Oceanic cable station lineup to change

Kaua‘i cable TV viewers will soon need to adapt to a reordering of their channel listings.

The change will synch up Kaua‘i’s channels with the cable station lineup used on O‘ahu and other islands serviced by Oceanic Time Warner Cable.

The standardization of channels is happening statewide.

The new channel lineup is set to take place Wednesday, Sept. 3.

The channel lineup change will provide a convenience for Kaua‘i residents who travel to other islands, said Marlene Matutino, system manager for the Oceanic Time Warner Cable office on Kaua‘i.

“Customers of Oceanic Time Warner Cable will be able to see programs on the same channel regardless of whether the viewers are on Kaua‘i, the Big Island, O‘ahu or Maui,” Matutino said.

Matutino said the intent behind the change is to “unify the whole state with these same channel lineup.”

Oceanic Time Warner Cable now is the dominant cable operator in Hawai‘i, providing cable TV service on Kaua‘i, O‘ahu and Maui, and in Hilo and Kona on the Big Island. Currently each island has a different channel lineup.

To further improve services to customers, Oceanic will add 12 more analog channels to its current offering of 67 analog channels, Matutino said. Even with the additional channels, customers will continue to pay $32.95 a month, Matutino said.

For an additional $14, a customer of Oceanic can get 35 digital channels in certain areas of Kaua‘i. The digital channel offering is currently available only from Mana in West Kaua‘i to Kapa‘a.

As part of the $14 offering, customers also can get 44 musical choice channels, Matutino said.

“We are excited about our new services,” she said. “People are finding out by word of mouth, and we can hardly keep up with the demand.”

Representative from Kaua‘i Oceanic will be manning a booth at the Kaua‘i Farm Bureau fair this year to explain the changes, she said.

The annual farm fair is scheduled to be held from Aug. 28 to 31.