TWC Today Forums
Present - The Weather Channel 2000 => TWC and your Cable Company => Topic started by: wxntrafficfan on August 17, 2009, 12:02:23 AM
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Sad news, imo. Mike brought up in our nitely stream last night that Charter is undergoing serious bankruptcy. As of March 28th, 2009, Charter Communications is now in Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. Poor stocks in NasDaq, and horrible customer service have drove their customers away. As a result, revenue is falling sharply, and debt has consumed the corporation.
Here are a couple qoutes from the Charter Communcications Wikipedia page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_Communications)
On July 20, 2009, the sale to Apollo Management was rejected, and the pre-arranged plan was converted to a traditional Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, which means Charter will either have to sell a considerable amount of its assets or completely liquidate.
Comcast would be interested in the Northwest including all of Oregon (249,000 subs), Sierra Nevada including Reno/Tahoe and Redding (278,000 subs), Michigan (592,000 subs), and Louisiana/Tennessee (533,000 subs).
Charter has been criticized for poor customer support and frequent billing consistency issues, causing the Better Business Bureau to post a warning to consumers about the company:
"The Better Business Bureau has received numerous complaints regarding this cable, digital TV, and high speed internet access provider. Complainants primarily allege that the firm had improper billing practices, referred customer bills to collection agencies in error, provided poor customer service, used misleading advertising, provided defective internet or cable performance, used improper sales tactics or misrepresented the actual costs of installation and service, failed to properly install or maintain service, damaged customers' property, and failed to honor service appointments. "
Here is another interesting statistic, involving all legacy STARs (4000 and XL's)
Currently, there are 46 known 4000 units across the country.
5 are owned by Charter
Comcast also owns 5
Time Warner only owns 1
Currently, there are 51 known XL units across the country.
10 are owned by Charter
7 are owned by Comcast
Time Warner owns 6
While these are not the best facts to prove my point, Charter does own the most legacy STARs of any cable company.
Charter is much quieter with advertising than Comcast is, and serves a lot of rural areas as well (northern Michigan).
One thing many are concerned about is Comcast and TW updating the STARs in many locations to the Intellistar. This is an issue that bears watching, as Chapter 7 appears imminent.
Now, here's where my personal connection comes into it.
I have recorded 2 Charter legacy STARs (hopefully soon to be 3), and only one Comcast one.
Here are all the Charter STARs I have recorded:
-Asheville, NC
-Morristown/Newport, TN
-Alpena, MI
-Houghton Lake, MI
-Petoskey, MI
and soon to have Mackinaw City, I hope
I am also looking at Kalamazoo, MI and Traverse City, MI.
I have recorded Comcast STARs in:
Lansing, MI
East Lansing, MI
Romulus, MI
Grand Rapids, MI
Bad Axe, MI
I have only managed to record Time Warner in Cincinnati, OH.
So, this appears to be mixed on my end. But I have started this thread to open discussion on the concept of Charter failing, and to update the issue as news occurs. Unfortunately, another Adelphia style transaction appears quite possible.
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First Adelphia, now possibly Charter? :cry: I really hope they survive, but won't be surprised if they end up liquidating in the coming months. You brought up a good point that Charter owns the majority of the known legacy STARs. I have a feeling they will remain in use, as there are still a lot of former Adelphia headends now owned by Comcast and Time Warner that still use legacy STARs, even after more than three years since Adelphia became defunct.
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I guess I can expect an IntelliSTAR when I go back to Chincoteague possibly next year. :cry3:
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Aww, I'm so sorry to hear that. I hope they can bounce back.
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Aww, I'm so sorry to hear that. I hope they can bounce back.
I do as well; a lot of us do. At this point though, Chapter 7 unfortunately appears imminent. However, do remain optimistic :thumbsup:
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Im confused. The purpose of Charter going Chapter11 was only to reduce the amount of debt they had. They werent trying sell the company or anything.
St. Louis-based Charter Communications Inc. (Pink OTC: CHTRQ) filed for bankruptcy in March in an effort to cut $8 billion from its $21 billion in debt.
Apollo was talking about investing... not taking over.
http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2009/07/27/daily40.html (http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2009/07/27/daily40.html)
In fact Charter is already reporting better earnings.
http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2009/08/03/daily59.html?jst=b_ln_hl (http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2009/08/03/daily59.html?jst=b_ln_hl)
I dont think this is the end of Charter yet
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I also think that their recent dispute with Belo Corp. (which is now resolved) might've been another factor.
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Looks like Charter is recovering nicely!
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100302-707005.html (http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100302-707005.html)
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ugh, you have to subscribe. Nonetheless, that is certainly good news! I really was scared for a bit last summer :P
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Odd I was able to see it earlier. Here ya go
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Charter Communications Inc. (CCMM) posted a $12.72 billion profit in the fourth quarter on gains related to its Nov. 30 emergence from bankruptcy protection. Meanwhile, operating results were stronger amid higher revenue per subscriber at the cable-television provider.
Charter recently lost Chief Executive Neil Smit, who left the company to run the cable operations at industry leader Comcast Corp. (CMCSA). He was replaced on an interim basis by Chief Operating Officer Michael Lovett. Smit had been chief executive of the St. Louis-based cable provider since 2005.
The company filed for bankruptcy to deal with its crush debt load. Charter shed $8 billion through that process, cutting annual interest costs by more than $800 million. It still has $13.5 billion of debt.
Charter swung to a profit of $12.72 billion from a year-earlier loss of $1.5 billion a year earlier. The company said adjusted earnings before income tax, depreciation and amortization rose 2.4% to $633 million as revenue jumped 3.3% to $1.71 billion.
Video revenue, which is the company's biggest revenue line, saw revenue decline 0.2%. High-speed Internet revenue rose 8.9%, while telephone revenue jumped 18% and commercial revenue rose 13%.
Average revenue per subscriber rose 8.1% as 57% of customers subscribed to a bundled package, up from 53% a year earlier. On subscriber basis, Internet and phone customers grew while television fell.
Shares closed at $30.30 on Monday and were inactive premarket. The stock has fallen more than 15% since leaving bankruptcy.
-By Nathan Becker, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2855; nathan.becker@dowjones.com
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Looks like they're doing better, but they still have a long way to go.
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If you haven't noticed, they've changed their logo just recently.
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That's a good sign I suppose...
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ec/Charter_logo.png)
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That's a good sign I suppose...
([url]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ec/Charter_logo.png[/url])
:sick:
Also, some failing companies think they have an amazing rebrand to save them, but it ends up being a total flop to consumers and the company sinks for good. And I'll leave it at that.
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That's a good sign I suppose...
([url]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ec/Charter_logo.png[/url])
:sick:
Also, some failing companies think they have an amazing rebrand to save them, but it ends up being a total flop to consumers and the company sinks for good. And I'll leave it at that.
Such as?
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Such as?
I'll just say I've seen companies with great brands fail with a redesign. I could dig out examples, but my brain is far too fried tonight.
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Such as?
I'll just say I've seen companies with great brands fail with a redesign. I could dig out examples, but my brain is far too fried tonight.
Haha thats ok. Its Friday after all. I think all of ours are. Just curious thats all :)
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I sure hope they survive. :( They are my cable provider, after all.
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That's a good sign I suppose...
([url]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ec/Charter_logo.png[/url])
:sick:
Also, some failing companies think they have an amazing rebrand to save them, but it ends up being a total flop to consumers and the company sinks for good. And I'll leave it at that.
Such as?
Tropicana. They tried to re-brand and change their carton design but so many people mistook it for some off/store brand and their sales fell big time. Needless to say they went back to their old design...
http://adage.com/article?article_id=135735 (http://adage.com/article?article_id=135735)
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So this is Charter's new logo, with what is apparently their new slogan. Not the best, but then again, they do have a slogan.
(http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/192/charterlogoandslogan201.jpg)
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Charter is really starting to advertise like Comcast is...
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That may be true, but Charter's ads are better, for a lot of reasons. I really like these three, for example:
"Love" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRPOy0U9P10#)
"Faces" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOSpg09R1OE#)
"Birds and Turtles" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqbY5kl9K9Q#)
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We don't have Charter in Memphis, but I do like the ads. :yes:
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I'm glad Charter's doing much better. :dance: I wouldn't want my cable provider to be bought out by another Comcast or something...
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We have Charter here, but ironically it doesn't cover the Atlanta area itself only the suburban towns right outside the city's perimeter.
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So this is Charter's new logo, with what is apparently their new slogan. Not the best, but then again, they do have a slogan.
([url]http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/192/charterlogoandslogan201.jpg[/url])
Charter's old slogan used to be "Brings your home to life"
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So this is Charter's new logo, with what is apparently their new slogan. Not the best, but then again, they do have a slogan.
([url]http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/192/charterlogoandslogan201.jpg[/url])
Charter's old slogan used to be "Brings your home to life"
Reminds me of TWC's old slogan "Bringing weather to life."
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Even still with a lot of money in debt, I don't think the legacy Charter STAR's will be going anywhere anytime soon. I don't even think many IntelliStar 2's will be bought by Charter until the money worrys disappear. That probably means I'll be stuck with IntelliStar 1 for a couple years.
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Even still with a lot of money in debt, I don't think the legacy Charter STAR's will be going anywhere anytime soon. I don't even think many IntelliStar 2's will be bought by Charter until the money worrys disappear. That probably means I'll be stuck with IntelliStar 1 for a couple years.
Don't worry, the IntelliStar is still good. :yes:
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Even still with a lot of money in debt, I don't think the legacy Charter STAR's will be going anywhere anytime soon. I don't even think many IntelliStar 2's will be bought by Charter until the money worrys disappear. That probably means I'll be stuck with IntelliStar 1 for a couple years.
Don't worry, the IntelliStar is still good. :yes:
Pretty soon we'll be calling IStar 1 a legacy STAR. :P
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Even still with a lot of money in debt, I don't think the legacy Charter STAR's will be going anywhere anytime soon. I don't even think many IntelliStar 2's will be bought by Charter until the money worrys disappear. That probably means I'll be stuck with IntelliStar 1 for a couple years.
Don't worry, the IntelliStar is still good. :yes:
Pretty soon we'll be calling IStar 1 a legacy STAR. :P
And by then we'll have [insert name of future STAR here].
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Charter's old slogan used to be "Brings your home to life"
To be honest, I liked that one better... but this one really isn't that bad. Charter apparently has its own youtube channel, so they are definitely trying to make good public relations. Does anyone know if they have a facebook fan page?
I have to say it's kind of deceptive for them to be advertising that they have so many HD channels, and yet they really don't. No Charter area that I know of has TWC in HD... but I also find it hard to believe that no one who has Charter has TWC HD.
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Charter's old slogan used to be "Brings your home to life"
To be honest, I liked that one better... but this one really isn't that bad. Charter apparently has its own youtube channel, so they are definitely trying to make good public relations. Does anyone know if they have a facebook fan page?
I have to say it's kind of deceptive for them to be advertising that they have so many HD channels, and yet they really don't. No Charter area that I know of has TWC in HD... but I also find it hard to believe that no one who has Charter has TWC HD.
Yes, I did like the older slogan better, as well.
Charter has there own fan page on FB, type in on the search bar: Charter Communications. You should then be able to click on the page.
I know that when I typed in Munising, MI's zip code on TWC HD viewerlink that it said Charter carries TWC HD. That's hard to believe because Munising is a sparcely populated town up in XL country. Also, I believe Charter carries TWCHD in some southern/western headends.
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We have Charter here, but ironically it doesn't cover the Atlanta area itself only the suburban towns right outside the city's perimeter.
That is what we have here in Birmingham, too. My sister and her family, who live about 8 miles down the road from us, had it and then dropped it and switched to AT&T U-verse. The only other cable company that provides service in the Birmingham area is Bright House.
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I know that when I typed in Munising, MI's zip code on TWC HD viewerlink that it said Charter carries TWC HD. That's hard to believe because Munising is a sparcely populated town up in XL country. Also, I believe Charter carries TWCHD in some southern/western headends.
Ironically actually, most of the UP is served by Intellistars, as far as I know. Munising draws Marquette's unit (that's how I recorded it in December 2009). But yeah, that is odd for that area to carry the channel. I would imagine big markets like St Louis (where Charter is headquartered, interestingly) have TWC [HD].
That is what we have here in Birmingham, too. My sister and her family, who live about 8 miles down the road from us, had it and then dropped it and switched to AT&T U-verse. The only other cable company that provides service in the Birmingham area is Bright House.
At least you have that option. We would give anything to have a cable (and not satellite) provider other than Comcast.
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Charter subscriber here, Kingsport TN. We have TWC HD on the lineup, but it's national-only - gotta go to the SD channels to see LFs.
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Charter here switched to Cobridge... SD only with WSXLv3
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I have a friend in Fort Worth, TX who subscribes to Charter. Hope they stay afloat for years to come.
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Talk about a fail, but my Charter headend has been airing their ads frequently at :08/:38 on TWC recently, right over the first half of the LFs. Either somebody's watch is 10 minutes fast or the headend is just desperate for money :P
Plus, Charter has also been airing Comcast Spotlight ads :nono:
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Talk about a fail, but my Charter headend has been airing their ads frequently at :08/:38 on TWC recently, right over the first half of the LFs. Either somebody's watch is 10 minutes fast or the headend is just desperate for money :P
Plus, Charter has also been airing Comcast Spotlight ads :nono:
That is awful that it won't let you see your local on the 8s.
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Has Charter made a full digital transition? I'm at a friend's apartment in Fort Worth, and while she does have digital cable, there are some basic channels that are not. Just today when I was watching Animal Planet, it was showing their "HD" logo variant. So outta curiosity, I tuned into The Weather Channel on Channel 95, I saw the HD feed. Not that I'm complaining, because I finally get to see the HD STAR in action.
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Apparently Charter has recovered from its financial issues of a couple years ago...
They have started its all-digital format in several markets including Southern Cal, Texas and now here in the Western North Carolina.
Last week with the transition, they took my headend that was really struggling (non HD, non On Demand, extremely limited bandwidth, etc...) and have done a massive upgrade.
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As of 3:00PM PT today, my cable headend, Charter, has suddenly blacked out their HD TWC feed on Clear QAM channel 97.1, along with a few other QAM channels that I have received. :huh: I guess Charter must have moved TWC HD to a different package and then re-scrambled it until I upgrade my cable. :unsure: :dunno:
EDIT: As of 7PM PT, TWC HD on channel 97.1 is back on the air. Turns out that the signal was only in an outage stage. :yes:
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As of today, many Charter headends, including the one that serves me, have went entirely digital. Therefore, every TV must have its own cable box in order to get cable on it. In addition to the upgrade, several channels have been moved around, and TWC HD has been added. My SD TWC channel remained the same.
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As of today, many Charter headends, including the one that serves me, have went entirely digital. Therefore, every TV must have its own cable box in order to get cable on it. In addition to the upgrade, several channels have been moved around, and TWC HD has been added. My SD TWC channel remained the same.
My Charter headend hasn't migrated to all-digital nor changed its channel lineup. :no: In other words, even without a cable box, I can still receive channels 2-62 plus a few Clear QAM channels with just a coax cable.
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I can tell you they haven't done that in Washington Parish, either. Heck, they still have major outages whenever strong storms come through the area. St. Tammany Parish, yes, but I don't think all of Tangipahoa Parish is all digital yet.
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It became digital in my area last week. I don't like it, at all. Back to the early days of cable. You can't have cable without a cable box. It doesn't matter if the TV is cable ready. :angry: Digital cable should be an option and not a necessity for cable TV. :thumbdown:
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It became digital in my area last week. I don't like it, at all. Back to the early days of cable. You can't have cable without a cable box. It doesn't matter if the TV is cable ready. :angry: Digital cable should be an option and not a necessity for cable TV. :thumbdown:
Analogue cable is really a waste of bandwidth. Digital cable can carry multiple channels in the same bandwidth that one analogue channel takes. Considering bandwidth is finite, digital cable means more channels are available for the cable company to offer and for the customer to watch.
Would it be nice if TVs with digital tuners could get at least a certain amount of channels without a box? Certainly. But unless someone wants to literally reinvent the entire cable TV infrastructure, it's not possible. Same argument with satellite television.
The other alternative is to buy a TV antenna, which you will own, connect it to your TV, and enjoy the many free broadcast stations out there.
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The other alternative is to buy a TV antenna, which you will own, connect it to your TV, and enjoy the many free broadcast stations out there.
And all you would get would be the major networks, such as ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX?
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Charter still hasn't migrated to all-digital here in Pacific County yet :no: but I imagine they will at some point before the end of this year.
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The other alternative is to buy a TV antenna, which you will own, connect it to your TV, and enjoy the many free broadcast stations out there.
And all you would get would be the major networks, such as ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX?
Plus PBS, plus independent stations, CW, My Network TV, etc., not to mention all the subchannels available.
If you're interested in not spending so much money for television, that's the option you get for free.
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Would it be nice if TVs with digital tuners could get at least a certain amount of channels without a box? Certainly. But unless someone wants to literally reinvent the entire cable TV infrastructure, it's not possible. Same argument with satellite television.
I'd like to disagree and point a few things out. TVs with CableCARD capabilities can use their built in tuners... you just won't get the awesome on-demand stuff and perhaps a few other channels. If cable companies didn't encrypt their signals, anyone would be able to just split a coaxial cable somewhere and steal television, much like in the old days of analog. The CableCARD and STBs (set top boxes) are just there to ensure that cable isn't stolen. So if someone were to split a coax line and run one cable to the STB and another to a TV with a digital tuner that is capable of CableCARDs, you'd get a black picture or it'd tell you that you're unauthorized.
Oh, and has anyone on Charter recieved the new complimentary bump in internet speed to 60mbps? I know headends back in Michigan have already upgraded everyone to 60mbps for free, but where I am in California we are still at 30mbps, despite our cable system going completely digital as of August 5th.
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i dont know what to say but i really wanna hear the words of fellow charter users :wacko:
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Looks like Charter is finally upgrading its TV services in my area to all-digital next month. Just got a notice letter about it in the mail today, that and I also came across this online article (via the Chinook Observer).
http://www.chinookobserver.com/co/local-news/20160322/charter-going-all-digital-with-consequences-for-customers (http://www.chinookobserver.com/co/local-news/20160322/charter-going-all-digital-with-consequences-for-customers)
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Looks like Charter is finally upgrading its TV services in my area to all-digital next month. Just got a notice letter about it in the mail today, that and I also came across this online article (via the Chinook Observer).
[url]http://www.chinookobserver.com/co/local-news/20160322/charter-going-all-digital-with-consequences-for-customers[/url] ([url]http://www.chinookobserver.com/co/local-news/20160322/charter-going-all-digital-with-consequences-for-customers[/url])
In my area they were all diginal in setemper of 2014 or 2015
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Well in my area Charter was digital by July 2014. Have to have a cable box for cable. It no longer matter that your tv set is cable ready. It's very expensive too. :thumbdown:
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It's kinda weird seeing how Charter is so far behind on the digital conversion compared to Comcast for example. Comcast went all digital here in Atlanta way back 6 years ago (Spring 2010).
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It's kinda weird seeing how Charter is so far behind on the digital conversion compared to Comcast for example. Comcast went all digital here in Atlanta way back 6 years ago (Spring 2010).
At least I got to enjoy cable TV without it requiring a box over 4 years longer than you did.
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The Charter cluster in Fort Worth, Denton, and Cleburne went all-digital in 2013. Just last summer, my Time Warner Cable cluster went all digital, and we got digital adapters which are far cheaper than the set-top boxes.
With Time Warner Cable's lines far more advanced with faster internet and crystal clear digital picture, the rest of the aforementioned Charter cluster is gonna have to get with the program. From what I heard, they're still using old lines in some parts.
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http://www.upi.com/Business_News/2016/12/30/NBCUniversal-blackout-looms-for-17M-Spectrum-customers-as-talks-stall/7641483127886/ (http://www.upi.com/Business_News/2016/12/30/NBCUniversal-blackout-looms-for-17M-Spectrum-customers-as-talks-stall/7641483127886/)
Charter Spectrum and NBCUniversal are in a dispute over carriage fees. Millions of Charter customers such as myself could lose access to the NBCUniversal channels, including The Weather Channel, if the two parties cannot come to an agreement by this Sunday, New Year's Day.