few short weeks away from the nation's transition from analog television broadcasts to digital. And even though over 40 percent of broadcast stations have already transitioned, there are still millions of Americans who aren't yet ready for the transition. As they have for several months now, The Nielsen Company has released May's count of households that are still unprepared for DTV. This month's count totals 3.3 million U.S. households.

While that is still a large number of Americans that are heading for a static filled screen after June 12th, it's a number that has slowly worked itself lower and lower over the past five months. On February 15th, just before the originally planned deadline, just over 5 million American homes remained unprepared. And at this point, the unprepared homes represent less than 3 percent of households nationally.

From a regional standpoint, within the Insight footprint, the two reported metro areas in Nielsen's count -- Columbus, Ohio and Louisville, Kentucky -- report better than average DTV preparedness rates. In Louisville, 2.42 percent of homes still need to get ready for digital television. In Columbus, only 1.51 percent of households aren't prepared.

If you're one of the few DTV holdouts that hasn't resigned yourself to watching static after the digital transition, there's still time to give Insight a call. We're ready to be your DTV solution, helping get all your televisions connected to cable, preparing you for the digital transition. And remember, even if you're ready on your main TV, all the analog televisions in your home needs a solution if you want to keep using them after June 12th.

Insight's digital migration in Louisville

Analog viewers lose Faith Channel [Louisville Courier-Journal]

Over the weekend, the Louisville Courier-Journal reported on two channel changes - one that has already happened and one forthcoming - that involve the migration of analog channels to digital. The Faith Channel was changed to a digital signal after working with us to accomplish the conversion.  In the words of Reed Yadon, the Faith Channel's general manager:

"With the competition being what it is for viewers, (we felt) we needed to have the best technical presentation that we could," Yadon said.  "At some point, analog is going away anyhow."

By moving the channel to digital, 30 percent of our subscribers who subscribe only to analog service need an option to receive the Faith Channel.  For those subscribers, Insight is offering, for one year, a specially programmed set-top digital converter that will allow analog subscribers to continue to view the Faith Channel. Analog customers with a digital television can receive the Faith Channel by performing a channel reset on their TV.

In addition to the Faith Channel, Insight will be converting Univision, the Spanish-language channel, to digital on Wednesday of this week with the same opportunities available for analog customers who wish to continue to receive the network.

These changes are not related to the current broadcasting digital transition. That's the ongoing transition of broadcast television stations to digital, which is ongoing until June 12th of this year. The digital migration that Insight is performing will allow us to free up bandwidth that is currently being used by analog channels. By reclaiming that bandwidth, we can offer our subscribers enhanced programming options like more standard and high definition video channels and faster cable broadband speeds. The bandwidth that one analog channel takes up can be replaced by up to a dozen standard digital signals.

These types of changes will continue to be made on cable systems throughout the country as the cable industry proceeds with its own digital transition, unrelated to the broadcast transition that is now scheduled for completion on June 12. 

CBS cuts away from last night's U of L game

CBS cuts away from U of L game in second half [Louisville Courier-Journal]

It sounds like last night was a long one for Louisville's WLKY-TV. WLKY is the local CBS affiliate in Louisville, which was broadcasting the U of L versus Sienna matchup in the second round of the Men's NCAA Basketball tournament to thousands of Cards fans when CBS inexplicably switched the broadcast feed to other games that were going on simultaneously.

Louisville was in an up and down game with the upstart Sienna College Saints, and was in the middle of making a crucial run when CBS cut over to the Marquette-Missouri and USC-Michigan State games. According to this article, WLKY was flooded with calls from irate fans trying to find the game. However, give the local affiliate a break.  WLKY didn't have access to a separate satellite feed of the U of L game, and had to explain that they were at the mercy of the CBS feed. I understand from some of my Facebook friends that WLKY started running a crawl at the bottom of the screen explaining the situation and directing complaints directly to CBS where they belong.

One thing to keep in mind throughout the tournament is that each game is available in its entirety streaming online at mmod.ncaa.com. The quality of the stream is fairly good, and you won't have to worry about the network bumping you over to another game in progress.

Go Cards!

Talking cable at the University of Louisville

Last Thursday I had the privilege of spending part of my day at the University of Louisville with the Cable Center's Cable Mavericks program. I was hosted by UofL's College of Business and had the opportunity to speak with several groups of UofL students Thursday afternoon.

My first stop was an on campus television studio to record an interview with some questions posed by students and faculty. Even though the University's Big East Conference regular season champion (and now tournament champion) Cardinals were playing their first game in the Big East tournament, a group of students skipped the game to come ask me questions about the cable industry and Insight. I've YouTubed a portion of one of my answers to a question about how Insight works to provide our customers with the highest levels of service.

After the interview, I spent some time in the atrium of the College of Business with students interested in coming to work for Insight. Even with the challenging conditions of our present economy, Insight is looking for bright, energetic individuals, and I got to speak with some of the UofL students interested in starting a career at Insight. Later, Gregg Graff, Insight's Senior Vice President for Field Operations, and I spoke to a marketing class about Insight's efforts to build and retain our customer base by distinguishing our products from our competitors'. After that, I spent some time with a class of students majoring in various aspects of information technology. A couple of Insight's folks whose primary focus is on the technical aspects of delivering our products - Jeff Warner and Jeff Leftwich - worked with those students on interviewing skills.

It was great to spend the day with the next generation of innovators in cable and telecommunications, and I appreciate the opportunity that UofL and the Cable Center provided for me and the rest of Insight's team to share some of my experiences with students.  Special thanks to Jane Goldstein of UofL for taking such good care of us all day.

Louisville television stations may stick with February 17th DTV deadline

DTV May Go Ahead as Planned…Here [The 'Ville Voice]

Even though Congress looks poised to approve a bill delaying the national digital television transition from February 17th until June 12th of this year, it appears that at least some of the  television stations in Louisville, Kentucky will proceed with their digital transition on the earlier date. The 'Ville Voice interviews two Louisville television station managers who indicate that there are plans underway for at least some Louisville stations to make the switch to digital on February 17th. 

While the congressional DTV delay would set the new deadline at June 12th, individual stations are free set a different transition date. If you're watching Louisville television over-the-air, I'd recommend that you prepare for the digital switch in February. And, like I've said a hundred times before, if your televisions are connected to cable, we've got you covered.  You're already prepared for the digital transition - no matter when it occurs in your area or for your favorite TV station.

Broadband 100.0? Not Yet

As reported in the Lexington Herald Leader and on Broadband Reports, Insight is testing a 100 meg broadband service at one location in Louisville.  We are pushing the limits of speed on our network as an early part of a process that will lead to more extensive hypersonic speed testing in the future.  In this test, a doctor's office is using the service to electronically transfer medical imaging to and from his office.

Our business services group, Insight Business Services (IBS), is conducting this test for us.  We are able to provision for just about any bandwidth requirement for IBS customers and what better result is there -- to help doctors treat their patients more efficiently and effectively.  In order to increase speeds to 50 or even 100 meg for residential customers, we plan to utilize the new cable modem open standard of DOCSIS 3.0.  We're doing a lot of preliminary work to get ready for DOCSIS 3.0 but don't yet have a timetable. 

Meanwhile, we are watching DOCSIS 3.0 tests that are underway in other markets and we're extremely encouraged with the performance of the new technology.  A couple of questions being asked by interested customers have do do with upstream speeds (some are testing 5 to 10 meg) and whether you will need a new modem (yes). 

We have been a leader in pushing the limits of speed having been one of the first cable ISP's to break the 10 meg barrier followed by our early launch of our premium 20 meg service.  Going much beyond that requires a whole new standard for cable modems which eventually will increase speed capabilities into the triple digits.  We are going to be absolutely sure DOCSIS 3.0 works well in a large-scale deployment before we launch.  However, knowing us, after we take it out for a test drive, I wouldn't be surprised if we find we can't help ourselves and look to press the pedal to the medal soon after we break in the new speedster. 

Storm Aftermath -- The Slow Recovery

Nearly a quarter million households in the greater Louisville area are still without power in the wake of Sunday afternoon's storm. This is the result of over 5,000 broken lines and nearly 300 snapped utility poles.  American Electric Power reported that over 300,000 were still without power in central Ohio and it might be six more days until everyone has power restored.  Duke Energy reported 500,000 still out of service in the Greater Cincinnati area, including our service area in Northern Kentucky.  Needless to say, this type of damage affects all utilities are impacted by the damage of this surprise severe weather.  We are too.

Our Network Operations Center (NOC) remains without power.  Those of you outside the Louisville market and those in Louisville who have power and Internet service remain online because of the back-up generators that have now been keeping us up and running for over 30 hours.

Insight's Headquarters

Eric sent me an email asking the following question.

Please write a blog post to help customers understand why Insight Communications does not have its corporate headquarters located in the geographical region they serve.  Although New York is cool and all, doesn't it make more sense to be where your customers are? 

Great question.  And the fact is, most of our corporate functionality is in Louisville, KY.  We maintain a New York office that houses primarily our finance and accounting department.  We continue those functions in New York for a number of reasons.

Louisville stations to conduct DTV test on September 3rd

If you live in or near Louisville and watch television via an over the air antenna, you're going to have an opportunity soon to see whether you're ready for next year's digital transition. On September 3rd, five Louisville television stations will be temporarily pulling the plug on their analog signal and broadcasting in digital only.

WAVE-TV 3, WDRB-TV 41, WHAS-TV 11, WLKY-TV 32 and WMYO-TV 58 have announced the digital transition test will happen at 7:58 PM on September 3rd. At that time the stations will broadcast in digital only for 90 seconds, before returning to regular analog broadcasts. Those viewers with digital TVs, digital converter boxes or cable or satellite will continue to receive each station's signal during the 90 second switchover. But those without digital-ready equipment will lose signal.

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?