Charter Communications Discussion

[Pop Light Brown]

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.

[Lightning]

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.  Digital cable should be an option and not a necessity for cable TV. 

[Eric]

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.  Digital cable should be an option and not a necessity for cable TV. 

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.

[Lightning]

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?

[TWCJim]

Charter still hasn't migrated to all-digital here in Pacific County yet    but I imagine they will at some point before the end of this year.

[Eric]

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.

[curtjr4]

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.

[DaRobloxCat]

i dont know what to say but i really wanna hear the words of fellow charter users   

[TWCJim]

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

[intellstar2weatherstar3]

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

In my area they were all diginal in setemper of 2014 or 2015

[Lightning]

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. 

[toxictwister00]

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).

[Lightning]

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.

[texasstooge]

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.

[TWCJim]

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.