Digital, HDTV and MLGC

Since many of us are having questions relating to the current changes in the world of television, I thought it would be a good idea to put together a short down to earth letter regarding what changes we will encounter over the next year here at MLGC Cable. One thing to note: As cable TV subscribers this will have very little or no impact to you, our customer.
As some of you may already know, in February of 2009 by Federal Order, the local broadcasters which include KXJB Channel 4, WDAY Channel 6, WDAZ Channel 8, KVLY Channel 11, KVRR Channel 15 or Channel 10 on our cable system and KFME Channel 13 will be required to turn off their analog transmitters and move to an all digital signal. In most cases today, both analog and digital signals are being used simultaneously by the broadcasters during this transition. The table below describes the current analog channel being used by each broadcaster and what they will be using as their digital channel to comply with the Federal Order.

Broadcaster Analog Channel Digital Channel
KXJB 4 (66-72 MHz) 38 (614-620 MHz)
WDAY 6 (82-88 MHz) 21 (512-518 MHz)
WDAZ 8 (180-186 MHz) 59 (740-746 MHz)
KVLY 11(198-204 MHz) 44 (650-656 MHz)
KVRR 15(476-482 MHz) 19 (500-506 MHz)
KFME 13 (210-216 MHz) 23 (524-530 MHz)
As your cable TV provider, we receive these over the air signals and retransmit them back onto our cable system. The majority of the local broadcasters and programs you are seeing currently today on our cable TV system are already being received in a digital format by us and are being re-transmitted out to you in a converted format which allows you to continue to use your existing analog TV. It is MLGC's intention to maintain this format as long as permitted by technology and law. However, you will not be able to view these programs in High Definition by this method. This requires a High Definition Television and signal which leads us into the discussion of HDTV.

HDTV
First what is HDTV? HDTV or High Definition Television is quite simple. HDTV increases the quality of picture along with taking the picture from a square to a rectangle as you see in movie theaters or on DVD's. In technical terms, a standard picture that is 4:3 (the ratio of width and height) and has 486 lines of resolution. HDTV is 16:9 and has 1080 lines of resolution. This quality change is extremely visible and increasingly noticeable in larger TV's. This is because as the TV size increases, the definition stays the same. 486 lines in standard definition TV is the same in 32 inch TV as it is in a 62 inch TV. This includes HDTV at 1080 lines as well. One other added feature to HDTV is the addition of surround sound to viewed programs.
For you to view HD programs in HD, you will be required to purchase a HDTV. At this time, there are three (3) different technologies being used for HDTV, Plasma, LCD, and Projection. You will need to evaluate which TV is right for you given how, where, and what you plan on watching. They each have their benefits and drawbacks relating to cost, lighting and size.

HDTV on MLGC Cable
MLGC is currently working on the additions of HDTV content to our channel line-up along with the addition of many other channels. MLGC is determined to be ready to re-broadcast local HDTV broadcasters by the 2009 deadline in a HDTV format. As of today and as I previously indicated, we are currently converting some digital and HD content to you in a format which you can view on older analog TV sets. We will continue to do this as long as feasible and legal. This will help minimize the impact of these changes to you. One change we will not be able to control is the costs associated with HD content and programs in general.
Content Costs
Programmers today are demanding more and more fees associated with having their content viewed. This issue has been around for some time but over the past five years has increasingly become worse. Increases on an annual base of 7 to 15% are not unheard of which in turn is paid by you the consumer, regardless of what service you currently take or watch. The demand for more content however is increasing. Currently on average, 50 to 60 percent of your bill goes directly to the programmers.
HD content and our local broadcasters are now including themselves in this long list of content providers asking the public to pay up. This issue, which has been going on for some time, has now becoming more public. An example of this is in Fargo where you have Cable One (the local cable TV provider) refusing the conditions proposed by KXJB and KVLY for the retransmission of their HD content.
Although the claim of KXJB and KVLY is that they are only passing on pennies (which we think is closer to $.15 to $.25 per subscriber per month) we must remember in the past this content was free to the public and paid by sponsors or commercials. The one question you can ask yourself is "Are we seeing fewer commercials"? I think we can agree the answer is "no". In fact we are now seeing less choices relating to our news and content as they continue their demand for fees. Take into consideration when we have every programmer asking for "just pennies" it ends up being a whole lot of pennies, regardless if you watch their programming or not.
Currently there is no remedy in sight. The only way this issue will be resolved is if Congress starts listening to consumers and allows consumers to choose what they want to watch and PAY FOR. Until that happens, our hands are tied. Channel line-ups will be set up for the masses, and unfortunately, not the individual.

MLGC Channel Line-Up
MLGC has been very committed in the process of giving consumers a quality product at a very reasonable rate. We have taken the original channel line-up of only 29 channels and have increased it to 46 which was the maximum infrastructure capacity prior to our upgrade. This has been done with very little rate increases over the past 5 years.
MLGC is now in the process of increasing our video content over the next year. This will include additional channels such as Animal Planet, Biography Channel, Speed, The Hallmark Channel and the Travel Channel along with many more.
HDTV will also play a vital roll in the future of television and MLGC. MLGC has made a tremendous investment in upgrading our cable TV plant by increasing the available bandwidth (channels) to allow such programming to be viewed. MLGC's forward thinking and design will give us an opportunity to deliver well into future programming, content, internet services and other products asked of us by our customers. MLGC is truly committed to provide the same opportunities of technology to rural North Dakota as consumers of larger metropolitan areas.
Questions or Comments?

I hope this brief letter as helped answer some of the questions you may have had relating to Television, Cable TV, and MLGC. If you should have any questions relating to these topics or have any question regarding our Cable TV and Internet Services, please feel free to contact us at 877-893-6542 or by email at cabletv@mlgc.com.