Why MSNBC is getting moved on primary day

Time Warner Cable continues moving chairs -- a less prosaic way of saying “freeing up bandwidth” -- to create additional space for future bandwidth hogs, namely more HDTV channels.

So, no, it is not a Republican plot to deprive you of Keith Olbermann that explains why MSNBC is moving from Channel 56 to Channel 28 on Tuesday, one of the biggest political days of the year. Rather, it’s to open up a spot on the dial. National Geographic will be moving from Channel 76 to 56, also on Tuesday, and that will allow Time Warner to cap its analog tier at channel 75 and add more bandwidth to its digital tier.

Speaking of digital, BBC America moves from Channel 28 to 263 on Tuesday. Lest you fans of Britcoms think you’re being singled out, we can expect many more channels to migrate to digital (channels 100+) in the coming months. Digital channels can be compressed for space savings. Analog (channels 2 – through 75) can’t.

Also, all the redundant West Coast feeds are going away Tuesday: Starz West, Encore West, Encore Westerns West, Encore Mysteries West, Encore Action West, Encore True West, Encore Love West, Sundance West, Showtime Next West, Showtime Women West and Showtime Family Zone West.

On March 12, two channels will trade tiers, as Fit TV moves up to digital (Channel 264) and Science Channel moves down to analog (Channel 23). Both are owned by Discovery Networks, which presumably OK’d the switch. Also on that date, the Venezuelan news channel Canal I (Channel 153) goes away, so subscribers will have to get their Hugo Chavez updates the way the rest of us do, from David Letterman.

Finally, the on-demand channel lineup is in flux, so check twondemand.com for the latest updates.