HOLLYWOOD — Cable television channel grazers will wake up in an unfamiliar pasture this morning because of a switch to fiber optic lines by Storer Cable of Hollywood.

The new, high-tech lines will allow greater channel capacity and should improve picture quality, Storer General Manager Don Foster said.

They will also alter the channel lineup. The change, months in the works, was scheduled to be completed overnight. Channels will blip off briefly, then return in the new format, Foster said.

The change to fiber optics will allow Storer to broadcast 49 channels, 11 more than before, Foster said.

The switch will be a boon to Chicago Cubs fans, who will now be able to catch most of their team’s games on WGN-TV with the basic, 20-channel cable package. Also added to the basic cable package will be WSCV-Ch. 51, the Miami station in the Spanish-language Telemundo network, among other stations.

The switch to fiber optics will also allow three public access stations, one for general public use, a second for the Broward School Board and other education agencies, and a third for the city.

Under the new channel lineup, the cost of basic cable service will be $13.95 a month. Expanded cable, which the bulk of Storer’s 30,000 customers receive, will now include 41 channels and cost $22.85.

STORER CABLE OF HOLLYWOOD’S NEW CHANNEL LINEUP

Chan. Stat.

2 WLRN (PBS)

3 WTVJ (NBC)

4 WBSF (Ind.)

5 WSVN (Fox)

6 WCIX (CBS)

7 WPBT (PBS)

8 WLTV (Univision)

9 Hometown TV

10 WFLX (Fox)

11 WPLG (ABC)

12 WDZL (Ind.)

13 WYHS (Home Shopping)

*14 Encore

Chan. Stat.

*16 HBO

*18 Cinemax

19 WSCV (Telemundo)

*20 Showtime

*22 The Movie Channel

*23 The Disney Channel

26 WOR (Ind., New York)

27 WGN (Ind., Chicago)

28 Sneak Prev. (pay/view)

29 WTBS (Ind., Atlanta)

*30 Request 1, Movies/Events

*31 Request 2, Movies/Events

34 Government Access

Chan. Stat.

35 Educational Access

36 Local Access

Expanded Basic channels (37-58)

37 ACTS/VISN

38 MTV

39 VH1

40 TNN 41 BET

42 ESPN

43 Nostalgia/Sunshine

44 Sportschannel Florida

Chan. Stat.

45 TNT 46 USA

48 A&E;

49 Lifetime

50 The Family Channel

51 Nickelodeon

52 The Learning Channel

53 The Discovery Channel

54 CNN

55 C-Span

56 CNN Headline News

57 CNBC

58 The Weather Channel

*Premium channels