Jones Intercable Inc. launched its first-ever
digital-programming package last week, unveiling its new offering to 64,000 cable
subscribers in the suburbs of Tucson, Ariz.
The MSO rolled out its new 152-channel product Nov. 1 in
Pima County, Marana and Oro Valley -- outlying areas of Tucson where it competes against
People's Choice TV Corp. (PCTV), a wireless cable operator with 31,000 customers in
the market.
Jones officials said the company plans similar launches in
other areas of the country sometime next year, but they declined to provide specifics.
Company officials in Pima County characterized the location
as a logical market to roll out digital in, as the MSO has been going against PCTV in the
market for more than seven years, and it now faces a challenge from
direct-broadcast-satellite.
"We're very much a hotbed of competition,"
said Kenna Smith, general manager of the Pima County system. "That's another
reason for testing digital here. People really have a choice here, and they have had a
choice for almost eight years."
Moreover, with the system up for franchise renewal,
introducing digital was a way of demonstrating to regulators that the company "was
moving forward with new technology," Smith added.
Meanwhile, the channel lineup for last week's launch
was the result of research involving 600 local customers, or about 34 percent of the local
customer base.
Following the trial, some 94 percent of those testing the
digital offering indicated that they were either "satisfied or very satisfied"
with the product, and 95 percent said they would keep the service.
The research allowed the company to add and drop certain
channels, based on the specific indicated desires of local customers.
It also resulted in a policy where customer-service
representatives use specially created education materials when making
"digital-education" calls to subscribers taking the service.
"Success in the digital world means customizing the
product for each local market," Jones president Jim O'Brien said, in a prepared
statement. "We recognize that a product that appeals to our customers in Pima County
may not necessarily be right for our customers across the country. Therefore, we're
taking a close look at each marketplace, and we're asking our customers to take part
in the development process of our local digital product in each system."
Similar research is under way in other Jones markets where
the company wants to launch the new service.
To attract customers in Pima County, Jones launched a
full-blown marketing blitz that includes full-page ads in morning and evening newspapers,
cross-channel promotions, direct mail, telemarketing and broadcast and radio advertising,
Smith said.
So far, installs are running at between 20 and 50 per day.
"We're pacing very well with our installs," Smith added.
Starting at $44.95 per month, "Jones Digital
ImpacTv" offers 54 basic-analog, 14 digital-video, 15 pay-per-view, 40 digital-music
and 12 cable-radio channels, as well as a digital receiver and a universal remote control.
The "Double Impact" package retails for $59.95
per month, and it includes the analog- and digital-video lineup; the music package; six
premium-multiplex channels; an additional sports package featuring ESPNews, Fox Sports
World, ESPN Classic Sports, The Golf Channel and Outdoor Life Network; and a "Film
Fest" package that includes The Independent Film Channel, Sundance Channel and Bravo.
The high-end "Maximum Impact" offering is priced
at $72.95 per month, and it comes with everything included in the two lower-priced
packages, as well as 20 premium-movie channels.
"This is the lineup that's going to fly
here," Smith said. "But it's not a standard [digital] lineup for Jones
elsewhere. There is no standard lineup."
