BRIEFS

CABLEWORLD STAFF

Cox Communications is shifting its HD strategy by forcing HD customers in Northern Virginia to buy their HD decoders effective July 8. Until now, customers could lease the HD tuners from the operator for $9.99 a month. Cox offers HD tuners several different ways throughout the company, says Cox spokesman Bobby Amirshahi. HD customers in Cleveland and Phoenix have always been required to buy their own decoders. Customers in San Diego and Las Vegas must still lease tuners in order to get HD programming. Customers in Oklahoma City and Gainesville, Fla., have the option of either buying or leasing the tuners, Amirshahi says. ?It's our way of putting out different strategies and seeing what works best,? he says. ?The cable modem business taught us that selling the modems was the best way to drive down the cost of the modems and expand the business. Ideally, set-tops will be the same way, but we recognize this is a totally different business and it's too early to say which way will work best for the majority of our customers.?

Starz Encore Group may have buckled under the pressure to provide a full-resolution 1080i high-definition service, but CEO John Sie isn't backing off altogether in his fight to get the industry and FCC to address persistent issues regarding high definition. He called the FCC ?derelict? in its duty when it ruled in 1987 that the 4×3 aspect ratio didn't qualify as a high-definition standard. He is asking the commission to reconsider its decision and include the ratio in the numerous HD standards it has approved to date. This isn't the first time Sie has argued the 4×3 aspect ratio is a better transmission standard than the adopted 16×9 ratio. He fought with regulators over the issue in 1987 when he argued against the U.S. adopting the Japanese MUSE analog high-definition standard. He won that fight; the FCC chose to wait for a digital standard rather than ratify the analog HD standard. However, he rolled over on the aspect ratio issue when he left Tele-Communications Inc. to start Starz Encore. Sie now wants the FCC to revisit the issue, saying the 4×3 ratio can give consumers a better viewing experience. He met with several FCC officials during the National Show and said he's cautiously optimistic by their response so far.