South Carolina to Launch New Cable Products
By James D. Mcwilliams, The State, Columbia, S.C.
Oct. 6–Time Warner Cable’s new state president, Bob Barlow, plans to continue using South Carolina as a test bed for new interactive-video technology.
Barlow was named president of Time Warner’s South Carolina division in August, and next month he plans to oversee a major product launch in the state.
South Carolina will be the first state to enjoy a Time Warner technology called StartOver, which will let people restart movies or shows if they miss their beginnings, Barlow said. Viewers will not need video recorders to use the service.
The feature will work automatically for all programming on some networks Time Warner owns — such as HBO and Cinemax — but the company is still negotiating with other program providers, Barlow said.
Time Warner has launched other products in South Carolina. For instance, it was the first state to get interactive HBO on Demand. In an interview, Barlow discussed the competition driving innovation and issues of his job.
QUESTION: Explain how the StartOver rollout will work.
ANSWER: We expect to launch it right around Nov. 1 to some of our customers. … The hardware has to be rolled out (to serve individual neighborhoods). We are working on agreements with a number of different programmers. We’re estimating we’ll have roughly 50 networks on board. … (But) you can’t necessarily get the right to every movie and every TV show. …
Basically the way it works is if I’ve forgotten to set my (video recorder) for a certain show, and I get there and I’m … an hour and a half into the show, and it’s StartOver capable, all you do is push StartOver (on a remote control, and the show) goes right to the beginning. You can do it with one minute left to go in the show. …
Q: UPN put the first episode of Chris Rock’s comedy “Everybody Hates Chris” online. Do you expect shows to go online commonly, and — if so — how will that affect cable?
A: That’s the direction everyone is going. We’re testing in San Diego, and a couple of other places, (technology called) IPTV or Internet Protocol TV, that you could (use to) take your laptop, or your PC, and get the channels you like. …
You need high-speed data (to watch online video), so we offer high-speed data. …
Under one possible scenario, travelers … could subscribe to the IPTV service in the area they reside and be able to access (while out of town) some number of channels from the lineup that is available to cable customers in their home area.
Q: Cable providers are the biggest players in high-speed Internet service. What must you do to maintain your lead?
A: We are constantly working on the content that we make available to customers (and) to make it an affordable price. The speed’s there, and (it’s) easy to use. And (we must focus on) good customer service. …
We are now offering, in this market, AOL and Road Runner together all for the same price. So it makes it real easy for people that had AOL to come over to high-speed data at Road Runner.
Q: Will customers ever be able to schedule a specific time for the cable repairer to visit?
A: Absolutely. … If you want to add HBO, you can do that online. … We’re going to get to the point where you’ll pick your own time frame, … your own date and time, and we’ll send you back a confirmation e-mail. We’ll probably still give you a call the day before. … I expect (to offer scheduled service) sometime next year. I’m going to (say) later in the year to give myself some time.
Q: What’s your job’s biggest issue in South Carolina?
A: There’s competition from the phone companies. There’s competition in high-speed data. … A lot of people, not just DISH or DirecTV, but various phone companies (are offering video services). … So we’ve got to be sure our product and our services are competitive with them. We have a big advantage here, I think, technically.
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