WKTV in HD / Time Warner Start Over

[BobRoss]

First, the simpler question out of the way first: why the heck doesn't Time Warner carry WKTV's new HD feed yet? WKTV has to keep telling people to tune them in over the air.

In other news, I hear from reliable sources that Time Warner's "Start Over" cable box feature will be deployed in Syracuse this week. For those who aren't familiar, it's kinda like DVR, but not quite. If you start watching something part-way through -- say you stumble upon a good movie, but it's already 30 minutes in -- you can hit "Start Over" and your cable box will begin playing it back from the beginning.

For legal reasons -- because the program was recorded at the cable company, rather than on your own DVR box -- you can't fast-forward through commercials once the "Start Over" feature is activated. That's a big downside, since you can't zip through commercials and eventually "catch up" with the live feed. But it'll be interesting to see how useful it turns out to be.

 

[uticatvguy]

I think you'll find $$ & Cents to blame for the WKTV/TW issue.

 

[cnymike]

I think you'll find $$ & Cents to blame for the WKTV/TW issue.

I don't see why WKTV should be charging for Time Warner to carry their HD signal. They may have spent a lot on the new control room but they also sell commercials. And it's October, so they're making a killing out of all of the politicians.

 

[w9wi]

I think you'll find $$ & Cents to blame for the WKTV/TW issue.

I don't see why WKTV should be charging for Time Warner to carry their HD signal. They may have spent a lot on the new control room but they also sell commercials. And it's October, so they're making a killing out of all of the politicians.

Because most people who send TW extra $$ to subscribe to HD cable do so to get traditional network programs. ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, PBS. Without WKTV-HD roughly 20% of the revenue TW gets selling HD service would disappear -- it would certainly seem reasonable for WKTV to get a cut of that revenue. (I highly doubt WKTV is asking for 20%)

 

[cnymike]

I think you'll find $$ & Cents to blame for the WKTV/TW issue.

I don't see why WKTV should be charging for Time Warner to carry their HD signal. They may have spent a lot on the new control room but they also sell commercials. And it's October, so they're making a killing out of all of the politicians.

Because most people who send TW extra $$ to subscribe to HD cable do so to get traditional network programs. ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, PBS. Without WKTV-HD roughly 20% of the revenue TW gets selling HD service would disappear -- it would certainly seem reasonable for WKTV to get a cut of that revenue. (I highly doubt WKTV is asking for 20%)

I currently have only Time Warner's Digital Cable, for I lack a HDTV. The thing is, if I were to buy an HDTV, I could go trade my box in and not get a rate increase because Time Warner's the home of "free hd." That's part of the reason everyone had a stroke when they raised rates to add HD channels. All WKTV has to worry about is people paying for the digital front, which the only addon I see is I get WSTM and a program guide. Other than that, all the other channels are useless as far as I'm concerned (although I occasionally watch the Science Channel).