Comcast Connects Troops With Loved Ones For The Holidays
Comcast Thursday announced the launch of Troop Greetings On Demand, a service that delivers special holiday greetings from military personnel stationed overseas to their loved ones back home to watch whenever and as often as they wish.
For the seventh consecutive year, Comcast is offering Troop Greetings On Demand at no additional cost to its digital cable customers through the end of January 2011. The video greetings are now accessible under the "Get Local" section of Comcast's signature On Demand menu.
This week, Comcast began reaching out to the 102 families in Michigan who have messages waiting for them to tell them how to view their holiday salutes.
"This special time of year is about family, friends and good will in the community, and we are proud to use our On Demand technology to bring holiday greetings from our troops overseas to their loved ones back home as part of our commitment to powering dreams in the communities where we live and work," said Mary Beth Halprin, vice president of public relations and community affairs for Comcast's Michigan Region.
To compile Troop Greetings On Demand, Comcast secured hundreds of videotapes from Army/Air Force Hometown News Service and edited them into short video greetings for viewers. Each message includes the service member's name and hometown, and in some cases, messages from the serviceperson's spouse and children. Featured messages are from military personnel and civilian staff stationed around the world at bases in the Middle East, Europe, Africa, Japan, Alaska, Korea and other remote locations.
On Demand allows digital cable customers to watch the personalized holiday greetings at a time most convenient for them, and as often as they want. The greetings are part of Comcast's growing On Demand lineup, which now offers more than 20,000 programs a month that can be viewed on customers' own schedules with the ability to pause, fast-forward and rewind. Troop Greetings are grouped together and categorized by state. Comcast customers can access the greeting just by going to the On Demand library from their remote control, clicking on the "Get Local" section and then selecting "Troop Greetings" and the respective state. Individual greetings are approximately five to 25 seconds each.
Family members may also view Troop Greetings online by logging onto the following web address: http://jhns.dma.mil/WebPages/holiday%20greetings%20states/michigan.htm.
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