Update: Charter working to move up launch of TBS HD for baseball playoffs

Jeff Richgels  —  9/29/2008 9:16 pm

Sunday's dramatics put the Milwaukee Brewers back in the playoffs for the first time in 26 years.

But Charter Communications subscribers won't be able to watch the team's first playoff series in high definition unless Charter is able to move up the scheduled Oct. 14 launch of TBS in HD on Channel 626.

Charter corporate spokeswoman Anita Lamont at company headquarters in St. Louis said in an e-mail that the company is working to move up the launch date but "it takes some doing -- (it's) not as simple as just pulling a switch."

Local Charter spokeswoman Jessie Hlad said in a separate e-mail that "We are all excited about the successful season that the Brewers are having and we are exploring options to possibly launch TBS HD ahead of schedule, however, at this time we are still tracking to the October 14th launch date. I will let you know if the plan changes."

Some other channels are listed as launching or moving on Charter's lineup on Tuesday, but none of those is an HD channel.

Charter also is scheduled to launch Animal Planet HD, Movie Channel HD and Smithsonian HD on Oct. 14.

TBS is televising each of the four divisional series, which start Wednesday and could go until Oct. 8 if either of the American League matchups go five games, and the American League Championship Series, which starts Oct. 10 and would run to Oct. 19 if the series goes seven games.

Fox is televising the National League Championship Series and the World Series. Charter has launched FOX47 in HD.

The Brewers would need to beat the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS to advance to the NLCS against the winner of the Chicago Cubs-Los Angeles Dodgers series.

DirecTV and DISH Network, the top two satellite providers, and Time Warner, the other dominant cable provider in Wisconsin, all have TBS in HD.

For the postseason TV schedule, go to http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/schedule/ps.jsp.

Jeff Richgels  —  9/29/2008 9:16 pm