- John Lopez on Lee may not be best buy for McLane:
But there’s a difference between bold and stupid.
Bold is what the Astros are thinking. They have made a new list. If they can sign Lee in the $90 million range, that remains the first choice. But it is unlikely.
Thus, here at the Union Station satellite office, we like the looks of the next two names on the Astros’ list: Toronto outfielder Vernon Wells and Tampa Bay’s Carl Crawford.
- Ten Worst Internet Acquisitions Ever.
- Flickr: Camera Finder: Canon: PowerShot A620. Man I really need to learn how to take advantage of my A620!
- Tax hike limits urged:
A blue-ribbon panel looking for ways to curb soaring property appraisals in Texas was urged by business leaders Tuesday to focus instead on limiting the growth of local governments by requiring voter approval for all major property tax hikes.
- Never-Ending Stories: How to fix shows like Lost.
- Creating Passionate Users: Don’t wait for the muse
- You Tube vs. Boob Tube
- Aggies’ unofficial bonfire part of game prep
“Bonfire is the spirit, compassion and friendliness of A&M,” he said. “It is something that stresses the soul and gives it character. Many of you have never met, but you all came together to perform this task.”
- U.S. to Require Passports for Nearly All
Tag Archive for 'TV'
I just received this press release: Verizon Expands FiOS TV to More Than 57,000 Additional Households in North Texas
Verizon today expanded the availability of its FiOS TV service to more than 57,000 additional households in North Texas, offering them amazingly sharp pictures and sound and a true choice for subscription television and on-demand programming via the company’s all-digital fiber-optic network. Verizon is the only company to offer such a communications network all the way to customers in millions of homes and offices across the country.
The expansion covers 30,000 households in Plano, 9,400 in Carrollton, 5,900 in Irving and 12,000 in Garland, representing the initial service offering in that community. Verizon began taking orders for its fiber-optic TV services in Plano, Carrollton and Irving earlier this year. In the months ahead, Verizon will expand FiOS TV’s availability to more households in North Texas.
The company now has video franchises covering approximately 3 million households in nine states and over 100 franchise areas. As the fiber network is fully deployed in franchise areas, Verizon will provide these consumers with the opportunity to choose FiOS TV.
“Our expansion of FiOS TV in Plano, Carrollton, Irving and Garland provides the opportunity for more citizens to experience the Verizon fiber-technology revolution and enter a world where they have choice, competition and the value that it creates,” said Steve Banta, Verizon’s Southwest region president. “No longer will these customers be at the mercy of a single cable-TV company. They’ll have Verizon FiOS TV.”
Verizon continues to add programming to the FiOS TV channel lineup, creating even more value for customers. Beginning this month, the Golf Channel is a new feature of the Sports Package in Texas and in other states where FiOS TV is available.
Service highlights include:
A lead offer with more than 180 digital video and music channels for $39.95. With an annual savings agreement, customers can choose either $5 off the monthly Movie Package price or waive the monthly standard set-top box fee of $3.95.
Twenty-five high-definition (HD) channels in the North Texas market, with extraordinary clarity and theater-quality sound, including NFL Network.
Verizon plans to add even more HD programming in the coming months.More than 2,500 On Demand titles available to customers now, increasing to over 3,500 titles in the next several months.
Channels grouped by genres such as entertainment, sports, news, shopping, movies and family, making it easy for audiences to find their favorite programming.
An easy-to-use interactive programming guide that integrates HD programming, On Demand content and the digital video recorder along with broadcast television into a seamless user experience.
A dual-tuner, HD-capable DVR that gives customers the freedom to pause and rewind live TV, record one show while watching another, and fast forward to their favorite part of the program - all without a VCR, tapes or DVDs.
FiOS TV Widgets, a free interactive feature that provides local weather and traffic information.
Information on packages and prices is available at www.verizonfios.com/tv.
Customers also can call 1-800-880-2941 to see if they are able to order FiOS TV.Response to the television, data and voice offerings has been strong. When Verizon reported its 2006 second-quarter earnings yesterday, it noted that in FiOS TV markets that have been open for sale for at least six months, it has achieved a 10 percent penetration of FiOS TV-eligible households. This compares with a five-year goal in FiOS TV markets of 20 to 25 percent
penetration.The other 14 Texas communities offering FiOS TV are: Colleyville, Coppell, Flower Mound, north Fort Worth, Grapevine, Highland Village, Keller, Lewisville, Murphy, Rowlett, Sachse, Southlake, Westlake and Wylie. “Our plan is to add more households in Texas in the months ahead while also
managing the available workforce to meet consumer demand,” said Banta. “We
want to deliver FiOS television and high-speed Internet services to consumers as quickly as possible.”In addition to Texas, FiOS TV is also available to customers in parts of six other states: California, Massachusetts, Maryland, New York, Florida and Virginia.
Delivered over Verizon’s fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network, FiOS TV is a formidable competitor to cable and satellite. The Verizon FTTP network, the largest of its kind in the country, is currently under construction in more than half the states where the company offers landline communications services, including more than a dozen of Verizon’s service areas in Texas.
By the end of 2006, as Verizon continues building out its fiber-optic network in North Texas, FiOS TV will be available to nearly 400,000 North Texas households, or 33 percent of Verizon’s landline customers in Texas, with over 1 million potential viewers.To date, Verizon has deployed over 20 million feet of fiber in the North Texas communities it serves. The network brings the power and capacity of fiber optics directly into people’s homes and has industry-leading quality and reliability. Fiber has the capacity to transmit a wide array of high-definition programming that is so clear and intense it seems to leap from the TV screen. It also delivers Internet download speeds of up to 50 Mbps (megabits per second) and upload speeds of up to 5 Mbps as well as high-quality voice services.
Service and Package Details
FiOS TV subscribers can choose from three simple-to-understand service offerings, each with built-in choice and value. They can then choose from packages and premium channels with programming that meets their special interests. Verizon offers three set-top boxes: standard definition for
$3.95 per month; high definition, which includes HD channels, for $9.95 per month; and a dual-tuner, HD-capable digital video recorder for $12.95 per month.The services include:
FiOS TV Premier, Verizon’s lead offer, delivers more than 180 video and music channels for $39.95 as a stand-alone service or $34.95 a month with Verizon FiOS Internet Service or a qualifying voice plan. This tier includes access to On Demand content and requires a set-top box.
High-definition channels are included in this tier at no extra charge, and customers must have an HD set-top box and an HD-ready TV to view them.
I sure hope my home is part of the 30,000 additional households in Plano!
From HoustonChronicle.com:
Famed TV newsman David Brinkley died late Wednesday in his Houston home. ABC News reported he died of complications from a fall. He was 82.
In a not at all shocking decision the FCC voted 3-2 today to ease rules on media ownership:
At one level, Monday’s vote represents a high-stakes power struggle at FCC headquarters between left-leaning groups—along with a few conservative allies like the National Rifle Association—and free-market groups and Republicans in Congress. The FCC’s tense internal deliberations also highlight an ideological conflict between two wildly different views of how to keep prices low and competition robust: Is it wiser to increase the number of federal regulations or to gradually rescind them?
Although we firmly believe in limited government and the free-market, the influence the big media conglomerates has over American media is staggering. The big companies are sure to grow bigger as a result of the new ruling. Let’s see how things change here in Texas. To that end, we have prepared a review of media ownership in D/FW as of today:
While listening to Dale Hansen on The Ticket today we learned that Mike Hill is gone from WFAA. What the heck is going on over there? Hansen wants to talk about it, but the big wigs at WFAA-parent Belo have put the clamps on any disclosure.
We tried looking around local media sites and don’t see any answers. However, we did learn that Valerie Williams is no longer with News 8 any more either. How did we not notice that?
The Dallas Observer piece outlines some of the same stories that we have heard regarding Tracy Rowlett and Robert Riggs:
Here’s what I’ve been able to piece together: Williams has been disgruntled for a long time with news management at Channel 8, feeling as though decisions were made for reasons that were not ethically sound. Meaning, advertiser concerns and the need to pander to more desirable demographics (read: don’t take on those who pay us money, and while you’re at it, dumb down the stories you are working on) were the driving force behind most decisions made that affected her. When management killed her latest investigation, she saw it as the last straw, giving her notice that she would not renew her contract when it expired at the end of this month.
Not so long ago, News 8 set the standard. Remember the good days with Chip Moody and Tracy Rowlett? Remember when WFAA refused to show NYPD? What has happened to one of the best local TV-news organizations?
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