SuddenLink Adds Local HDTV?
The local cable company throughout most of Humboldt County, SuddenLink Communications, published an advertisement in the Times-Standard this past week announcing the availability of some new channels in High Definition (HDTV). Beginning July 16th, the company claims that it will have 21 channels available to subscribers in High Definition.
Among the channels listed is KBVU, a local broadcast station that is affiliated with the FOX Television Network (FOX 29). Strangely, KBVU does not actually broadcast a signal in HDTV, nor has it announced any plans to do so in the near future.
Unfortunately, SuddenLink Communications has no local phone number to contact them at. Every published number available for the company goes to an out-of-state call center and it is generally impossible to reach anyone locally by telephone. The company does not generally publicly disclose what rates they charge for their cable services, other than limited-time “teaser” rates, so we have no idea what any of their services cost. I receive (junk) mailings on the average of about once per week from SuddenLink, and I have never seen them make any mention of what their rates actually are.
We were unable to contact Eureka Television Group, the owner of KBVU-TV, by the time this article was published. We will let you know of anything we find out from them subsequently about the situation though. Fortunately, they do have a local telephone number.
The ads you saw in June were preliminary notices to customers and the community. The official announcement was made today. Please direct follow-up questions to me at 314-315-9346. Thanks.
Pete Abel
Suddenlink
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Suddenlink Adds HDTV Channels
EUREKA, CA (July 2, 2008) – To answer growing consumer demand for more high-definition television (HDTV) programming, Suddenlink today announced it will add seven HD channels to its existing HD line up in the Eureka area, effective July 16.
FOX 29 KBVU (Eureka) in HD will be available via Suddenlink as an “HD Broadcast” channel, which can be viewed without a Suddenlink HD receiver or cable card, if customers have HD televisions sets with a built-in QAM tuner. (Television set manufacturers and/or retailers should be able to verify whether or not an HD set has a built-in QAM tuner.)
Don Smullin, General Manager of Eureka Television’s KBVU, said he was very pleased to be working again with cable television in Humboldt County and in collaboration with TV pioneer Chester Smith, founder of Eureka Television. The local cable system that Suddenlink operates today was founded by Smullin’s father over 40 years ago.
TBS HD, USA HD, FX HD, Travel HD, and SCI-FI HD will be added to Suddenlink’s “HD Basic” tier of service, which already includes ESPN HD, ESPN HD2 and TNT HD. The “HD Basic” tier is available free to customers who lease the equipment required to enable HD viewing.
History HD will be added to the “HD Plus” Tier that includes, HD Theater, HD Net, HD Net Movies, Universal HD, HGTV HD, Food HD, A&E HD, and National Geographic HD. With the addition of History Channel HD, customers will now have access to nine “HD Plus” channels for the same price as before ($7.95 per month).
Two non-HD channels (We TV and Chiller) will also be added to Suddenlink’s Digital Variety Tier.
To prepare for future growth and allow for the addition of these new HD channels, certain existing HD channels will move to new locations, but all HD channels will remain in the 700-799 section of Suddenlink’s cable lineup.
HDTV offers a widescreen format, similar to a movie theater, with distinctly sharper and clearer images than standard TV. It also provides better sound quality. Not all networks or stations offer HD programming.
“We’ve made a major investment in this area in recent years to offer HDTV, faster high-speed Internet services, and other products like digital video recorders or DVRs,” said Wendy Purnell, Suddenlink’s system manager for Humboldt County.
For more information, local residents can call toll-free 1-877-443-3127, visit the Suddenlink retail center at 911 W. Wabash, Eureka, or visit Suddenlink’s Web site (www.suddenlink.com) and enter their zip code for channel lineups and other information.
Not sure when it happened but as of today, 10/6/08, I am receiving some programming on KBVU in HD using a $50 HDTV antenna from Radio Shack (Connected to a Panasonic HD TV of course.) The picture is crystal clear, like other HD programming. So you don’t need Suddenlink Cable, DirecTV, Dish Network or any other third party to receive HD programming on KBVU/Fox…SAVE YOUR MONEY! And BTW, DirecTV absolutely buries Suddenlink in the HD department, both in terms of quantity and cost. I was a Suddenlink/Cox customer for 12 years and recently switched to DirecTV to maximize my HD experience…best move I ever made.
I haven’t seen any actual HDTV programming on KBVU, but they have had a digital (DTV) signal for quite some time. I will have to take a look to see if they have made any changes as of late though.
FYI, any antenna that picks up the traditional VHF/UHF channels will work with the new DTV/HDTV signals just fine. The “HDTV ready” gimmick sells more antennas though. :-)
Funny, I dropped cable exactly 11 years ago for DirecTV. I wouldn’t have remembered the exact year, but they keep reminding me by sending me freebies each year as one of their “best customers”. This year, I got three months of Showtime for free (no strings, either).
If you really want to go all-out, there is a module you can add to your current DirecTV HDTV-DVR that will integrate local DTV channels into your DirecTV receiver (and access using the same remote) and record content on the built-in DVR. The program listings will show-up along with your regular DirecTV programming. This will probably become a standard feature in future models.
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Good info on the DirecTV integration with locals. Just to clarify, I am 100% certain that I was getting Prison Break on 10/6 on KBVU in 720 HD because of the sharpness and color in the picture. If my eyes weren’t enough proof, my TV has a display that shows the resolution of the picture and it said 720p. It was also a very noticeable improvement from the digital signal I had seen before (at 480i) on KBVU 29.1. I recommend checking out prime time programming yourself to see if you are getting it in HD…HD Ready Television required of course. Some programming is clearly being broadcast at 480i however.
On another note, I can get every local channel here in Eureka EXCEPT channel 3 or 3.1 (KIEM) with my $50 antenna. Digital signals come in clearly on 6.1, 13.1, 13.2, 29.1…and 29.2 is now appearing as “KEMY” but with no picture yet. It looks like it will be “My Network” when it’s up and running. The other analog signals are a bit fuzzy but still OK: (channels 9, 23, 29, 31, 33, etc.) Channel 3 is too distorted to view without getting a headache. The folks at KIEM are clearly behind the curve on the February 2009 transition to DTV.
Part of the problem with KIEM-TV is the fact that their main transmitter is actually located SOUTH of Eureka, which is in nearly the opposite direction of all other TV transmitters in the area, unless you live well North of Arcata. The vast majority of TV and FM broadcasters in Humboldt County locate their antennas on Kneeland mountain, which is to the North East for most people aiming their antennas here. Ironically, if your antenna is good enough to have significant gain when aimed at Kneeland, it may very well reject signals (like KIEM’s) that are located in other directions. Other than re-aiming your antenna, or getting a second one, installing a rotor may be the only way you will be able to pull-in a digital signal from KIEM-TV in the future. From my location in Eureka, KIEM’s DTV signal is plenty strong. It’s just coming from the “wrong” direction.
I tried tuning-in to KBVU today. I did not get an HD signal, but that may very well have been due to the fact that the syndicated programming they were airing (an utterly unwatchable series called Judge Brown) was likely not recorded in HD to begin with. I will keep checking though.
I also saw the “blank” DTV signal for KEMY. Hopefully, they will be adding their programming fairly soon. My Network just added WWE Smackdown to their programming line-up this past Friday. The show had previously been the #1 rated program on the entire CW Network. This should give My Network quite a boost in the ratings and give it a bit more brand name recognition. I wouldn’t doubt that the test broadcast channel was added recently for that very reason. My Network has (almost overnight) become an actual TV network with programming that most people would recognize. Wresting is typically the top rated programming on cable television every week. I have no clue if it will be in HD on My Network though.