Being a Cablevision subscriber, the news that the company will be able to offer more than 500 high-definition channels by the end of the year should make me happy. At least that’s what the company said yesterday, and that it will add 15 new high-def channels by next week, bringing its total to 40. Is this announcement in response to pressure from rival telecos like Verizon and Comcast? Yeah, probably. Anyway, the news should make me happy, but it doesn’t. Show me 500 high-def channels and I have a bridge I’d like to sell you. If you’re still reading past that horrible cliché, the fact is that, like an analyst pointed out, there’s a big difference between having 500 slots for high-def channels and actually having 500 high-def channels. As it stands, I’m content with watching “Sunrise Earth” and “NBC Nightly News.”
Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to have 500 high-def channels, so long as they’re not utter, utter garbage. But Cablevision didn’t even have the sense to add ESPN2HD to its package in time for last year’s World Cup, you know, that small, insignificant tournament held every four years. So for me to trust them with adding 500 quality high-def channels would take something extra. How about using all of that extra capacity to increase my bandwidth?
I don’t know, I guess I just woke up feeling extra skeptical today. Pair that with the fact that high-def channels generally stink (don’t even get me started on how they’re compressed…), it’s just hard to wave pom-poms for Cablevision.