Proving that cable operators and broadcasters can come to carriage agreements without government intervention, Comcast Cable said it would now carry PBS member station Thirteen/WNET, New York's high-definition channel ThirteenHD. With this programming addition, Comcast said that more than 720,000 of its subscribers in northern and central New Jersey now have access to five HD channels, including (in addition to Thirteen) ABC, NBC, HBO and Showtime.
ThirteenHD (on channel 190) features 24 hours of standard definition (SD) and HD digital programming each day, including series and specials from Thirteen/WNET's production studios as well as from public broadcasting producers nationwide.
"In the months since we launched HDTV, customer response has been extremely positive," said Greg Arnold, Comcast's regional vice president for New Jersey. "With the addition of ThirteenHD, we now offer our northern and central New Jersey customers... one of the most robust high-definition programming packages available today."
Comcast said it would continue to carry Thirteen's standard channel on channel 13. In order to receive HDTV channels, customers must own an HDTV-compatible television set and subscribe to Comcast Digital Cable service.
Thirteen/WNET was one of the first public broadcasting stations in the country to launch a digital signal in July 2001, two years before the FCC deadline.
For more information visit www.comcast.com and www.thirteen.org. Also check out our PBS special report, thirteen WNET NEW YORK - Rebuilding after 9/11.
