New Optimum Online Web Portal Brings Users Home With Personalized Content, Relevant Local Information
BETHPAGE, N.Y., June 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Cablevision Systems Corp. today announced the launch of an innovative Optimum Online(R) Web portal that provides enhanced personalization options and automatically delivers relevant news and information, based on a user’s home location. The new site – the online portal for more than 2 million Optimum Online customers across the New York metropolitan area – also offers enhanced integration with other Optimum(R) services, including Cablevision’s iO(R) digital cable television and Optimum Voice(R) digital voice service.
The portal, available at http://www.optonline.net/, now delivers continually updated and highly targeted local news, weather and traffic information from the Emmy Award-winning News 12 team and a variety of Internet news sources. The site allows users to further personalize the information they receive and also features fast and convenient access to the full suite of Optimum services – including television listings and voicemail messages – through one easy-to-navigate control panel. More than 60 percent of new Cablevision customers are choosing the company’s full suite of voice, video and high-speed Internet services, driving the value of integrated product information.
“Cablevision customers use Optimum Online to connect to the world, and this new portal makes it even easier to connect with the things that are most important in their world,” said Amalia O’Sullivan, Cablevision’s vice president of consumer product management. “From enhanced personalization features and geographically targeted news and information from News 12, to increased integration with other Optimum services, our new Web portal makes it even easier for customers to control their Internet experience, whether visiting Web sites from around the world or looking for essential information like school closings in their own town.”
New enhancements to the portal include: — Access to Full Suite of Optimum Services in One Place A new control panel area gives customers easy access to important information relating to their other Optimum services, including voicemail and e-mail messages, current television listings, and account management and security tools and resources. — Targeted News 12 Content Intensely local news and weather information, preset for each customer based on their location, provided by Cablevision’s award-winning round- the-clock local news source, News 12. — Expanded Search Functionality A comprehensive search engine delivers targeted results from Google, Yahoo, MSN and Ask all at once, and also includes expanded local searching plus online music and TV listings. — Centralized Video Content Customers can watch breaking news and business video plus enjoy the latest movie trailers, music videos and other entertainment video directly from the new Video channel. — New Lifestyle Channel Health, Horoscopes, Photo Center, Optimum Latino, Optimum Autos, Optimum Homes and Optimum Store power a new Lifestyle channel that allows customers to take advantage of content and features to better manage their lifestyle. Health delivers expert news and research for all of today’s major health topics plus access to a full health video library. Optimum Latino features daily news, music and entertainment for the Latino community, and an expanded Photo Center helps customers have even more fun with their photos with new tools for sharing and storing digital video.
“Our new Web portal breaks new ground by automatically and intuitively delivering to our customers the relevant and useful local information that most directly impacts their daily lives, reinforcing Optimum Online as an essential service in the home and the leading Internet provider in our market,” O’Sullivan added.
The new web portal follows the recent Optimum Online speed increase, which accelerated downstream speeds to up to 15 megabits-per-second (Mbps), and 2 Mbps upstream, at no additional cost to customers. Cablevision also offers a premium tier Internet service, Optimum Online Boost, which offers speeds of up to 30 Mbps downstream and 5 Mbps upstream to consumer and business customers. Optimum Online Boost is available for an additional cost of $14.95 per month, $9.95 per month for residential customers who also subscribe to Optimum Voice.
In addition to the new features, Optimum Online customers continue to receive significant value-adds such as free security and anti-virus protection, an online music player, discounts on audio, video and computer electronics through the Optimum Store and more (savings total more than $100). For more information, visit http://www.optonline.net/.
About Cablevision
Cablevision Systems Corporation is one of the nation’s leading entertainment and telecommunications companies. Its cable television operations serve more than 3 million households in the New York metropolitan area. The company’s advanced telecommunications offerings include its iO: Interactive Optimum(R) digital television, Optimum Online(R) high-speed Internet, Optimum Voice(R) digital voice-over-cable, and its Optimum Lightpath integrated business communications services. Cablevision’s Rainbow Media Holdings LLC operates several successful programming businesses, including AMC, IFC, WE tv and other national and regional networks. In addition to its telecommunications and programming businesses, Cablevision owns Madison Square Garden and its sports teams, the New York Knicks, Rangers and Liberty. The company also operates New York’s famed Radio City Music Hall, and owns and operates Clearview Cinemas.
Cablevision Systems Corporation
CONTACT: Jim Maiella, +1-516-803-3947, or Patrick MacElroy,+1-516-803-1249, both of Cablevision Systems Corporation
Web site: http://www.cablevision.com/http://www.optonline.net/