TWC in Central NY to move ESPN HD off HD Tier?

[Skaggs]

I've heard that TW Central NY is moving ESPN-HD and ESPN2-HD off the HD tier and onto the regular digital lineup.

HD Tier subscribers are being offered Showtime HD (and all the other Showtime channels) free for a year to make up for the loss on the HD tier.

Trying to confirm. The big question is if Albany TWC will follow suit...

[Skaggs]

I have confirmed (thanks to "fhall") that TWC Central NY does intend to pull ESPN HD off its HD Tier and place it in with the Digital package. This leaves only INHD, HDNet, and HDNet movies in their HD Tier.

The letter that appears below was sent to current subscribers of the TWC Central NY HD Tier, offering them Showtime free for a year in lieu of losing a channel from the HD Tier. Note: the HD Tier in TWC Central NY costs $4.95 per month.
home.nycap.rr.com/pyskadlo/TWC Letter3.jpg[/img]

Why would TWC Central NY make this change? The HD Channels available in TWC Central NY are almost identical to TWC Albany:

TWC Central NY HDTV Channels
800 HBO|HD
801 Sho|HDTV
805 SNY HD
810 ESPNHD
811 ESPN2HD
812 HDNet
813 HDNet Movies
814 Universal HD
815 INHD
816 MHD (Music)
817 A&E HD
820 Discovery HD
821 TNT
850-52 WCNY
863 WSTM 3
865 WTVH 5
875 News 7
889 WSYR 9
889 WWTI 50

Will Albany TWC make the same move? Only time will tell...