Going with the broader definition of Seattle media on this board, I was surprised last Thursday to find that Comcast dropped the Weather Scan on channel 101 last week. It's the one that showed the radar 24/7, with forecasts and temps for Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia and Bellingham, and a few other features cycled in, like an allergy report and tides. No commercials, just some upbeat "smooth jazz" instrumentals in the background. It appeared to be offered as a collaboration between the Weather Channel and Comcast. When I called to inquire why my remote won't stop on channel 101 now, the Comcast customer service people in Colorado and Utah had no explanation for why it was removed from the Seattle area lineup.
Anyone here know why? Seemed like a channel that was easy to operate and would never go away. Living in Seattle, having a quick glance at the weather radar seems like something a cable company would want to offer to get people to turn on their TV sets. Especially since we got that nice expensive radar installed on the coast a few years ago. Maybe the channel was too much of an actual public service to fit into Comcast's business plans??
Trying to get much info to help plan a weekend's local travels, for instance, by watching the main Weather Channel channel, or the one that KFFV runs on a subchannel, is a waste of time. Not something you can glance at and get the info you need in a minute. Even on a large screen, I have trouble seeing the details on the little radar box in the lower right corner of the KFFV channel (the word "Seattle" obscures the area around the King-Sno county line), and the font on their graphics makes it hard to distinguish a 6 from an 8.
Frankly it pisses me off that Comcast takes away a simple weather radar channel that I'd come to rely on every day, and still has the gall to keep raising my cable bill every month. Aren't our local communities supposed to be able to regulate the local cable franchises? Does anyone know if any of the towns around here actually puts pressure on Comcast for anything other than a "public access" channel for their city or school district? And anyone know why Comcast suddenly dumped channel 101 last week?
Anyone here know why? Seemed like a channel that was easy to operate and would never go away. Living in Seattle, having a quick glance at the weather radar seems like something a cable company would want to offer to get people to turn on their TV sets. Especially since we got that nice expensive radar installed on the coast a few years ago. Maybe the channel was too much of an actual public service to fit into Comcast's business plans??
Trying to get much info to help plan a weekend's local travels, for instance, by watching the main Weather Channel channel, or the one that KFFV runs on a subchannel, is a waste of time. Not something you can glance at and get the info you need in a minute. Even on a large screen, I have trouble seeing the details on the little radar box in the lower right corner of the KFFV channel (the word "Seattle" obscures the area around the King-Sno county line), and the font on their graphics makes it hard to distinguish a 6 from an 8.
Frankly it pisses me off that Comcast takes away a simple weather radar channel that I'd come to rely on every day, and still has the gall to keep raising my cable bill every month. Aren't our local communities supposed to be able to regulate the local cable franchises? Does anyone know if any of the towns around here actually puts pressure on Comcast for anything other than a "public access" channel for their city or school district? And anyone know why Comcast suddenly dumped channel 101 last week?