The reason why Time Warner's HD lineup isn't that great

We are constantly receiving emails asking why a certain channel isn't carried by a provider and while the business behind carriage agreements is complicated, in a recent interview with TVPrediction.com we learned one possible reason why Time Warner seems to always be behind the curve. The Senior Vice President in charge of programming doesn't have a HDTV! That's right, when asked "What is your favorite show in HDTV?", her response was "Well, this one is easy. I don't have a high-def set. My husband and I are renovating a new home so I'm getting one when I move into my new house...I did see Discovery's (Planet Earth) in HD and it was extraordinary." We're glad you caught an episode of Planet Earth, but seriously isn't it your job to evaluate content for Time Warner? How can you possibly do that without an HDTV? Of course this wasn't the entire interview, she also dodged the question about why they don't carry ESPN2HD and complained that some networks upconvert and call it HD, hmm, hello TNT-HD, a Time Warner Company, just call over there and tell them to cut it out. But this interview wasn't all good news, she also explained that in order to compete with DirecTV's 100 HD channels that they will be rolling out Switched Digital Video, which we all know makes our beloved Series3 useless.

[Justin @ Mar 9th 2007 5:04PM]

And by "isn't that great" you mean "sucks donkey balls" correct?

[Matt W. @ Mar 9th 2007 5:23PM]

Now that you've figured out why TWC's HD line up sucks, can you find out why Comcast's HD line up sucks? BTW, anyone try Verizon FiosTV's HDTV line up? Is it better than Comcast?

[Justin @ Mar 9th 2007 5:28PM]

mmmmm...FiOS. I wish they would roll that out here in Austin.

[Ed @ Mar 9th 2007 6:50PM]

You think that's bad, here in Manhattan New York City Time Warner Broadband is only 5.0 but at times it's only 768k or even less. Plus, their HD box are SOOOO old is not even funny anymore... WHERE IS VERIZON FiOS!!!!!!

[Jason @ Mar 9th 2007 9:47PM]

Unless FIOS really gets swinging.. I'll be looking at the HR20 I guess. I just setup my dad with one and the interface isn't 1/10 of the Tivo's. But, better an HR20 than an doorstop S3.

[Matthew @ Mar 9th 2007 10:11PM]

Time Warner is light years ahead of Charter in our area for HD. Heck we lost our HD ABC channel.

[Brent @ Mar 9th 2007 10:39PM]

Digg this story

http://digg.com/television/Why_Time_Warner_s_HD_lineup_Is_so_weak

[GhostDoggy @ Mar 10th 2007 5:13PM]

This remiands me of the top suits in the telephone industry. They are old farts stuck in the 1050s marketplace and refusing technology. If this itch doesn't get with the 21st century then maybe I'll need to take a roadtrip and re-eductae her for the benefit of the rest of MANkind.

[riverside_guy @ Mar 10th 2007 10:26AM]

Actually, TWC's broadband (Road Runner) is running at 7 Mb/s down, they bumped it up from 5 Mb/s 2 months ago. However, the real question is how come folks upstate from NYC have 10 Mb/s service while we only have 7?

Let's not forget about losing InHD2 (not TWC fault) on a pay-extra tier with no replacement? Again, the issue is treating customers in wildly different ways. Again, upstate lost InHD2 as well, but they got another of those pay extra channels (ESPN HD) moved from the pay-extra tier to part of the digital package AND got a full year of a premium channel PLUS it's HD channel as compensation?

[Ed @ Mar 10th 2007 3:38PM]

Nope I just did a test on various servers and my speed is only 2.0 by 0.2 uploads. you are so lucky if you are getting 7. In Manhattan they still giving people 5.0 Downloads and only 128 Uploads while Optimun people in the Bronx, Jersey and Brooklyn get 15 MB by 2MB for even cheaper price.

[GhostDoggy @ Mar 10th 2007 10:41AM]

This remiands me of the top suits in the telephone industry. They are old farts stuck in the 1050s marketplace and refusing technology. If this itch doesn't get with the 21st century then maybe I'll need to take a roadtrip and re-eductae her for the benefit of the rest of MANkind.

[Galicki @ Mar 10th 2007 12:40PM]

Holy Crap! Shocking. Melinda Witmer doesn't even have an HD set. She's a freakin' attorney, I guess I wouldn't expect anything different. Hello!? Can we get a nerd to replace her who understands technology instead of negotiating contracts. Obviously she hasn't even been able to negotiate ESPN2. TWC let their consortium InDemand negotiate the MLB extra innings and that went pretty well. DTV has had a strangle hold on Sunday Ticket and TWC is nowhere near getting the NFL network or MLB channel(2009). Can this friggin' attorney figure out a way to add more stations to basic cable or are we going to be in this stalemate where providers are demanding being added to a basic tier and cable wants to push them to a digital tier (effecting their ad revenue and number of eyeballs)
The one thing I will say is TWC's HD carriage sucks as bad as DTV's. So....

[Jake @ Mar 11th 2007 11:17AM]

Stop saying the that SDV makes the Series3 useless, you tards. SDV only makes the S3 useless for unpopular, SD channels. If a channel is premium (as is most HD worth bitching about -- non-locals), then it won't be switched. So yeah, if you really dig the HG channel or the Golf channel, you might be SOL with an S3. If you're worried about not receiving HBO-HD or ESPN-HD, don't fret.

[Joel @ Mar 12th 2007 1:18AM]

Just goes to show one of the many reasons why HD programming sucks pretty much universally, regardless of provider. If a channel is nationally broadcast in HD, any provider needs to carry and deliver it. Unfortunately, there is to much money invovled with licensing and so forth. How can someone who is supposed to be in charge of programming and not have HAD an HD set? Ridiculous, should be fired.

[siva @ Mar 12th 2007 5:51PM]

I am exclusive to OTA and don't regret one bit. I have Netflix ($10) and Blockbuster ($10) plan and a PS3 and a 1080P HDTV and a Sony HD-DVR. No need to pay per month for TV programming. My total entertainment budget per month is $20. I get standard DVDs, PS3 game (one a month) and Bluray DVDs with this setup. I also get all network shows in HD.

[beanspants @ Mar 13th 2007 12:27PM]

you miss out on a lot of sports siva. that's all i have to say.

[Kevin @ Mar 13th 2007 4:02PM]

I have Verizon Fios HDTV and it is glorious!

Envy me!!