FM antenna through cable

[Xkrusdx]

Not sure if this is the right board but,
about 10 years ago i used to use a cable wire (plugged into the wall) as an FM antenna for my stereo receiver. i received most of the Philly FM's but also i received the audio of MTV (88.1-FM), HBO (89.1-FM), and Cinemax (89.5-FM). my question as of today is, does Comcast still offer any special programming through their FM cable? any info or websites would help.

thanx,
--D.C.--

 

[PirateJim]

> Not sure if this is the right board but,
> about 10 years ago i used to use a cable wire (plugged into
> the wall) as an FM antenna for my stereo receiver. i
> received most of the Philly FM's but also i received the
> audio of MTV (88.1-FM), HBO (89.1-FM), and Cinemax
> (89.5-FM). my question as of today is, does Comcast still
> offer any special programming through their FM cable? any
> info or websites would help.
>

"Cable FM" (as it was called) basically died because most cable companies needed the extra bandwidth for "digital cable" ...
I'm only familiar with the system here in Toms River (NJ), but when Comcast took over Adelphia a few years ago, they dumped the "Cable FM" service, which by that point, hardly anyone subscribed to anyway ...
Before the advent of stereo TV's, "Cable FM" was good because it offered stereo broadcasts of some cable channels, most notably, MTV ...
And, in our case, it also provided a "Cable FM"-only station, WOCC, which broadcasted from Ocean County College ...<P ID="signature">______________


New Jersey Radio Board moderator
</P>

 

[TheTiger]

> "Cable FM" (as it was called) basically died because most
> cable companies needed the extra bandwidth for "digital
> cable" ...
> I'm only familiar with the system here in Toms River (NJ),
> but when Comcast took over Adelphia a few years ago, they
> dumped the "Cable FM" service, which by that point, hardly
> anyone subscribed to anyway ...
> Before the advent of stereo TV's, "Cable FM" was good
> because it offered stereo broadcasts of some cable channels,
> most notably, MTV ...
> And, in our case, it also provided a "Cable FM"-only
> station, WOCC, which broadcasted from Ocean County College
> ...
>

As of early 2005, "Cable FM" service still exists through the Service Electric cable company in Wilkes-Barre, PA. With Cable radio, you can hear stations from Allentown, Philadelphia, and small parts of Harrisburg. Also, not all stations operated on the same frequency as the originating station.

Unfortunately, cable rates rise and we switched from Service Electric to DISH Network. I miss hearing stations like Sunny 104.5, B101, and others. The good news is that I may hear them again when if things go right to travel to Philadelphia before November. Once November kicks in, both Sunny 104.5 and B101 will be unlistenable because they play X-Mas stuff.

 

[Newshawk]

> I'm only familiar with the system here in Toms River (NJ),
> but when Comcast took over Adelphia a few years ago, they
> dumped the "Cable FM" service, which by that point, hardly
> anyone subscribed to anyway ...

As I recall it, Jim, Adelphia in Toms River did away with the cable FM service a few years before Comcrap took it over. The reason was to reclaim bandwidth for more TV channels. I'd bet that the retransmission consent agreements were also up, and they figured they could save money by not paying the local broadcasters.

We used to have a FM tuner hooked up to the audio board in the Channel 8 studios. It had been used to rebroadcast some station over Ch. 8 years before I started working there, but by the time I started, it was only used for some background music for us during the work day.<P ID="signature">______________
"Radio is like musical chairs. When the music stops, I sit down and say something."</P>

 

[timbo]

> > "Cable FM" (as it was called) basically died because most
> > cable companies needed the extra bandwidth for "digital
> > cable" ...
> > I'm only familiar with the system here in Toms River (NJ),
>
> > but when Comcast took over Adelphia a few years ago, they
> > dumped the "Cable FM" service, which by that point, hardly
>
> > anyone subscribed to anyway ...
> > Before the advent of stereo TV's, "Cable FM" was good
> > because it offered stereo broadcasts of some cable
> channels,
> > most notably, MTV ...
> > And, in our case, it also provided a "Cable FM"-only
> > station, WOCC, which broadcasted from Ocean County College
>
> > ...
> >
>
> As of early 2005, "Cable FM" service still exists through
> the Service Electric cable company in Wilkes-Barre, PA. With
> Cable radio, you can hear stations from Allentown,
> Philadelphia, and small parts of Harrisburg. Also, not all
> stations operated on the same frequency as the originating
> station.
>
> Unfortunately, cable rates rise and we switched from Service
> Electric to DISH Network. I miss hearing stations like Sunny
> 104.5, B101, and others. The good news is that I may hear
> them again when if things go right to travel to Philadelphia
> before November. Once November kicks in, both Sunny 104.5
> and B101 will be unlistenable because they play X-Mas stuff.
>
Yeah, I remember back in the late eighties driving past O'Karma Terrace and hearing Power 99 Blasting out of the open windows. It tripped me out at first before I did some research and found out about FM Cable. I at first thought someone had some kind of super antenna or something.