Announcing the new Digital 5.0

Early last month, I wrote here about changes that are coming to Insight. I’ve already given you a first look at our new web site, MyInsight.com. Over the next couple of days, I’m going to give you a preview of the other innovative changes that are happening. Last year, we introduced our best TV service ever — and immediately began work on ways to make it better. Today, we’re announcing the next stage of that work.

Digital 5.0 is here.

We’ve made every channel 100% digital for incredible picture and sound quality. We’ve added exciting new DVR features and made our onscreen guide easier than ever to use. We’re bringing you more free HD channels. And we made the best On Demand in cable even better.

The new digital picture will change the way you look at your television, providing crisp, clear picture and sound. These changes will also have long-term impact for freeing up bandwidth on our network to provide additional services, like more HD channels and faster broadband.

We’ve made your DVR experience better with Digital 5.0, with overlap protection and live recording extension — so you don’t have to worry about recording conflicts if one recording runs long when another is starting.

Digital 5.0 introduces Total Home On Demand. You can start watching an On Demand movie or show in one room of your home and finish it in another, a great feature that works with all Insight Digital receivers. Another cool new feature is your ability to view some movies the same day as they’re released on DVD. And if you don’t have time to finish your On Demand selection, you’ve got more time with extended movie rentals —a number of movies are now available for 48 hours.

A word about HD

I know many of you are counting on more HD channels.  And I want you to know that we are totally committed to more HD -- much more.  Our Digital 5.0 release is not primarily about HD though.  It's about the features mentioned above, which I'm sure you will appreciate once you experience them, and a handful of more HD channels.  Even before we announce a new release of service, we're already long working on the next.  We're busily freeing up bandwidth and planning to reallocate it to advanced broadband and phone services, as well as lots more digital video services.  Stay tuned here for further announcements.

So, what the new HD channels you will get with Digital 5.0? Here’s the list for each area Insight serves.

Louisville, Kentucky and surrounding areas – Lifetime, WGN, and Speed.

Columbus, Ohio – MSNBC, Turner Classic Movies, TruTV HD, CNN HN HD.

Lexington, Kentucky – Lifetime, WGN, ABC Family.

Bowling Green, Kentucky – MSNBC, Turner Classic Movies, FSN South HD, Cartoon Network, Disney XD, Lifetime, Lifetime Movies and Speed.

Evansville, Indiana and surrounding areas – Lifetime and Fox Sports Midwest HD.

Northern Kentucky –  Big Ten, ESPN News, Bravo HD, CNBC HD, Fox Business, Speed, ABC Family, WGN, and Lifetime.

If we're missing your favorite channel in your district, let me know and I'll discuss your request with our video product folks.

Enjoy the new features, picture quality and HD channels that Digital 5.0 will bring to your television. And, remember that even though we’re proud to be rolling out these exciting changes today to our customers, we’re already at work on Digital 6.0’s offerings and features for a future roll-out that you can read about here first.

Comments

[Aaron]

The Louisville area NEEDS Cartoon Network HD. I have a lot of pool about what service n such my parents use for internet and TV n such, and the vast majority of my time I spend watching Cartoon Network. I want Adventure Time in HD. Please add it soon. We can and will switch providers.

[Pam B Westerville Ohio]

I Would like to see HSN, QVC HD made available. Also, it takes a lot longer to flip thru the HD channels ... sometimes the HD version of tru tv or cnbc does not work, but the non-hd version does.

I wish you would not fool around with all these groupings and quickviews and other stuff and just give us the HD channels ... the networks have been broadcasting for some time in HD.

[Todd Tabern]

Maybe you should have dubbed it Insight Digital 4.5... The DVR features are ok, but nothing big and the HD channels added in the Columbus area aren't really that good.
And like someone else mentioned it's not really "Free HD" when you charge more for HD than other services. I can only afford to have one cable box in my house because you charge so much for the rental!
When are we going to be able to schedule recordings over the internet? When am I going to be able to scroll through my channel guide with out constantly experiencing lag?
Oh yeah, and there are way too many On Demand channels filling up my channel guide!

[Tim]

When are we going to see more QAM channels? This is a must if you are going to advertise free HD.

[Geek.empire]

Hey, just wanted to let you know the AT&T U Verse sells guy was just here, and he was saying that all users will have to start using STB on every tv with insight. I use QAM out of the cable line is seven rooms in my house and have one STB, so is this true? I guess I am assuming that you answer these comments.

[Donald Aaron]

Still waiting on the Comedy Central and MSNBC in HD. The Daily Show and Colbert Report are going HD on 1/4/10.

[Kristi]

MTV and VH1 would be great additions

[J. Brian Hall]

Mr. Willner,

I'm sure I echo other users in the Louisville market when I ask why it is that, for the big rollout of Digital 5.0, we're stuck with Lifetime and WGN as our new HD channels?! Really? Why can't we get HD channels that people actually want, like Spike HD, Cartoon Network HD, or Comedy Central HD? These are in demand channels, and we're stuck watching the SD channels on our HD sets. The move to all digital has cleared the picture up a bit, but it's still not HD. The lack of these channels (and many others) is why I'm finding it hard to justify paying the price Insight charges, when it's clear that you're only offering us, the customers, the bare minimum that you have to to remain competitive in this market.

I'd also like to ask why, if we're stuck with the SD versions of these channels, we can't get a cable box/DVR that will auto-switch to the resolution that the channels actually broadcast in.

Sincerely,
J. Brian Hall.

[G]

Comedy Central HD and remote access to DVR

[Carolyn Holman]

Why can't we get Fox Sports South HD in the Louisville area. We pay the same rates as the people that do get it. I kept looking for the Kentucky Football game in HD as it was announced but couldn't find it. Now I know why. I feel cheated.

[Bob]

3 Channels in the Louisville market? Really?? I suggest all Insight customers contact AT&T.

[Kathy Phelps]

Mr. Willner, I live in Frankfort,KY and I can assure you everyone in my community wants UK football and basketball games in HD. This is the only reason I have HD. Please reconsider how you decide to broadcast these games. Thank you for your time.

[Jeff Bowers]

All I want is an official listing of the QAM channels offered. I cannot seem to find this anywhere.

[Matt Arend]

I'm always happy with more HD channels, but I am concerned in a drop of quality in the picture I am seeing lately here in Northern Kentucky.

I used to be able to leave my TV in its "Just Scan" mode... which displays everything in the signal being sent to it without any processing at all. The pitcure was phenomenal. Super sharp.

Recently, Insight changed the signal, with a green bar down the left hand side and a clear box on the left that misaligns the pixels. I have to keep the TV in 16x9 mode now to get rid of those, which isn't nearly as sharp.

I'm also seeing more pixelization and just a general lack of sharpness in the picture lately. The picture on BluRay still looks flawless, so I know it is the Cable signal, not my television.

[Randy Sheppard]

hey i live in louisville,ky i would like to see spike hd cartoonnetwork in hd nick in hdtv comedy central in hdtv

[Do it now!]

5 things I'd really love to have.

1)Spike HD
2)Nick HD
3)Cartoon Network HD
4)Remote access to DVR

and increased upload speed without charge!

[Pathfinder]

Congrats Mike, It may be worth while for you to start considering taking the Insight Xperience global...

regards,

[Greg]

Mr. Willner, people want a higher quality HD picture and better HD channel selection for a fair price. Insight is charging a premium for a sub-par product, and many of us are going to be leaving Insight for a different provider.

Are you listening to your customers?

This update is virtually meaningless to me and many others. I will be switching to DirecTV or DISH in the near future.

[Bill in Louisville]

Wow. Virtually nothing has changed. It looks like this will be the last Insight upgrade I'll be seeing. If this is the best you can do, it's time to leave the business, Mr. Wilner.

[TM]

I too am disappointed with the Louisville area's channel selection. I understand bandwidth and all of the other assorted technical layout required for HD, however, the Louisville area getting only 3 new HD channels is very disappointing. Especially when Bowling Green is getting 9. Louisville got Speed Channel HD, which I don't get as I don't subscribe to the sports package, Lifetime, which my wife doesn't even watch, and WGN, which is only good for me when watching Tom Skilling, which I enjoy. 1 out of 3 for me. How were these channels chosen for their respective markets? I don't care about sports, so alot of the offerings available don't mean anything to me. In fact I get fewer HD channels because I don't watch/care about sports. I'm fortunate, however, to have a cable card in my HD set, so I'm only shelling out $2.00 a month versus having a box at $15 a month. I agree with the previous poster on Comedy Central HD, MSNBC HD and Cartoon Network HD. I'd love to watch "Clone Wars" in HD. I'd be pleased as anything to get those 3. It's too bad I live in Shepherdsville, out of AT&T's reach, or I too would've signed up with UVerse at the first opportunity.

[Ryan]

Interesting... I am still glad I switched to Dish Network. I was hoping this announcement would make me want to switch back to Insight, but definitely does not. Evansville is definitely getting screwed on the channels. I have been enjoying Cartoon Network HD, Comedy Central HD & all other channels listed for sometime now. And may I say for the same price with a lot more channels.

It sounded like you were saying the quality of HD would increase which I hope is true. AT&T, Dish, and Direct all blow Insight HD out of the water in terms of Clarity, Crispness, Color, etc.

The only thing I miss is the Cartoon Network VoD that Insight offers, but I can get the same from CartoonNetwork.com

Let me know when Insight offers more channels, better quality and better DVRs.

[HD Nuts]

Hmmm... so many words but very little "real" updates and additions :(

[Dave]

I'd love to see FSN South in HD in Northern Kentucky. When will that happen?! Any chance before the UK Basketball Season?

[Justin Ashley]

i'm in columbus, oh. i'd like to see MTV, Comedy Central and VH1 HD channels added.

[DM]

To me, this is a signal that Insight recognizes they have a problem with bandwidth constraints, specifically regarding HD channels. One of the reasons that non-cable providers offer so many HD channels is that they are using more efficient video encoding to deliver the video streams to subscribers. This efficiency can also lead to better perceived picture quality.

The growth in HD channels has also influenced providers to become more innovative with their services. Maybe there are business agreements in place that prevent Insight from changing their business model, but the satellite companies began MPEG-4 distribution three years ago and are slowly migrating all of their subscribers to MPEG-4 systems.

I don’t expect Insight Digital 6.0 to be introduced until about this time next year. I think that there could be additional HD channels added in roughly six months (5.1 perhaps?), but it seems to me that Insight has often been slow to add new channels when they become available, especially when compared to the other non-cable providers.

I subscribe to DISH Network for TV service, and I have been very happy with both the picture quality and amount of HD channels that I receive. I switched after I became tired of the customer service issues and seeing a trend of complacency by Insight in regards to improving service. However, I think that Insight will be neither proactive nor reactive towards these issues until they start to see a decline in quarterly revenue and profits, which may be occurring presently.