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Worst Cable Systems in America

ftballfan said:
Charter Spectrum Boulder, MT (Jefferson County - Butte DMA): https://tvlistings.zap2it.com/api/p...19-11-03T02:00Z&dstOffset=-360&stdOffset=-420
Still carries ABC and FOX Denver instead of in-market affiliates. Also, only 38 channels (which isn't that bad for a town as remote as Boulder is; at least Boulder has cable TV, unlike larger Three Forks)
Click to expand...

Theyve completely overhauled their system according to their channel list (it says October 2019). They still carry ABC & FOX Denver but only SD. They carry all in market locals
https://charter.am4m.com/eccharterweb/Aspx/SpectrumLineupView.aspx?DocID=1283
 
mvcg66b3r said:
Time Warner Jasper/Piketon OH (Pike County - Columbus DMA)
31 analog channels, some digital, no HD. Has NBC, FOX, CW and CBS from Columbus and NBC, ABC and CBS from Charleston-Huntington.
http://www.timewarnercable.com/corporate/support/clu/clu.ashx?downloadPdf=true&cluid=870

But the Time Warner system just up the road in Waverly is all-digital and has all the Columbus stations in HD:
http://www.timewarnercable.com/corporate/support/clu/clu.ashx?downloadPdf=true&cluid=895
Click to expand...

It appears Piketon has been integrated with Waverly, per this lineup (dated October 2019, see "Areas Served" at bottom of page 1):
https://charter.am4m.com/eccharterweb/Aspx/SpectrumLineupView.aspx?DocID=11793
 
Looks like that Waverly, OH system carries WSAZ-TV (NBC) channel 3 from Huntington, WV, alongside of the Columbus/Chillicothe (Newark) stations. Not sure if WOUB-TV (PBS) channel 20 of Athens, OH is also technically the Charleston/Huntington market.
 
 
"WTVE" for Watch TV Everywhere. It made me think of the old channel 51 in Reading, PA. They were (are?) WTVE-TV. :rolleyes:
 
mvcg66b3r said:
Little change here, other than the name.
https://charter.am4m.com/eccharterweb/Aspx/SpectrumLineupView.aspx?DocID=8270

Happily, Commercial Point has Intelliwave Fiber, with plenty of HD.
http://www.intelliwavefiber.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Intelliwave-Channel-Lineup-10-25-2019.pdf
Click to expand...

Strangely, Spectrum's Columbus/Delaware lineup also mentions Commercial Point (see bottom of Page 1; dated November 2019):
https://charter.am4m.com/eccharterweb/Aspx/SpectrumLineupView.aspx?DocID=11802

So is Commercial Point served by two Spectrum systems?
 
mvcg66b3r said:
Bright House - East Polk South FL (Tampa DMA)

This system carries WKMG Orlando when it should carry WTSP Tampa! Also no WTTA, WCLF or WXPX.

Basic
2 ABC Family
3 WEDU PBS
4 WTOG CW
5 Hallmark Channel
6 WKMG CBS
7 WVEA Univision
8 WFLA NBC
11 WFTS ABC
12 WMOR
13 WTVT FOX
16 WUSF PBS (digital device required)
17 WGN
19 QVC
20 C-SPAN
23 TBS

Standard
21 TCM
22 AMC
24 TVGN
25 History
26 ESPN
27 CNN
28 HLN
29 Disney Channel
30 TNT
31 ESPN2
32 USA
33 Animal Planet
34 Discovery
35 Lifetime
36 Spike
37 Comedy Central
38 The Weather Channel
39 VH-1
40 MSNBC
41 A&E
42 MTV
43 CNBC
44 Fox Sports Florida
99 Nickelodeon

Premium
9 Cinemax East
10 Showtime East
14 HBO East
15 HBO 2 East
18 TMC East
Click to expand...

It appears Spectrum did a massive upgrade of this system (per a random address lookup); it's now intertwined with the rest of the county:
https://charter.am4m.com/eccharterweb/Aspx/SpectrumLineupView.aspx?DocID=8317
 
Syfy said:
Why does the basic stop at channel 19 and picks up at the upper 90s makes no sense its almost forcing people to buy the spectrum select just to get what should be basic channels.
Click to expand...

Basic is what Spectrum calls lifeline (locals, shopping, religious channels)
Mediacom calls it "Local TV Plus"
Xfinty calls it "Limited Basic"
 
mvcg66b3r said:
These are Hearst-owned stations being pulled from out-of-market Comcast systems.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't be surprised if in-market WJXX ends up taking over WJCL's channel slot.

Brantley County used to go back and forth between the Savannah and Jacksonville DMAs before settling in the Jacksonville DMA in the early 2000s.
 
Who and how defines the word "cursed" or "worst" here? "Cursed" to what? I notice there's a certain poster who likes to use these words to describe cable systems with TV lineups not up to their personal standards. The reality is a lot (most?) of these systems are in small localities where there's probably not enough demand for linear television to profitably carry a major market-like TV lineup, or to upgrade their system to do so. In fact a lot of the QAM systems charted in this list thread seem pretty average.

Chances are at least some of these "cursed" systems with minimalist television lineups are making all their bread selling DOCSIS services (with customers favouring streaming) and keep conventional linear television in place as a loss leader, or to fulfill legal obligations, or both.
 
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oldradiotapes said:
Who and how defines the word "cursed" or "worst" here? "Cursed" to what? I notice there's a certain poster who likes to use these words to describe cable systems with TV lineups not up to their personal standards. The reality is a lot (most?) of these systems are in small localities where there's probably not enough demand for linear television to profitably carry a major market-like TV lineup, or to upgrade their system to do so. In fact a lot of the QAM systems charted in this list thread seem pretty average.

Chances are at least some of these "cursed" systems with minimalist television lineups are making all their bread selling DOCSIS services (with customers favouring streaming) and keep conventional linear television in place as a loss leader, or to fulfill legal obligations, or both.
Click to expand...

I asked this very same question in on this thread many years ago, and like you, there was never a satisfactory answer that came with it. What this poster fails to realize, and always failed to realize, that what he considers a "cursed" cable system is for the same reasons you laid out--there's not enough demand, let alone a population base, to suffice having a 300 or 400-channel cable system in towns of less than 50,000 people. If you live a small suburb (i.e. 50,000 or less) of a major metropolitan city like Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, or Atlanta...sure, you can get away with that, but in smaller places like Birmingham, Grand Rapids, any mid-sized city in Texas, Alaska, or whatever backwater town that Mr. Woods is from, it may not be economically viable.
 
unclehonkey said:
Spectrum Vanceburg, KY (Lewis Couny/Charleston/Huntington, WV DMA)

analog only...37 channels
carries ABC & FOX from Cincy (next county north is Cincy market) along with Big 4 + CW from its home market. PBS is Kentucky PBS

https://tvlistings.zap2it.com/api/printGrid?lineupId=KY16528&timespan=3&headendId=KY16528&country=USA&device=-&postalCode=41179&time=1563496200&pref=&filter=all&token=&timezone=&headendName=Charter Spectrum - Cable&dstStart=2019-03-10T02:00Z&dstEnd=2019-11-03T02:00Z&dstOffset=-240&stdOffset=-300
Click to expand...
This lineup from Portsmouth OH (https://charter.am4m.com/eccharterweb/Aspx/SpectrumLineupView.aspx?DocID=11796) says it includes Vanceburg, but Zap2it and the FCC's Cable Search still has Vanceburg as its own system.
 
mvcg66b3r said:
Spectrum Avenal CA (Kings County - Fresno DMA)
The only non-Comcast system in Kings County. Decent SD lineup, no HD at all, some channels missing.
https://tvlistings.zap2it.com/api/printGrid?lineupId=CA04454&timespan=3&headendId=CA04454&country=USA&device=X&postalCode=93204&time=1545186600&pref=&filter=all&token=&timezone=&headendName=Charter Spectrum Avenal - Digital&dstStart=2018-03-11T02:00Z&dstEnd=2018-11-04T02:00Z&dstOffset=-420&stdOffset=-480

The Spectrum website has the East Coast premium channel feeds listed, when they should be West Coast feeds.
Click to expand...
Avenal's got the upgrade too:
 
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