By Sandra Zunino
Thanks to a digital migration project, Atlantic Broadband’s more than 20,000 Queen Anne’s, Kent and Talbot county customers will soon gain access to more than 80 new high-definition channels among other services.
“The cable consumer today wants more HD channels,” says Atlantic Broadband Senior Vice President and General Manager Joe DiJulio, “For us to add more HD channels; we need to digitize our analog channels.”
High-definition television or HDTV provides substantially higher resolution picture quality than standard television, but in order to enjoy HDTV, programs must be broadcast in digital opposed to analog format. Additionally, converting one analog channel to digital provides 12 digital channels.
As part of a three-phase transition, Atlantic Broadband will broadcast all-digital television signal delivery starting on June 22, simulcasting Value Service channels in both digital and analog formats. With phase two on August 10th, 10 Value Service channels will become digital only, affecting Country Music Television, Discovery Health, E!, A&E, HLN News and Views, American Movies Classics, National Geographic, Nick Toons, Speed Channel and The Weather Channel. Six new channels will also be available to Value Service for no extra charge: Turner Classic Movies, Hallmark Channel, Jewelry TV, EWTN, TBN and brand new truTV.
Customers with HD service will receive 11 new HD channels beginning August 24 including CNN HD, Versus HD, Bravo HD, Disney Channel HD, ABC Family HD, VH-1 HD, The Golf Channel HD, NFL Network HD, Science Channel HD, Investigate Discovery HD and the Biography Channel HD. More channels will be added in the fall for a total of 53 as the conversion’s final phase. Customers with Limited service will not be affected.
HD customers will also benefit from access to HD Video on Demand movies, and TV series and events – many of them free.
Most televisions purchased in the last two years are able to convert digital signals to analog. Customers without digital televisions will require a Digital Terminal Adaptor (DTA) box to continue viewing those channels no longer broadcast in analog. Therefore, Atlantic Broadband is offering Value and Digital Service customers two free DTAs per household. While adaptors come with easy installation instructions, free professional installation is available.
DTAs not only convert signals, but have VCR capability so users can record shows and zip through commercials. Customers need only call 888-797-0599 for free delivery of their DTAs, or visit Atlantic Broadband’s Grasonville office on 330 Drummer Drive to get their two free adapters. Additional boxes will cost $1.99 each per month.
Not only will the conversion improve television picture and sound quality, it will also provide additional capacity for faster broadband Internet and new digital services for the future.
Atlantic Broadband will be saturating the lines of communication in the form of letters, bill inserts, phone calls and messages crawling across the bottom of certain channels in order inform customers about the conversion. Atlantic Broadband customers in Delaware have already experienced the transition and Joe reports it went smoothly. He is confident customers in this area will have the same positive experience.
Ranked as the 15th largest cable operator in the U.S., Atlantic Broadband is a privately held company headquartered in Quincy, Massachusetts, with more than 700 employees and 286,000 customers located in four operation regions: central Pennsylvania, Miami Beach, Maryland/Delaware and Aiken, S. For more information, visit www.atlanticbb.com.