Mediacom finishing digital upgrade

Mediacom customers in 10 southeast Iowa counties will see the final phase of its digital upgrade early this week, followed by a channel expansion bringing 63 new high-definition television channels to the lineup between Wednesday and Friday.

Tuesday, customers using non-digital televisions will see the last phase in a conversion that changes signal reception for channels 23-78 to digital (previously, both digital and analog signals were used). The change that eliminates analog reception requires customers to use digital-ready televisions, digital set-top boxes or small digital adapters.

Analog bandwidth is considered to be outdated and inefficient, explained Mediacom Regional Vice President Doug Frank. By eliminating most of the analog bandwidth from its network, Mediacom will immediately gain capacity to boost its high-definition lineup to 101 channels.

?The response to our all-digital upgrade has been incredibly positive, and it?s because consumers understand that they gain much more in the digital world than is otherwise possible,? Frank said.  ?It?s a notable milestone to deliver more than 100 HD channels.  And it is especially timely with the upcoming coverage of the 2012 London Olympic Games.?

Frank explained NBC Sports Net HD, a new arrival at channel 827, will be NBC?s home for Team USA, devoting extensive coverage to the American teams competing in London.  The channel is one of 22 HD Family Cable channels, along with HD versions for National Geographic, Comedy Central, AMC, CNBC and others.

When equipped for HDTV, Family Cable subscribers pay no additional programming costs to receive Mediacom?s HD Family Cable lineup. Customers whose subscriptions include premium channel sets or ?Digital Pak? channels will gain an assortment of sports, adventure and general entertainment channels in HD reception. Digital Pak channels are offered as interest-specific tiers, such as the sports and information category that will now include NFL Network HD, CBS Sports HD, Outdoor HD and six other new HD channels.

While most consumers have at least one digital or HDTV, some continue to use non-digital TVs. Since late April, Mediacom customers in the 10-county area have received nearly 30,000 digital adapters to extend the lives of their non-digital TVs.