Cox Cable begins moving basic channels to digital

[machavez00]

My mother has basic Cox Cable, which has started moving basic channels to it's digital tier. It started last month with C-SPAN2. Last week Turner Classic Movies was moved. I told her that this was most likely being done to force their basic analog tier customers to the digital package, and before long the only channels left will be the locals. Has anyone else seen this in other cities?

I have suggested this would be a good time to switch to DirecTV and Qwest DSL and dump Cox all together.

[scooper]

Not a big surprise - I predicted cable system would start doing this over 2 years ago.... The only surprising thing to me is the slowness of the pace of this.

[n3ntj]

The local Comcrap outfil started doing the same last month and it sort of backfired. Everyone was up in arms around here in the newspapers, on the TV news, etc. complaining about it. Lots of people claimed that they were moving to D* or E*.

[Mike500]

It has got to happen.

They need to free up bandwidth for HD. They have a mandate to complete digital transition in 2012.

[Geronimo]

They have a mandate to retain an anakog tier till 2012. they are not in any way shape or form required to go digital afte that. theyare simply alloweed to do that.

[Mike500]

They have a mandate to retain an anakog tier till 2012.


That requirement has to be only for the local channels available in the particular DMA that is served by the cable company. As I understand, anything above that, including all so called "cable channels" can be moved to digital.

[ShawnDHill]

The Time Warner systems here in the Los Angeles area have all of the basic channels carried in both analog and digital form. For example, ESPN is carried on channel 64 (some areas differ) and channel 252 (region-wide), TBS on 41 (analog) and 103 (digital). The only basic channels that aren't carried on the digital side (channels 100 and up) are Superstation WGN, AMC, and the public/educational access channels. TWC (and Comcast before them locally) already moved all the premium services exclusively to digital several years ago.

[geova]

I worked for Cox 3 years ago and by then all the premium channels were already digital no analog. Ticked off alot of customers.