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TWC's transformation to Comcast is starting to change.

Easy to understand the dumping of the 13 west coast feeds. Virtually everyone has a DVR or VCR, so they can do their own timeshifting. The duplicate channels are just eating up bandwidth.

The tier shuffling was probably to be expected, to keep in line with Comcast's general agreements with the program providers. Wonder how many channels will actually be left on what used to be called "basic" ?

Nice to see more of the broadcast digital subchannels added. LA-TV was smart to strike a deal with Channel 2; it greatly expands coverage beyond the LP Channel 30 transmitter, and they get cable carriage to boot. Wonder if TV Informa 43 as well as KVQT/21 will try something similar?

I would like to see more audio services in addition to Music Choice, much like the variety the satellite providers have.

I'm still curious about Comcast's new pricing structure, which I'm sure will get dropped like a bomb sooner or later. :p
 
Easy to understand the dumping of the 13 west coast feeds. Virtually everyone has a DVR or VCR, so they can do their own timeshifting.
I personally agree. Watching TV on the west coast can be pretty insomniac. I really don't all of those channels, but I'm much more of an east coaster, and Houston is pretty partial to eastern time zone. I applaud Comcast for making this move. LA-TV was smart to strike a deal with Channel 2; it greatly expands coverage beyond the LP Channel 30 transmitter,
I think you are talking about LAT-TV in happens to be KCVH's Flagship Affilliate. LA-TV is based out Los Angeles, which airs mostly music videos that features mostly Latin Pop Artists (Shakira, J-Lo, Mark Anthony, Mana, et. al).
Wonder if TV Informa 43 as well as KVQT/21 will try something similar?

Sorry to tell you, those 3 channels are NOT under Comcast's radar for additon of channels in their line-up. Comcast also have plans to add The Tube, a 24-hour Video Music Channel-which has ties to KHCW; and V-Me (Pronounced "Veh-Meh") a Spanish Public Television channel-which is connect to PBSHouston, Channel 8.
 
Troy Goodwin said:
I think you are talking about LAT-TV in happens to be KCVH's Flagship Affilliate. LA-TV is based out Los Angeles, which airs mostly music videos that features mostly Latin Pop Artists (Shakira, J-Lo, Mark Anthony, Mana, et. al).
Click to expand...

Ah, yes, you are quite correct. Discovered the difference later on after doing some digging. Name similarity creates a lot of confusion, which will annoy the folks at LAT-TV, I'm sure. The LA-TV website has a press release about their digital subchannel coverage here: http://www.latv.com/sales/articles/broadCastMarkets.html

Still good to see more activity on the digital subchannels. Still curious if Comcast will eventually carry the KETH and KPXB multicasts.
 
The 13 to-be-dropped west coast feeds will probably be:

401--Encore West
421--Cinemax West
423--MoreMax West
425--ActionMax West
427--ThrillerMax West
445--HBO West
447--HBO2 West
449--HBO Signature West
451--HBO Family West
453--HBO Comedy West
455--HBO Zone West
457--HBO Latino West
461--HBO HD West

There is a 14th--Disney West, although it is not considered a "premium" service, so perhaps that stays.

Showtime and The Movie Channel are east feeds only on TWC.

Wonder if the price will change for these premium services when the timeshifted feeds are no longer offered?
 
I just found out Time Warner will no longer carry TV Guide Channel as part of its basic cable package after May 14th. After that, viewers MUST subcribe to digital in order to pick up the TV Guide Channel. TVGC happens to be one of those "Must-Carry" channels. Anyway, HBO and other movie channels have now found themselves home on digital cable exclusively after years on the basic tier.
 
Mediafrog+ said:
Troy Goodwin said:
I think you are talking about LAT-TV in happens to be KCVH's Flagship Affilliate. LA-TV is based out Los Angeles, which airs mostly music videos that features mostly Latin Pop Artists (Shakira, J-Lo, Mark Anthony, Mana, et. al).
Click to expand...

Ah, yes, you are quite correct. Discovered the difference later on after doing some digging. Name similarity creates a lot of confusion, which will annoy the folks at LAT-TV, I'm sure. The LA-TV website has a press release about their digital subchannel coverage here: http://www.latv.com/sales/articles/broadCastMarkets.html

Still good to see more activity on the digital subchannels. Still curious if Comcast will eventually carry the KETH and KPXB multicasts.
Click to expand...

Is KPXB-DT even on the air? I know their power output has them 'whispering' but it appears their transmitter is in Missouri City. I can see the lights on the big sticks from my back yard. One could expect to be able to receive the signal.
 
So how much longer is this transformation going to take? Anyone know what channels will be moved around on standard cable? Most of all, I hope they bring back C-SPAN 2 (ch. 78) on a clearer channel. About two Decembers ago, they removed channels 74-78. I haven't been able to watch the Senate coverage except for a video stream on c-span.org or on my dad's DIRECTV system.

BTW Why are channels 70+ blurry? Channel 72 is still very blurry even though channels 74-78 are gone.
 
KTN Corp said:
BTW Why are channels 70+ blurry? Channel 72 is still very blurry even though channels 74-78 are gone.
Click to expand...

I think this is due to the fact that these channels are on the same frequency as the low UHF channels. On my cable system (Bright House in Tampa Bay), the cable channels in this range are also often snowy on my TV.
 
First changes made today. Added are these broadcast digital subchannels:

Channel 306--"The Tube" music video channel. http://thetubetvinfo.com/ (subchannel of KHCW-DT)

Channel 324--"V-Me" PBS Spanish language programming. http://v-me.tv/ (subchannel of KUHT-DT)

LA-TV supposedly will be added Monday 4/23 as part of its nationwide launch. Guessing Channel 321 on TWC/Comcast http://www.latv.com/ (subchannel of KPRC-DT.)

No other changes yet that I could find. Appears 5/14 is the date for the previously announced channel drops.
 
Got my FCC required letter. (It is still on TWC stationery! By now shouldn't Comcast have at least two logos on the stationery by now as part of the transition?) The cover letter states the date of change as May 15, 2007. There is a chart on the bottom after the signature detailing all the channels moved or added.

Four standard package channels will move to digital with no replacements on standard. In other words, the vacated channels on standard will be empty. Discovery Health will move from Ch. 66 to 103, TV Guide Channel will move from Ch. 80/99 to 100, Lifetime Movie Network moves from Ch. 67 to 119, and ShopNBC will move from ch. 51 to 280.

That means Ch. 51 will be missing again, there will be a gap between 66-67, and no more finding out what programs are on now and will be next. Out of those four, the TV Guide channel is the most important since cable-ready TVs do not have a program guide.

The one thing that I like about cable-ready is that it is so simple: screw the cable into the antenna jack and change the menu setting from TV to Cable. Then enjoy cable. I realized that when I resetted my dad's satellite reciever because it couldn't recieve the Filipino channels on the other satellite after a power surge.

What's next? No more analog broadcasts over cable in 2009?!? :eek: TWC/Comcast seems to be phasing out standard service. It seems standard will be a thing of the past and digital will take over forcibly. We will be forced to buy converters anyway.

Why DTV? Does the government have to cause major disruptions or force consumers to buy unnecessary accessories? $500 million could be saved every year just by switching from $1 bills to $1 coins. About $1 billion can be collected from increased productivity just by switching completely to the metric system. Gee, I wonder which is cheaper: switching to $1 coins which doesn't cost anything to the consumer or buying this HDTV converter for $50-100? ??? Is it too scandalous that the 20 in. TV/VCR combo on the store shelf becomes a 50 cm combo? (Same size, different measuring system. ;D) Why not go with the minor changes instead?
 
Got my channel change letter as well. Tweaks to my earlier "dropped channels" list: Looks like HBO West stays, but they are dropping Showtime HD West, which I missed on my list. And they will be dropping Disney West, as I speculated.

Some of the moved channels are off to stand-alone positions not grouped with anything else, which is weird; however I suppose they will eventually fit into whatever Comcast's expanded lineup becomes.

Apparently Comcast is going to launch with a marketing blitz in the next 8-12 weeks, and we might see a bunch of channel additions then. With the emergence of FTTP/FTTN providers such as U-Verse and Fision here in Houston, Comcast needs to be aggressive in hanging on to subscribers. Much of that will be driven by the new package/price structure, which is still under wraps.
 
Mediafrog+ said:
Some of the moved channels are off to stand-alone positions not grouped with anything else, which is weird; however I suppose they will eventually fit into whatever Comcast's expanded lineup becomes.

Apparently Comcast is going to launch with a marketing blitz in the next 8-12 weeks, and we might see a bunch of channel additions then.
Click to expand...

They may later move something into 51 and 56 and put C-SPAN 1 & 2 on 66 and 67.

I thought I heard an advertisement about TV Guide Channel being gone very soon on the radio. I couldn't tell if it was a backlash from a consumer group or TWC coercing people to get digital cable.
 
Ok, I did some googling and found out "more" about these services.

They look very compelling. I currently have Dish and while very happy and always looking for something that offers more.

Are these fly by night services, similiar to (forget the name) that company that serviced Houston back like ten years ago by putting up a 10 ft pole on your roof?

AT&T seems like a nice offer, and lots of channels but when you go looking to sign up it only offers Dish Network. And while Fision seems worth the while, I fail to be able to see the prices anywhere.

Some input would be grateful. thx
 
yragha said:
Are these fly by night services, similiar to (forget the name) that company that serviced Houston back like ten years ago by putting up a 10 ft pole on your roof?
Click to expand...

You are probably thinking of People's Choice TV, which used 2 GHz MMDS frequencies to distribute 30 some-odd channels to rooftop antennas. Incomprehensible business model, absolutely no marketing, outdated technology. Very few people had it, mostly seemed to be in bars and restaurants where management only needed a few "cable" channels at a low price.

Fision looks shakey. Wouldn't surprise me to see it sold or go dark. U-Verse has the strength and money of AT&T behind it, so much better chance of success.
 
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