For anyone who spends more than a few minutes a week watching television, it has become apparent that television companies are in a race for who can offer the most channels and the most viewing options. This extends to everything from high definition television channels to specialty options and is making watching television a lot more interesting. For Comcast customers, the increase in channels, as well as the increase in supporting technologies, has been especially exciting. Over the last year or so, this company has transformed its cable television service into something almost unrecognizable.



The great increase in Comcast's television channels comes largely from the use of new technologies to deliver the programming. One of the biggest changes has been the switch from analog to digital television. Analog television was an old technology- in fact, the same one that existed when televisions first came out. While analog television was good enough to make television enjoyable, it had many downsides, such as mediocre quality reception and bandwidth limitations. Comcast's new technology, digital television, is a much better way of delivering television.

Digital television bypasses all of the problems of analog television and offers high quality viewing and a higher capacity for delivering channels. Because digital television is more advanced, using it has allowed Comcast to up its channel selection into the many hundreds of channels. There are also new viewing options that take advantage of the more interactive format that digital television allows.

Having hundreds of channels available is a decidedly good thing for television viewers, but it does cause some problems- such as allowing viewers to figure out what is playing on each of the channels. However, Comcast's digital receiver bypasses this problem by including a digital program guide, which contains a listing of all of the programs playing for many days into the future. Parental controls are also an important part of the system for anyone with small children, because they make it easier for parents to control what their children are watching.

Comcast's channel increases are made up of many different types of viewing opportunities. Regular programming, including comedy, news, sports, movie, and general entertainment channels have increased, as well as kids entertainment, health channels, and other more specialized channels. However, some of the most exciting changes have been in the specialty channels. HDTV, for instance, is increasing extremely quickly, with dozens of possibilities now open. While you won't find the full array of programming in high definition, you will find the channels that have been converted so far, plus some extras. Comcast has also added many new viewing options such as On Demand television. This makes it easier for you to view movies or TV shows at whatever time is best for you. On Demand is a service that is being built upon and customers can expect even more out of it in the near future.

The fact that Comcast has been seriously building its television programming makes it easier to get good entertainment and information through the television. With the technology available today and the increasing reliance on digital entertainment, anything less would be unthinkable.