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Comcast stoops to new low!

O

oldschooltv

Sometime overnight, they did quite a wack-job in the Waterbury/Seymour franchise area (formerly Tele-Media).

Analog:
- 25 - The Weather Channel moved to 99 (now 25 comes up as if the cable is out)
- this is the second time in a year TWC was moved - used to be on 34
- 41 - Country Music TV gone altogether (replaced by SNY)
- ok if you like sports, not ok if you're a country fan
- 53 - MSNBC is gone altogether (there's a green screen with a scrolling message):
"This channel is now part of Digital Cable, requiring a digital cable box. Visit comcastdigitalworld.com or call 1-800-COMCAST for more
information on digital packages."
- 61 - TruTV gone altogether (replaced by scrolling message)
- 63 - Hallmark gone altogether (replaced by scrolling message)
- 66 - TV Guide Channel gone altogether (replaced by scrolling message)
- 69 - ShopNBC gone altogher (replaced by scrolling message)
- 96 - NECN gone altogher (replaced by scrolling message)
- we just got this station a year ago when Comcast came, now it's gone


This is totally insane. I don't even know where to start here.

They removed the TVGuide Channel from the people who need it most - the people without digital! It's ludicrous. Why would you need the TVGuide Channel on digital? You have the "info button" on your remote which brings you to the schedule! You need the TVGuide Channel on analag, but they got rid of it. This move by Comcast is absolutely backwards and illogical.

TVGUide Channel is still on ch. 66 on the Digital box. But they even changed that up. When you turn on TVGuide Channel, they removed all of the channel numbers next to the channel names. It's not longer in numerical order. Now the TV schedule scrolls in alphabetical order... Animal, Bravo, etc. This is stupid as well, I can't tell you what channel number Animal Planet is on. So if I was to see the scroll on the TVGuide Channel and decide I like the name of a show, I wouldn't even be able to find the channel number it's on. Not to mention, I probably wouldn't even use the TVGuide Channel on digital, we have the info button. But it's another wacky example of how Comcast is doing things.

Granted stations like ShopNBC and TruTV were kind of a waste, I'm sure someone watched them. The same goes for Country Music being replaced by SportsNY.

How can they get rid of MSNBC, a major cable news network? Yet they leave FOX and CNN. I'm not very political, but I did like having all 3 of them to browse and make my own opinions.

The scroll on analog says "This channel is now part of Digital Cable, requiring a digital cable box. Visit comcastdigitalworld.com or call 1-800-COMCAST for more information on digital packages." We do have 1 digital cable box in the family room. So I checked the channel on the digital box, and there is a screen saying you must purchase MSNBC now. Another lie on the part of Comcast! Even though they tell us "this channel is now part of Digital Cable," we do have digital, but MSNBC is gone. I guess it must be in it's own digital package or something now. What gives? We don't have to specially purchase FOX or CNN on digital - or on analog!!!

Our cable line-up has been constantly changing since Comcast came in. When they came in, they added CN8 and NECN. A few months ago CN8 was gone, and now today so is NECN. Just recently they changed the Weather Channel from 34 to 25. Now they moved it again to 99. What's next, you need rent a Digital box for the Weather Channel too?

Are our rates going to go down now with 7 stations gone (Country Music, NECN, ShopNBC, TVGuide, Hallmark, TruTV, and MSNBC)? I won't hold my breath!

It clearly seems like they're trying to phase out analog cable, but they're going to have a hard time getting people to switch over. Especially with the high price of digital. Are they going to lower the prices? Are they going to create a low-cost Digital "Lifeline" plan, like there is on analog. If not, the elderly are not going to embrace the digital box. Comcast has already done quite a job here. First they remove all pay-per-view channels, inDemand, HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, and The Movie Channel. They also cut out weekly local public access news, community programming, educational initiatives in the schools, and corporate sponsorship - not to mention massive layoffs when they closed the local callcenter. What a shame.

People have been pretty fed up with Comcast since it came here, and the company is certainly not making friends by slashing channels and changing the line-up every couple of months. You would think they'd try extra hard to be a good provider, seeing that AT&T's UVerse is beating them up pretty badly.

Maybe Comcast will figure out how much they stink when their last customer switches over to satellite or UVerse! They can go scratch right about now as far as I'm concerned.
 
This is one reason why I didn't get Comcast - When I lived in Shelton it was the worst thing on the planet! Snowy picture and goes in and out. Their cable internet is pitiful as well. I got DirecTV and never looked back! Everybody I know in the valley (Shelton, Derby, Seymour, etc) hate Comcast and if I had a choice between Comcast and nothing I would throw out my television!

Remember, it's Com-crapstic!
 
ssetta said:
Thank you, but this is old news. There's already a discussion about it.
Click to expand...

Since it happened overnight here, I wouldn't call it old news.

And don't thank me. Thank you for letting me know that Comcast has already screwed people in other franchises before screwing us last night.
 
Bill DeFelice said:
This is one reason why I didn't get Comcast - When I lived in Shelton it was the worst thing on the planet! Snowy picture and goes in and out. Their cable internet is pitiful as well. I got DirecTV and never looked back! Everybody I know in the valley (Shelton, Derby, Seymour, etc) hate Comcast and if I had a choice between Comcast and nothing I would throw out my television!

Remember, it's Com-crapstic!
Click to expand...

I totally agree Bill.
 
oldschooltv said:
- 66 - TV Guide Channel gone altogether (replaced by scrolling message)
Click to expand...

Here in Eastern MA, the TV Guide Channel really is "gone altogether" and has been for several years. We don't even get it on digital cable.
 
They got rid of Tru-TV and MSNBC? Are they freaking insane! Even just moving those channels to digital is a nutso move! If my cable company did that, I would protest by literally canceleing my service. In my world.. less channels means less money!~ Show them who is boss with your wallet.

Unfortunately most people are so desperate for cable service they will just accept whatever changes that are made. However if everybody was like me, the freaking cable company would go out of business by pulling stupid s*it like this! There wouldn't be any customers left.
 
oldschooltv said:
- 53 - MSNBC is gone altogether (there's a green screen with a scrolling message)

How can they get rid of MSNBC, a major cable news network? Yet they leave FOX and CNN. I'm not very political, but I did like having all 3 of them to browse and make my own opinions.
Click to expand...

As Keith Olbermann would say:
"Comcast - today's Worst People... in the Wooooooooorld..."
 
Do you think that taking MSNBC off basic and throwing onto digital (w/o doing the same thing to Fox News) is a political dirty trick of sorts? if I lived in the area I'd contact my congressman and demand an investigation. Plus I'd cancel the service immediately.
To me it's a very indirect, very subtle, yet highly effective form of censorship. Why not put one of shopping or pray per views on digital instead?
 
The cable company is smart. They've figured out a way to give you less channels and charge you more Money at the same time. They move all your favorite channels to digital so that you have to upgrade. Even though it may be a smart business move, it still is going to piss a lot of people off. It could hurt the cable company in the long run, but based on history people will just accept it and move on with their lives. This is why Cable companies keep pulling this garbage. They know that most people will just accept it.
 
Skynet74 said:
... They know that most people will just accept it.
Click to expand...

You've hit the nail right on the head! I was spoiled as I had Cablevision in my office and their quality and programming is very good. Comcast, on the other hand, is pretty pitiful by comparison. You would figure with over the air HDTV growing fast that cable would stop playing games as people who are looking to trim their budgets would either buy a new HDTV or use one of the $40 coupons to get a converter for their old tv and dump cable. I may end up just putting my satellite on "vacation hold" for a handful of months a year to give my budget a break. Comcast as well as other cable systems aren't winning any friends with their God-like attitude to the customer. I went satellite and I've never looked back - and before someone brings it up, on the rare few occasions a year were the rain is so heavy it knocks out reception for a little while I just do something more productive than sit in front of the "boob tube."
 
I have cable, but I also have HDTV, converter boxes and antennas on all my TV's as a backup plan for when I eventually cancel my overpriced cable. With the converter boxes and antennas I actually pull in a bunch of Out of market stations that my cable company doesn't even carry! My plan is already in place. The next wrong move my cable company makes will be their last. I'll be gone!
 
Skynet? Are you with Com-crap? I have their internet as a backup to my AT&T/Yahoo! DSL. (My router works with either service.) I've already removed my coaxial cable around the archway of my living room door. The only thing stopping me from getting rid of my expanded basic cable, too? Not knowing how the reception will fare with indoor rabbit ears on a relative's 19" Sanyo LCD HDTV. I'm in the south end of New Britain, CT, just for the reference.
 
KML-224 said:
Skynet? Are you with Com-crap? I have their internet as a backup to my AT&T/Yahoo! DSL. (My router works with either service.) I've already removed my coaxial cable around the archway of my living room door. The only thing stopping me from getting rid of my expanded basic cable, too? Not knowing how the reception will fare with indoor rabbit ears on a relative's 19" Sanyo LCD HDTV. I'm in the south end of New Britain, CT, just for the reference.
Click to expand...

I have Cox cable. If you want to use an indoor antenna like I've got than try this one. It's from Terk, it handles UHF and VHF and I find that it works very very well. Much better than rabbit ears. Plus it looks cooler! It cost less than $40 shipped. So it's worth a shot to see what you can pull in at your house. It took me about an hour before I found the best location for it. Experiment with placing it a few different places. Moving it around can make a lot of difference! Once you find the perfect place where it will pull in all the ststions, you will be all set. I must have done 50 channel scans before I found the perfect place where all the channels came in. But It was worth it. It's a great combination to use with a DTV box or an HDTV.

http://www.amazon.com/Terk-Amplified-High-Definition-Antenna-Reception/dp/B0007MXZB2
 
That antenna does indeed do the job, as I have a similar one already called a Silver Sensor. However, it's very directional, which wouldn't work too well here. :(
 
oldschooltv said:
It clearly seems like they're trying to phase out analog cable, but they're going to have a hard time getting people to switch over. Especially with the high price of digital. Are they going to lower the prices? Are they going to create a low-cost Digital "Lifeline" plan, like there is on analog. If not, the elderly are not going to embrace the digital box.
Click to expand...

Phasing out analog cable gives bandwidth for HD programming! You CAN get the digital box with lifeline and the lifeline channels that went digital will still be there. Actually you can even get an HD BOX with lifeline.
 
jlehmann said:
oldschooltv said:
- 66 - TV Guide Channel gone altogether (replaced by scrolling message)
Click to expand...

Here in Eastern MA, the TV Guide Channel really is "gone altogether" and has been for several years. We don't even get it on digital cable.
Click to expand...

TV Guide owns the software that runs the on-screen tv listings on all the MSO's, FIOS, AT&T Uverse,etc.
The magazine and its cable channel are pretty much worthless but the very valuable software licensing is the only thing that keeps them treading above water.
 
Let's not forget that in a few years analog cable is going away altogether, although locals are protected by FCC mandate until 2012. What Comcast is doing is happening all over the country as cable operators reclaim the analog spectrum for other services. Better get used to it...
 
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