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16 Progress Edition of The Canadian Statesman, Wednesday, June 29,1988 Rogers Cable TV In 59,000 Homes By George Vehi Cable television service from a modest start of some was first introduced in the 3,000 customers who eon- Oshawa area in 1966, with nected to pay TV in the first an offering of eight chan- month it was offered, to the nels. Since those early days, present (when one out of when cable television was every cabled households launched with only 31 eus- uses this service), Rogers has tomers, Rogers Cable TV - been able to successfully an- Pine Ridge has grown at a . ticipate and serve customer phenominal rate to its demands, present size, serving over First Choice Superchan- 59,000 households in nel, being the most popular Oshawa, Whitby, Bowman- of the pay-TV channels, ville, Brooklin, Newcastle leads the pack. But Rogers and Orono. also carries other pay-TV of- Rapid growth also means fbrings on a total of eight rapid change in operational specialty channels to address requirements, and this com- every interest...sports to pany has seen drastic modi- country and western, music fications in office systems videos, news services the from the manual handling of performing arts, the early days to the comput er systems now in use in every every facet of the operation. Handling 59,000 customer customer accounts with varied services services from basic television to converter rentals, stereo hookup and pay-television An organization of Rogers' Rogers' magnitude incurs hefty operating costs. Financial considerations include the purchase and maintenance costs associated with a fleet of service vehicles; salaries; subscriptions generates ap- capital expenditures for con- proximately 12,000 custom- verters, descramblers, ampli- er telephone inquiries fiers and associated cable monthly, including requests hardware; planning and defer defer cable TV hook-ups, bill- sign requirements; computer ing inquiries, requests for and data transmission lines; service and general ques- research and development; tions about video-cassette and maintaining local prohook-ups prohook-ups and pay-TV pack- gramming and information ages. access. Rogers is committed to In this ever-changing providing excellent custom- business, Rogers' immediate er service at every level. plans include the addition of This means being at the more business office teleready teleready to dispatch trucks to phone lines and staff for im- meet the 15,000 annual re- proving customer service quests for cable connection and the tentative launch of and service calls, staffing for the Cable Advantage Net- customer inquiries and work, scheduled for April maintaining a consistent and The Family Channel, flow in planning for opera- WTBS, Atlanta, and possibly tionalrequirements. „t, i-*--- February of 1963 marked the advent of pay-television service throughout Rogers cable systems in Canada. Technological requirements requirements for the distribution of other channels later this year. Looming on the horizon is the need to increase channel capacity to approximately 50 channels by 1991 to ad- dress an even broader spec- these new channels required trum of programming ser- major capital expenditures vices, in the purchase of satellite _ Putting it all in perspec- reception systems, descram- five - that monthly, quarter- bier hardware and computer ly or annual bill that most of activation and account us receive from Rogers does tracking of these signals. a lot more behind the scenes These concerns and re- than we might expect when quirements were mirrored at we turn on our sets to watch Rogers - Pine Ridge. Again, that special program. es up Bowmanville is flabby, flabby, and doesn't care about it, according to Fitness Fitness Warehouse owner Randy Yurko. "We are a totally out- of-shape town. I'm surprised surprised how much people really don't care about themselves," he said. Fitness Warehouse, at the corner of Scugog Road and King Street in Bowmanville has signed up about one to two per cent of the town's popula-, tion, said Mr. Yurko. Clients vary in age from 12 years to 75 years, he said. : "People don't have the time--or the energy-to ■ get in shape. We all drive to the store instead of walking. I'm guilty of this myself. It's much easier to turn the key in the ignition." Mr. Yurko might-have a solution to laziness. A new system called toning toning tables is coming to the Fitness Warehouse in July. The tables advertise advertise the fact that users don't have to sweat, and that results are quick. Users shed up to ten inches inches in several weeks. This passive exercise works the muscle groups while, headphones guide the user through the steps required. There will be seven passive exercise tables at Fitness Warehouse, joining the two tanning beds already in operation. operation. "The tanning beds did well this year. We'll probably add a third one next year," said Mr. Yurko. ' But the gym is more than tanning beds and now, toning beds. It contains contains free weights, a carpeted carpeted aerobics room and exercise room, change rooms and a jet-powered whirlpool. The building has windows on almost all sides, and is contemporary contemporary with its soft pastel shades and silver-gray upholstery. "I wanted to keep it homey, so people feel comfortable," said Mr.Yurko, ; himself a Bowmanville resident. Randy Yurko opened Fitness Warehouse in February 1987 and soon plans to open the second level of the building. He chose the King Street location location because "it's right uptown and has a huge parking lot." BETTE MIDLER and SHELLEY LONG "Hilarious adventure comedy" nkwswekk SUBSCRIBE NOW AND RECEIVE 50 FREE MOVIES PLUS A including SEE GREAT HITS LIKE THESE: • PREDATOR • BLIND DATE • TINMEN • ROXANNE • ISHTAR • SUPERMAN IV • NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET III AND MANY MORE! Hurry! Limited time offer! T-90 VHS VIDEOCASSETTE SUPERSTAR SUNGLASSES FREE DESCRAMBLER PICK-UP AND MUCH MORE! WHILE QUANTITIES LAST CALL Rogers Cable TV 579-2232 AND SUBSCRIBE TODAY! t Fifteen days free viewing with a minimum two month paid First Choice* 'Superchannel subscnpfion required Offer applies only to new First Choice* Superchannel subsenbers This offer can not be combined with any other offer TM First Choice Canadian Communications Corporation *At participating cable companies only