Dangling Digital Carrots

Comcast Augusta Emphasized Upside of Cutting Analog TV

By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 7/26/2010 12:01:00 AM

For Comcast’s system in Augusta, Ga., it paid off to accentuate the positive during its recent conversion to all-digital television.

While you’re losing analog TV, the cable company told customers, you’re gaining a bunch of new digital channels for free — not to mention one of the fastest Internet services in the U.S.

“The most important thing was to emphasize all the benefits to customers” of converting the system to 100% digital TV, said Tina Baggott, Comcast Augusta’s director of marketing. “We were able to demonstrate the functionality of what you get with digital service.”

The 90,000-subscriber system is the MSO’s first — and so far only — to go 100% digital.

Abu Khan, vice president and general manager of Comcast Augusta, said his team decided at end of 2008 to pull the analog plug. Two factors made it an easy decision, according to Khan: It already had a high digital cable penetration, of around 95%, and as a 550-Megahertz system it was fairly constrained.

“We were pretty locked,” he said. The system’s goal for 2009 was to migrate as many customers as possible to digital services. In September 2009, Comcast Augusta shut off 24 analog channels in the expanded basic tier. Then, in March 2010, the last 16 analog channels in the “B1” broadcast-basic tier were retired.

The Motorola-based system distributed two or three digital terminal adapters to customers who needed them, supplied mainly by Motorola as well as Technicolor (formerly Thomson) and Pace. The DTAs, smaller and cheaper than conventional set-top boxes, provide decryption for the expanded basic tier.

An incentive for customers to install the DTAs was that Comcast Augusta added 11 “sidecar” digital services from local broadcasters to the B1 lineup.

“We positioned it as, ‘We’re giving you some free equipment, and you’re going to get all these additional channels,’ ” Baggott said.

Meanwhile, separating the shutoff of the expanded-basic analog tier and B1 basic by six months made it easier for Comcast Augusta to manage customer-service issues that came up “versus being bum-rushed all at once,” Khan said.

After freeing up roughly 200 MHz, Comcast Augusta now offers a suite of products that rivals any other cable system in the country. It offers 100 HD channels, compared with 34 before the digital conversion; has deployed DOCSIS 3.0 and offers a 100-Megabit-per-second Internet tier; and offers 20,000 videoon- demand selections.

The analog-reclamation project also cleared space to let the system offer customers the 3D telecast of the world-renowned sporting event in its backyard — The Masters golf tournament — this April. In addition, Comcast Augusta is rolling out a Hispanic programming package.

“Obviously we’re trying to use the space as smartly as we can,” Khan said. “We’re happy with where we are right now.”

Success factors for Comcast Augusta:
Take a gradual, phased approach: The system eliminated 24 expanded basic analog channels in September 2009, and cut off the 16 “B1” lifeline tier in March 2010.

Communicate with customers extensively: Comcast Augusta used direct mail, automated phone calls and community events to spread the word.

Provide free digital equipment: Digital subscribers were eligible for one free digital set-top and two DTAs; limited-basic subs could get up to three DTAs.

SOURCE: Multichannel News research