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Transport Agreements With Disney-ABC Television Group, GSN, NBC Universal and Viacom, and Additional Channels From Scripps and Hallmark, Lift Comcast Media Center's All-Digital Lineup to Over 200 Channels

Posted on: Wednesday, 17 January 2007, 12:00 CST

Transport agreements for twenty-three additional channels lift the Comcast Media Center's (CMC) offering of digital video and audio services to more than 200 channels, the company announced today. The most recent additions to the service, which is designed to facilitate the cable industry's migration to an all-digital platform, include ten channel feeds from NBC Universal (Bravo East & West, CNBC, MSNBC, SCI FI Channel East & West, Shop NBC, USA Network East & West and Universal HD); eight channel feeds for Viacom-owned networks (MTV Networks' CMT, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Spike TV and VH1, and BET Networks' East & West Coast feeds for BET); two Disney-ABC Television Group channel feeds (Disney Channel and ABC Family); GSN: The Network for Games; Scripps Networks' DIY Network, and Hallmark Movie Channel.

These twenty-three channels, which will travel aboard SES AMERICOM's 50-state AMC-4 satellite, bring to 54 the total number of east- and west-coast feeds for widely carried cable TV networks that have been added to the CMC's HITS platform of over 150 digital video and audio services. Cable television networks that have previously signed transport agreements include the Comcast Networks (AZN Television, E! Entertainment Television, G4, The Golf Channel, PBS KIDS Sprout, The Style Network and TV One), and channels operated by A&E Television Networks (A&E® Network East & West, The History Channel® East & West), C-SPAN (C-SPAN, C-SPAN 2), EWTN Global Catholic Network, Crown Media Holdings, Inc. (Hallmark Channel), The Inspiration Network, ION Media Networks (i), Jewelry Television, Lifetime Networks (Lifetime Television East & West, LMN), Oxygen Media (Oxygen East & West), Scripps Networks (HGTV East & West, Food Network East & West) and Great American Country ("GAC"), Starz Entertainment Group (Starz HD), TBN- Trinity Broadcasting Network and WGN (Superstation WGN). Recent additions to the HITS' lineup also include Scripps' FINE LIVING TV Network.

"As the addition of these widely carried basic and expanded basic channels illustrates, HITS has made a quantum leap from its launch twelve years ago with respect to programming as well as in our technology upgrades," said Gary Traver, COO of Comcast Media Center. "One of the great advantages of the HITS solution, thanks to the participation of over 400 cable MSO affiliates, is our ability to address emerging needs such as the migration to all-digital, through centralized investments in digital technology that can be passed along at a fraction of what it would cost each of our affiliates on a standalone basis."

The CMC's all-digital platform features secured authorization, optimized DPI triggers and high-quality video and audio. In addition to enhancing the programming options available via HITS, the CMC has made numerous technical enhancements to the all-digital platform, including upgrading to fifth-generation encoders, in order to provide a high-quality and cost-effective alternative for launching all-digital simulcasts or migrating selected channels from analog to digital. The CMC continues to support earlier generations of digital video technology, such as 64 QAM, while adopting newer technologies.

About Comcast Media Center

Denver-based Comcast Media Center (CMC), a business unit of Comcast Cable, provides a Total Content Solution for cable system operators and members of the content community, including television programming networks, independent producers and advertisers. CMC's products include its HITS all-digital platform of over 200 linear digital video and audio services; an Advertising Distribution Network (ADN) for centrally managing cross channel promotions and advertising; and a video on demand (VOD) platform serving over 15 million VOD-enabled cable households. The CMC also provides a full spectrum of content production, management and distribution services, including channel origination, transcoding, hosting, storage and IP multicasting, for traditional and new media platforms. More information is available at http://www.comcastmediacenter.com

About Comcast Corporation

Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) (http://www.comcast.com) is the nation's leading provider of cable, entertainment and communications products and services. With 24.1 million cable customers, 11 million high-speed Internet customers, and 2.1 million voice customers, Comcast is principally involved in the development, management and operation of broadband cable systems and in the delivery of programming content.

Comcast's content networks and investments include E! Entertainment Television, Style Network, The Golf Channel, VERSUS, G4, AZN Television, PBS KIDS Sprout, TV One and four regional Comcast SportsNets. Comcast also has a majority ownership in Comcast Spectacor, whose major holdings include the Philadelphia Flyers NHL hockey team, the Philadelphia 76ers NBA basketball team and two large multipurpose arenas in Philadelphia.

Source: Business Wire

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