Explorer 8000 DVR/HDTV box begins rollout

Cable customers running two boxes for digital video recorder and HDTV functionality may be pleased to hear that the long-awaited rollout of Scientific-Atlanta's Explorer 8000HD DVR box has begun in a Time Warner Cable franchise.

The current box used by Time Warner Cable for DVR customers is the Explorer 8000, which does not support HD output. Customers with an HDTV needed to run a second non-DVR, but HD-compatible, digital cable box, in order to watch HDTV on their HD television set. Scientific-Atlanta has now announced that the 8000HD STB is ready to go, and is being deployed by Time Warner Cable Green Bay in north-east Wisconsin.

John Lochner, vice president of marketing, Time Warner Cable-Green Bay, said:

"The combination of HD's incredible video and audio and the ability to watch television on your own time creates a fantastic entertainment experience for our customers. The payback on our investment in digital, high definition and DVR capabilities comes in two ways - highly satisfied customers and new avenues for revenue and growth."

Michael Harney, corporate senior vice president and president of Subscriber Networks at Scientific-Atlanta, said:

"Our Explorer 8000HD high definition digital video recorder product offers a tremendous opportunity for cable operators to aggressively go after and win back satellite's best subscribers. The combination of fourth-generation HDTV technology and dual tuner HD-DVR capability, along with the availability of HD-VOD entertainment content in the future, will create an outstanding and unsurpassed entertainment experience for cable subscribers.

"The new 8000HD expands the popularity of the DVR experience as HD content is added to the consumer's viewing options. In Scientific-Atlanta's more than 20 years of delivering set-tops, rarely has there been such a wave of enthusiasm from consumers toward their cable operators that compares with the favorable response we have seen associated with the availability of DVR."