A Stranger In A Strange Brand

"To Xfinity and beyond!"

No, wait. That's Buzz Lightyear, and he says, "To infinity andbeyond!"

Xfinity: a galaxy far, far away.

A "Star Wars" reference, right?

Xfinity: where our national debt is heading.

Now, that might actually be true.

But seriously, what is this Xfinity that Comcast has paintedacross its cable trucks and keeps talking about on TV and in radioads?

I think Xfinity is a marketing strategy gone bad. Anything thatgenerates questions from customers and a dozen discussions on onlineTV forums cannot be good.

Comcast does create innovative products, and the cable providerlooks for ways to improve. I love the extra high-definitionofferings it added last year.

Comcast has had great branding and marketing in the past, but itslatest endeavor is too confusing.

As Ricky Ricardo might have said, "Comcast, you got someXplaining to do."

I bet I have talked to Robert Grove, a Comcast spokesperson, fourtimes about Xfinity, each time after a reader or an editor at thepaper asked me what was going on with Comcast. Was the companychanging names? Did this Xfinity have anything to do with the NBCmerger? Is Xfinity the same as the Triple Play Comcast offers forTV, telephone and Internet?

I appreciate Grove's patience, as I've call him just to make sureI was correct with my explanations, because I had doubts. On my lastcall, I said just give me a simple answer, for clarity: What isXfinity supposed to be?

"The simplest thing I can say," Grove said, "is Comcast is thename of the company. Xfinity is the new brand for Comcast'stechnology platform, products and services. Comcast remains the nameof our company."

Where does the name Xfinity come from? It stands for infinitecontent choices (the "infinity") and cross-platform features (that'sthe "X"). So the "X" is more of a cross. OK, I get it. Sort of.

The idea behind Xfinity comes from the Project Infinityinitiative, which was announced January 2008 at the ConsumerElectronics Show. Project Infinity was about offering customers morecontent choices in TV video OnDemand, more high-definition channelsand more online video.

"It's also our promise to customers that we will keep innovatingto deliver the best possible experience," Grove said.

To drive its point home, Comcast rebranded its products using thefollowing names: Xfinity TV, Xfinity Internet and Xfinity Voice (fortelephone).

Instead of confusing customers with a new branding campaign, howabout just promising great service, competitive pricing andinnovative advances in technology?

Is that Xpecting too much?

In case you missed it: Regis Philbin is retiring from "Live WithRegis and Kelly" (9 a.m. weekdays on WHTM-TV ABC 27), the latestiteration of the morning talk show he's worked on for 28 years.

The show averages 4 million viewers, according to a recentNielsen report.

No More Beck on 1210: Earlier this month, WPHT-AM 1210 inPhiladelphia knocked Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck off the Phillyairwaves for now, with no replacement affiliates having been named,according to NorthEast Radio Watch. Beck can be heard locally on WHP-AM 580 and WSBA-AM 910.

Staff writer Eric Stark discusses trends and tidbits in broadcastmedia each week in the Sunday News. Write to him atestark@lnpnews.com.