• BlueHighways TV Signs with Morris Broadband

BlueHighways TV, an independent multi-platform network that offers a window into the music, neighborhoods, art and celebrations that define America’s vivid culture and character, has announced it will launch with Morris Broadband in October.

“Our customers appreciate the shows that highlight traditional American music, crafts and travel,” said Mike Propst, General Manager of Morris Broadband, which operates systems in Hendersonville, Franklin, Sylva and Nebo, North Carolina. “BlueHighways TV will be a welcome addition to our Digital Basic programming line-up in these systems.” BHTV is available as a linear network, via VOD, and viewed online in over 190 countries. For more information, visit www.bluehighwaystv.com.

• DOC Channel Plans Extraordinary Dogs Series

Documentary Channel and Procter and Gamble’s Eukanuba Pet Foods have announced an agreement on a three-way integrated marketing, production and distribution project that will culminate with the network’s premiere telecasts of the original 13-episode series titled “Eukanuba Extraordinary Dogs.”

Currently in production, the series is tentatively scheduled to premiere in the first quarter of 2011. The weekly series of 30-minute episodes will showcase how extraordinary dogs have been trained to take advantage of their keen senses of smell, sight and hearing, as well as agility, stamina, loyalty, instinct, healing and defense capabilities while dispelling what is myth and reality about the astonishing talents of man’s best friend.

Documentary Channel is the USA’s first 24-hour television network exclusively devoted to documentary films and the independent documentary filmmaker, providing viewers with round-the-clock opportunities to see fascinating documentary films of all lengths and genres. For more information, visit www.documentarychannel.com.

• Golf Channel Plans Weekday Morning Show

Golf Channel has announced that it has greenlit the network’s first-ever morning show. Tentatively titled Dawn Patrol and currently in development, the show is slated to debut in January 2011. Scheduled to air live, weekdays from 7-9 a.m. ET from Golf Channel’s Orlando, Fla., studios, the show will feature news and commentary on the biggest sports and news stories of the day. “We’ve wanted to introduce a morning show to Golf Channel for a number of years and

felt that now was the right time,” said Tom Stathakes, Golf Channel senior vice president of programming, production and operations. “Tackling everything from Tiger Woods to Brett Favre, the show’s format will be unlike anything we’ve done before and we are very excited to be launching it in 2011.”

The Golf Channel cable network, co-founded by Arnold Palmer and a subsidiary of Comcast, is available in more than 120 million homes worldwide through cable, satellite and wireless companies.

• Bright House Chairman Robert Miron Retiring

Robert Miron, Chairman of Bright House Networks, has announced that he will retire at the end of the year after leading the company for more than 35 years. He will continue as a board member of Discovery Communications. Steven Miron, CEO of Bright House, will assume responsibility for Bright House Networks. Nomi Bergman will continue to serve as its President.

Bright House is the ninth largest multichannel video programmer distributor in the US with 2.4 million customers in several large cities including Tampa Bay and Orlando, Florida; Bakersfield, California; Indianapolis, Indiana; Detroit, Michigan; and Birmingham, Alabama; along with several other smaller regions in Alabama and the Florida Panhandle.

• Broadstripe And James Cable Sign With GLDS

Billing & provisioning solutions provider Great Lakes Data Systems, Inc. has announced a multi-year agreement to provide Broadstripe with triple-play billing and provisioning solutions. WinCable, the leading billing & service provisioning platform among small to medium-sized broadband service providers worldwide, offers the tools necessary to effectively manage Digital Video, VoIP, High Speed Internet and more. Broadstripe will use WinCable to manage billing and provisioning for the breadth of their services including voice, video, and data services.

GLDS has also announced signing a long-term billing, subscriber management, and provisioning agreement with James Cable. GLDS will provide a combination of solutions to automate billing and service delivery for James Cable’s triple play services. Products James Cable will employ include WinCable for enterprise billing and subscriber management, SuperController for provisioning, Service Provisioning Gateway for automated data and voice provisioning, CableAnytime for web-based customer self care, Audio Response Unit for telephone-based self care, WinVoIP for call detail record billing, and WinPay for payment processing. James Cable operates cable television systems in seven geographically diverse clusters across nine states. James Cable is privately owned with corporate offices in Braintree, Massachusetts. More information on GLDS is available at 800-882-7950 or online at www.glds.com.

• Barbara Esbin To Join Cinnamon Mueller

Barbara S. Esbin, Senior Fellow and Director at the Progress & Freedom Foundation and longtime senior FCC staffer in the Media Bureau, is joining Cinnamon Mueller. She will head the firm’s Washington, D.C., office, advising clients on the FCC’s emerging broadband regulations, cable and wireless regulatory matters, and access to content, both traditional and online. Esbin will help lead the team at CM representing the American Cable Association. With offices in Chicago and DC, Cinnamon Mueller concentrates its practice on the small and medium-sized cable sector.

• Comcast Media Center Adds Mediacom, 10 Other
  Operators to Its VOD Content Distribution Footprint

Comcast Media Center has announced that Mediacom and 10 other cable operators are using its VOD content distribution platform to in their systems. The addition of Mediacom, and the VOD platform’s other newest affiliates, who include Canadian Cable Systems Alliance (CCSA) members Access Communications, EastLink, Cable Cable Inc., Source Cable Ltd. and Westman Communications Group; and U.S. cable operators KPU CommVision, Community Television Company, EATEL Video LLC, and Frontier Communications, brings its total footprint to approximately 40 million VOD-enabled households. More information about the CMC is available at www.comcastmediacenter.com/hits-quantum/thebundle.html.

• The Documentary Channel Gets Exclusive Rights
  To Gems From Pennebaker-Hegedus Films Archive

The Film Sales Company president, Andrew Herwitz, has announced a deal with The Documentary Channel on behalf of Pennebaker-Hegedus Films for U.S. broadcast rights to 8 films. The deal includes the U.S. television premiere of Al Franken: God Spoke, as well as the Oscar-nominated favorite The War Room. Said DA Pennebaker “Chris and I make these films to be seen — not just rarely seen — and are thrilled that The Documentary Channel will be airing what for some will be their North American TV premieres.”

Kate Pearson of The Documentary Channel said “We at The Documentary Channel are honored to have acquired such incredible films from the Pennebaker-Hegedus Films archive and are excited for the depth and dynamic energy these acquisitions add to our channel.” The deal was negotiated by Herwitz on behalf of the filmmakers with Pearson of The Documentary Channel.

• HITS Lowers The Cost To Launch HD And VOD

HITS has announced new packaged pricing designed specifically for the independent cable operator. The new “$1.75 Digital Bundle” reduces fees that HITS Quantum customers pay for linear channels and VOD In A Box, a turnkey Video on Demand solution offered jointly by HITS and Arris. Cass Cable TV, Mediastream (formerly Waycross Cable), MTC and Plantation Cable are the most recent HITS affiliates to take advantage of this new offer. The new $1.75 Digital Bundle includes monthly fees for VOD In A Box and all of the 280 linear channels available via HITS Quantum Classic, SD or HD. The bundle represents a 30 percent savings over purchasing the services individually. An analysis conducted by HITS found that the bundle also reduces a cable operator’s expenses by more than 50 cents per digital customer per month. For more information, visit www.comcastmediacenter.com/hits-quantum/thebundle.html.

• Massillon Cable Completes DOCSIS 3.0 Deployment

Massillon Cable TV and Clear Picture have deployed DOCSIS 3.0 service to 100% of the over 33,000 cable modem users within their service areas in Stark and Wayne Counties in Ohio. Four 256QAM EIA channels are being used. A small number of older modems had to be replaced to accommodate DOCSIS 3.0, and they are using a combination of Cisco 10000 and Motorola BSR routers.

“DOCSIS 3.0 was part of the larger all-digital initiative we started in 2008. The bandwidth available from that effort made the introduction of DOCSIS 3.0 relatively easy for us. We are working on some new residential and commercial packages with higher down- and up-stream speeds, but the primary goal of our DOCSIS 3.0 deployment was improved performance for all customers,” said MCTV President Robert Gessner.

• Stuart Named VP Marketing for Bright House Tampa Bay

Bright House Networks has announced that Michelle Stuart has been promoted from Sr. Director of Marketing to Vice President of Marketing for the Tampa Bay Division, and will will have overall responsibility for all marketing activities for Bright House Networks operations throughout the Tampa Bay area. She will report directly to Division President Michael Robertson.

Stuart first joined Bright House Networks in 1999 as Director of Customer Care in the Hillsborough region. Three years later, she became the Director of Marketing in the same region. In 2004, she was promoted to Senior Director of Marketing for the Tampa Bay Division. During that time, Stuart directed the development and execution of Tampa Bay's division-wide marketing plans including media planning, product execution, sales and brand management. Stuart holds an MBA from the University of West Florida and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Texas Tech University.

• Jones/NCTI Has New Associates Degree In
  Broadband Technology and Communication

Jones/NCTI has introduced a new Associate of Applied Science in Broadband Technology and Communication Degree for broadband and telecommunications professionals. The degree program, provided through Jones/NCTI’s partnership with Arapahoe Community College, is designed to provide versatile, professional degrees that demonstrates both job-specific expertise and general business knowledge. To achieve the degree, students choose a study emphasis area from either “Broadband Technology”, “Customer Care” or “Telecommunications” and complete general education courses, major courses and restricted electives totaling a minimum of 60 credit hours. For more information, visit www.jonesncti.com.

• SubscriberWise Chief Gets FICO Pro Certification

SubscriberWise, the provider of analytics-driven subscriber risk management, has announced that company president David Howe has successfully completed the new FICO National Certification Program. AllRegs Academy, the leading publisher of guidelines for the mortgage industry, and FICO, the leading provider of analytics and decision management technology, have introduced the program to recognize individuals who have demonstrated a strong understanding of FICO scores as well as the impact of FICO scores on both creditors and consumers. For more information about SubscriberWise, visit www.subscriberwise.com.

• BroadBand Connections Re-Engineers Click to Call Services
  To Help Marketers Connect With Customers

Marketing professionals are always looking for ways to promote their service to a captive audience. For example, customers are already accustomed to hearing telephone hold messages promoting services. Now, BroadBand Connections LLC is bringing an innovative on-hold message to the Internet click-to-call platform providing cable companies with a way to stream a commercial to their waiting customers. Interactive cable industry companies Metrocast and the Time Warner Cable National Division are the first two major clients to ink deals with BroadBand Connections LLC to use the advanced i’Mpressions request-a-call technology. For more information about BroadBand Connections and the i’Mpressions request-a-call product, or to try it out for yourself with a free demo, visit www.broadbandconnections.tv.