EAST LIVERPOOL - Today, Comcast plans to launch 13 new cable television channels in the East Liverpool market area.

According to Bob Grove, public relations manager at the Comcast Cable, Three River Region office, out of the 13 channels, 11 will be high definition broadcasts.

The channels added to the Comcast line up include: E! HD; Travel Channel HD; Cartoon Network HD; NBA TV HD; Lifetime Movie Network HD; Biography Channel HD; Planet Green HD; Spike HD; Lifetime HD; Nickelodeon HD; MLB HD; Retirement Living; and Hallmark Movie Channel

"We are responding to continued demand for more HD channels, faster internet speeds and more advanced services," Grove stated in a press release.

To enable these new channel launches, Comcast will move to digital delivery of a small number of channels, according to Grove. These are AMC, Animal Planet, Cartoon Network, Style and Turner Classic Movies.

"The vast majority of our customers are already digital and will not be affected by the digital delivery of those five channels," Grove noted.

Standard Cable customers who want to continue viewing those channels are eligible for a free converter box and can call 1-800-COMCAST or visit the local Comcast office.

Standard customers will then have access to all linear channels available to Digital Starter customers, which immediately brings them 15 new channels not counting the new launches, according to Grove.

Basic cable subscribers are also unaffected.

Back in May, the company announced it was making the leap from broadband to wideband with the launch of next-generation DOCSIS 3.0 Internet service in the East Liverpool area.

After the switch, Comcast now has and offers the fastest Internet speeds available today in the East Liverpool area, including the Extreme 50 tier with download speeds of up to 50 Mbps, according to company officials.

Wideband also enabled Comcast to double speeds for the majority of existing high-speed Internet customers at no additional cost.