National Cable TV Cooperative (NCTC) members will have access to the HITS programming services in the wake of a new a new multi-year deal with the Comcast Media Center. NCTC members can sign up for any of the HITS linear services -- Quantum Classic, Quantum SD and Quantum HD -- included in the deal, via a single participation form. NCTC has nearly 1,000 member operators.
"NCTC has worked with HITS to craft an agreement that benefits our members and serves their long term business needs," NCTC senior vice president of programming Frank Hughes said in a statement. "We are pleased to continue offering our members HITS services that help them stay competitive in this rapidly changing business environment."
HITS Quantum HD and SD solutions use advanced MPEG-2 compression technology, which optimizes the bandwidth efficiency of widely deployed cable system architectures. HITS Quantum's SD lineup includes many of the popular cable programming networks featured on "basic" and "expanded basic" tiers. Cable operators can use HITS Quantum SD to replace the analog channels with digital and reclaim bandwidth for HD or other advanced video and broadband services.
The deal will allow NCTC members to reclaim analog bandwidth and add more high definition channels, according to HITS vice president/general manager Leslie Russell. "Our new agreement with NCTC builds upon a longstanding relationship that's dedicated to meeting the digital video requirements of independently owned cable system operators," she said.
For more:
- Multichannel News has this story
- see Comcast's press release
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