HITS (Headend-in-the-Sky) has been much discussed and most awaited technology that is capable of bringing a revolution in the cable viewing experience.

With intensifying competition in the home entertainment industry, new technology encompassing products and the services being offered brings in commitment from the Cable Operators to launch digital cable for the customers.

Facilitating the process to fulfil these requirements of the changing industry behaviour, HITS comes forth as a technology that takes the complexity out of digital, allowing the local staff of the cable operators to focus on selling new products and meeting customer needs, dedicating valuable time to serving the customer and maintaining day-to-day business operations. Simplicity, low cost and reliable service are the corner stone’s of the HITS solution.

Historically, operators have had to constantly increase plant bandwidth through expensive and time-consuming rebuilds, creating a high fixed/low variable cost structure that required a large number of customers to add services in order to justify the capital payback.

Whereas HITS method of implementing digital television alters the economics of launching new services, it is friendly to the budget of the operator. HITS transports new and innovative programming while maximizing valuable plant bandwidth.

HITS digital cable uses powerful digital compression technology to transport as many as 12 to 15 digitally encoded video services into the space of a single 8MHz analog channel. From the uplinking teleport facility HITS uplinks digitized, compressed and encrypted programming in MPEG II/IV format. The signals are received at the cable headend, where they are decrypted, re-modulated and re-encrypted for digital delivery to the customer via the existing plant, displaying richer pictures and sound than ever before experienced on cable or broadcast television.

Moreover, HITS can carry hundreds of channels on just a few satellites that help the small systems to expand service without adding expensive new dishes or other equipment.

HITS programming line-up is designed to be a complimentary addition to the operator’s current analog line-up. The customers can receive existing analog and new HITS-delivered digital services, along with digital audio, an interactive on-screen navigator and other control features through a single set-top box.

National set-top services eliminate the high capital and operating costs associated with local controllers while still allowing cable operators to retain control. 24-hour, 7-day a week customer service staff helps operators deal with questions, changes and service issues quickly, with a simple phone call, Cash cards etc. Also, the HITS Account Management group helps guide operators through the complexity of digital cable, thereby avoiding costly mistakes.

With HITS, as the new platform for digital cable, it would not only help increase the penetration of cable market further into rural areas, where it has been absent because of unavailability; but will also help in further reduction of prices of set-top boxes and will also lead to further consolidation of the cable market.