TWC Answers

Courtesy of Time Warner Cable, here are some answers for readers wondering about the Mentor-area conversion allowing more HD channels. And some more lineup changes are in the works systemwide in TWC's massive Northeast Ohio system.

First, in regards to Mentor's conversion, TWC's Travis Reynolds tells OMW:

The first "box swap" phase of the box exchange actually concludes today, followed by 6 other phases every 7 days. The final phase is scheduled Feb. 23. Each phase impacts approximately 1,200 customers in certain areas of Mentor. And by "box swap" "concludes" I mean the day the Motorola and General Instrument boxes in those areas will no longer work. If your area has gone through the "shutdown" you will begin receiving the new HDs.

Also, if anyone emails that their box has been shut down, and they live in that area and have a MOTO or GI box, they can visit our Sales and Service Center in Mentor or Concord to exchange it. We'll even give them a coupon book good for 6 Movies on Demand.

Here's the short answer. Everyone in the greater Mentor area will have all the HD channels by Feb. 23.

The lineup change, we first caught on a segment of TWC's "Ask Time Warner" (NEON channel 23), and is reflected on the company's TWCGuide.com site:

Our HD offering has grown so robust, we're moving the HD channels to the 1000 block and grouping them by category. With your new theme-based HD lineup coming in March, finding what you want to watch in HD will be faster and easier than ever.

*To find your favorite broadcaster in HD, you'll just add a "1" to the Basic Cable channel number

*To find your favorite Digital Cable channel in HD, you'll just add a "1" to the Digital Channel number, or go to Channel 1001 and start surfing.

More exciting changes coming in March

*All your Free On Demand favorites are moving to the "Free 400s". This includes Primetime On Demand with your favorite primetime shows and Kids on Demand with kids favorites such as Nickelodeon and PBS Kids Sprout. Local on Demand, your source for free local high school football, travel and news On Demand, moves to channel 411.
*Movies on Demand moving to the 500s gives you instant access to hundreds of hit movies now on our leading-edge platform.

The site (and the "Ask Time Warner" segment) says Cleveland-area customers are also going to get the Navigator program guide software for their cable boxes...