TORONTO – Rogers Cable announced this morning that it has added its 100,000th high definition television customer, doubling the amount it had in January of 2005.
As the holiday season moves into full swing, expectations of the number of HDTV sets to be sold are high. According to Eric Stockner, senior merchandise manager, televisions, for Future Shop, "HDTVs are the hot ticket item for the holidays this year and sales are expected to more than double from previous years."
Beginning today, Rogers now offers Raptors NBA TV HD on channel 506 which is Canada’s all-basketball, all-the-time channel. Each week between 10 and 15 NBA and NCAA broadcasts are scheduled with an average of at least 30 hours of exclusive and original HD content.
With this addition, Rogers now offers up to 28 HDTV channels with the widest selection of HD channels in Canada. Coming soon, two more HD channels will be available dedicated to premium sports customers, said the company.
"Sports is one of the genres of programming that works really well in HD because the improved clarity of the high definition image allows them to get a superior experience from every channel," said David Purdy, vice-president and general manager, television services for Rogers Cable Inc. "With sports like basketball and hockey, it is almost better than being live at the game because you can see every detail, whether it be every play, every bead of sweat, or the expressions on the players’ faces."
Many Rogers customers are also buying the combination HD/PVR set top Rogers has in the market. One in 3 new HDTV customers are choosing the Scientific-Atlanta Explorer 8300HD PVR digital terminal, which will record up to 20 hours of HDTV programming or 90 hours of regular television programming.
