July 1, 2010

The Massillon PSIP Team

Change can be wonderful, but at times unnerving. That’s why Massillon Cable TV decided to gently ease its 45K subs into the digital age last year.

Led by our ’09 Independent Strategic Thinker of the Year, Bob Gessner, Massillon was one of the first indies to go all-digital, eliminating its last analog channel in July ’09. Yet Gessner and Massillon have so much concern for subscribers, they wanted to soften what could have been perceived as an abrupt technological blow.

That led Massillon and vendors RGB Technology and Conax to deftly massage PSIP (Program and System Information Protocol), allowing subs who watch digital TV without a set-top converter to find their favorite (now digital) nets in all the old, familiar places on the dial. For example, if during the analog era subs had received ESPN as Channel 27, the team maneuvered PSIP data so it would appear in a very similar position, 27.1, in the all-digital configuration. "The power of PSIP data becomes apparent when you don’t use it," Gessner says. "Suddenly, the networks are a jumble of numbers with no semblance of order and no relationship to the channel numbers viewers have used for many years."

Massillon Headend Technician Mike Meeks led the effort. The PSIP lineup launched last summer.

PSIP is a technical standard that identifies programming and channel information. The biggest challenge was getting new channel data to work consistently on all TVs. "Some set manufacturers handle the information differently," Meeks says. "It was a lengthy process, since there are dozens, if not hundreds, of digital tuner variations," Gessner adds.

The next steps, Meeks says, include "adding guide data for channels so customers can see the name and description of the program they’re watching."

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