New Channels Coming Tuesday!

Our next batch of HD channels are currently being tested and will be available to customers on Tuesday, September 4th. I know some customers have already seen the channel numbers pop up in the guide, but here is the full list -

HD Channel (#)
WGN (615)
Hallmark (619)
CNN (622)
FOX News (624)
MSNBC (625)
Headline News (626)
Tru TV (643)
Biography (626)
TBS (659)
Turner Classic Movies (662)
RFD TV (683)
Oxygen (687)
Toon (688)
TV Land (689)

The 14 new channels brings our HD lineup to over 65 channels.

Four Things I'm Looking Forward to in September

1. NFL Football - Even with the Vikes promising to be at or near their outhouse-level performance from a year ago it's hard for me not to get jazzed up for the start of the football season. My rookie of the year from last season (NFL RedZone) will be back in all it's glory starting week 1. For those of you that don't subscribe, you should - email info@mitchelltelecom.com to make that happen. The season pass is $50.

2. TV is BACK! - The NFL Season isn't the only thing to kick off in September, I feel bad for our poor DVRs consuming so much new content. Here's a handful of the biggies for me...

 - The final season of The Office starts Sept. 20th and I'll probably shed a tear.
 - The same night (9/20), Park & Recreation offers you a Tom Haverford fix.
 - Sons of Anarchy picks back up Sept. 11th.
 - The Mentalist moves to Sundays starting Sept. 30th.
 - Criminal Minds is back on the case Sept. 26th
 - I'll stop there...

3. Handicapping New Shows - One skill I've honed over the years is determining which shows have a chance of sticking around over those doomed to die quick deaths. Look for another post on this topic in the very near future.

4. OktoBEERfest - Part beer tasting, part brat tasting, part musical show - ALL fun. The event is scheduled for Saturday, September 29th at the Highland Conference Center and this year's OktoBEERfest features samples of over 50 craft brews along with a brat bar and the musical styling of Chris Miller. Join Time at the Table and The Network between 4pm and 7pm that day for what promises to be a great time.

Tickets are just $25 each and can be purchased at www.oktobeerfest.net, County Fair or The Chamber of Commerce in Mitchell. Special props to Porter Distributing for sponsoring the event.

How did I miss this?

I was searching the guide for the weekend DVR round up (True Blood, 60 Minutes, Newsroom, Longmire, etc) and stumbled across a new episode for Bar Rescue. I'm guessing your level of shock and amazement mirrored mine at the time. What!? It's Back!? Jon Taffer the most arrogance and awesomeness you can stuff in a suit coat (no tie - of course) is BACK! Sunday can't get here fast enough!

Not enough exclamation points for you, yet? What if I told you we already missed the double-episode season premiere! Yep, we're two episodes in already!

Don't sweat it too much, we can get through this together. Luckily, Spike doesn't have a ton of original programming so you can catch last week's episodes about a half dozen times over the weekend. OR, check 'em out online at www.spike.com.

- Watch the Tiki Curse episode here: http://www.spike.com/full-episodes/jyqaiq/bar-rescue-tiki-curse-season-2-ep-202

 - Watch the Yo-Ho-Ho and a Bottle of Dumb (no joke a Pirate Bar) here: http://www.spike.com/full-episodes/81jluh/bar-rescue-yo-ho-ho-and-a-bottle-of-dumb-season-2-ep-201


If you've read this far and still don't know what Bar Rescue is, well I owe you some 'splainin. The show features struggling bars around the country and tasks bar expert, Jon Taffer, with finding a solution. If you've seen Restaurant Impossible or Kitchen Nightmares (both fantastic by the way) think about doing that, just in a bar. AND, since it's on Spike you can expect it to be a little more racy.

Sound fun? Check it out on Spike TV at 8pm Sunday.

Jon Taffer doesn't embrace excuses, he embraces solutions...

Three Things I'm Looking Forward to in August...

1. Channel 90 Broadcasts: We’ll enter our third year of live sports and community coverage this month and have over 50 games on the broadcast schedule between now and early November.  Coverage kicks off on August 17^th as James Valley Christian travels to Mitchell to take on Mitchell Christian in Boys Varsity Soccer.

Similar to last year’s schedule, we’ll bring complete home schedules of MHS Football and Volleyball as well as DWU Football. Select home games of MHS Soccer (Both Boys & Girls), DWU Soccer (Men & Women), DWU Volleyball and MCHS Soccer will also be featured on Channel 90. New this year, will be a handful of sub-varsity Football at MHS that will feature the Freshmen, Sophomore and JV squads throughout the season.

We will also unveil our local content Kernel shirt this month and provide a number of them to show off your Kernel spirit. Look for updates on the blog and Facebook to see how you can win one!

Corn Palace Week: It looks to be another great week of performers for this year’s Corn Palace Festival - http://cornpalace.com/Shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=24. I’m typically a big fan of the rock show they have this year, but having Hinder as the headliner doesn’t really do if for me. I’ll instead have to swing my support to Thompson Square / Frankie Ballard show as the must-see act for the weekend.

Beyond the entertainment, I’m looking forward to 2.5 – 3 meals of fair food for the week. Last year’s favorite was the ‘2.0’ from Big Daddy’s and I’m guess one or more will be consumed this year.

Photographic that the 2.0 exists...

My babies turn 2: Sorry for dropping a note that really my family is looking forward to during August. Paxton and Presley turned our lives upside down (mostly for the good – other than a crazy amount of diapers) for good on August 12^th, 2010. I never knew how fast time could fly until you blink and your babies are two years old and not babies anymore. It’s been a learning curve that changes daily and an unbelievable journey that has created infinite memories a two great people. Happy Birthday Pax & Pres - we love you very much!