DVR Chatter

Frank wrote:

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What is happening is that the shifty cable company bastards are using the transition to say "we're cutting off analog and you have to get a cable box to get TV," which isn't the case AT ALL.
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I wish that were the case, in order to free up bandwidth for more HD on cable.  The FCC is requiring the cable companies to continue to accommodate analog users until February 2012 by continuing to provide analog of local channels or by providing free converters.  Actually, I would be happy if they just made everything beyond the locals digital, but there hasn't even been any indication of that happening where I live, so far.  Making everything digital would be preferable, but they don't seem as intent on pissing off the analog customers as I am. 

From the wording it would sound like they're referring to OTA only, since that's the problem they refer to, but then Comcast never has been that good at communicating clearly. 

Thanks for setting me straight.  Cable companies are responsible corporate citizens with no hidden agenda and aren't trying to scare granny into upgrading to digital cable or using the 2009 deadline as an excuse to dump analog cable channels.  My bad.

No doubt I missed the whole 2012 thing and how it effects those 5 or 6 channels per market.  As long was we're talking "facts," let's not forget the "fact" that NO cable company is required to carry analog anything to 2012.  They just have to carry the SD channel.  They can do it digitally.  If they do it digitally, they have to give subscribers a box to convert that digital signal.  They don't need to support analog services, just analog TVs.

So granny can go from analog cable with a plethora of analog cable channels and local broadcast channels in analog to:

1. Granny pays to "upgrade" to digital cable to continues getting her broadcast channels and a bunch of additional channels she doesn't want
2. Granny gets a free box and loses all her cable channels but still gets the local broadcast channels.

It also doesn't change the fact that cable companies are cutting off analog services for cable channels that have nothing to do with either 2009 or 2012 mandate using the 2009 mandate (which has nothing to do with them) as an excuse.

I know you wrote that.  It just didn't seem that anyone was taking it into consideration.  If you all don't think the cable cartel is being shifty in this analog shuffle, more power to you.  I've got no analog-only sets anyway.  I'm on an advanced FTTH system.