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Comcast adds NJN-2 but not NJN

B

Bill_W

My Comcast headend comes out of Malvern, PA. With the addition of all the PBS sub-channels, Comcast added WNJS-DT2 but not WNJS-DT. For some reason here in Chester County, Comcast has never had NJN on cable even though both WNJS-TV and WNJS-DT can be clearly received over the air. Two of my DirecTv boxes have ota digital tuners and I can get these channels with an antenna.

Has anyone ever heard of a cable system carrying a digital sub-channel with out carrying the primary channel?

Fios carries both NJN and channel 39 on both sides over the river where as Comcast varies on these 2 channels.
 
I was in that same system for 2 years and always wondered about that. We could get snowy signals from 2 NJN transmitters (Camden and Trenton) but neither was ever offered on cable. Of course they have WLVT-39 which we could never get over the air (at least with our crappy antenna).

No, this is the first example I know of where a cable system carries the DT-2 without carrying the main feed.
 
I think lack of NJN carriage, even where a signal reaches, is because NJN doesn't actively pursue must-carry in areas far enough from the Jersey borders. Outside of NJ they want NYC, Philadelphia and Wilmington DE carriage.

The digital only subchannels carriage on digital seem to be more market-wide in implementation.

Outside Lehigh Valley, WLVT wants SE PA carriage.

Comcast is also resistant to carrying more local channels beyond what's required. I think they could carry WNJS-DT1 on digital only in those cable systems but they probably overlook the possibility of doing it.
 
There's no must-carry for PBS stations, unless the station is 'grandfathered' (meaning that it was on the system prior to a certain date in 1995, I believe). Then it cannot be dropped without permission. NJN can petition all it wants, but Comcast Malvern isn't required to add it.

Still, it's a VERY strange situation in Chester County because Comcast West Chester/Exton (which I lived very close to) offered NJN but did not offer WLVT. So, they're farther from Jersey than we were - yet they offered the channel. In essence, as far as NJN is concerned, the Malvern system is an island that is completely surrounded by other Comcast systems that do offer it.
 
What I don't understand is the fact that they added NJN-2 on channel 262 but not NJN on channel 261. It was either a mistake to add NJN-2 on this headend or they missed added NJN at all. As BRNout said, all the other Comcast headends around here in Chester County and even in MontCo have NJN, even the systems west of here. I know that they just moved NJN to channel 261 and added NJN-2 also in the Cherry Hill /Garden State Cable headend. In the Cherry Hill headend they did not add Channel 39 or any of its subchannels. Here in the Malvern headend, they also took away channel 39 on analog cable. It's on a digital box only on channel 10 or 244 (channel 10 is on channel 11).
 
BRNout said:
There's no must-carry for PBS stations, unless the station is 'grandfathered' (meaning that it was on the system prior to a certain date in 1995, I believe). Then it cannot be dropped without permission. NJN can petition all it wants, but Comcast Malvern isn't required to add it.

Still, it's a VERY strange situation in Chester County because Comcast West Chester/Exton (which I lived very close to) offered NJN but did not offer WLVT. So, they're farther from Jersey than we were - yet they offered the channel. In essence, as far as NJN is concerned, the Malvern system is an island that is completely surrounded by other Comcast systems that do offer it.
Click to expand...

NJN has no need for Comcast Malvern. Their funding and purpose is for NJ. It's not petitioning to be on it. Comcast is allocating less bandwith to the analog lineup, so their last goal is "how to make our analog lineups better", and digital lineups are more market wide, though they have moved ancillary, low powered or subchannel, and out-of-market stations to digital only, so that and a few international channels selections seem to be the differences between digital lineups. PBS stations in general do have must-carry rights on cable. You think Fios can start up service without carrying PBS signals?
 
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