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r-' <br />- <br />¥ '■' <br />|r <br />•••: <br />fS- <br />•ff'. ii:'P'' <br />Pf'i' <br />? <br />p"' <br />fe- <br />*• ,'. (' •• i’‘ : t <br />;: •••'^ *'j t/'.'' ' <br />i' • .jM 'r/\if' <br />HBO • S3 '35 convortcr - HBO ♦• HB02 HBO » S4 9? tier -- HBO + HB02 ♦ 4 nets <br />Cablevision Industries to Add $4.95 Tiers <br />Tiering, multiplexing plans could be pilot project for other systems <br />By Matt Stump <br />IN What Is Likei.y To Be A pilot project <br />I for other Cablevision Industries sys­ <br />tems. the MSO’s Columbia. S.C., opera­ <br />tion will launch two $4.95 tiers, premium <br />multiplexing and two additional pay-per- <br />view channels as part of a rebuild. <br />On April I, subscribers in rebuild ar­ <br />eas will be able to choose a family-pro­ <br />graming tier of Court TV. Bravo, Comedy <br />Central and The Disney Channel for <br />$4.95, or a tier of SportSouth. SportsChan- <br />nel America. Sportstracker and Country <br />Musk Television for $4.95. <br />Except for Disney, all of those net­ <br />works are new launches on the system, <br />which counts 80,000 customers. In addi­ <br />tion, subscribers will have a premium-lev­ <br />el multiplex of Home Box Office, Show­ <br />time and Cinemax. <br />Hal Schlenger. the system's marketing <br />manager, said research showed that cus­ <br />tomers would prefer the flexibility of hav­ <br />ing new networics on separate tiers rather <br />than having most of those networks <br />lumped into ^sic service. As a result, sub­ <br />scribers said they wouldn't mind paying <br />more for service if they had more choices. <br />Basic rate hike April 1 <br />Full basic service for 32 channels is <br />$22.50. On April 1. the price of basic ser­ <br />vice will rise to $M.95. Four basic chan­ <br />nels win be added in rebuilt areas. T?.at <br />will include fulMime carriage of American <br />Movie Classics and The Learning Chan­ <br />nel — they share a channel now — Elec­ <br />tronic Pre^e Guide and the system's own <br />barker channel that will carry information <br />on all the new packaging schemes. <br />While sports and Disney "are two large <br />drawing cards,” Schlenger said, some <br />Columbia subscribers aren't interested in <br />either, so Cablevision Industries chose to <br />create two tiers. The Disney tier eventual­ <br />ly may include the Sci-Fi Channel. Sub­ <br />scribers can get both $4.95 tiers for $6.95. <br />creating a further incentive to purchase. <br />Subscribers who take either of the <br />$4.95 tiers will receive a converter, which <br />will make it easier to sell them premium <br />services. The system expects penetration <br />of the $4.95 tiers to reach 40 percent. <br />A second aspect of the new plan is muh <br />liplexing. (Subscribers don't have to buy <br />either of the $4.95 tiers to purchase pre­ <br />mium networks.) Fewer than half of the <br />system’s basic homes take pay networks, <br />providing the potential for premium <br />growth. Multiplexing is designed to in­ <br />crease growth and retain pay units, <br />Schlenger said. <br />IVra screens <br />Because the system traps HBO. there <br />is some complexity to the new premium <br />packaging. Subscribers who only take <br />HBO can get two screens of HBO. but <br />they'll be charged $3.95 for a converter. <br />Converters are included in the cost of the <br />two $4.95 basic-plus tiers, so the pricing is <br />designed to (irompt HBO-only subscribers <br />to take one of the Uers, with the converter <br />included in that price, and then lake HBO. <br />Essentially, subscribers then would <br />get four more channels for $1. In further <br />tier savings, onei)ay subscribers can re­ <br />ceive both $4.95 tiers and get a remote <br />control for the price of one tier, or $1.95. <br />A basic-only subscriber taking HBO I <br />and HBO II plus both $4.95 tiers would <br />pay $40.95 and gel a remote control. For <br />$39.95. a subscriber can get basic ser­ <br />vice. both $4.95 tiers, a remote control <br />and two screens xif either Showtime or <br />Cinemax. (Now, subscribers with HBO <br />and Showtime-pay $44.95.) <br />The fop package, for $49.95, comprises <br />three screens of HBO. two scr''*’n5 of <br />Showtime, both tiers and a remote control. <br />The system also will adjust the price of <br />additional outlets. The price for a second <br />outlet will rise from $6 to $7; the charge <br />of $2 each for three or more nutlets will <br />be dropped. The current penetr.ilion for <br />additional outlets Is 40 percent. <br />■ The number of pay-per-view chan­ <br />nels will increase from one to three. <br />■ The system will begin to use Cable <br />Services Group's Cable Control System <br />for billing. <br />By April 1, the rebuild will have <br />passed 20,')00 homes. Plans call for the <br />rebuild to have passed 60,000 homes by <br />the end of this year. The full rebuild past <br />160.000 homes is scheduled to be done <br />in 1994.