Comments on: Cox moving 100 channels to on-demand format

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 04:43:58 +0000

Doesn’t the FCC have a mandate allowing a customer to use a none cable company device to receive their signal?

I could have sworn that a few cable companies had received FCC fines due to lack of none cable company equipment support?!

By: DanO

DanO — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 20:37:13 +0000

So, is the on demand format responsible for the frequent pixelation and audio dropouts I experience on these channels? Sometimes it’s so bad the program is unwatchable and I end up changing the channel. I’m sure the advertisers wouldn’t be too happy to find out that their ads aren’t being seen because the cable company can’t deliver a reliable signal.

By: C.Criner

C.Criner — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:58:45 +0000

Wondering if any of the cablecos thought to maybe send out a customer survey to see which channels we really ARE watching, & take out the ones that are barely used? Wouldn’t that help free up some bandwidth?

Not that I’m expecting logic from them, but still…

By: Nadia Ibrahim

Nadia Ibrahim — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 01:51:59 +0000

Where /to whom do I complain about loosing C-span 2?
I am Cox cable subscriber, we pay enough monthly, I do not want to pay for another box…or service….it all adds up.
Customer Service said” keep scanning you HDTV !!!!
Thanks.

By: Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress

Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:37:52 +0000

You've probably checked out my special page of Cox HD channels HERE. That is the latest information I have. BBC HD is somewhat new, launching in June, so maybe it's just taking Cox time to negotiate a fair price. Time Warner just announced OC customers will get the channel in December.

By: tvmaster

tvmaster — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:28:57 +0000

Any news on BBC HD? I noticed we are now going to get the oh-so-dynamic Fox News HD and Fox Business HD, but still no BBC HD.
Why on earth would we want to watch Doctor Who, Primeval, Torchwood, Robin Hood etc etc etc in HD when we can watch Hannity and O’Reilly’s pimples close-up?
What is Cox thinking? I’ve been sending them email for three years about adding Current TV, but because they have a hate-on for Al Gore, that’s not going to happen (even though thousands of Fullerton students would benefit and even be able to produce material for this channel), only to be told “we don’t have the bandwidth”. Lies.
And now the BBC HD delay and lies continue.
What are all of you being told by Cox? I’m told there’s “no bandwidth”

Here comes Direct TV – tick tick tick

By: Lisa

Lisa — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:49:40 +0000

Cox recently re-did their On Demand and we personally think it sucks. While the menu itself does run faster now, the programming has been cut significantly. For instance, hubby and I wanted to “rent” a “new” movie over the weekend from In Demand and we literally had FOUR movies to choose from, when there used to be 50 or so. Back episodes of HBO series no longer exist, as well as free in-demand movies from HBO, Showtime, Cinemax.

This and the fact that you can only DVR two programs at the same time while having to watch one while doing it — and we’re almost ready to quit Cox.

By: Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress

Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:51:36 +0000

Looks like Comedy Central is popular enough that it is staying on the regular lineup. And according to my Cox HD channel list, Cox already offers Comedy Central HD on channel 760.

By: Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress

Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:47:32 +0000

Lana Ong corrects her statement. She mean to say 400 hours of HD programming. See correction above.

By: beachdoc

beachdoc — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:38:55 +0000

what about comedy central?

By: Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress

Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:40:39 +0000

Well, she is Cox’s PR person. I did just cut and paste her response into the story without further questioning so let me see if she’ll explain what exactly those 400 HD options are…

By: LGT

LGT — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:29:16 +0000

Mr. Foothill says:
November 13, 2009 at 3:21 pm

“now we have over 400 HD programming options” well spun Cox!
—–
No kidding, biggest misrepresentation I’ve ever seen!

By: Mr. Foothill

Mr. Foothill — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:21:55 +0000

“now we have over 400 HD programming options” well spun Cox!

By: Bobomo

Bobomo — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:39:50 +0000

I am aware of all of this. However, I think we can all agree that Cox, Time Warner and Comcast are not keeping analog around for higher quality video (they look terrible, too). And while I agree that compatibility might be an issue for customers, cable companies would just LOVE to rent out more boxes… it’s like printing money for them.

By: Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress

Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:31:54 +0000

Cable co’s are taking the digital signals and reconverting them back to analog for all their analog TV customers. That’s why in the big digital TV transition, cable users didn’t have to worry about a thing. It was a great way to market themselves and gain customers but really, the cable companies just delayed their own digital transition. IMHO, they should have switched everyone over when the over-the-air broadcasters did and thus utilize that marketing to help inform customers of the switch. That would have helped them free up a ton of space for all the HD channels customers want. Cable companies do plan to drop analog in favor of digital eventually but I don’t have the actual dates (they’re out there… it’s a future topic for me). I don’t believe the FCC is forcing them to keep analog, but don’t hold me to that statement until I research it.

By: safedriver

safedriver — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:26:45 +0000

They still have analog signals transmitted on the cable system. Remember that was their big selling point during the DTV transitiion. You can take an analog TV and connect a basic cable package to it to watch analog TV without a converter box. They take their digitized fiber feeds or over the air satellite feeds and convert them to analog and send them out. They are just using their spectrum a bit better by enabling this on-demand method.

By: Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress

Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:24:57 +0000

Thanks for asking.. I’ll try to clarify in story. This version of on-demand means that most users can turn to the normal channel, which tells the cable box to turn on the broadcast of that channel to your house. There could be a slight delay, I’m told, but I haven’t personally experienced switched digital. This isn’t quite the same thing as on-demand and that’s why I call it a type of on-demand service.

By: RSBuletz

RSBuletz — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:20:57 +0000

What exactly does “a type of on-demand service” mean? Do the channels stay where they are (and this is just a behind the scenes thing), or do viewer have to go to Channel 1 then go to the desired channel. I’m just trying to understand if this is just a technical change, or a real change that viewers need to enact.

By: LGT

LGT — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:12:33 +0000

They need to just run fiber already, this is stupid. I’m this close to jumping ship for DirecTV.

By: Crazy Commuter

Crazy Commuter — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:08:01 +0000

Digital signals on coax cable and digital over the air signals are completely different beasts. Also digital is not necessarily better–the ones on Cox are compressed a lot and have poorer visual quality than the analog ones.

With analog channels you can plug the cable into a tv without a box and get TV channels, you can’t do that with digital because it requires an adapter.

Digital is still “better” in many cases, but analog has far higher compatability

By: Bobomo

Bobomo — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:52:03 +0000

Tamara – I am wondering about something that maybe you can find out from the cable companies. All broadcast TV is now digital. All other TV providers (Satellite, Fiber) are all digital. Why is cable the only service that still has analog channels? If, as you say, they take up much more bandwidth, you would think cable companies would be racing to replace them. Are they mandated by the FCC to provide analog channels? I can’t believe this is the case, as the FCC is mandating that all broadcast television be digital. Or are they, as I imagine, just behind everyone else for no good reason?