From Time Warner Cable

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For Further Information Contact:
Robin L. Wolfgang
Vice President, Public and Government Affairs
716-558-8642 (Phone)
716-289-1810 (Cell)
Robin.Wolfgang@twcable.com

TIME WARNER CABLE ADDS VERSUS HD FOR HOCKEY PLAYOFFS
Digital Cable Customers Will Receive Versus HD May 10th on Channel 708

BUFFALO, NY- May 8, 2007 - Time Warner Cable, the nation’s second-largest cable television operator, today announced the temporary addition of Versus HD to its HD offerings for digital cable customers on Channel 708. The addition of Versus HD will allow hockey fans to enjoy the hockey playoff games beginning Thursday, May 10 until the end of the hockey season. Versus will not black out any more games in this region and has pledged to cover two games of the Stanley Cup. Versus offers the Golf Channel from noon until seven and then begins its Versus hockey coverage at seven.

"Time Warner Cable has heard the clamor of our customers for Versus HD in order to see the hockey playoffs through the best picture available. We are pleased to have the technology and the ability to offer this great opportunity for the next month," stated Gordon Harp, Buffalo Division President, Time Warner Cable. "Behind the scenes we have had to work very fast and juggle some other commitments but we felt this was important to our customers in Western New York. As a company Time Warner Cable strives to provide the best products and services every day."

Versus will remain available on Channel 71 to standard package customers after this temporary viewing of Versus HD ends. Versus is the national cable home of the National Hockey league (NHL) and the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Now in more than 72 million homes, the network is a destination for sports fans, athletes and sportsmen to find exclusive, competitive events that audiences can’t find elsewhere.

As one of the customers that clamored about being able to see Versus in HD, this makes me so happy!

But it does make me wonder if they only did this because you can pick up CBC’s HD signal out of Toronto & all the games from here on out will be on CBC. I hope they prove me wrong & keep it past the playoffs.

I know, I know…I’m bashing Time Warner again.

If you have Time Warner, you probably saw their massive football advertising campaign last year. They presented it to us as if they cared about the viewers. Their ads boasted how you’d be able to watch all your home teams games as well as how many of them are in HD:

We know you love football - which is why Time Warner Cable offers tons of NFL games every week on CBS, FOX, NBC or ESPN. In addition, many games can be seen in High Definition, where available.

Seeing these ads on Fox during NFL games was kinda funny since they did not have the HD Fox channel at the time. But that’s another story.

Everyone really knows that these ads were basically anti-NFL Network ads. Time Warner & The NFL Network have yet to come to an agreement as far as carrying the channel, and that’s another story that I’m sure will grab the headlines in a couple months.

Now here’s my beef: Time Warner runs all these commercials about how much they care about their viewers & I say that’s a load of crap. If they cared about the viewers in the Buffalo area (and any other area that has a hockey team) they’d actually go out & get a deal made to carry Versus in HD.

Look here at the NHL Playoffs TV Schedule for the 1st round. Part of me is upset that NBC has decided to not schedule ANY Sabres games - after all, they are the #1 team in the league. So for Buffalo fans, Games 1 & 7 are on MSG (that’s another mess of a story that I don’t want to get into) and games 2 thru 6 are on Versus.

Think about the commercials they could run, boasting that they are the only way to watch Hockey in HD in the Buffalo area. Instead, no matter how much I complain & request the channel, all they do is remind me what (little) HD hockey they have (as if I didn’t know that NBC carried HD games).

Buffalo games pull massive ratings when they are on:

From The Buffalo News - NBC has to be impressed by Buffalo’s TV ratings. The Sabres’ win over Pittsburgh Tuesday to clinch the Eastern Conference title had an incredibly strong 12.2 rating here on Versus even though it was competing for separate hours with “American Idol” (16.9) and “Dancing with the Stars” (11.4).

Now that it’s the playoffs, those numbers will only increase.

I know I complain a lot, but I want to watch the NHL Playoffs in HD & I’m sick of Time Warner pretending that they care about me. It’s time for them to step up & prove it.

I wrote this email to Time Warner late Saturday night (3/10) after being rather pissed off at not being able to watch the Sabres game in HD:

• Subject: Sabres/Devils Game Not Shown On HDNet 770

  Why was the Sabres/Devils game not shown on HDNet channel 770 this evening?

  I have a feeling that I know the answer: blackout rules. If that’s the case, I can live with it. But could you please not have it in the guide as being on the HD channel?

  It’s bad enough that 99% of the HD hockey I get watch is on channel 5.1 off my antenna, but to basically tease that a Sabres game will be on in HD is not necessary.

I got my reply back today:

• Thank you for using Time Warner Cable Online Customer Support.

  I am sorry for HDNet showing the Sabres game would be offered on this channel. We, as Time Warner, can’t make a network change the information that unfortunately shows on our guide. The issue is if MSG is broadcasting the game they have exclusive rights to the game, which disallows HDNet to broadcast. However, if Versus has the right to the game they may allow HDNet to broadcast. I understand it’s frustrating, and all I can suggest is that if you know the game will be on MSG it won’t be broadcasted on HDNet.

  Thank you,
  Time Warner Cable Customer Support

My reply:

• Thanks for writing me back.

  You’re saying that Time Warner can’t manually edit their own guide? Doesn’t that seem kinda silly.

  And I think you’re confusing HDNet with INHD2 (the now defunct channel) as Versus used to show their games on INHD2 (HDNet’s NHL contract is separate)

  Put in the good word for me & request that Time Warner get the Versus HD channel before the NHL Playoffs start

So not only can’t Time Warner edit what’s on their own guide, they also have personal working for them that confuse HDNet with INHD as this is the 2nd person I’ve spoken to via email that didn’t know the difference.

I’m not saying that the reps should know what’s on every channel, but they don’t have to make guesses.

I’m pretty much stuck with Time Warner Cable. We used to have Adelphia, but I think everyone knows what happened to them I was sorta happy when I found out that Time Warner was taking over for Adelphia, as I have a friend in the Syracuse area and I was jealous of all the programming & HD channels he had.

Of course, my joy went away very quickly as soon as the NFL Network was dropped.

My recent complaints to them have been the lack of HD NHL games. We don’t get the Versus network in HD. Last year was great, as Versus simulcast the Playoff games in the now defunct INHD2 channel. This year, the only HD NHL games I’ll get to see are the few that NBC decides to give us as well as games involving Canadian teams that I can watch on CBC via my antenna.

If you have Time Warner, you’ll remember all their football commercials from last year as they tried to convince people that they really didn’t need the NFL Network. These commercials also focused on the HD games they were broadcasting (which was insane, since they did not have the Fox HD channel at the time) Time Warner needs to step up and back hockey the same way they want everyone to believe they back football.

If you have Time Warner, go here & put in your zip code. The click the Customer Service links & email them. Tell them that you want to watch the NHL Playoffs in HD & that they should get the Versus HD channel in their lineup ASAP.