Scanning through cable channels today, it appears that all of the local radio stations have been removed from Comcast's lineup. With all of the streaming apps available in the modern era, they probably will not be missed that much by the majority.
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Local radio channels removed from Comcast cable
- Thread starter fordranger797
- Start date
When was the last time you saw local radio on cable? I imagine that may have been required at one time, but not any more. Most don't give you local TV channels for free any more. There's now a "broadcast TV fee." Why should they support radio?
Comcast is part owner of Music Choice, so they'd probably prefer you use that option if you're so inclined.
Comcast is part owner of Music Choice, so they'd probably prefer you use that option if you're so inclined.
Western Washington was the last place in the US I have been where most local stations are rebroadcast on cable. I’d be curious why that is...my guess is it has something to do with Comcast’s dominance in (darned near all) the market combined with some weird rule in a suburban cable franchise contract that required it well past when most companies gave it up. It was easier to just broadcast it to all cable subscribers in W. Washington.
This is probably more of an issue for folks on the fringes of Seattle-Tacoma market where Seattle FM or TV reception is near impossible and cable/satellite is almost a necessity for TV.
Even with that, you have the habits of probably 750,000 people in the market who don’t even know they have “cable radio” vs. the thousand who actually get use out of it. With nearly everyone having an acceptable cell signal for streaming...those thousand folks should adjust fairly quick.
This is probably more of an issue for folks on the fringes of Seattle-Tacoma market where Seattle FM or TV reception is near impossible and cable/satellite is almost a necessity for TV.
Even with that, you have the habits of probably 750,000 people in the market who don’t even know they have “cable radio” vs. the thousand who actually get use out of it. With nearly everyone having an acceptable cell signal for streaming...those thousand folks should adjust fairly quick.
Perhaps the hilly terrain of Seattle kept these cable operations going. Let's face it, except for a few, FM is hit or miss depending on your location, and what transmitter you may be trying to listen to.
DXing from a receiving tower is the textbook definition of a DXer's paradise.
Probably the people who are listening to radio on TV get it from their streamers (Amazon Fire, Roku and AppleTV) from music apps like Tunein, Radio.com. Iheart and others and not from a cable set?
Precisely. If you’re interested in listening to local radio and can’t listen to it on a receiver...even if you prefer “cable radio”, since you have cable chances are good you got hoodwinked into a “double” or “triple play” package with internet. Therefore most of everything on cable can be easily streamed (and probably is already)
I know when I was unfortunate enough to pay for Comcast in Seattle it was a far better value (like $15 extra a month) to include basic internet with your average cable package. My guess is either the contractual obligation for Comcast to have a city’s franchise to run FM on cable has expired or they figure by nixing the FM, they will be able to actually monetize a couple customers to add on internet for streaming at home. Imagine the horror that little old lady out in Chehalis must have when she realizes she can’t watch KING-FM on her TV anymore...
For cable providers, switching to digital encoding included upgrading head-end facilities. Most of the local head-end locations had FM/VHF TV antennas which picked up analog FM and local analog TV stations for modulation into their local cable system. Now most local TV stations have fiber connections directly to a local cable head-end. When it came to upgrading the head-ends to digital decoding and encoding, there wasn't much return on keeping a bunch of analog FM receivers, then having to digitally re-modulate them into an all digital cable system.
As someone else mentioned; now one can just ask for a station or forma on their (mono) smart speaker connected to the Comcast Internet Provider.
As someone else mentioned; now one can just ask for a station or forma on their (mono) smart speaker connected to the Comcast Internet Provider.
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