Time Warner Adding New HD, Changing On Demand, and Moving GSN

We get word of this from Friend of TSMW Mike Taylor.

Mike informs us that Time Warner Cable announced the addition of fifteen more HD channels today, and linked us to this post from John Kiesewetter detailing them all.

Here is how it all shakes out with the different tiers, with channel numbers in parentheses:

–Added to HD Variety Package: Hallmark HD (1113), Fuse HD (1258) and IFC HD (1280)

–Added to HD Standard Package: QVC HD (1175), HSN HD (1176)

–Added to HD Sports Package: CBS College Sports HD (1322), Tennis Channel HD (1327), NHL Network HD (1324)

–Added to HD Movie Package: Encore HD (1290)

–Added to premium services: HBO 2 HD (1604) & HBO Family HD (1606), Show TOO HD (1643), Action Max HD (1624) & More Max HD (1623), TMC HD (1662)

Also, there will be a change to On Demand services. Any home that can access On Demand programming from more than one television set will now have the ability to watch saved programs on those TV's without having to re-order.

Finally, GSN will be moved to the Variety tier from the Sports tier. This happens this Tuesday also.

To answer Mike's question, and a question that others of you might have, YES, if you have the Variety tier, you'll automatically get GSN. If you have both Sports and Variety, nothing will change. (And a correction to our email to Mike: No, channel position will NOT change. It does stay at digital 219.)

We also read from the TWC Cincinnati channel change notifications that the Speed Channel will be made available to any standard digital service customer who has a converter, and that there are future changes in the works, too, that will merge content from Action Movies on Demand, Comedy Movies on Demand & Drama Movies on Demand and eliminate those stand-alone channels - but it's not clear if either change is planned Tuesday. We assume these will, but proceed with caution. (We'll be working on it.)

That's a lot, but hopefully, it's all clear what's planned...

Quick Hits We'll Chase Down Friday or Monday

A few items, quick-posted, that we'll look into more either tomorrow or (more likely) Monday, with the Easter weekend upon us...

Hopkins Gone At 5, Wells Leaving 19 Soon: No, this has absolutely nothing at all to do with the big switcheroo with radio posted this morning.

Michelle Hopkins will leave WLWT-TV after tonight's 11 PM news. She's been there for 10 years and has decided to "explore other opportunities", she told John Kiesewetter today. She was first hired as a morning anchor in 2000, then went on to work with the "Taking Action" and "5 For Kids" franchises, but her role has diminished recently.

Over at WXIX-TV 19/Newport, this exit isn't voluntary at all. Zach Wells' contract won't be renewed in July, according to the above link... and some of the other changes are permanent, including shrinking "Sports Wrap" on weekends to 15 minutes.

WKRP Adds NBC Universal Sports Subchannel: Yes, we'd heard they were thinking about this one for MONTHS...and something new DID light up this afternoon.

Elliott Block has added Universal Sports, as part of a larger-scale update of the OTA digital 25.1-25.5.

The new lineup still has WKRP (former/current WBQC-CA 38) on 25.1. Then Universal Sports is on 25.2, followed by Retro TV on 25.3, Jewelry TV on 25.4 and then the former WOTH-LP 25 on 25.5 with its American One programming. Currently, only the WKRP main signal is carried on Cincinnati Bell 24 and Insight Cable 198.

At this point, we wonder if either Time Warner (which doesn't have ANY of the WKRP signals), Insight or Cincinnati Bell (or anyone else) will pick up any of the channels they don't have. We sure hope so...

1160 Goes Irish: No, THIS isn't an April Fools joke, either!

WQRT-AM 1160/Florence will now pick up Notre Dame Fighting Irish football games, according to the Kiese Blog Wednesday. It'll kick off when the Fighting Irish host Purdue on Saturday, September 4th at 3:30 PM.

Our Take: Great pickup for WQRT. Clear Channel couldn't pick them up (where would they PUT them?), Bonneville and other owners didn't show any interest in blocking off 3 hour blocks on Saturday in fall for football, so 1160 gets them. Just one problem...oh yeah, that measly night signal.

Let's just hope fans can listen online if the Irish should play at night... because we imagine there'd be a lot of unhappy ND fans storming 19 Broadcast Plaza if not...

NEW: WXIX Gets WLW, WKRC-AM Weather

We're learning this as most of you are today...and it is definitely no joke...

WXIX-TV 19/Newport has scored not one but two major coups according to John Kiesewetter in a post yesterday:

http://cincinnati.com/blogs/tv/2010/03/31/fox-19-gets-webn-fireworks-wlw-weather-deal/

The first deal is immediate: 19 is doing weather forecasts on WLW 700AM/Cincinnati and WKRC-AM 550/Cincinnati, replacing WLWT 5/Cincinnati. Again, that happened today.

The second is for fans of WEBN Fireworks every Labor Day weekend. 19 now has those rights, too... taking those from WLWT as well.

What's not clear yet is how this impacts Bonneville Broadcasting which had, until recently, used WXIX news and weather. For now, we think they'll resort to dropping morning news and delivering the NWS forecasts. (If you hear differently email us.)

All this, on a day notorious for pranks. We thought it was just that til we began to check around...

Return Wednesday

UPDATE Midnight 4/1: We now hear from multiple sources that WWPW launches either tonight or Thursday as "Beat 104.3". Best guess is tonight...

This will be short and sweet... But, it IS a return post. By the way we don't exactly have our normal technology, so for this post (and at least Thursday's also), headlines won't be in bold...

Regent to Reorganize: We admittedly, hadn't kept track of what was going on with locally-based Regent Communications. But we now are aware of their Chapter 11 filing of a week or two back.

What we know is this: the company will have to spin off a couple of it's stations, according to recent reports by Tom Taylor at Radio-Info. Those are in Ft. Collins, CO and Lafayette, LA. Shareholders get $5.5 million to split and major secured creditors get 90% of the company.

It's worth noting once more: Regent doesn't own anything here. But it's locally based... which put it on our radar...

Insight Ends "Northern Kentucky Magazine": This one will be brief.

We got word yesterday that Insight Cable will be ending broadcasts of the aforementioned "Magazine" later today.

The final show will air live at 10AM on Insight Channel 2. That becomes a statewide weather and news network presumably as early as Thursday. We don't have an official date on that however. We'll let you know when we know.

Louisville "Power"?: The word is that WAYI-FM 104.3 FM, which formerly simulcast Christian Top 40 WAY-FM (whose main channel is 105.9), dropped that simulcast and that Ricky Smiley's syndicated show now claims WWPW as a Louisville affiliate. This also comes from Tom Taylor at R-I.

A word of caution: We don't have total confirmation on this yet. For now it is just rumored as far as we can tell.

But, if you're in Louisville, it's something to take note of...

Mandy's Debut: Yes, we were aware of this, too.

Mandy Connell has debuted as the replacement for Francene Cucinello at 840 WHAS-AM in Louisville.

We have not yet had a chance to hear her ourselves yet in the 9AM to noon slot.

But our current technology, the same device we're using to type this post, has wi-fi and...OK it's the recently released iPod touch and yes we got the "iHeart Radio" app. But what counts is we can get WHAS on it. (For that matter we can, wherever we get wifi, tune in nearly every station in our coverage zone, as long as they have a livestream which can be accessed via Quicktime.)

The bottom line is, while we haven't yet heard Connell on air... We will soon. It's only a matter of being up before 9AM...

THIS JUST IN: All 145 Reds Games HD on Fox Sports OH, PLUS Local 12 Reaches Broadcast Deal for XU, UK Games This week

Two late breaking stories, just coming in...

All Reds Games HD: We just got this word off the Fox Sports Ohio Facebook page.

They just announced there that all 145 Cincinnati Reds baseball games they will air will be in High Definition, including Opening Day.

Also, they announced that WKRC-TV 12/Cincinnati will simulcast the coverage of Opening Day, which as we write this is just about 2 weeks away, beginning at 1 PM. (We assume this means WKRC will either blow out the CBS daytime schedule or move it to their CW Cincinnati subchannel.)

Here's most of the FSO official release, which you can also view, along with the COMPLETE Reds schedule, here:

All 145 Cincinnati Reds Games in HD

ALL FOX Sports Ohio Reds telecasts to be in high definition this season

Local 12 WKRC-TV will simulcast Opening Day on Monday, April 5

CINCINNATI, OHIO – FOX Sports Ohio announced today the entire 2010 Cincinnati Reds 145-game telecast schedule will be in crystal clear high definition. Henry Ford, Senior Vice President and General Manager, FOX Sports Ohio, made the announcement.

“We’re proud and very excited that we will produce and deliver ALL 145 Reds games in High Definition this season,” stated Ford. “You can feel the fan excitement for Red’s baseball growing throughout Spring Training. Folks logging on to foxsportsohio.com are following the nuances of player development and expressing interest in daily recaps of what’s going on in Goodyear. As we head into the regular season, we are delighted to continue that momentum and heighten the fan experience with enhanced telecasts in HD.”

As previously announced, FOX Sports Ohio begins its 145-game schedule of Reds baseball with the team’s home opener on Monday, April 5 at 1pm against division rival St. Louis Cardinals at Great American Ball Park.

FOX Sports Ohio is also happy to partner with Local 12 WKRC-TV to simulcast Reds Opening Day.

Local12 Vice-President and General Manager Les Vann said, “Local 12 WKRC-TV is proud to partner with Fox Sports Ohio to bring you the Cincinnati Reds Opening Day Game! There is nothing more local than the tradition and pride of The Cincinnati Reds and the history of opening day baseball, right here on Local 12. We would like to thank Fox Sports Ohio and the Reds for this partnership.”

Coverage will begin with Reds Live pre-game show, presented by Ray St. Clair Roofing, at 12:30pm. Jim Day, Jeff Piecoro and Brian Giesenschlag will take the field to feature all the Opening Day festivities.

FOX Sports Ohio is proud to announce two new production enhancements for the 2010 season: FOX Trax and X-Mo.

FOX Trax is the newest broadcast enhancement that presents statistics about pitches in real-time. Powered by Major League Baseball’s official pitch tracking system, FOX Trax will show viewers new and compelling data elements such as break, release and end speed, spin direction and pinpoint location of the ball as it crosses the front of home plate. Combined with a pitch type classification graphic, viewers will have more insight into pitcher strategy that will make the action even more engaging and exciting.

X-MO is a high speed camera/replay device that will bring viewers incredible clarity on replays. X-MO will be able to slow an image down to 3,000 frames per second versus a normal frame of video which is 30 frames per second. Therefore, Reds fans will be able to see plays slowed down to 100 times their normal speed. Using this amazing technology, game details such as the rotation of a pitch or the splintering of a bat will now be seen in crystal clarity.

---------------------

Our Take: This is good news for people with HDTV sets. They can watch the game in HD. And believe us, HD makes any game better.

Also, the partnership with WKRC is good for those wanting to catch Opening Day but who don't have cable or satellite to get FSO in the Cincinnati area. Opening Day is practically a city-wide holiday, no matter how bad the Reds may have done the previous season because it's a clean slate...and everybody wants to start fresh if it was not a good year...

WKRC Reaches Deal For Sweet 16: If you're following March Madness, as we have been, you know both University of Kentucky and Xavier University men's teams advanced to the Sweet 16 over the weekend. For Cincinnati area fans of both teams, this is good news.

The problem for WKRC-TV was, both games happen Thursday night. Xavier tips off at 9:37 PM, with Kentucky's game starting 20 minutes later.

The good news was that WKRC just announced this afternoon that they will be able to cover both games. UK's tilt with Cornell will be bumped to the CW Cincinnati while Xavier faces off with Kansas State on WKRC's main channel.

If you've got Time Warner Cable, UK will be on channel 20. If you've got Insight or DirectTV, channel 25 is where to go to watch Kentucky versus Cornell.

Our Take: Great work by WKRC. Both games will air locally, and fans of both teams will be happy...

Headed Into an Extended Weekend

We're off for the weekend after we post this information (see why below)...

FSO Alternate Channels Announced: We missed this one for yesterday's Miami University(Ohio) basketball win over Buffalo, but we're here in time to note this new added information.

FOX Sports Ohio released the following information Thursday about the two major alternate channels we were missing yesterday.

For today's games, this is the schedule in Cincinnati, Dayton and Northern Kentucky:

FRIDAY MARCH 12

A-10 Tournament Quarterfinals

Game 1 (12 pm) & Game 2 (2:30pm)

Cincinnati: FOX Sports Ohio; Direct TV: FS Cincinnati; DISH Network: FS Cincinnati.

Game 3 – Xavier v. UD (6:30pm) & Game 4 (9pm)

Cincinnati: FOX Sports Ohio; Direct TV: FS Cincinnati; DISH Network: FS Cincinnati. **The Xavier v. UD game will NOT be televised on FOX Sports Ohio in Dayton, Ohio due to a conflicting syndication agreement with local TV, WHIO-TV.**

MAC Men’s Tournament Semifinals

Game 1 (7pm) & Game 2 (9:30pm)

Cincinnati/Dayton: Time Warner: Channel 99 & 310; Insight: Channel 422; Cincinnati Bell Fioptics: Channel 261; Direct TV: Channel 657; DISH Network: Channel 453.

As Miami(Ohio) advanced yesterday, you Miami fans out there will need to note the above alternate channels. This is due to the A10 tournament going on at the same time as the MAC Men's Semifinals. We bolded the new information that we found out yesterday.

And again, in Dayton, Xavier and University of Dayton fans need to tune their TV to WHIO-TV 7, NOT Fox Sports Ohio. WHIO has the rights to University of Dayton games, as we understand it.

Also one more reminder/note: If you're looking to see the Cavaliers take on the 76ers tonight, you need to go to FSO's HD feed. That's on Time Warner Digital 1309, Cincinnati Bell Fioptics channel 512, and (far as we know) Insight Digital 929.

A Personal Aside: Barring something major, this is the final update for this week due to family obligations as one of yours truly's three brothers' birthday is today. And we may be busy on Monday, as well handling some personal stuff.

Therefore, the next update should be Tuesday morning... barring some unforeseen circumstance.

As you are no doubt aware, we update this when we have something important to share with you. By Tuesday, we should have some idea which NCAA Tournament games will be on locally and when they'll be... so that'll likely be the focus of our next update.

If you have a media tip, you may e-mail us here. We'll get around to it as soon as humanly possible.

All Cincinnati Stations Working Together - For Good Cause

Yes, we just found out about this - but in our defense, we've had a rough week.

All of the local TV stations in the Cincinnati market - including WXIX 19/Newport, WCPO 9/Cincinnati, WKRC 12/Cincinnati, WLWT 5/Cincinnati, WSTR 64/Cincinnati, and WCET 48/Cincinnati, are working together this morning to help feed hungry families area-wide.

It's appropriately being called "Cincinnati Television Together" and it benefits Freestore Foodbank, Brighton Center, and Shared Harvest Foodbank.

There is currently a phonebank ongoing as of this post (which we just heard is at the WCET studios on Central Parkway downtown), which will be open until 12 midnight tonight (Thursday). The phone number is 1-800-808-0445 (and yes, it DOES go to the phonebank, we've double checked the information being shown on TV).

You can also donate by clicking this link, OR going to your local Bigg's, Kroger or Remke Markets store, and make a donation at the register anytime today through Sunday.

We give all six stations major kudos, for remembering the community they serve and hope they'll do things like this more often as a group. After all, they all do serve ONE community...a good portion of which is suffering in this economy...