now that's strange... I thought that no cable company planned to drop analog any time soon (like time warner is saying) & that it was planned to just get people a digital set-top box. But some TV's support digital cable too (mostly newer HDTV's), so that's not even necessary.

bob, up here you're supposed to pay extra for every analog set you use, but because it's analog & there's no way to send a signal back you can splice a line as much as you want. That's one of the reason a 4 room satellite setup can cost a ton more then a 4 room cable setup here.

but my grandma has a solution to her analog cable issue: get rabbit ears. :D I have an antenna & don't care I only get 5 channels.

"But some TV's support digital cable too (mostly newer HDTV's), so that's not even necessary."

Yes, if the HDTV has a "cable card" slot and you rent a card from the cable company. Not many HDTVs have a cable card slot.

I just sent Comcast Customer center an email requesting clarification on this issue. I will let you know if I hear a response.

Dave T2

Verizon FIOS has just announced going all digital in August. They are offering "adapters" free of charge for analog TVs connected without a box.

Here is Comcast's "canned" response.

Dear Mr. T,

Thank you for your inquiry.

Congress has mandated a deadline of February 17, 2009 for the DTV
transition. At that point, analog broadcasts will stop, and only
digital signals will be available. Analog television sets will still be
usable if connected to cable, or with the assistance of a set-top box
(like the one provided to you by Comcast), which will convert the
digital signal to analog; you don't have to worry about making any
changes to the televisions you already have connected to Comcast cable.
If you have an analog TV not connected to cable, you have three options
to continue watching TV:

* Subscribe to cable television service or an alternative video service
provider
* Buy a digital TV that is able to receive digital programming
* Register for up to two government vouchers that can help pay for new
set-top boxes that will convert digital broadcast signals to an analog
format that your television sets can display

If you have any more questions feel free to reply to this e-mail, or you
can chat with one of our Online Customer Support Specialists 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week at

http://www.comcastsupport.com/videochat


Thank you for choosing Comcast.

Sincerely,

Dwayne
Comcast Customer Care Specialist



I have replied requesing clarification on whether I will need a box to continue watching my cable channels or not. I will post the response.

Dave T2

Here is the follow up response:

Dear DT,

Thank you for your response.

This was explained in our previous response.

If you have an analog TV not connected to cable, you have three options
to continue watching TV:

* Subscribe to cable television service or an alternative video service
provide.

* Buy a digital TV that is able to receive digital programming.

* Register for up to two government vouchers that can help pay for new
set-top boxes that will convert digital broadcast signals to an analog
format that your television sets can display.

In this case you would fall under option 1, since you are a cable
subscriber, there is no need for additional equipment.

Thank you for choosing Comcast.

Sincerely,

Eric
Comcast Customer Care Specialist



I sent one more email, here is the text:

Eric,

Thanks for your response. I requested clarification because online websites are reporting that all customers will be required to switch to a digital cable signal in February when the OTA digital switch is made.

According to your response, am I right in assuming that this is not true, that as an analog cable subscriber my service will continue as before?

Thanks again,

This is the latest response so I will not be persuing this anymore:

Dear Mr. T,

Thank you for your inquiry.

You will only be required to use a converter box for the broadcast
channels if you have a TV not connected to the cable service. If you
have a TV your home that isn't connected to cable service, you would
need to have a converter connected or get the TV connected to cable
service.

If you have any more questions feel free to reply to this e-mail, or you
can chat with one of our Online Customer Support Specialists 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week at

I've been exploring the idea of just going to a home theater PC and subscribing to content only available via the web - using something like Linux MCE or MediaPortal since broadband connection for the home is becoming a defacto need for the majority of households - at least here in the states.

I haven't found much these days that compels me to watch anything on tv save for MSNBC's countdown, scifi, Discovery, Foodnetwork and The Travel Channel - which has content available online.

I've been of the opinion that online content distribution is the future of media consumption - you can watch streamed HD videos from Netflix, why pay to watch them via Comcast OnDemand?

From what I've been reading - compression for the web is getting better and this is going to equate to more online consumption - right now, the number of viewers has leveled off - but the amount of content online being consumed is expected to rise to 5 hours per day this year - and even more in the coming years - and that's for online content - not watching broadcast TV. Delivery to multiple devices should be the focus of those who are looking to or already producing video content. Last statistic I read, in April of this year, 11 billion videos were watched for that month. That's an astonishing number - not all of it was what any of us would term as high quality content - but the sheer number is compelling and isn't something to be ignored as content producers.

The biggest challenge I see is finding a way to monetize content online - online ads aren't anywhere near what's being spent for mainstream broadcast - that's the crucial piece of the puzzle - once that's been worked out - The way content is distributed now will seem archaic within a fairly short period of time

That's my take on it anyways...

Cliff Etzel - Solo Video Journalist
bluprojekt | SoloVJ.com

Down here as far as I know all cable was digital from day 1Then you must not have had cable for very long! Our cable system (here in the local development) was installed in 1969, just a wee bit before digital anything was around. The big boom in cable TV in this country (USA) started in the late 1970s and continued through the 1980s. Digital cable didn't arrive until the early 1990s and wasn't rolled out widely until the middle of that decade.

Yes, if the HDTV has a "cable card" slot and you rent a card from the cable company. Not many HDTVs have a cable card slot

I could of sworn some TV's accept unencrypted D-Cable signal. My old DVico Fusion 5 did (not like I had cable though).

"Then you must not have had cable for very long! "

Correct, don't know the exact dates of the rollout but certainly post 1990.
I seem to recall there was/is extremely limited use of analogue cable for OTA redistribution in small areas that had reception problems and repeaters weren't practical.

Bob.

"I could of sworn some TV's accept unencrypted D-Cable signal."

Yes, many HDTVs and a lot of HDTV tuners, like the Dvico Fusion, can receive unencrypted digital cable channels (clear QAM), unfortunately, only a very few channels, which ususally include the local off-air channels, are unencrypted. Currently, I have over 80 analog channels which can be received on any TV in my house which is connected to cable. After the digital conversion, none of them will receive a thing without renting a converter box. There will be no government subsidy for these boxes.

Also, the planned digital conversion of cable TV doesn't necessarily take place in February of 2009, so their advertising saying that people with cable TV don't need to do anything in February is correct. However, they may need to do something in March or April or May..., depending on when your particular cable company pulls the plug on analog cable.

If the outcomes in the USA are anything like ours then this could have much wider implications than anyone seems to be talking about.

The switch of OTA to DVB has dramatically improved picture quality or killed the picture completely. I think most here are aware of how analogue signals degrade gracefully whereas mpeg-2 is pretty will pristine until it just dies. This will leave many who had marginal reception with no or limited reception once the analogue transmitters are shut down.

The other solution is cable which here and in the USA it seems carries the free to air channels. To get his we've had to pay and pay per set. If in the USA you could get the FTA channels via analogue basically for free then the double hit of switching both to digital could dramatically increase the cost for many of watching the free to air channels. You could defend the actions of the cable providers, it's their systems and you don't have to subscribe. However the switch of the free to air channels to digital could well drive many to cable even if all they want is the free to air channels.

Bob.

According to the article:

With the arrival of new competition from the telephone industry, such as Verizon's FIOS service, cable companies need the extra bandwidth to keep up.

This is false. The towns that are served by cable companies such as Time Warner (our cable company) work out exclusive contracts with the monopolies in which they agree to exclude the competition. That according to local news media and various articles by people in that industry. Sometimes they don't renew and leave it open, but more often they agree to contracts of three years to ten years. FIOS in our town is prohibited by an exclusive contract with Time Warner Cable. We will never see it.

As I said a few months ago, the Analog to Digital transition was passed to enable cable companies to cram more into less bandwidth. A very few corporate love objects on the forum said that was not the reason.

Fact Check.org told the story in 2005, but as usual, the reason the public isn't aware of it (as they are unaware of most of what goes on to screw them in the US) is the national news media coverup particularly the news networks that determine our elections through lies and distortions. The arguments in the ad Fact Check criticized mirror the talking points of one of the worst congressmen in the US House, Rep Joe Barton (R) Texas.

John

The switch of OTA to DVB has dramatically improved picture quality or killed the picture completely. I think most here are aware of how analogue signals degrade gracefully whereas mpeg-2 is pretty will pristine until it just dies. This will leave many who had marginal reception with no or limited reception once the analogue transmitters are shut down.

True! But in my experience, there was only 1 channel I couldn't get the digital equivalent of & that was the former WB channel. The Buffalo area digital channels are all up to the same power the analog were. I even got the "local" Canadian stations. Infact, I got an extra station because the station in my town uses a directional antenna & when they went digital they were a sub channel of a bigger station. :D

This is false. The towns that are served by cable companies such as Time Warner (our cable company) work out exclusive contracts with the monopolies in which they agree to exclude the competition.

That's totally up to the local towns/citys/etc. Around here (buffalo area) many areas have multiple TV/phone options. Many areas have both FIOS & Time Warner, Comcast, whatever. Normally it's only no competition of the same service. FIOS isn't a cable TV service. but everyone who's had fios has had all their copper pulled from their homes, so if it sucks they're SOL.

This is false. The towns that are served by cable companies such as Time Warner (our cable company) work out exclusive contracts with the monopolies in which they agree to exclude the competition.
==================================
That's totally up to the local towns/citys/etc. Around here (buffalo area) many areas have multiple TV/phone options. Many areas have both FIOS & Time Warner, Comcast, whatever. Normally it's only no competition of the same service. FIOS isn't a cable TV service. but everyone who's had fios has had all their copper pulled from their homes, so if it sucks they're SOL.
==============================
As I said,

"Sometimes they don't renew and leave it open, but more often they agree to contracts of three years to ten years. FIOS in our town is prohibited by an exclusive contract with Time Warner Cable. We will never see it."

FIOS would be able to provide Internet, Phone, and TV if the town would allow them in. There is also a monopoly agreement with Frontier Communications that excludes Verizon local phone service.

John

The cable company wants you on digital service to raise revenue.
For the most part SD version of the local channels will be in the lowest tier.
HD and other subchannels (such as NBC's Weather Plus, RTN, or PBS' Create)
may require the digital cable box and higher monthly fees.

There is one market group that has a real problem - hotels.
They need to invest in new digital tv sets and/or conversion hardware without free coupons.

We provide advertising content to hotels and are investing over $1500 for a
computer card per site that converts MPEG TS to a QAM digital "cable channel".
$4000-$5000 total per site for hardware to display HD promos is simply "killing us".

There is also a monopoly agreement with Frontier Communications that excludes Verizon local phone service.

don't remind me! Local phone company is Frontier. Verizon price ~3 miles north/south for BASIC phone service: $40. Frontier BASIC phone service in my town: $25.

DSL+unlimited phone are both equal.

FIOS would be able to provide Internet, Phone, and TV if the town would allow them in. There is also a monopoly agreement with Frontier Communications that excludes Verizon local phone service.

See, I've read in my local paper that FIOS was excluded because of the cable company being picky. They said there's no "cable" competition to keep comcast, (at the time) time warner (when adelpha was there), etc. out. So FIOS didn't count, like satellite. It's fiber & people wanted very specific wording when the contracts were made because they didn't think a phone company would do this.