Re: NY1 & TW News Items
> After teasing us with it on and off for the last few years
> (it popped up for a few weeks after 9/11, and then
> disappeared again), it looks as though Time Warner's finally
> adding NY1 News to the digital lineup on its Rochester
> system, where it will appear as channel 122 in the next day
> or two.
I usually post my TW stuff in the local RR support newsgroup where people follow this stuff, but I should have probably put it here too when I posted it a few weeks ago.
NY1 is being rolled out to all of TW's clusters in NY state and will also be shown in some other New England and Mid-Atlantic markets as a diginet. TWCNY (Syracuse division) will throw it on during the first quarter of 2006. The rationale is that people in NY, including upstate, are interested in NYC news. There was a healthy amount of viewing of WWOR's local news when that was on cable several years ago. TW will be able to do local ad inserts on the channel as well, so it becomes an extra cheap channel to throw on the digital tier.
Don't be surprised if we eventually have access to all of TW's regional news channels in NY down the road.
Also, Rochester will be a supercluster site for TW with the completion of the absorption of Adelphia. What's left of those systems in western NY are planned to be assigned to Rochester.
The NY Legislative Channel is the appeasement of the NY State legislature with their own C-SPAN-like channel. Eventually it will carry a lot more public affairs programming instead of the pretty slide show w/ smooth jazz. None of it will likely prove compelling viewing.
The biggest introduction TW is making is also the most quiet - the rollout of Navic News on 124. Right now it's a tedious (and pointless) news channel that brings back memories of teletext, which was also largely useless. It's interactive, but also hampered by the underpowered Scientific Atlanta cable boxes we're still using around here.
It's important because it represents the rollout of the Navic platform of interactive services. It's basically the Full Service Network that TW tested (and dumped) in Orlando several years ago, only on the cheap. It provides tools for TW to build interactive services such as on-screen bill payment, instant ordering of new channels and services, third party orders (ie. order a pizza on screen), as well as interactive polling (R-News could run a debate and people could vote with their remotes on who won). In fact, there are more than a dozen modules Navic has already built which can be rolled out as needed by TW. Right now TW is basically doing contract fulfillment - the company promised rollout under their contract with Navic in 2006, and TW is doing the bare minimum for now.
GSN (Game Show Network), Ovation, and Trio are all out the door here because their ratings and interest was limited. Trio will morph into Sleuth tomorrow, and the program lineup screams 80s cop shows (all that feathered hair... I can't take it).
TW has also launched new bundle discounts. People taking Road Runner and standard service can now add digital cable, including the box, for less than $3 a month extra now. The more services you take, the bigger the discounts. Everything is geared to drive more digital boxes into homes, which is where all of the action is going to be in the years ahead. The diginet sports package also saw a discount in its price.
However, every January TW mails home their "newsletter" which is really the rate increase announcement couched in "see all we're doing for you" language. This year they'll be pushing Sleuth and NY1, and we can also expect some other additions to digital in 2006. They're already rolling out two channels for gay and lesbian viewers (one pay). Later in 2006, we'll also be getting at least one reality TV channel and some additional pay channel feeds (mostly west coast feeds that CNY viewers already have). They'll also be continuing to add premium packages for sports events and international language programming.
On the on-demand front, TW is rolling out the "magazine" format on-demand channels, starting with one for exercise and another for youth-oriented sports. There are some other ones out there covering fine foods and wine, water sports (no, not the kind Emanuelle plays), and other niche goodies which they will get around to adding later.
Viewers looking to check out what is forthcoming should watch the 1150-1200 channel range in Rochester - that is where they do most of the channel testing. You usually don't get access (the NY1 and Legislative channel testing was available to us by mistake), but you will see the channel names in the interactive program guide.
Equipment wise - 2006 will bring about more HD DVR boxes which are currently on backorder and are usually in short supply. Also, TW will roll out the multiroom DVR boxes which let you pause a recorded show on one DVR in the home and pick up where you left off on another DVR on another set. They are networked together so you can access the shows on the hard drives from any of your sets.
Another feature forthcoming in 2006 is the "startover" feature which lets you rewind a show that you missed the start of. You cannot fast forward through commercials however, and the startover feature only works during the show. If you missed the show altogether, you're out of luck.
Lots new HD programming will be coming out in 2006 as well locally. Most of it will be the HD service of the primary basic cable networks. TW has also committed to downconvert ancillary HD services offered by local stations to analog, such as the 10NBC weather channel (when will that go NBC Weather Plus anyway), etc.
