Charter
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Nielsen & Charter track second-by-second viewing, know you love Hannah Montana
Not content to let Tivo and TNS have all the second-by-second viewer tracking fun, Nielsen has teamed up with Charter Communications to track every moment of viewing from 320,000 households in LA. Nielsen is the most famous rating system, but so far its lagged behind the competition in pulling data directly from set-top's, although even that doesn't tell the whole story. Without its traditional system, there's no way to tell what people really watched, or if they just walked away ten minutes into the Knight Rider remake (We watched all the way through cuz we love The Hoff that much). As far as the viewers tracked (consent is not considered necessary), we just hope they're watching HD.[Via BlogRunner]
Charter unleashes bevy of HD channels in Atlanta, Georgia market
Nearly three months after Comcast spruced up its HD package in Georgia's capital city, along comes Charter attempting to keep pace. Thankfully, it really brought the heat with its latest update, which delivers Animal Planet HD, TLC HD, Discovery HD, Fuse HD, WE (Women's Entertainment) HD, iFC (Independent Film Channel) HD, AMC HD and The Weather Channel HD. Granted, we've seen nothing official from Charter affirming these additions, so for any subscribers in the greater Atlanta region, are you too seeing these newcomers?[Thanks, Jim L.]
Duluth, Minnesota blessed with three new HD options on Charter
While Charter subscribers in Madison, Wisconsin are expecting to gain access to TLC HD and Discovery HD in the not-too-distant future, neighboring customers in Minnesota (Deluth, to be precise) can get cozy with Golf / Versus HD, Discovery HD and The Movie Channel HD right away. We're not so sure these additions aren't a regional thing, so be sure and shout if you too spotted these newcomers on your Charter STB.[Thanks, Bob D.]
Charter adding TLC HD and Discovery HD to Madison, WI lineup
While not the most impressive of additions, we're hearing that Charter is gearing up to bless subscribers in the Madison, Wisconsin area with a new pair of HD channels. Reportedly, messages are flying out to DVRs now informing customers that TLC HD and Discovery HD will be added on March 25th. Sadly, that means you've got quite awhile to sit around wishing these would go live, but at least you can go ahead and cancel any plans you may have had coming up on that fateful Tuesday, right?[Thanks, Joe H.]
Mobiado and Bluestar Jets team up, offer handsets and charters
Ah yes, nothing makes more sense than an outlandishly priced handset coupled with a flight credit for a private jet charter service. The roar of the Bluestar Jets aircraft and the inability to call while in flight will make this pricey duo a sure hit with the millionaire club. Starting now, Mobiado and Bluestar will throw in a $1,000 credit for a flight, exclusive pricing, direct contacts with the airline, and access to some 4,000 aircraft with each handset purchased. Touting the service as "Any jet. Any time. Any place" they guarantee an aircraft anywhere in 4 hours. We're almost ready to call 'em on it too, we just need to save up the other $38,000 beans for our flight from Ottawa to New York. Pics and more info in the next 15 years or so when we're good to go.[Via MobileBurn]
Charter Communications opens the HDTV gates in Westport, MA
Westport Charter Communications customers, rejoice! Despite CSRs stating HDTV would "never" come to the area, you should be getting 10 - 15 HD channels once upgrades are made to the head-end sometime this summer. The bandwidth gods will require one public access channel as an offering at the HD altar, which is a tradeoff we wouldn't even think about making. The real lesson here is in customer relations: Westport is a "standalone" community with approximately 4,000 Charter customers, but CSRs stating that HD would never come to the area certainly explains why about half of the homes have moved on to other providers. Both demand and competition for HD-dollars is real, folks!
The Smithsonian Channel HD coming to Charter, FiOS TV
Nearly five months after The Smithsonian Channel HD landed on DirecTV, the channel is now well on its way to Charter and FiOS TV systems. Sure enough, Smithsonian Channel has "reached affiliate agreements" with both Charter Communications and Verizon, and yes, the deals do include the SD and HD versions along with Smithsonian Channel On Demand content. Interestingly, no actual launch dates were announced for either carrier, but according to the release, Smithsonian Channel is looking forward to "announcing other distribution agreements over the next few months." Keep an eye on that EPG, you two sects.
Big Ten Network still courting Charter
Make no mistake, Big Ten Network has been quite successful in getting itself on a number of providers, but to this day, Charter subscribers in the eight-state Big Ten footprint are still missing out. According to a new report, the network is still anxious to get a deal done with Charter, as quite a chunk of Minnesota Gophers fans are currently cheering through Tubby Smith's inaugural season without the ability to view some 17 of the team's games. 'Course, we've no idea if Charter is even close to forking out the coinage required to land a carriage agreement, but at least one side isn't backing down, right?
Charter adding three new HD channels to St. Louis, Missouri lineup
Just over a month after AT&T wired St. Louis, Missouri up with U-verse access, Charter Communications is (softly) hitting back by introducing three new high-definition options to the local lineup. Reportedly, Discovery Channel HD, The Weather Channel HD and Versus / Golf Channel HD will be available for viewing as of January 30th, but our tipster notes that CBS is still unavailable in HD. Can't win 'em all, right?[Thanks, Anthony]
Linden Lab cracks down on Second Life Banks
In an announcement that has snuck on to the official Linden blog, Linden Lab has announced that anyone running a bank in Second Life will have to produce "proof of an applicable government registration statement or financial institution charter" or have their content removed starting in two weeks time. This follows the collapse of Ginko, which we covered in exhaustive detail, and complaints that several other banks have defaulted on their 'promises' and are still advertising unsustainably high interest rates (which is, of course, part of their attraction too).The wording affects anyone offering interest payments, which means, I believe it will also affect WSE's practises - they offer a low rate of interest on saved money, although a normal stock exchange business would still permissible since dividends aren't interest as I understand the law.It will be interesting to see if any of the banks survive this transition, and if they don't, what comes along in their place. It will also be interesting to see if there is a run on the banks now.
Charter upgrades Louisiana to 44 HD channels
If you're a Charter customer in Louisiana for whom the addition of Wealth TV wasn't enough to sate your HD appetite, don't despair. Turns out that when Charter was forced to rebuild its LA plant after hurricanes Katrina and Rita, it designed around higher capacity from day one. The upshot is that the company has doubled its HD channel count in Louisiana, bringing the channel count to 44. Those of you in LA, enjoy your HD-bragging rights over the L.A. crowd. Seriously, this is good news for you customers, and a definite sign that the company is serious about the SDV rollout.
Charter hit by second fire in Malibu area
For the second time this season, Charter Communications and its Malibu, California-area customers are dealing with outages stemming from wildfires. Granted, one's cable service is the least of our worries when dealing with situations such as this, but a whopping 12,000 feet of the operator's primary fiber optic cable was recently torched and will have to be replaced. The cable also provides feeds to homes in Agoura Hills, Calabasas and Hidden Hills, and while the firm is working to provide service to those affected, it's having to wait for power crews to sweep through first. Notably, Charter was already in the process of constructing a "redundant path to make the company less vulnerable to fire damage," and the latest word is that it's still a few weeks away from being completed.
Charter adds WealthTV to 11 Louisiana cities
Although WealthTV has been available in select areas for awhile now, the channel is finally making its way down to the Bayou. Reportedly, Charter Communications added the station to the HD lineup in 11 Louisiana cities, including Thibodaux, Bourg, Slidell, Hammond, Marksville, New Roads, Pointe Coupee, Opelousas, Jennings, Church Point and Eunice. Unfortunately, Charter failed to mention if it would be rolling WealthTV out to other areas, but as we always say, we'll take any additions that we can get.
Charter bringing SDV, 40+ HD channels to northern L.A. area
In the battle for HD offerings, everyone is playing catch-up to satellite. For its part, Cable operator Charter Communications is rolling out switched digital video (SDV) across its northern Los Angeles area to stay in the fight. The company plans to deliver more than 40 HD channels in 2008, roughly double its current count. This trial of SDV is expected to be up and running in Q1 2008, with the rollout continuing in other markets over the next two years. Hopefully the trial goes well and the count quickly moves past 40, because that number certainly won't guarantee any bragging rights next to those touted by DirecTV, Verizon or even fellow cable company Cox.
Charter adds Weather Channel HD to lineup
While receiving The Weather Channel HD may not send everyone into jubilant fits of celebration, we're pretty sure Charter Communications' customers won't be kvetching about additional HD options. Apparently, any Charter customer that can currently receive HD programming will be blessed with the new channel, and Becky Powhatan, executive vice president for distribution and business affairs and general counsel for The Weather Channel, also insinuated that customers in every region could benefit from the HD enhancements to the popular "Local on the 8s" segment. So, dear Charter customers, have you seen the channel go live?
Broadcasters and Cable continue to not get along
The more people that run out and buy HDTV the more valuable HD content becomes and a few savvy greedy media companies intend to capitalize on it. Of course the Cable companies have been carrying these local channels for years and haven't been paying a dime, so they are obviously not too keen on the idea of paying to carry local channels. This isn't anything new, but as more and more people buy HDTV's it will be a bigger issue. Mediacom (a cable company) is pulling all of their Sinclair channels from their lineup after not being able to come to an agreement. Belo is at it again after trying to charge Charter for KMOV in St Louis, this time it's WFAA in Fort Worth. For the sake of our cable bills lets hope all the cable companies hold their position and refuse to the pay ransom. In the meantime, you can get by with an antenna, but don't tell Belo or Sinclair. If your trying to figure out why your local channel isn't carried in HD by your cable company you may want to check out Belo's site to see if they own them.Read - Mediacom: Sinclair Says Pull PlugRead - Charter pulls WFAA in HD[Thanks, Chip]
Charter cable customers in St. Louis could lose KMOV HD signal
Apparently, love isn't the only game that requires a bit of give and take, as just months after Charter blessed its St. Louis, Missouri customers with two new sparkling HD channels (TNT-HD and MHD), the firm is now about to remove one. Charter Communications has reportedly hit a wall in discussions with Belo. Corp. (which owns KMOV) in regard to the fees that the station wishes to collect from Charter. Although Charter hasn't had any issues receiving permission from other locals to broadcast their HD signals, KMOV is playing hardball, suggesting that Charter pay up to compensate for the "value gained" by having the HD flavor of their station available to users. Of course, the cable company complains that charging for signals that can be received over the air gratis is absurd, and neither party seems to be budging just yet. St. Louis Charter subscribers could lose the signal "as early as tomorrow" unless any band-aids get applied today, but either way, you'll soon be receiving a letter in the mail explaining why there's a sudden black hole where KMOV used to be if things aren't permanently resolved.
HDTV coming to Sheboygan Tuesday...really
Engadget HD Sheboygan chapter you can stop calling the mayor's office, Charter Communications has confirmed that despite the information given by some of its representatives, HDTV set-top boxes will be available for area residents beginning Tuesday. Despite a computer mix-up resulting in misinformation that HD wouldn't be available next week, after civil unrest nearly broke out in the streets of Sheboygan, Charter manager Jessie Hlad set the record straight, customers will be able to order HD services either over the phone or at the local office beginning Tuesday. Once the service is installed customers will have access to 14 HD channels, plus two more unspecified stations coming November 7th. We would like to congratulate the fine people of Sheboygan and The Sheboygan Press for their courage and perseverance and making sure their cable provider delivers the HDTV which we're pretty sure was first promised in the 1836 Treaty of the Cedars.
Gemstar sues Moxi over guide
Gemstar-TV Guide has filed a federal patent infringement lawsuit against Diego's Moxi program guide, alleging that their TV listings are too similar to their own. Of course, Moxi has also filed an antitrust lawsuit against Gemstar. As usual, Gemstar wanted Moxi to license the program guide tech from them, and when Moxi refused, lawyers entered the picture, echoing TiVO v. Echostar on the lawsuit front. Because Charter is one of the major cable providers using Moxi technology, they are included in the lawsuit -- although surely not just to get some bigger bucks out of any potential settlement. We'll keep you updated on the lawsuit as we know more.
Charter cable adding two high-def stations in the St. Louis area
One of our readers, Mark from St. Louis, woke to a surprise this morning. There was a message on his digital cable box indicating that Charter was adding two new high-def stations on July 18th - TNT-HD and MHD. We are happy for our St. Louis readers. TNT-HD is a nice station even though they play a bunch of up-converted SD stuff, but they are invaluable during the NBA playoffs. MHD is MTV's new high-def station that from what we hear, we don't have it in our areas yet, plays music. Yeah, we know; kind of shocking. Enjoy 'em folks and cable companies, keep 'em coming.
