Comcast division opens up space for extra TV channels for cable indies through video compression technology that uses less bandwidth

Alan Breznick, Cable/Video Practice Leader, Light Reading

July 30, 2013

2 Min Read
Comcast Unit Hits HD Jackpot

SAN DIEGO -- Headend in The Sky (HITS) plans to roll out more than a dozen new digital channels for small and midsize cable operators, including 10 HD channels.

HITS, a division of Comcast Wholesale that delivers digital video programming to independent cable providers via satellite, made the announcement in conjunction with The Independent Show here Monday. The Comcast Corp. unit said it will start offering a total of 13 new digital channels, including the 10 HD channels, to its cable affiliates by the end of September through the use of more advanced video compression technology that squeezes the channels into less bandwidth.

As a result, HITS will expand its Quantum HD roster to 34 high-def networks, an increase of 42 percent. The 10 new HD channels include Bio HD, Bravo HD, CNBC HD+, DIY Network HD, E! HD, Hub HD, Investigation Discovery HD, MSNBC HD, Nat Geo Wild HD and OWN HD. The three new SD channels will be Fuel TV, Nick2 and MSG National.

What's making the expansion possible, HITS said, is its use of more advanced video encoding technology. This technology, known as 256 QAM DVB-S2, uses existing MPEG-2 architecture to free up as much as 25 percent of local bandwidth for other purposes by compressing channels into less space. As a result, cable operators can add more HD and SD channels with fewer satellite receivers and without switching out their legacy digital cable set-top boxes.

HITS introduced the encoding upgrade to its Q2 content distribution platform in April. The new encoding technology now covers 75 percent of the company's multiplexes.

That move came after HITS announced in February that a new deal with the National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC), a programming and equipment consortium that represents nearly 1,000 small and midsize cable operators, will incorporate the next-gen Q2 platform. NCTC is staging its annual Independent Show here through Wednesday. (See Comcast Unit Packs More TV Into Less Space.)

— Alan Breznick, Cable/Video Practice Leader, Light Reading/p>

About the Author(s)

Alan Breznick

Cable/Video Practice Leader, Light Reading

Alan Breznick is a business editor and research analyst who has tracked the cable, broadband and video markets like an over-bred bloodhound for more than 20 years.

As a senior analyst at Light Reading's research arm, Heavy Reading, for six years, Alan authored numerous reports, columns, white papers and case studies, moderated dozens of webinars, and organized and hosted more than 15 -- count 'em --regional conferences on cable, broadband and IPTV technology topics. And all this while maintaining a summer job as an ostrich wrangler.

Before that, he was the founding editor of Light Reading Cable, transforming a monthly newsletter into a daily website. Prior to joining Light Reading, Alan was a broadband analyst for Kinetic Strategies and a contributing analyst for One Touch Intelligence.

He is based in the Toronto area, though is New York born and bred. Just ask, and he will take you on a power-walking tour of Manhattan, pointing out the tourist hotspots and the places that make up his personal timeline: The bench where he smoked his first pipe; the alley where he won his first fist fight. That kind of thing.

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