I have been seeing a notice lately, as a runner across the bottom of my TV screen during programming on channel 50, to the effect that Time Warner Cable will drop 18 of its channels at one minute past midnight on 12.31.08. This would be bad enough, but I just read on a TV-industry website that certain cable systems will drop network affiliates early next year. I wonder if the cable companies can legally do that. Many people with cable are located in areas that have poor or no local TV reception and depend on getting all the local channels the system is supposed to offer; further, the FCC requires cable systems to carry local broadcast stations--the cable operators cannot pick and choose what network affiliates they will carry on their systems. (Time Warner Cable in my area, for example, may drop channel 3 from Cleveland, which is an NBC affiliate.) Cable channels such as Nickelodeon, MTV, VH1, etc., however, are a different story; cable companies have agreements with them to carry their programming and can legally drop those stations' programming if the agreements with them expire. The reason the cable channels I just mentioned are being dropped from Time Warner systems is that these networks are owned by Viacom, which has a stake in CBS. Why channel 3 may be dropped is beyond me, as the station is owned by Gannett Broadcasting--which is not, to the best of my knowledge anyway, owned, in whole or in part, by CBS Incorporated or by Viacom. I don't think it could be, anyway, since the company owns stations that are affiliated with NBC, ABC and Fox, as well as with the CBS network itself.

Back to the issue of local TV broadcast channels being dropped from cable systems: I think there will be a huge public outcry if any cable system drops any of its area's local TV stations. As I said above, many people with cable have it because they live in areas that, for one reason or another (distance, mountains or other obstructions, etc.) do not receive some or all of the local (or nearest) broadcast television network affiliates' signals. How are these people supposed to watch their area's local (for example) CBS affiliate if the cable doesn't carry it and the channel cannot be received over an antenna? This is an issue not only in large cities and their far suburbs in the US, but in small towns and rural areas as well. As a case in point, I live in an area of northeastern Ohio some 35 miles from Cleveland, where over-the-air television reception is awful. Most folks here have Time Warner cable or Dish Network satellite, so they get every local station as clearly as suburban and city folk have for years. However, channel 3 does not reach my apartment (or anywhere else in this town for that matter) with an antenna, and the OTA reception of the other four network stations (25, 43, 55, 61) is fair to poor at best; the only station that comes in here well enough to watch is CBS channel 19. Hardly anyone in this small town even uses antennas anymore for just that reason. If Time-Warner Cable drops channel 3 from its lineup, the local office will almost certainly be flooded with angry phone calls and e-mails from subscribers here and elsewhere in east-central Lake County who would then be cut off from NBC programming; this could not come at a worse time, as NBC Nightly News has been rated the #1 national newscast. (That rating would fall in a hurry if NBC discovered that its newscast was not being viewed in even a small part of what should be the coverage area of their Cleveland affiliate, although this was likely a problem in this area before cable as well.) The only NBC affiliate anywhere near here is channel 12 in Erie, Pennsylvania, but no one here (that I am aware of, anyway) can get that station since, as I said, most people in this area no longer have TV antennas, and TW Cable in this area does not carry the station. The only other NBC affiliate I can think of that people here might be able to get with a good antenna is channel 21 in Youngstown, Ohio, but again, that is probably a foregone conclusion since the local cable operator doesn't carry it and, once again, hardly anyone around here bothers with big TV antennas anymore.

The digital transition early next year will just make the situation worse in small towns as far as OTA television reception goes, due to digital television's "all or nothing" nature, but will be a boon for cable TV systems and satellite providers, as more and more people, even in urban and suburban areas, get cable or satellite hookups, abandoning their old and, in many if not most cases, worn-out OTA outdoor antennas. This will be almost a necessity in very small towns literally hundreds of miles from the nearest TV station(s), such as Sinclair, Wyoming, population 500 and some 100+ miles from the nearest major city (data from CityData.com).

TV viewers in other very small towns in rural areas, where cable is not available due to distance and/or other factors and in which even amplified, rotatable outdoor antennas on towers do not work well (or at all), will get TV reception via satellite, receiving the networks' satellite feeds for network programming if the area in question is hundreds of miles from the nearest stations, precluding the inclusion of local channels in a satellite service package. One person right here on AK I can think of right off the bat, Chad Hauris, lives in an area of West Texas that may or may not get good TV reception on an antenna. I mention this because he has mentioned in his posts that he has a satellite TV hookup (don't know which carrier) and had lost his OTA television antenna in a storm some years ago.

I have been seeing those messages too, they are making a big mistake in my opinion. I have DirecTv though. I don't think they are affected.

In my area, Comcast has moved the Hallmark channel and Gameshow Network from analog to digital. Their latest TV commercials state that "if your TV is connected to a cable box or directly to a cable jack, you are covered". The question is, how many channels are they going to remove from the analog package during the not-too-distant future? I'll bet the price won't go down, regardless of how many channels they remove.

In my area, Comcast has moved the Hallmark channel and Gameshow Network from analog to digital. Their latest TV commercials state that "if your TV is connected to a cable box or directly to a cable jack, you are covered". The question is, how many channels are they going to remove from the analog package during the not-too-distant future? I'll bet the price won't go down, regardless of how many channels they remove.

Time Warner Cable has made basically the same announcement. I'm glad of that, as I recently downgraded from digital to expanded basic; however, my cable bill is no lower. In fact, it is a bit higher now than it was, but not as high as when I had digital. I may downgrade one step further, to what TW calls "lifeline" basic service (local channels only), after the first of the year. I am somewhat disappointed in some of the cable channels, such as TV Land, which used to carry all sorts of vintage and classic TV shows. Now, the network has movies and newer shows during prime time, with only a few classics still on their schedule (I Love Lucy, The Andy Griffith Show, to name but two). It's at times like this I'm glad I have a VCR and a DVD player. If I downgrade to basic cable, most of my viewing will be shows on DVD and my old favorite VHS videos.

Let's see, TV land shows: Mash, Lucy, Andy, Beaver, Hogan's Heroes, Gunsmoke, Bonanza and Cosby. That's about all I can think of at the moment. Quite a letdown from what they once were. I think WGN has started showing some older shows on Sunday afternoon. The rest of the cable channels don't do much for me. In fact, the only reason it's here now is because of the internet and my Mother likes to watch the news channels. I could get by with the 8 or 9 channels that I get OTA with the DTV box. Our local FOX affiliate has moved over to the NBC affiliate effective 1/5 and I think they will be carrying RTN programming during "non-FOX programming" hours.

I know the cable/sat companies will make money off of the people who can no longer get OTA reception; but, I wonder how many of their current customers they will lose when they discover how many clear digital channels they can get OTA.

Cable customers are "covered" in the sense that the digital cable box produces an analog signal to feed the old fashioned NTSC TV set.

Then there's FIOS, but I've heard something to the effect that when you sign up for phone, internet and cable service from the phone company supplied FIOS, they remove your house's address from a database of places that the phone company is required to provide copper land line service to. And thus you can no longer go back to "plain ordinary telephone service" fed by copper landlines, as your house no longer "exists" in the list of serviceable sites. Then you're locked into whatever rates the FIOS supplier feels like charging.

Cable customers are "covered" in the sense that the digital cable box produces an analog signal to feed the old fashioned NTSC TV set.

Then there's FIOS, but I've heard something to the effect that when you sign up for phone, internet and cable service from the phone company supplied FIOS, they remove your house's address from a database of places that the phone company is required to provide copper land line service to. And thus you can no longer go back to "plain ordinary telephone service" fed by copper landlines, as your house no longer "exists" in the list of serviceable sites. Then you're locked into whatever rates the FIOS supplier feels like charging.

Does that mean that newly built houses cannot get landline phone service?
Also, I would assume that a phone company would not refuse to provide
service even if not mandated by law as long as it finds profit in doing so.

Also, if a user currently using copper lines buys a house that has been
'removed from the list', does that mean he cannot have the same type of
service when moving into his new house?

I personally (even though I earn my living designing hardware for wireless
data networks) don't believe that the reliability of copper landlines with
a pair of wires to every dwelling can be duplicated by any other means.
Issues such as the management of emergency (911) calls would seem to
justify my viewpoint.

Happy new year to all!

f%#k cable i have hd directv. i will never go back to cable ever. steve

Local broadcast channels will never be dropped from cable-TV systems, unless the cable company (or satellite-TV company) gets into a dispute with a broadcaster. All local channels are covered by either of two rules: "Must carry", which means what it says, the cable company must include the channel, commonly applies to less-popular OTA stations such as religious or non-English-speaking stations. "Retransmission consent" commonly applies to the big network stations; it means that a cable company wants to carry a popular OTA channel, the station can require payment for its permission. Cable systems would not be stupid enough to drop the big OTA channels, which are still the most-watched of all.

There is a big publicity campaign going on now with the 2 local network stations, as they can't convince Dish/DirecTV to carry them. They've been airing loads of commercials including some urging a letter-writing campaign. At issue is that much of the viewing area is out of reach of cable, and the sattelite providers do offer local folks network stations from other markets. With the digital changeover I suspect the affliates are worried that many of their loyal viewers will be left in the dark. My father, for example, has Dish plus a small antenna so he can watch the local news. I'll make sure he has a convertor box by the time the switchover occurs, but not everyone will.

There is a big publicity campaign going on now with the 2 local network stations, as they can't convince Dish/DirecTV to carry them. They've been airing loads of commercials including some urging a letter-writing campaign. At issue is that much of the viewing area is out of reach of cable, and the sattelite providers do offer local folks network stations from other markets. With the digital changeover I suspect the affliates are worried that many of their loyal viewers will be left in the dark. My father, for example, has Dish plus a small antenna so he can watch the local news. I'll make sure he has a convertor box by the time the switchover occurs, but not everyone will.

A friend of mine lives out in the boondocks and relies on directv for TV reception. Unfortunately, the local channels are not carried and he can't receive local channels (digital or analog) via rabbit ears. I tried to talk him into an outdoor antenna and he told me that he had too many bad memories from his childhood of outdoor antennas and his wife wouldn't let him put one up, anyway. I think he recently discovered that dish network carries the local channels for $5 extra/month. I don't know why he won't switch. I think he's scared that dish network will be more expensive than directv. I think it will be cheaper, actually.

Speaking of local channels on cable. Back in the early '90's, there was a dispute between the cable company and the local ABC affiliate over how much they were charging the cable company to carry the signal. The sale of rabbit ears and RF "AB" switches soared when it was announced that an agreement could not be reached. Guess what, at the last minute, an agreement was reached and we've had ABC on the cable since then.

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