Tune in the tropics with new Comcast TV choice

Comcast

Globe Staff

Winter weather may be wearing out the heartiest of locals, but on-demand viewership has shot up so sharply during recent snow storms that Comcast has decided to launch a new feature to help folks cope with cabin fever.

Comcast calls the new option "Winter Escape." But it's designed to be as much HD TV therapy as another on-demand channel for local subscribers. Tune in to the new channel, and viewers are treated to video vistas of beautiful beaches along the Florida Keys, while steel drum music plays in the background. (The photo with this post is a screen-grab from one of the Comcast videos.)

Now, in theory, tantalizing housebound viewers with palmy visions of paradise might drive some people mad, but Comcast believes that such eye candy can soothe the collective karma of Greater Bostonians ruffled by a surfeit of snow, shoveling, and school cancellations.

"Winter Escape," like many on-demand features, can be viewed by Comcast cable TV subscribers at no extra charge, a Comcast spokesman said. Winter Escape can be found On Demand in the TV Entertainment folder at "TV Entertainment < TV Screensavers < Winter Escape" in either High Definition or standard definition, he added.

For the record, On Demand use is up 23 percent for the first few weeks of 2011 when compared with the comparable period a year ago, the Comcast spokesman said.

So, presumably, "Winter Escape" will have something of a built-in captive audience.