Penguins in focus for some viewers
Armstrong Cable first with high def
Saturday, October 01, 2005
By Bob Smizik, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Armstrong Cable customers figure to be the first in the area to see Penguins games in high definition television, but FSN Pittsburgh is hopeful that the programming soon will be available in the homes of all cable customers.
Armstrong and FSN are expected to announce an agreement next week that will enable the cable provider to carry regular FSN programming and also add a channel for FSN HD programming.
FSN will carry 10 Penguins games in high definition this season with the first being the home opener Saturday.
Armstrong is the third largest cable provider in the Pittsburgh DMA (designated market area). Comcast, the largest, and Adelphia, No. 2, have not reached agreement to carry FSN's high definition programming.
However, FSN vice president and general manager Steve Tello said, "Once one of the providers starts to offer HD, we would hope the others would make the same offering to their customers."
As of late yesterday, though, there had been no negotiations on the local level between FSN and the two major providers. It is not unusual for such deals to be worked out on the national level.
Tello also said FSN will be doing some Pirates games in high definition next season.
Little has changed in the past month regarding the various cable provider deals with OLN (Outdoor Life Network), which is the major national voice of the NHL.
Most of Comcast's nearly 600,000 customers have OLN as part of their cable package. Armstrong and Adelphia, however, have not come to an agreement with OLN and none appears to be in the offing.
Although OLN has been available to Adelphia customers who have the digital-plus plan, OLN has told the provider NHL games will not be available as part of that package.
David Wittman, the director of marketing for Armstrong, said, "We don't expect to have OLN in time for the start of the hockey season. OLN is in the process of bidding for other sports content with the NFL and MLB. Because of that right now we don't know what they are going to have and what it is going to cost."
HDNet, a high definition network, will carry about 50 NHL games this season.
Source
Armstrong Cable first with high def
Saturday, October 01, 2005
By Bob Smizik, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Armstrong Cable customers figure to be the first in the area to see Penguins games in high definition television, but FSN Pittsburgh is hopeful that the programming soon will be available in the homes of all cable customers.
Armstrong and FSN are expected to announce an agreement next week that will enable the cable provider to carry regular FSN programming and also add a channel for FSN HD programming.
FSN will carry 10 Penguins games in high definition this season with the first being the home opener Saturday.
Armstrong is the third largest cable provider in the Pittsburgh DMA (designated market area). Comcast, the largest, and Adelphia, No. 2, have not reached agreement to carry FSN's high definition programming.
However, FSN vice president and general manager Steve Tello said, "Once one of the providers starts to offer HD, we would hope the others would make the same offering to their customers."
As of late yesterday, though, there had been no negotiations on the local level between FSN and the two major providers. It is not unusual for such deals to be worked out on the national level.
Tello also said FSN will be doing some Pirates games in high definition next season.
Little has changed in the past month regarding the various cable provider deals with OLN (Outdoor Life Network), which is the major national voice of the NHL.
Most of Comcast's nearly 600,000 customers have OLN as part of their cable package. Armstrong and Adelphia, however, have not come to an agreement with OLN and none appears to be in the offing.
Although OLN has been available to Adelphia customers who have the digital-plus plan, OLN has told the provider NHL games will not be available as part of that package.
David Wittman, the director of marketing for Armstrong, said, "We don't expect to have OLN in time for the start of the hockey season. OLN is in the process of bidding for other sports content with the NFL and MLB. Because of that right now we don't know what they are going to have and what it is going to cost."
HDNet, a high definition network, will carry about 50 NHL games this season.
Source
