As long as you'll be back up by Thursday evening, I won't have to release the hounds. :)

Yes, the KSTW-DT transmitter failed on Saturday, Sept. 22nd. we are waiting for technical parts from Harris Broadcast. :eek:
Expectation is to be back on air Tuesday the 25th sometime.
Sorry for the inconvenience:o

R Diotte
CE, KSTW

Thanks for letting us know. :) Best of luck on getting back on the air!

Regards,

Jim Kollar

wareagle, thanks for the Mad Men and channel listing info!

Yes, the KSTW-DT transmitter failed on Saturday, Sept. 22nd. we are waiting for technical parts from Harris Broadcast. :eek:
Expectation is to be back on air Tuesday the 25th sometime.
Sorry for the inconvenience:o

R Diotte
CE, KSTW


That's good news!!

PS, any chance KSTW will broadcast Mariners games on 111 in HD next year? This year, I was always dissapointed when home games were broadcast on KSTW instead of FSNW because the simulcast on 111 was not in HD. In any case, please focus on the transmitter for now, and work on the Mariners in HD for next year.

The OnDemand lady is pitching the free movie "Goodbye Mr. Chips" from TCM, including clips from the 1969 version. The actual movie available is the 1939 version. I wonder where that got crossed up.

Reminds me of a couple of months ago when there was a listing on Starz Kids and Family channel for "A Boy and His Dog". I couldn't believe they would show that movie on that channel, so I recorded it -- turns out it was some other (Disney) dog movie.

Anyone else getting audio dropouts during Ken Burns' "The War" on KTCS-HD 108? I've been getting complete loss of audio for 1-2 seconds every couple minutes - enough to be quite annoying. It's the same whether watching the live broadcast on 108, or watching the recorded version on my DVR (6412). It occured on last night's premiere episode as well as tonight's.

I noticed the dropouts last night and finally gave up on watching it.... just too much to deal with.

Disclaimer: This is kind of long. If you're unhappy with Comcast scraping the bottom of your wallet before they'll let you lease their DVR you may be interested. Otherwise, you may want to move on.

It's been a while since I've posted in this thread (or even read it) but I thought I'd share an e-mail I sent to one of the higher ups at Comcast (can't remember his title; VP of something) as well as his response.

Dear John Dietrich,

I'm finally taking the time to respond to the letter you sent out dated May 11, 2007. I do have a comment on Comcast's service that I'd like to share with you in the hopes that you really do care. I've always wanted to complain about this to somebody at Comcast (other than a CSR) but never have until now.

I love HD. I have a large digital front projection set-up that screams for an HD signal and HD only. I DO NOT watch any TV programs that are not produced in HD. I loved the Motorola HD DVR that I used to lease from you (even with all its quirks and really poor user interface). Unfortunately, I have been without it for over a year due to what I believe is an unfair policy showing total disregard to HD consumers like me.

Unless Comcast has changed its policy on this, in order to get the DVR one must have expanded basic cable which includes all the analog channels beyond 29 or so (not sure the exact number) up to channel 99. Limited basic, channels 2-20 something (what I currently have) is not good enough. Say what? You’re going to make a customer who does not watch ANY analog channels pay for a bunch more they'll never watch before you'll let them pay extra for the DVR and the required digital package to get the DVR? Unbelievable!

I do not have a problem paying for the basic analog line to get the digital signal into my house. I do not have a problem paying the extra $5 or so over the regular HD STB fee for the DVR. I do not even have a problem being required to subscribe to the lowest price digital package, although that should be optional too for customers who just want the DVR and HD locals. I really did enjoy having Discovery HD Theater and INHD 1 & 2 (no longer available) in addition to the local HD digital feeds. But I can not justify my hard earned money being literally thrown away due to this senseless policy. The only thing I can see behind it is greed.

Let's just assume that Comcast did need to recoup the cost of the DVR boxes when they first came out. Fine, but hey, come on; it’s been about three years now. I think you guys are doing OK. For a year and a half I was able to get the CSR’s to find a way through special discount codes to still let me pay for only the limited cable service instead of expanded basic. At the time this was a difference of about $30, which, to me, is a lot of money on a monthly basis when I receive nothing in return for it. This got old very fast. I finally gave up on Comcast changing its policy and reluctantly returned my DVR to the Everett cable store. I was extremely happy with Comcast and the superior HD signal Comcast provides over satellite. But now? If it weren’t for the extremely tall trees all over my property I’d dump Comcast and just go OTA in a second. I’m currently waiting for Verizon’s FIOS TV to come to my neighborhood (fiber is in but only Internet service currently).

So we both lose. Comcast would have more of my money if I could just get the DVR with my limited basic cable and I lose out on not being able to time shift my favorite TV programs, which means I pretty much don’t watch them anymore. In addition to the digital silver package, I used to happily give Comcast my money for HBO HD as well, which is also useless without the DVR. Thank God for HD DVD and Blu-ray discs!

Why not truly cater to the HD enthusiast like you claim you do by dropping this unwarranted policy? Why not take it a step further and actually provide an exclusive HD package only including the DVR at a reasonable price? Then I could possibly afford two or three of the premium HD movie channels. Then everybody wins! Your letter mentions, “several extremely attractive offers to help you get started in HD” yet I can not find even one on Comcast’s web site. Just a bunch of packages with hundreds of non HD digital channels that I would never watch for prices I can’t justify on my budget.

Hopefully I’m not the only HD enthusiast who has complained about this. Hopefully things will change soon (maybe when you dump analog altogether?) and I can once again become a satisfied Comcast customer.

Brent Miller

Here is Mr. Dietrich's response

Dear Mr. Miller, thank you for taking the time to write this note and I appreciate the feedback. Let me try to give you the best answer I can, but bear in mind this is just one man’s opinion. This has become a pretty tough issue.

Our most current policy has actually gone the other way, meaning more restrictive as oppose to less. We currently ask that customers subscribe not only to digital, but to the digital plus level of programming as well along with at least one premium channel like HBO (although we do have digital specials at the moment which include HBO).

In my opinion, I think all of us in the industry (cable and satellite) were a bit surprised by how fast the DVR’s have become adopted out there. It is an excellent product (particularly as we get the bugs out) that has come along at exactly the right time. Hence the incredible demand.

However, these boxes are really quite sophisticated (two-tuner, HD-capable) and still cost us on the order of $400 to purchase, even in the volumes that we buy at. As we only charge $11.95 per month for the rental of the box, it takes 33 months to get our investment back, just to break even on one box.

In our Washington State market, in loose numbers, we installed 75K of these boxes last year, all at $400 a pop. Seattle is one of 200 Comcast markets in the United States that are installing DVR’s. When you do the arithmetic, you can see that this quickly becomes a multi-billion dollar capital investment decision. There is indeed an upper limit on what our shareholders will let spend. If we spent it all on DVR’s, then we will not be able to purchase and install equipment that for example, would allow us to add more HD channels or increase speeds for High-Speed Internet.

So in order to achieve the best overall balance in terms of capital investment, we have adopted these new policies. We will still provide DVR’s to anyone that wants one, but by increasing the programming requirements, the capital economics around the DVR’s work better.

I know that this is not what you wanted to hear, but I did want you to know that I took your question seriously and we very much do appreciate your business. In relation to our HD offers, they are only being done on a local basis, which is why they are not on the Web site. John Dietrich

I haven't responded yet. I was surprised to learn that the requirements have become even more strict. I'm thinking of suggesting a contract with an early termination fee rather than requiring the full analog package AND a premium movie channel. I would imagine they are making payments to Motorola for these boxes instead of just giving them billions of dollars in a cash payment. Do they really need to recoup the money from the customer so fast? Like I said in my letter, I think Comcast is doing OK.

If anybody has anything I could include in a response I'm open for suggestions.

Brent

The OnDemand lady is pitching the free movie "Goodbye Mr. Chips" from TCM, including clips from the 1969 version. The actual movie available is the 1939 version. I wonder where that got crossed up.


that's a good thing. have you seen the 1969 version? absolutely horrid...

I would imagine they are making payments to Motorola for these boxes instead of just giving them billions of dollars in a cash payment. Do they really need to recoup the money from the customer so fast? Like I said in my letter, I think Comcast is doing OK.

I would expect Motorola is not receiving full payment for their boxes up-front, but I also doubt they're allowing Comcast two to three years to pay for them in full, either. So I expect Comcast has significant up-front capital tied-up with these boxes and their RoI looks mighty negative for the first 6-12 months on each one.

Mr. Dietrich's response:

However, these boxes are really quite sophisticated (two-tuner, HD-capable) and still cost us on the order of $400 to purchase, even in the volumes that we buy at.

So he's saying that Comcast pays more than the retail price of a Tivo HD? That's a bit hard to believe...

So he's saying that Comcast pays more than the retail price of a Tivo HD? That's a bit hard to believe...
Not really that hard to believe. Tivo's "retail" price is probably at or below the cost of the hardware - only the subscription revenue makes them any money. And AFAIK, Motorola doesn't get any of Comcast's subscription revenue.

The episode of Mad Men aired last Thursday on AMC was a repeat, so there was no new one available for OnDemand.

Thanks again for this info, I kept checking OnDemand every couple hours hoping to get the 10th episode. Oh well, I can wait a couple more days.

I know this has been an issue for many of us Comcast HD subscribers for the past couple of years but I read a release on engadgethd.com saying that Comcast is in fact adding 5 new HD stations in certain markets. Is Seattle one of them? Please let it be so. TBSHD for the MLB Playoffs would be amazing, and renew my faith in Comcast, plus what would it take for them to give us NFLHD on the basic tier, a lawsuit?...fine.

Anyone else getting audio dropouts during Ken Burns' "The War" on KTCS-HD 108? I've been getting complete loss of audio for 1-2 seconds every couple minutes - enough to be quite annoying. It's the same whether watching the live broadcast on 108, or watching the recorded version on my DVR (6412). It occured on last night's premiere episode as well as tonight's.

Yep. Only solution was to watch somethung else. :(

Anyone else getting audio dropouts during Ken Burns' "The War" on KTCS-HD 108? I've been getting complete loss of audio for 1-2 seconds every couple minutes - enough to be quite annoying. It's the same whether watching the live broadcast on 108, or watching the recorded version on my DVR (6412). It occured on last night's premiere episode as well as tonight's.
Bad news... same dropouts in their morning repeat broadcasts on Comcast 108. I don't get offair, so can't check that. I emailed KCTS and they confirmed there were problems with first two days of The War, but hope subsequent broadcasts will be okay. It has been very distracting.

I know this has been an issue for many of us Comcast HD subscribers for the past couple of years but I read a release on engadgethd.com saying that Comcast is in fact adding 5 new HD stations in certain markets. Is Seattle one of them? Please let it be so. TBSHD for the MLB Playoffs would be amazing, and renew my faith in Comcast, plus what would it take for them to give us NFLHD on the basic tier, a lawsuit?...fine.

Highly unlikely, until Seattle finds a way to solve the bandwidth crunch. I'm just pissed that Comcast makes these announcements knowing that some major markets won't see the channels for a long time. We still don't have channels that other markets have had for a YEAR.

Highly unlikely, until Seattle finds a way to solve the bandwidth crunch. I'm just pissed that Comcast makes these announcements knowing that some major markets won't see the channels for a long time. We still don't have channels that other markets have had for a YEAR.

I wonder why our system can't take additional HD when others can. I think they're just playing games.

Is Seattle one of them? Please let it be so. TBSHD for the MLB Playoffs would be amazing, and renew my faith in Comcast.

My faith in Comcast adding any significant amount of HD this year in our area is dwindling fast, but hopefully I'm wrong. I emailed our VP's and another Comcast consultant a few weeks ago about this same topic and haven't got a response back from any of them. Last year in October when I emailed Steve and John, I got a response right away saying we would get UHD and MHD in December. We ended up getting these channels about 6-11 months after a lot of other Comcast markets already had them.

Currently, some Comcast markets will soon carry 8 more HD channels that we do. Seattle is falling behind in HD quickly so you'd think they'd be working on adding some soon with D*'s new channels up today and the possibility for FiosTV arriving here next year in certain areas.

BTW, has anybody seen the 21 new HD channels they added on D* today on a good display to compare it with Comcast HD?

And then there's this report from last week:

I got email back from Kipp and he said there are no plans to add TBS - HD or other hd channels in seattle anytime soon. I'm so sick of comcast....

imo, that was a very nice, well written reply. he was frank and seemed honest and sincere. i want moca through comcast, or iptv. probably be a while though.

I got email back from Kipp and he said there are no plans to add TBS - HD or other hd channels in seattle anytime soon. I'm so sick of comcast....

Wow, I totally missed this post, thanks gdeep, and thanks for quoting it again Wareagle. I really had a small shred of hope we'd get at least a couple HD's by the end of this year, but actually anticipated more. Saying we won't get any HD anytime soon... Comcast's definition of soon usually means months so to me this statement means they probably don't plan on doing squat till sometime in 2008 or even later.

This is quite dissapointing news after reading parts of California got HGTV-HD and Food-HD added today on Comcast. I thought cool, finally the next wave of HD is hitting the west cost, maybe we will too soon.

I'm also feeling a bit ripped off after reading that quote. In early 2006 I called Comcast to ask about HD service and they lied to me saying they were going to add at least a dozen new HD channels by the end of the year. I believed them. So I signed up for the full platinum service to get the most HD available which has added up to thousands of dollars now. And I don't mind paying the full premium if I knew I was helping to support a service dedicated to bringing us more HD. but no... wrong again.

Thanks Comcast

Thanks Comcast

Thanks (for nothing) Comcast.

Thanks Comcast Seattle for not adding new hd channels...I wish i can get Directv but I can't :)

Changes:

V-me added to 82-2
104-X multiplex has moved to 116-X
105-X multiplex has moved to 117-X
116-X multiplex has moved to 118-X
On Demand Preroll removed from 121-X

Problems (not reflected in attached list, in hopes they will be fixed):

KSTW remap to 11-1 is broken, must use 111-2
KCPQ remap to 13-1 is broken, must use 111-1
Thanks! 111-1 and 111-2 work great! Apparently my sony thinks that the links to 11-1 and 13-1 are still valid so it won't auto-detect the native channel. Searching for channels by hand is boring...

Only problem is that now abc seems to be broken too? I can't get komo hd at 4-1 or 82-4. Anybody else seeing this? Have they moved it again?

Am I correct in thinking that I'm not going to be able to watch the baseball playoffs next week in HD? If I looked at the schedule correctly, the first opportunity won't be until Oct. 12th. With D* adding more to their HD package, I may have to switch back.

My DCT 3612 was having too many lockups so I swapped it out for the new DCH3416. It seems to behaving well with no lockups and other "features" I have been having with my old DCT 3612.

Should I be crossing my fingers here??

Have I just swapped one problem set for another??

Am I correct in thinking that I'm not going to be able to watch the baseball playoffs next week in HD? If I looked at the schedule correctly, the first opportunity won't be until Oct. 12th. With D* adding more to their HD package, I may have to switch back.

Perhaps you'll get to watch a few National League division/wildcard playoff games among tied teams, to see who gets into the postseason.

Howdy all, especially for HDHomerun owners...do you have problems with The CW? It stutters a lot for me with both audio and video drops. I have little to no problems with other HD channels.

I don't know if it helps, but during the stutters, my receiver sometimes switches between stereo and 5.1. I'm using Vista MCE with a XBOX 360 front end. I get similar results when viewing the channel using VLC. The HDHR cmd line client reports the channel as qam256:717000000.

I had no problems when using my TV's tuner. Unfortunately, it doesn't show up in a channel scan for some reason.

Any suggestions or at least have similar problems? I needs my Smallville. :p

Here's a link to the official press release from MLB about the playoff TV schedule:

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20070514&content_id=1964536&vkey=pr_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlbtm

Looks like there is a slim chance that some of the Division Series games will be on TNT (I think this will occur if two games overlap). I wonder if these will be in HD?

As far as I can tell, TBS HD isn't really rolled out to a lot of people yet (or is it more widely available and just not in our area?) I think MLB should have been more strict about making sure TBS got the HD channel out there before signing the deal.

If I'm correct in my thinking that not a lot of people have TBS HD yet, they should show all the TBS games also on TNT HD (or that silly Mojo channel like FSN HD does sometimes), between the two channels they would cover a lot more of the country.

Has anyone noticed that if you go to Comcast's website and look up the TV, the digital packages seemed to have changed? I have the Digital Classic which doesn't seem to be showing up anymore (at least not right now when I looked). They have this one called the Digital Starter now that I don't remember seeing before. The two seem to have all the same channels but the Digital Starter is priced at $50.25 (I think I pay like $62 for Digital Classic). Anyone know the difference? Should I be calling Comcast and telling them to switch me to Digital Starter?

Thanks.

Sorry, I was wrong. Digital Starter has less channels then Digital Classic. Looks like you get the local HD channels but not ESPNHD/ESPN2HD and then the 600s (ie TNTHD,UHD,MHD,DHD,MOJO). It's interesting that Digital Classic doesn't show up anymore...looks like if you were signing up today and wanted ESPNHD you'd have to sign up for Digital Preferred with HBO which has an ongoing price of 81.23 a month (what a rip off).

Every time I switched packages, the online channel lists seemed out of date.

Ok this is getting out of hand... After finding out there will be no new HD channels added anytime soon here in Seattle I find out the following today...

If you happened to live in Clark County Wa, to the south of us, like Kelso, Longview etc, or you even live way out somewhere out in timbuktu Oregon... this was announced today

effective on or after oct 30 2007 Comcast will make the following changes

new networks being added
comcast sportsnet(november1) added to expanded basic ch 37
fox business network added to digital classic ch 130
NFL NETWORK HD added to sports entertainment tier hd ch 717
THE HISTORY CHANNEL HD added to digital classic hd, channel 750
A&E HD added to digital classic hd, channel 752
USA NETWORK HD added to digital classic hd, channel 758
HGTV-HD added to digital classic hd, channel 767

Go figure...:rolleyes:

If you happened to live in Clark County Wa, to the south of us, like Kelso, Longview etc, or you even live way out somewhere out in timbuktu Oregon... this was announced today

effective on or after oct 30 2007 Comcast will make the following changes

new networks being added
comcast sportsnet(november1) added to expanded basic ch 37
fox business network added to digital classic ch 130
NFL NETWORK HD added to sports entertainment tier hd ch 717
THE HISTORY CHANNEL HD added to digital classic hd, channel 750
A&E HD added to digital classic hd, channel 752
USA NETWORK HD added to digital classic hd, channel 758
HGTV-HD added to digital classic hd, channel 767


This is completely insane! We should all threaten Comcast with a mass exodus. I'd switch to DIRECTV if they only had our local CW and PBS stations in HD.

Ok this is getting out of hand... After finding out there will be no new HD channels added anytime soon here in Seattle I find out the following today...

If you happened to live in Clark County Wa, to the south of us, like Kelso, Longview etc, or you even live way out somewhere out in timbuktu Oregon... this was announced today

effective on or after oct 30 2007 Comcast will make the following changes

new networks being added
comcast sportsnet(november1) added to expanded basic ch 37
fox business network added to digital classic ch 130
NFL NETWORK HD added to sports entertainment tier hd ch 717
THE HISTORY CHANNEL HD added to digital classic hd, channel 750
A&E HD added to digital classic hd, channel 752
USA NETWORK HD added to digital classic hd, channel 758
HGTV-HD added to digital classic hd, channel 767

Go figure...:rolleyes:
I traded emails with a couple of senior Comcast guys and I griped about the slow HD rollout here and I specifically griped about wanting TBS-HD for the playoffs. One of the guys told me: "The only item we can share is that we definitely light up The NFL Channel in HD on November 1." The other one said: "Although I cannot get into the specifics, you will be pleased with some news that will be coming in the near future."

If Clark County is getting all of those channels, we probably will too. For whatever reason, we don't get much advance notice here in the Seattle area. I just hope we get TBS-HD in time for the baseball playoffs.

Where the heck is National Geography HD? It even disappears from on-demand.

BTW, heard on the radio today, MLB playoff will be on channel 665.

Where the heck is National Geography HD?

Yeah I don't know what happened. I had heard we were going to get that next like 6 months ago, but still nothing... btw Clark County has had NGCHD since January of this year.

BTW, heard on the radio today, MLB playoff will be on channel 665.

Cool, this will totally work for me. I wanted TBS-HD too and still do but I've heard a lot of people complaining that so far it's been 100 percent stretch-o-vision, just the playoffs will be in HD, but if we get them on 665 in HD, I can wait on TBS til they start broadcasting real HD.

[QUOTE=jhachey;11759327]... One of the guys told me: "The only item we can share is that we definitely light up The NFL Channel in HD on November 1." The other one said: "Although I cannot get into the specifics, you will be pleased with some news that will be coming in the near future." ...
QUOTE]

uh, let me translate those for anyone who does not speak Comcastic:

"I think NFL-HD may be available to some people somewhere in the US sometime after Nov. 1, but I'm not sure because nobody knows anything in this godforsaken s**thole."

"Uh, I don't really know anything either but I've heard that some Comcast subscribers may get some kind of news that won't make them want to rip the cable out of the wall when they hear it, but I could be wrong. This news will arrive sometime between now and when hell freezes over."

I traded emails with a couple of senior Comcast guys and I griped about the slow HD rollout here and I specifically griped about wanting TBS-HD for the playoffs. One of the guys told me: "The only item we can share is that we definitely light up The NFL Channel in HD on November 1." The other one said: "Although I cannot get into the specifics, you will be pleased with some news that will be coming in the near future."


Thanks for emailing Comcast and posting this info. It's good to hear at least something is on the horizon for us in HD. I sure do hope the good news will indeed be pleasing. I've been tricked by them before;)

I'm gonna send another email to them myself soon. I'm not sure if it's doing any good, but maybe they are finally listening.

A lot of the local Comcast management is residual (residue?) from our previous cable providers (AT&T, TCI, etc.), and they've always seemed to want to treat customers like mushrooms. Let's hope that we end up being pleasantly surprised (but don't count on it).

Thanks again for this info, I kept checking OnDemand every couple hours hoping to get the 10th episode. Oh well, I can wait a couple more days.

You'll be glad to know that Mad Men HD #10 is up now.

Surprised no one has pointed this out yet ...

"effective on or after oct 30 2007 Comcast will make the following changes"

On or AFTER? Wow, talk about giving yourself a little leeway.

It will be great if comcast airs tbs hd on mojo during playoffs. My fingers are crossed.

Is the Oregon Cal game in HD for anyone? I can't believe that this game is being broadcast in SD only...

Is the Oregon Cal game in HD for anyone? I can't believe that this game is being broadcast in SD only... If I wasn't so lazy, I would call KOMO and complain. Maybe someone didn't flip to the HD feed.

So annoying. I'm sure I've said this before, but I can't believe this is so difficult to get right. Yet I see it happening over and over and over.

What's the number/extension to call and complain? I called their main number but they don't seem to have an receptionist working, and I didn't know what extension or department to try (I said "master control" but that didn't work).

I'll call, I want... no NEED to see this game in HD :p

Searching for the number online right now...

Called KOMO, according to them the game is not being broadcast in HD... so I guess it isn't a technical problem, just an idiots didn't send camera's to Oregon problem...

Wow. Lame. Thanks for calling!

So annoying. I'm sure I've said this before, but I can't believe this is so difficult to get right. Yet I see it happening over and over and over.

What's the number/extension to call and complain? I called their main number but they don't seem to have an receptionist working, and I didn't know what extension or department to try (I said "master control" but that didn't work).
I just called the newsroom and had them transfer me to master control (206-404-4145)

I see the Huskies listed for 5 PM on channel 4 but I don't see them on 104. Is Tivo lying to me or is hte USC-UW game not on 104?

Huskies will be on in 3.5 hours...

Yeah, I've got the Huskies game in HD at 5PM. Go Dawgs!

I see the Huskies listed for 5 PM on channel 4 but I don't see them on 104. Is Tivo lying to me or is hte USC-UW game not on 104?

The actual game starts at 5:07 - the pregame may not be HD.
Comcast guide says the game is HD.

Surprised no one has pointed this out yet ...

"effective on or after oct 30 2007 Comcast will make the following changes"

On or AFTER? Wow, talk about giving yourself a little leeway.

yeah I noticed that too, however I think the "after" part might be refering to changes coming after Oct 30th on Nov 15th, that were announced along with the new HD channels.

But yeah, with Comcast you never know, that certainly gives a lot of leeway. I remember getting a letter from Comcast over a year saying they have upgraded our area with the "ability" to add dozen's of new HD channels. We only got 3 since that letter and those only happened after swapping out some analogs to digital. Anyway, looks like that's what they are doing more aggressively in Oregon. I sure wish they do that here.

BTW, rumor is they will even get more HD additions before the end of the year. With all the analog swapping and removal, it looks like they'll have room.

Check it out. Here the rest of their Comcast notice:

For parts of Oregon and SW Wasthington:

NETWORKS MOVING
JEWELRY TV MOVING TO DIGITAL BASIC CHANNEL 98
TV MART MOVING TO DIGITAL BASIC CHANNEL 315
HALLMARK CHANNEL MOVING TO DIGITAL STARTER CHANNEL 185&18
MSNBC MOVING TO DIGITAL STARTER CHANNEL 128
OXYGEN MOVE TO DIGITAL STARTER CHANNEL 500&68
YOU WILL NEED A DIGITAL BOX TO VIEW THE ABOVE CHANNELS

THE HISTORY CHANNEL MOVING TO CHANNEL 50
THE WEATHER CHANNEL MOVING TO CHANNEL 47
UNIVERSAL HD (DIGITAL CLASSIC HD) MOVING TO CHANNEL 757

NETWORKS THAT WILL BE REMOVED
CNW14 CH 14
HBO FAMILY EAST CH 556
MORE MAX CH 564
SHOWTIME EAST CH 575
SHOWTIME SHOWCASE EAST CH 579
SHOWTIME EXTREME EAST CH 581
TMC XTRA EAST CH 592

THE FOLLOWING CHANGES WILL BE AFFECTIVE ON OR AFTER NOVEMBER 15,2007
KXPD-LP (AZTECA AMERICA) ADDED TO DIGITAL BASIC CH 317&617
AZTECA AMERICA (SATELLITE) REMOVED FROM THE H TIER CH 617

Below is the response I received from KCTS regarding the audio dropouts during Ken Burns' "The War" on KCTS-HD.

I saw in other threads this PBS HD broadcast had audio problems all over the nation. The exact symptoms varied in different PBS markets - in many cities this manifested itself as "out of sync" (words lagging behind lips); in others, audio dropouts. Perhaps the symptoms varied depending on what type of encoder was used at each local station.

In any case, people seem to agree the problem originated with the master encoding from PBS national. The national PBS engineers say they've fixed the problem on their end, and are sending out new feeds of all the episodes. Since I experienced the same audio dropouts during all four initial episodes of this mini-series on KCTS-HD, I'd guess perhaps these initial four (problem) feeds were all downloaded & cached on KCTS local video servers prior to the problem being fixed.

Hopefully we'll get new, fixed feeds for the next four episodes starting on Sunday.

Thank you for your interest in KCTS Television.

Here is some additional information about the recent broadcast issues:

The digital technology used in broadcasting high definition programs requires the translation of picture and sound information into high volumes of very discrete electronic information, which is then encoded into a digital transmission stream which must be received and decoded by the equipment that plays it for the viewer. In the case of this series, the demands placed on the encoding/decoding process are extremely high, because the picture information is full of visual "noise" resulting from the graininess of the archival film being used and the sound information is full of detail related to the complex music and sound effects.

We have been told by PBS that there was more digital information to process than their equipment was initially able to handle. One result was that when the picture and sound were recombined at the receiving end, they sometimes were out of synchronization. We have been told that PBS engineers have reconfigured the equipment at their end to eliminate this problem, so that all future broadcasts of these HD episodes should be correct leaving PBS.

However, they say, since the encoding/decoding process repeats itself several times along the path between PBS and the viewer (such as within the local cable company's transmission process) it is possible that some viewers may still experience some of these problems, depending on the limitations of the equipment involved in each viewer's transmission path. Hopefully if such problems continue, they will be much reduced.

All future HD broadcasts of programs in this series, including repeats of the earlier episodes, will be new feeds from PBS, and KCTS engineers are doing their best to ensure that all digital signal processing within the control of KCTS is accurate. We do welcome hearing from any viewers who continue to experience problems, so that we can try to pinpoint exactly where those problems may be originating.

Best Regards,

Juliene Gschwend
KCTS Television
Viewer Services

I just switched to Comcast a couple of months ago to get FSN HD broadcasts of the M's and other sports.

Right now FSN HD is on Channel 664 (Mojo or whater it's called) when certain games are played. And they turn off the HD broadcast at the end of its scheduled time, even if the game is not over. That happened to me a couple nights ago when the M's game went to 12 innings.

Do you know if there are any plans for Comcast to add a full time channel dedidated to FSN HD?

And if not, do you know if we are currently getting all of the FSN HD broadcasts on Channel 664, or just some of them?

Do you know if there are any plans for Comcast to add a full time channel dedidated to FSN HD?

I expect there are long term plans for such, but I doubt we will see FSNHD for over a year. It would be great however to have this year's NW college basketball games in HD.

don't know if any of you watch "the tube" on channel 116 but it is going dark tonight. Dear friend of THE TUBE Music Network,

We regret to inform you of the fate that has befallen The Tube Music Network. October 1, 2007 The Tube ceased its national broadcast.

Viewers, Artists, Music Companies, Investors, Business Partners, TV stations, Cable companies, Advertisers , Friends and our creative partners @Radical Media - your support of The Tube has always been highly valued and appreciated. The collective efforts of this team, fueled by the letters we received from viewers, sustained THE TUBE as it struggled through the financial limitations that ultimately contributed to its incapacitated state.

Thank you for inviting The Tube Music Network into your life.

Sincerely,

The Tube Music Network staff

Can someone help with a weird problem I'm having?

The TV set is a 37" Panasonic plasma with a QAM tuner, the cable is coming in straight from the wall, no set top box. The problem is with Fox HD. The channel seems to alternate which channel it comes through on. One time it will be on 13-1, the next time it will be on 111-1. The problem with 13-1 is that it will only stay tuned there for about 15 seconds, at which point the picture goes to snow and the TV sets itself to channel 1. So I have to switch to a different channel, and then go to 111-1.

So is this a problem with how Comcast is mapping the channel, or is this a problem with the TV?

(Obviously this is pertinent today, since the Seahawks are playing...)

don't know if any of you watch "the tube" on channel 116 but it is going dark tonight.

Mmmm . . . . not sure whether or happy or sad. I enjoy this channel on occassion, mainly because of the 5.1 broadcast, but note that removing such may help make room for another HD channel.

Okay, I haven't sifted through everything, but I've been searching and digging and I'm finding the old "QAM listing" posts, but all the links seem to have disappeared?

I'm having a helluva time getting KOMO and FOX on my Westi. Anyone know how to force it to tune a channel in HD (another thing I can't seem to find anywhere).

Ah, found the answers. Had to search for pastiche (thank you!) and find the right post. Sheesh! Was there a reason this wan't made a sticky?

Can't force the QAM tune. Gotta connect closer to the pole and see if more channels get found.

Okay, I haven't sifted through everything, but I've been searching and digging and I'm finding the old "QAM listing" posts, but all the links seem to have disappeared?

I'm having a helluva time getting KOMO and FOX on my Westi. Anyone know how to force it to tune a channel in HD (another thing I can't seem to find anywhere).

Ah, found the answers. Had to search for pastiche (thank you!) and find the right post. Sheesh! Was there a reason this wan't made a sticky?

One very simple reason: I don't know how to make it a sticky. :)

I have tried to remember to remove the old lists when I upload the new ones to keep it simple. If there's an easier way to do this, let me know!

don't know if any of you watch "the tube" on channel 116 but it is going dark tonight.

:( That ruins my weekend. The Tube is my habitual background noise. I even bought a cheap QAM tuner to pick it up on the SD set in my bedroom. :(

Maybe they'll pick up RTN to replace it? That's the only one of the new sub-channel networks other than The Tube that's interested me, and it hasn't been picked up in Seattle yet.

And there it went... 9PM... gone. :(

I notice the audio problems were still there for last night's episode of The War.

Below is the response I received from KCTS regarding the audio dropouts during Ken Burns' "The War" on KCTS-HD.

I saw in other threads this PBS HD broadcast had audio problems all over the nation. The exact symptoms varied in different PBS markets - in many cities this manifested itself as "out of sync" (words lagging behind lips); in others, audio dropouts. Perhaps the symptoms varied depending on what type of encoder was used at each local station.

In any case, people seem to agree the problem originated with the master encoding from PBS national. The national PBS engineers say they've fixed the problem on their end, and are sending out new feeds of all the episodes. Since I experienced the same audio dropouts during all four initial episodes of this mini-series on KCTS-HD, I'd guess perhaps these initial four (problem) feeds were all downloaded & cached on KCTS local video servers prior to the problem being fixed.

Hopefully we'll get new, fixed feeds for the next four episodes starting on Sunday.

...
'monitoring' The Tube broadcast was one good thing about the job when we were airing less then stellar programming on our main streams.
...


Then I suppose you must've seen almost everything The Tube ever showed.

Is the chanel 116 filler page correct in stating that MYQ gets to choose the replacement for The Tube?

If Clark County is getting all of those channels, we probably will too. For whatever reason, we don't get much advance notice here in the Seattle area. I just hope we get TBS-HD in time for the baseball playoffs.

Don't count on it! When we moved from Clark County to King County in August, 1998, TCI (at the time) had a lot fewer channels here than in Clark County. Every time I've checked since, Clark County always has more channels than here. Many channels that were in the "extended basic" there were only in digital here. We tried digital & the service went from bad (got about half the available channels) to worse (maybe got 1 or 2 channels) in the month we tried it. We've had Dish Network since September, 1998, & have been very happy.

I called Comcast to ask whether the TBS HD games would be put on Mojo since Comcast doesn't have TBS-HD in Seattle or Bremerton. The CSR said no. But, he offered to reduce my bill this month. I was on my cell phone, which went dead at that point. So, we'll see about the bill reduction.

Can anyone in the Pacific Northwest confirm if FSN NW is broadcasting in 1080i or 720p?

It is a fox station so it is 720P.

It is a fox station so it is 720P.

I thought it was 480i, other than special events broadcast on mojo.

I called Comcast to ask whether the TBS HD games would be put on Mojo since Comcast doesn't have TBS-HD in Seattle or Bremerton. The CSR said no.


Bummer to hear we won't get the playoffs even on 664 :(... and it just so happens that a bunch of Comcast markets just added TBS-HD today and others markets will be getting it on Oct 3rd. Oh and while they were at it, some markets threw in CNN-HD and History-HD today also.

But the good news is that this probably means we might get TBS-HD for the playoffs in either Oct 2008 or 2009.:rolleyes:

Ah, found the answers. Had to search for pastiche (thank you!) and find the right post. Sheesh! Was there a reason this wan't made a sticky?

Can't force the QAM tune. Gotta connect closer to the pole and see if more channels get found.

so where'd you find these answers? and what were they? is komo still at 82-4?

Bummer to hear we won't get the playoffs even on 664 :(... and it just so happens that a bunch of Comcast markets just added TBS-HD today and others markets will be getting it on Oct 3rd. Oh and while they were at it, some markets threw in CNN-HD and History-HD today also.

But the good news is that this probably means we might get TBS-HD for the playoffs in either Oct 2008 or 2009.:rolleyes:


I knew this was going to happen....

Howdy all, especially for HDHomerun owners...do you have problems with The CW? It stutters a lot for me with both audio and video drops. I have little to no problems with other HD channels.

I don't know if it helps, but during the stutters, my receiver sometimes switches between stereo and 5.1. I'm using Vista MCE with a XBOX 360 front end. I get similar results when viewing the channel using VLC. The HDHR cmd line client reports the channel as qam256:717000000.

I had no problems when using my TV's tuner. Unfortunately, it doesn't show up in a channel scan for some reason.

Any suggestions or at least have similar problems? I needs my Smallville. :p

I watched "Aliens in America" lastnight on CW11 without any problems. I have an HDHomeRun on Windows Vista MCE. I dont use an xbox360 for my frontend.

HTPC Specs:
P4 2.8ghz
1GB RAM
Nvidia 6600 AGP
SB Live! (drivers only support stereo, no 5.1)
Vista Ultimate
Using PowerDVD 7.3 Decoders

Well, it's official...Comcast has been beaten to the sweet fruit we've all been waiting for. Sci-fi HD apparently launched on Directv today. Do we expect Comcast to add gobs of stations before the end of the year...everyone together now "Not a chance!"

Well, it's official...Comcast has been beaten to the sweet fruit we've all been waiting for. Sci-fi HD apparently launched on Directv today. Do we expect Comcast to add gobs of stations before the end of the year...everyone together now "Not a chance!"

Looks like Comcast better get moving before Sci-fi broadcasts the new Battlestar Gallactica movie in November.

Damn! And with season 4 of BSG coming up in the next couple of months.

judging by all the comcast commercial's I see I would say they have no plans to add any HD channels. The ad's all talk about all the HD Music and HD movies you can watch on demand and that is all they tout. They think that appeases the HD enthusiests I guess...They will have my cable bill drasticallly cut back soon. I ordered the new D* mpeg 4 HD box as I have Sunday ticket but I thought I would like to see what the new HD stations look like and have for content...

Comcast seems very content with HD on demand. Too bad.

As an aside, Comcast's VOD has some serious competition. Amazon's Unbox looks really cool. I've not played much with it, but here's what happened to me. I scheduled Back to You to record and the darn DVR recorded 13 instead of 113 and it had horrible breakup.

I went to Unbox, found the pilot and downloaded the entire show for free. You can download to a computer or a Tivo directly. Very, very cool.

FWIW - I just got an email from a senior guy in Comcast:

"In addition to NFL HD which we just announced, without making any guarantees, we are currently planning on launching four more HD networks in early December. The four coming are on the list you sent. We will be able to release the definitive list for December 2007 in two weeks. We are also planning on putting up 30 new HD channels in 2008."

The channels I asked about were the ones that have been either announced or rolled out elsewhere by Comcast (Food-HD, HGTV-HD, A&E-HD, History-HD, TBS-HD, Nat’l Geo – HD, USA-HD, CNN HD).

It doesn't sound like we'll see TBS-HD for the playoffs, but it does sound like some good news in December. Hopefully, we will know more in two weeks.

FWIW - I just got an email from a senior guy in Comcast:



The channels I asked about were the ones that have been either announced or rolled out elsewhere by Comcast (Food-HD, HGTV-HD, A&E-HD, History-HD, TBS-HD, Nat’l Geo – HD, USA-HD, CNN HD).

It doesn't sound like we'll see TBS-HD for the playoffs, but it does sound like some good news in December. Hopefully, we will know more in two weeks.


So, 5 channels by end of this year. By then other areas will have 10 new channels. When did the announcement for NFL HD came out?

I'll believe it when I see it. Man, I would really love Scifi-HD!!! and USA-HD. Heck, since they've pinned their hopes on onDemand content, how about some of the recent Scifi and USA shows showing up on Demand in HD??? Right now CBS has the most offerings on onDemand in HD.

FWIW - I just got an email from a senior guy in Comcast:



The channels I asked about were the ones that have been either announced or rolled out elsewhere by Comcast (Food-HD, HGTV-HD, A&E-HD, History-HD, TBS-HD, Nat’l Geo – HD, USA-HD, CNN HD).

It doesn't sound like we'll see TBS-HD for the playoffs, but it does sound like some good news in December. Hopefully, we will know more in two weeks.

Well this finally sounds somewhat promising. Comcast reps have not responded to my emails about more HD. So please keep us informed if you hear anything.

I'm hoping for the best; however, he does state "without making any guarantees" so with that said and my past experience with Comcast. I'll believe it when I see it also.

So, 5 channels by end of this year. By then other areas will have 10 new channels. When did the announcement for NFL HD came out?

Yeah and 30 by 2008 probably means Dec 2008 and the rest of the Comcast markets will probably be competitive with D* by then.

I'm guessing FiosTV will be here in certain areas by fall 2008, so I'd expect that will be when Comcast finally picks up the pace here. This seems to be what happened in Oregon. FiosTV is ready to go there now at the end of this month, and suddenly Comcast is adding a bunch of HD at the same time.

"We are also planning on putting up 30 new HD channels in 2008." .

I Call B.S.

Man, I would really love Scifi-HD!!! and USA-HD.

These are my preferences, but since Scifi-HD was not on the list, TBS-HD is my next choice . . . which will make sure we get 2008 ML playoff games in HD. A&E-HD is a distant 3rd choice, but only b/c of the Sopranos.

These are my preferences, but since Scifi-HD was not on the list, TBS-HD is my next choice . . . which will make sure we get 2008 ML playoff games in HD. A&E-HD is a distant 3rd choice, but only b/c of the Sopranos.
Given that Clark County is getting History-HD, A&E-HD, USA-HD, and HGTV-HD at the end of October, I'd bet that's what we're in for a month later. I seem to recall they led us by about a month or so the last time there was a similar kind of rollout of new HD channels.

So, as usual, Comcast of Seattle starts the HD broadcasts after the actual thing you want to watch is already over? Wonderful. They didn't turn on ESPN2 HD until the World Cup was almost over in 2006, and now they won't add TBS HD until after the baseball playoffs are over. Well, at least they are always consistently incompetent.

I Call B.S.

I second that.

I've been recording Nascar Now in HD from channel 174 every afternoon. Three days ago it started recording it from channel 32 (SD) instead even though I had nothing else recording. Can anyone explain to me what's happening and how to prevent it?

Thanks!

This is what somebody did in Denver to get TBS HD channel added asap. We should try this here and maybe we will get TBS HD right away. I don't have any contacts with Media. I'm sure somebody has some contacts with local Press.


Great news from Denver. After my call to Comcast yesterday and my email to the editor of the Rocky Mountain News, we now have TBS-HD. It's at channel 678 on the DVR box.

Amazingly, after my call to Customer No-Service yesterday, somebody from Comcast called this morning to tell me they turned it on.

Now why do we have to go to the freaking PRESS to get action from Comcast Denver?

Wake up, folks! Enough with acting passive toward Comcast. They are regulated by your local county government. Call the press. Call your county government. Contact the FCC. Go after this lazy, fat company. We deserve better, and we should stop sitting around hoping for new HD channels. We must demand them! Brian Roberts promised us verbally we would have 100+ new HD channels by the end of the year, darn it! This laziness and the bandwidth excuses are ridiculous and unacceptable.

Go forth and make their lives miserable until they make good on Brian Roberts' promise!

I was rechecking to make sure I had set up extra time for recording the USF-Auburn game on ESPN2HD Saturday, and realized it was set to record on 32 instead of 174. Then I noticed that in the new guide both 32 and 174 are named "ESPN2". Although the MSFT guide had no such duplications for any of the HD channels, other Comcast iGuide localities have reported the following bug:
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Bugs#The_DVR_records_in_SD_when_you.27ve_set_it_to_an_HD_cha nnel

I'm pretty sure I didn't set up the initial recording on 32 instead of 174, so I'm going to continue to check to see if it migrates from the HD to the SD channel, and if it does then I'll report it as something that needs to be changed in the channel designators.

I've had this happen on 104. I set it to record a show on channel 104, and it recorded the SD channel 4 version instead. At first I thought someone forgot to flip a switch or something on 104, but then I noticed it was recorded from channel 4 in the info. The info for the show also says it's in HD for both 4 and 104, and for some reason it always defaults to record channel 4 instead of 104 even though it was set to record from 104. The only way I can get it to record properly is to wait for the show to come on then hit the record button when on channel 104.

Also I noticed ESPN2-HD does not show up in my HD menu list of HD channels. Only ESPN-HD is listed there along with all the other HD channels, but ESPN2-HD is missing. Anyone else notice this or have this problem?

I've had this problem too. I think I'm about done with this DVR. I think when I have time to drop it off, I'll exchange it for a regular digital box. I can record most of what I want with MythTV and QAM tuners anyway. The rest I'll try and catch on demand...

I've been recording Nascar Now in HD from channel 174 every afternoon. Three days ago it started recording it from channel 32 (SD) instead even though I had nothing else recording. Can anyone explain to me what's happening and how to prevent it?I've only seen this happen a couple times this week, whereas these other posts were from over a month ago. Since I always program from the guide or with manual recordings, I never looked at the HD Channel List from the Quick Menu. When I just checked I see that channel 174 (ESPN2HD) isn't listed, even though it's always been in the guide. Is this something new and is there any kind of remedy for it?

I've only seen this happen a couple times this week, whereas these other posts were from over a month ago. Since I always program from the guide or with manual recordings, I never looked at the HD Channel List from the Quick Menu. When I just checked I see that channel 174 (ESPN2HD) isn't listed, even though it's always been in the guide. Is this something new and is there any kind of remedy for it?

It isn't new -- both 32 and 174 have had the same name (ESPN2) since the switch to iGuide. I reported it on the feedback site, for all the good that did.

Ok I sent an email to iTeam@seattlepi.com. Let's see anything will happen. It will be good if more people can do the same by sending couple of lines.

Looks like Comcast better get moving before Sci-fi broadcasts the new Battlestar Gallactica movie in November.

Isn't there a 4 episode mini-series coming before the season starts?

Isn't there a 4 episode mini-series coming before the season starts?

Acording to IMDB.com, it is about the Pegasus before it found Battlestar Gallactica. I have no idea how many parts it is divided into, but IMDB.com says it airs on November 24.

Acording to IMDB.com, it is about the Pegasus before it found Battlestar Gallactica. I have no idea how many parts it is divided into, but IMDB.com says it airs on November 24.

It's called Razor and is also coming out on DVD and rumors have it on Hd DVD on Dec. 4th. Amazon is taking pre-orders for both.

It isn't new -- both 32 and 174 have had the same name (ESPN2) since the switch to iGuide. I reported it on the feedback site, for all the good that did.Okay, but prior to this week my 3-in-the-afternoon recordings of Nascar Now have always been from channel 174. It sure seems there must be something else making the distinction between recording 32 or 174. Any chance it might have anything to do with what sources the tuners are tuned to prior to the recording? (just taking a stab there)

...
Any chance it might have anything to do with what sources the tuners are tuned to prior to the recording? (just taking a stab there)

More likely => the phase of the moon.

More likely => the phase of the moon.

Hilarious! I'm at work and this about had me looking like a crazy man laughing at his computer.

This is why I don't rent a dvr anymore.... Hey, anymore word on those Tivo powered DVRs? Will they be here before or after the 30 new HD stations?

Hilarious! I'm at work and this about had me looking like a crazy man laughing at his computer.

This is why I don't rent a dvr anymore.... Hey, anymore word on those Tivo powered DVRs? Will they be here before or after the 30 new HD stations?

Yes! They will be here before or after the 30 new HD...
Oh, wait, they're speaking Comcastic again - where is that Babel fish when I need it.

why I'm insulted! does that mean I'm going to loose all those wonderful and useful shopping networks? When are the HD shopping networks coming.
And I sure hope the radio stations don;t go. I mean, I have radios, but why would I turn one on when I can turn on my TV and listen to radio.
And I really don't want to loose those new 8 in demand stations that don;t work. That's really usefull turning those on and looking at nothing.
Oh and lets up the monthly charge and take more stations away, while throwing little hints, of future channels that will never come while blaming it on not having the infrastructure or we loose too much money on cable boxes.
Comcast, we're a monopoly and don;t give a s$!^ what you want or think.

But I don't want to sound bitter.....or do I...... :mad:

Ok I sent an email to iTeam@seattlepi.com. Let's see anything will happen. It will be good if more people can do the same by sending couple of lines.

Email sent.

Main topics that I reported which can be verified online were... We pay the same here for our digital-TV/HD/dvr service as other markets which currently get up to 5-8 or more HD channels than we do. HD additions come to Seattle about 6 months to a year or more after many other markets add them, including markets smaller that Seattle. Subscription fees can add up to thousands of dollars in monthly bills during this time period for us who are mainly subscribing for HD service and getting much less. Meanwhile, we are currently missing the playoffis on tbs in HD and missing out on many hours of other HD content currently available to Comcast customers in other markets.

Not sure if it will help, but I figure it's worth a try. Just trying to bring more HD to Seattle sooner than later.

Thanks gdeep for the email.

Regarding the letters to the PI, would either of you care to share your message? I'm in. Everyone on this thread should do the same. I'd like to hear the points raised by others to the press in their messages though. Might give me some more ideas.

why I'm insulted! does that mean I'm going to loose all those wonderful and useful shopping networks?

I suspect Comcast gets paid to carry those shopping and religious channels. Dumping them would mean lost income for Comcast. Not that I'm defending them, just explaining the realities.

Directv added TBS HD last week. DishNetwork added TBS HD today.

It is official, Seattle Comcast is the only place in this market where you CAN NOT watch the playoffs in HD.

Way to go Comcast.

This is probably a "do a search nubie" question ;)

I just replaced my oldy moldy analog set in the kitchen with a digital set with a qam tuner. As I understand it the CADTV set of channels it auto discovered are the unencrypted Comcast channels.

So with head in my hand, and bowing low....where is a link to the mapping of 5-0, 5-1, etc to actual channels?

...
So with head in my hand, and bowing low....where is a link to the mapping of 5-0, 5-1, etc to actual channels?


Here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=11633296#post11633296

Since the Yankees game is running over on TBS, 55, they are showing the Angels game on HD, 662. My picture is stuttering and is unwatchable, however. Why can't they fix this and run all of the TBS games on 662? Obviously, it's possible!

Art

Ok I sent an email to iTeam@seattlepi.com. Let's see anything will happen. It will be good if more people can do the same by sending couple of lines.

I sent an email today as well. Let's keep pestering whoever we can to get some answers. My main point was: why is Seattle so far behind other markets in getting HD. I ended it by saying "something is fishy here and it isn't the Salmon."

I'm looking more and more at DirecTV these days...

I sent an email too... I'm thinking of DirecTV as well. had them back when I had a direcTivo... Maybe just keep basic cable for the unencrypted QAM for my HTPC. Thinking about it... Will probably do a reassessment sometime early this year.

Yes, looking at the HD baseball game is nice... What could have been...

I am looking long & hard at the DirecTV website all night.
It is ridiculous that the TBS HD feed is not available for the playoffs at least.
Take that dumb 665 off at night when baseball is on.
Plus, why is the NFL-HD not on? This is just dumb.

Did you guys filed a complaint with the Office of Cable Communication of the City of Seattle? Years back when I had problems with AT&T they helped me quite a bit and they have the muscle to kick Comcast ass.
The link is http://www.seattle.gov/cable/comments.htm.

Did you guys filed a complaint with the Office of Cable Communication of the City of Seattle? Years back when I had problems with AT&T they helped me quite a bit and they have the muscle to kick Comcast ass.
The link is http://www.seattle.gov/cable/comments.htm.

I'm going to fill this one out to. Thanks skyboysea.

Thanks to all for sending a email to seattlepi. Should we also warn Comcast VP that we are going to press and city? :)

Regarding the letters to the PI, would either of you care to share your message? I'm in. Everyone on this thread should do the same. I'd like to hear the points raised by others to the press in their messages though. Might give me some more ideas.

My message to them was basically how comcast seattle is behind on adding hd channels. Even smaller markets are ahead of Seattle and plus I said VP is telling customers that a new hd channel is coming very soon from last 6 months.

Did you guys filed a complaint with the Office of Cable Communication of the City of Seattle? Years back when I had problems with AT&T they helped me quite a bit and they have the muscle to kick Comcast ass.
The link is http://www.seattle.gov/cable/comments.htm.

Thanks for the link - I filled that one out as well.

Keep pooring it on lads, they're starting to crumble!

I'm going to fill this one out to. Thanks skyboysea.

Thanks to all for sending a email to seattlepi. Should we also warn Comcast VP that we are going to press and city? :)

Sure. What harm could it do? Tell him there are lots of angry HD enthusiasts complaining to every available resource and we're not going to stop. Isn't Seattle supposed to be a "high-tech cutting-edge city" where everything is AHEAD of the curve?

If it weren't for the $500 equipment cost to switch to DirecTV I would have left Comcast months ago.

. . . But since the FCC is forcing cable to hold onto analog until 2011, instead of 2009 for OTA broadcasts, you can partially blame the FCC for pushing cable towards SDV for bandwidth savings.

And you can bet that SDV is the last thing that cable wants to do. Because it costs MONEY to implement. And they can raise rates a little, because they always do every year. But they can't raise rates enough to cover the cost of converting to SDV in the short amount of time they'd like to recover that money.

If cable could just eliminate analog and move to all QAM, you can bet they'd do that first, to extend having to upgrade to new technology at some point.

I took this from Tivocommunity.com. This is the first I have seen the 2011 requirment. Does anyone know if this is ture. It seems counterproductive.

I even emailed Swann from tvpredictions.com to see if he can check with comcast corp on why Seattle is way behind. I got a email back from him and this is his reply:

"Thanks. I'll try to add it to the list of questions to ask them this week."

Comcast Seattle better watch out....

Pretty lame that there's no TBS HD for baseball. At TBS' notice last night, I flipped to TNT HD during the Yankee game for the REd Sox game when it started. Yup, in HD,,, until the Yankee game ended, then back to TBS SD.

Cool that the Coug/ASU is in HD on 664 today. Was the Coug/Ariz game there last week? I didn't check.

If someone could post a generic letter, I'd be happy to sign my name it and sent it in to Seattle Times, Office of Cable Communications, etc.

So are getting some MLB Playoffs in HD today?

TNTHD (Channel 662) in the program guide says 9:30 - 10:00 MLB On Deck and than at 10:00 - 1:30 MLB Playoff/To Be Announced.

I'm there now and some terrible movie is on instead. But maybe in 18 minutes it switches over????

----

Went to the TNT website. Indeed we are suppose to have it on TNT but won't since it was to be the Diamondbacks v Cubs but this game isn't needed. I was hoping to see the Sox v LAA game. My moment of excitement is over...

Nope. I guess the only playoff HD we're gonna see is when games overlap.

Today in the sports section of the Seattle Times on page d16, Larry Stone is discussing the playoffs and mentions the Seattle Comcast doesnt have TBS-HD and then goes on to a quote from Steve Kipp about TBS-HD "We don't have it, unfortunately. We are definitely committed to adding more HD content, including NFL HD on Nov. 1. We just weren't able to add TBS HD in time for the playoffs."

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/larrystone/2003930418_stone07.html

We are definitely committed to adding more HD content, including NFL HD on Nov. 1."


And that will probably be the only new HD channel we get for the rest of the year.

I took this from Tivocommunity.com. This is the first I have seen the 2011 requirment. Does anyone know if this is ture. It seems counterproductive.

Here is a link to a site that talks about this:
http://hometheatermag.com/news/091407fcc/

basically they can save space by broadcasting all in digital, they just have to give (not rent) boxes to the analog customers.

...
We just weren't able to add TBS HD in time for the playoffs."
...


And we're just aching to hear the answer to the question, "Why the #&!! not?"

Here is a list of HD channels that Comcast carries or will soon carry in many other markets. There may be others I'm not aware of, but here is what I know for sure that Comcast has announced. This list continues to grow and I wanted to post it because it really shows how much HD Seattle is missing out on from Comcast.

NGC-HD
TBS-HD
A&E-HD
USA-HD
CNN-HD
NFL-HD
Food-HD
HGTV-HD
History-HD

Wow, that's 9 HD channels we lack here now. Last year I think we were only lacking 2-3 HD channels that other markets carried. Seattle is certainly falling far behind quickly.

Now finally on Nov. 1st we will actually get one of those channels, NFL-HD:) If Seattle keeps adding HD at this rate, it will take years to add all the rest of the channels listed above. When are they finally going to pick up the pace?

BTW, I'm not positive about this, but I think I read somewhere that to get NFL-HD you will have to purchase the sports entertainment package for an addtional fee. So if you don't have this package already and want it, your bill is going to increase to get this extra HD channel.

If someone could post a generic letter, I'd be happy to sign my name it and sent it in to Seattle Times, Office of Cable Communications, etc.

I think it might be better in some ways for each of us to construct our own letters in our own words so as to indicate this is not a carbon-copy campaign being conducted by someone or some organization. Individual inputs in large numbers can often have a greater impact than a single input with several names on it. Just my 2 cents.

Here is a link to a site that talks about this:
http://hometheatermag.com/news/091407fcc/

basically they can save space by broadcasting all in digital, they just have to give (not rent) boxes to the analog customers.

My understanding of that article is that cable companies could get rid of expanded basic in analog, as long as they make the local channels available via analog. It is not until the cable companies want to do away with analog altogether that they have to start giving (no charge) away digitial cable boxes. Hence, if the cablecompanies got rid of expanded basic they could open up a ton of room for new HD channels. Actually, from a formula that was listed recently, Comcast has room for 2.5 HD channels for every analog channel that they eliminate. Accordingly, if Comcast converted expanded basic to SD digital, they would have room to ad the nine (9) HD channels several times over.

My understanding of that article is that cable companies could get rid of expanded basic in analog, as long as they make the local channels available via analog. It is not until the cable companies want to do away with analog altogether that they have to start giving (no charge) away digitial cable boxes. Hence, if the cablecompanies got rid of expanded basic they could open up a ton of room for new HD channels. Actually, from a formula that was listed recently, Comcast has room for 2.5 HD channels for every analog channel that they eliminate. Accordingly, if Comcast converted expanded basic to SD digital, they would have room to ad the nine (9) HD channels several times over.

I can't believe that a cheap wall-wart power supply, a QAM tuner with non-hd digital decoder and an analog video output circuit in a plastic box could cost more than a few bucks to make in large quantities. Getting rid of the awful legacy analog stuff would seem to make it even more cost effective.

I believe comcast is already eliminating many analog channels in some markets for more digital and HD bandwidth. I know I saw articles about this for Chicago...

I believe comcast is already eliminating many analog channels in some markets for more digital and HD bandwidth. I know I saw articles about this for Chicago...

How do we volunteer to be the next?

How do we volunteer to be the next?

Wish I knew.

Here is an article on Chicago that I found. Plenty more out there.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6450122.html

It says they slashed their analog enough to offer 100 new HD channels. I wonder what Chicago's lineup is, and how much VOD content they have and how much of that VOD content is HD.

I wonder . . . how much VOD content they have and how much of that VOD content is on demand.

Huh?

sorry, meant how much of it is HD

Wish I knew.

Here is an article on Chicago that I found. Plenty more out there.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6450122.html

It says they slashed their analog enough to offer 100 new HD channels. I wonder what Chicago's lineup is, and how much VOD content they have and how much of that VOD content is on demand.

I think chicago is using Switch technology.

I think chicago is using Switch technology.

A quick search of the chicago AVS forum indicates they aren't using SDV yet, but nothing definitive. If they were/are, that would open up even more bandwidth than we have for HD streams. Just seems unfair...

Although I wonder if bandwidth is the primary reason we don't have a couple more HD stations... Might there be other reasons?

A quick search of the chicago AVS forum indicates they aren't using SDV yet, but nothing definitive. If they were/are, that would open up even more bandwidth than we have for HD streams. Just seems unfair...

Although I wonder if bandwidth is the primary reason we don't have a couple more HD stations... Might there be other reasons?

Or it might be comcast seattle is just too lazy to add new hd channels

Or it might be comcast seattle is just too lazy to add new hd channels


My answer:

(d) all of the above.

I traded a box at their office today and asked them. I was told that probably 2008 will be the time for updates in South King (and we match Seattle).

A quick search of the chicago AVS forum indicates they aren't using SDV yet, but nothing definitive. If they were/are, that would open up even more bandwidth than we have for HD streams. Just seems unfair...

Although I wonder if bandwidth is the primary reason we don't have a couple more HD stations... Might there be other reasons?
I think we're bandwidth constrained here.

I believe Chicago ditched all of their analogs, except for those carried on "limited basic" and then gave cheap digital boxes (probably DCT 700's) to their "extended basic" customers. That gave them all the bandwidth in the world to add lots of HD.

For better or worse, an FCC regulation came into effect this summer that requires that the "security component" of the set-top box be severable. I think the benefit to the consumer is supposed to be that you can now (at least theoretically) buy your own cable box and it should work regardless of your service provider (see article here: http://www.tvover.net/2007/01/12/FCC+Wants+Choice+In+SetTop+Boxes.aspx). The downside of the regulation is that the cost of the boxes has gone up in the short term and this is now a less attractive option for Comcast to reclaim bandwidth.

I was told by a senior local Comcast person they are looking to implement switched digital video here in Seattle in 2008 to free up bandwidth for more HD.

I think we're bandwidth constrained here.

I believe Chicago ditched all of their analogs, except for those carried on "limited basic" and then gave cheap digital boxes (probably DCT 700's) to their "extended basic" customers. That gave them all the bandwidth in the world to add lots of HD.

For better or worse, an FCC regulation came into effect this summer that requires that the "security component" of the set-top box be severable. I think the benefit to the consumer is supposed to be that you can now (at least theoretically) buy your own cable box and it should work regardless of your service provider (see article here: http://www.tvover.net/2007/01/12/FCC+Wants+Choice+In+SetTop+Boxes.aspx). The downside of the regulation is that the cost of the boxes has gone up in the short term and this is now a less attractive option for Comcast to reclaim bandwidth.

I was told by a senior local Comcast person they are looking to implement switched digital video here in Seattle in 2008 to free up bandwidth for more HD.

Yes, Chicago did ditch some analog stations as mentioned in the link I posted earlier. But if they implemented SDV as well they'd have even more room than just the additional space from the getting rid of a large chunk of analog stations.

However, I'm guessing we do have enough bandwidth for at least a couple more HD stations. We have gotten messages from ostensibly senior comcast representatives about 2 or 3 new HDTV stations that were supposed to already be here. I would hope they wouldn't even think they could get those stations to us if they didn't have the bandwidth.

If bandwidth is the only limiting factor, then we shouldn't get anymore stations until more analog stations are gone (I guess they could be upgrading equipment for more bandwidth). I know they eliminated a couple of analog stations over the last year or so. Has all the bandwidth created by those moves been used already? If so, what analog station(s) are they going to get rid of and when are they going to tell us, if we are truly getting NFL HD next month?

That's why I'm skeptical bandwidth is primary reason we don't have at least a couple more HD stations already.

Or it might be comcast seattle is just too lazy to add new hd channelsOr maybe they just wasted two years' time & resources rolling out the MSFT software, then un-doing it all. Not an issue in any other Comcast markets...

Or it might be comcast seattle is just too lazy to add new hd channels

My answer is (e) MONEY. Remember, cable companies like every other large business spend 99% of their time worrying about the bottom line. Those analog channels must generate some revenue and they don't want to lose revenue by cutting a bunch of channels. HD viewers are still a small minority. Follow the money...

They probably also realize they have many people in Seattle over a barrel because they have no alternative for HD or only a more expensive alternative. I would switch to DirecTV right now if it weren't for the $600 startup and my limited view of the southern sky.

If they cleared out all those channels in the 70's range and moved them to digital, there should be enough bandwidth to add the most popular channels everyone wants now.

And is there even a reason to have Public Access on cable anymore? You Tube serves that function now in spades.

Yes, Chicago did ditch some analog stations as mentioned in the link I posted earlier. But if they implemented SDV as well they'd have even more room than just the additional space from the getting rid of a large chunk of analog stations.

However, I'm guessing we do have enough bandwidth for at least a couple more HD stations. We have gotten messages from ostensibly senior comcast representatives about 2 or 3 new HDTV stations that were supposed to already be here. I would hope they wouldn't even think they could get those stations to us if they didn't have the bandwidth.

If bandwidth is the only limiting factor, then we shouldn't get anymore stations until more analog stations are gone (I guess they could be upgrading equipment for more bandwidth). I know they eliminated a couple of analog stations over the last year or so. Has all the bandwidth created by those moves been used already? If so, what analog station(s) are they going to get rid of and when are they going to tell us, if we are truly getting NFL HD next month?

That's why I'm skeptical bandwidth is primary reason we don't have at least a couple more HD stations already.
If you dumped 30 or more analog stations, like they did in Chicago, you'd have space for 60 or more new HD channels, so there would be very little need to think about spending the money on SDV until you got closer to being bandwidth-constrained once again.

I doubt that there's zero room for new HD here (it sounds like several new channels are coming by the end of the year), but there may not be room for all of the stations that Comcast is lining up right now. If we had space for say, six more HD channels, would you want to give the space to the first six new HD channels to come along, or would you want to dole out the remaining bandwidth slowly making sure you were keeping some space available for newer stuff that might be on the way in 3-6 months? Once you put a new channel on, it's awfully tough to take it away.

Just a thought. Who knows the real story (obviously none of us)?

If we had space for say, six more HD channels, would you want to give the space to the first six new HD channels to come along, or would you want to dole out the remaining bandwidth slowly making sure you were keeping some space available for newer stuff that might be on the way in 3-6 months?


Good point. I doubt NGC, FoodHD, and HGTV would get many people to spend $$ to convert to HD. I expect FSNHD, TBSHD, Sci-fiHD, and USA HD would raise the most eyebrows. I would also like to see FX-HD on the list. I thought it was supposed to be available for cable providers back in June-July.

If you dumped 30 or more analog stations, like they did in Chicago, you'd have space for 60 or more new HD channels, so there would be very little need to think about spending the money on SDV until you got closer to being bandwidth-constrained once again.



Yes, I know, I was responding to someone who said they thought they had implemented SDV. However, waiting too late until you need the bandwidth is part of the problem.


I doubt that there's zero room for new HD here (it sounds like several new channels are coming by the end of the year), but there may not be room for all of the stations that Comcast is lining up right now. If we had space for say, six more HD channels, would you want to give the space to the first six new HD channels to come along, or would you want to dole out the remaining bandwidth slowly making sure you were keeping some space available for newer stuff that might be on the way in 3-6 months? Once you put a new channel on, it's awfully tough to take it away.

Just a thought. Who knows the real story (obviously none of us)?

I would want to live up to my word and deliver the stations I said I would, instead of making empty promises that serve make your customers distrusting and switch to another provider. Then I would be working on making space for the newer channels that I know are coming. That's my thought.

just heard NFL-HD is scheduled to be added Nov. 1, in time for their exclusive games.
NGC-HD plus three others that haven't been decided on yet are tentatively set to go live on Dec. 6.
they are waiting to see what channels Comcast signs deals with to figure out the best ones to add and that's why they've decided to temporarily delay adding channels here.
beyond this series of adds, they will probably move an analog channel to digital before they can launching more HD.

This is good news...where did you get this info from?

These are my picks for 4 hd channels:
NatGeo
Food
HGTV
CNN

just heard NFL-HD is scheduled to be added Nov. 1, in time for their exclusive games.
NGC-HD plus three others that haven't been decided on yet are tentatively set to go live on Dec. 6.
they are waiting to see what channels Comcast signs deals with to figure out the best ones to add and that's why they've decided to temporarily delay adding channels here.
beyond this series of adds, they will probably move an analog channel to digital before they can launching more HD.

Cool! Finally some good news:) Where did you get this info? Anyway, I'm happy to hear something is finally in the works to add more this year after NFL-HD even if it's still 2 months off.

I remember last time we had HD addtions they had to swap some analog to digital. I think it was the jewlery channel and a tv-guide channel or somthing, but this tells me they must be bandwidth limited, otherwise why else wouldn't they have added more HD by now?

NGC-HD plus three others that haven't been decided on yet are tentatively set to go live on Dec. 6.

How do you know NGC-HD will be one of the channels?

I got an email from a comcast VP I emailed right before the summer saying NGC-HD was coming in the next month. Better late than never.

I got an email from a comcast VP I emailed right before the summer saying NGC-HD was coming in the next month. Better late than never.

I have been hearing this from Comcast last 5-6 months ago. NGC is coming soon....

Hopefully it will be added this time.

I just moved to Bellevue from San Francisco and I've been lurking on this discussion. In SF, I had DirecTV + antenna and got about 15 HD channels, including locals. In Bellevue, the home we're renting is blocked by trees so satellite is not possible. Now I'm pretty shocked by how little HD content we're getting with Comcast.

In a few months, we're going to buy a home in the Eastside, and then I'll have an unpleasant choice:

a) Stick with Comcast and put up with the meager HD content
b) Move back to DirecTV and lose TiVo (wife and I are both TiVo fanatics)
c) Wait (and wait and wait) for FIOS TV
d) MDM??

Meaning, I'd move to another provider if I had a good choice.

I got a email from Steve Kipp and this is his reply....

I've been out of town and just got to your email. As you've probably
already determined, we are not carrying TBS HD, although we probably
will add the channel next year. We do plan to add five more HD channels
by the end of the year-NFL Network in HD, National Geographic in HD and
three other channels which we plan to announce in the next 4 to 6 weeks.


I emailed him back that I want FOOD, HGTV, and CNN HD or USA HD as three channels. I also told him not to add A&E as it shows majority non hd content.

I just moved to Bellevue from San Francisco and I've been lurking on this discussion. In SF, I had DirecTV + antenna and got about 15 HD channels, including locals. In Bellevue, the home we're renting is blocked by trees so satellite is not possible. Now I'm pretty shocked by how little HD content we're getting with Comcast.

In a few months, we're going to buy a home in the Eastside, and then I'll have an unpleasant choice:

a) Stick with Comcast and put up with the meager HD content
b) Move back to DirecTV and lose TiVo (wife and I are both TiVo fanatics)
c) Wait (and wait and wait) for FIOS TV
d) MDM??

Meaning, I'd move to another provider if I had a good choice.

Go with Directv (more HD channels)...

My three new HD channels would be Speedvision, Outdoor Channel and Fox News.

My three new HD channels would be Speedvision, Outdoor Channel and Fox News.

I think we can only get channels that Comcast has a deal with.

IF I could pick any channels for HD (in addition national GEO, and TBS) i would go with USA, Sci-Fi, and CNN... I've already sent this to him. Not that what I say counts...

Go with Directv (more HD channels)...

It's not such a simple choice. The DirecTiVo doesn't do MPEG4, and the non-TiVo DVR is buggy (see dbstalk.com) and a very hard sell to my better half.

I emailed him back that I want FOOD, HGTV, and CNN HD or USA HD as three channels. I also told him not to add A&E as it shows majority non hd content.

I'll stop complaining if we get Food and Discovery (not HD Theater). Myth Busters in HD! :)

It's not such a simple choice. The DirecTiVo doesn't do MPEG4, and the non-TiVo DVR is buggy (see dbstalk.com) and a very hard sell to my better half.

If you can't live with the non-Tivo DVR, go with comcast, keep your eye on DirecTV and reassess when the non-Tivo DVR is ready. One nice thing about comcast is you can pretty much cancel whenever with no penalties.

Does anyone here have any kind of inside track on knowing if Seattle will be carrying the American version of the NHL Network that is supposed to be going live within the next couple of weeks?

Someone might have already mentioned this but my guess is that those channels will probably be the same ones Oregon has and are getting this month.

NGC-HD (they've had since Jan)
History-HD, USA-HD and HGTV ( they are getting end of this month)

Oregon got UHD, and MHD a couple months before we did last year, then we got the same in mid Dec. Maybe that won't apply this time but just guessing it might.

Someone might have already mentioned this but my guess is that those channels will probably be the same ones Oregon has and are getting this month.

NGC-HD (they've had since Jan)
History-HD, USA-HD and HGTV ( they are getting end of this month)

Oregon got UHD, and MHD a couple months before we did last year, then we got the same in mid Dec. Maybe that won't apply this time but just guessing it might.

I really hope they add FOOD here instead of History...

I really hope they add FOOD here instead of History...

yeah, from what I've read, History is currently like A&E and stretches a ton of SD content. I've heard good things about Food-HD, excellent PQ and no stretching on any SD content, and the SD stuff is mostly late night infomercials.

Now that it seems to finally be a reality that we are getting new HD addtions soon, I'll send out an email tomorrow requesting Food as well.

BTW, who's the best to email about this Steve or John or both?

yeah, from what I've read, History is currently like A&E and stretches a ton of SD content. I've heard good things about Food-HD, excellent PQ and no stretching on any SD content, and the SD stuff is mostly late night infomercials.

Now that it seems to finally be a reality that we are getting new HD addtions soon, I'll send out an email tomorrow requesting Food as well.

BTW, who's the best to email about this Steve or John or both?

I emailed Steve and he wanted to know why Food over A&E. I told him that A&E has very little hd content and majority of it is already on demand. I also asked for CNN hd as we don't have any national news channel in digital.

My picks for three hd channels:
HGTV
Food
CNN or USA

Anyone getting pixilation on 664 MOJO?

We need Sci-Fi before Battlestar Gallactica starts

Sci-Fi HD, please!!! Not only do they show instant re-runs of this year's Sci-fi themed shows from NBC, they have their original lineups (Stargate Atlantis, BG, etc.), all in HD!

I'm pretty much sports and action/sci-fi guy and that's what I would be looking for in the new HD channels.

--
Sang

It's not such a simple choice. The DirecTiVo doesn't do MPEG4, and the non-TiVo DVR is buggy (see dbstalk.com) and a very hard sell to my better half.
The HR20 is no more buggy than Tivo is. I have both and I have missed recordings on both, actually the bug in Tivo was worse because a season pass got messed up causing several recordings to disappear.

It's not such a simple choice. The DirecTiVo doesn't do MPEG4, and the non-TiVo DVR is buggy (see dbstalk.com) and a very hard sell to my better half.

yeah, but if you play calling the csr game, you should easily score the new DirecTV HD Dvrs for shipping and handling...of course you sign a 2 year commitment..

The DVR is not as buggy as you think..I have had it for over 3 weeks. mostly happy with it..People say it has also improved tremendously over time. I have also added an external 750G drive.

My three new HD channels would be Speedvision, Outdoor Channel and Fox News.

I am still waiting for CBC HD. :(

I imagine we'll see that right about the time the CBC shuts down its analogue... in 2011.

I haven't been around much lately, but I just moved down to the Renton area and my QAM assignments are not working right. KOMO HD is fine, but I can't get KCPQ at all. The rest are just SD.

Does Renton have different assignments.

Nevermind--I forgot I had KCPQ turned off on the HD Homerun and was using the Fusion for it, and the other two channels were actually showing SD programming! It never occurred to me that there was still HD programming! :D

We need Sci-Fi before Battlestar Gallactica starts

Sci-Fi HD would be awesome!!

As long as everyone else is voting...

SciFi
USA
CBC (for the Hockey!)

Speed-HD -- for the F-1 races.
(Of course, there's no Speed-HD yet, and no real HD for F-1, but it still beats KONG.)

As long as everyone else is voting...

SciFi
USA
CBC (for the Hockey!)
I've sent a couple of emails to Comcast asking for CBC-HD. Aside from the hockey, next summer's Olympic events will undoutedly be shown live on CBC and tape-delayed on the U.S. networks.

Comcast's response seemed to be that CBC was a pretty low priority as far as HD offerings go. A couple more emails might help...

Speed-HD -- for the F-1 races.
(Of course, there's no Speed-HD yet, and no real HD for F-1, but it still beats KONG.)

Ain't that the truth. I'll take just about anything over KONG-HD, unless they start broadcasting all local sports in HD.

I've sent a couple of emails to Comcast asking for CBC-HD. Aside from the hockey, next summer's Olympic events will undoutedly be shown live on CBC and tape-delayed on the U.S. networks.

Comcast's response seemed to be that CBC was a pretty low priority as far as HD offerings go. A couple more emails might help...

CBC is one of the better channels period. It would be great to get it in HD.

CBC is one of the better channels period. It would be great to get it in HD.

I don't think Comcast has a deal with CBC HD yet. You will see this channel show up on Directv first.

I don't think Comcast has a deal with CBC HD yet. You will see this channel show up on Directv first.

I didn't know that DirecTV even had CBC in SD.

I didn't know that DirecTV even had CBC in SD.

Directv doesn't. Not even in areas close to the border where it can be received OTA.

Of course, Comcast probably doesn't read this forum. Does anyone have a Comcast email address where we can complain about the lack of HD channels in the Seattle area? I have sent an email to customer dis-service, but I would like someone to actually take notice. Thx.

Hey everyone, new member here.

I sent an e-mail, to the Seattle Office of Cable Communications informing them about Comcast's inability to deliver good on when Seattle will get HD channels that other markets and competitors have and this is the response I got:

Thank you for sharing your concerns regarding the HD programming provided by Comcast. Although we are not able to regulate the number of HD channels provided by any cable company, we will keep your comments on file and let Comcast know that customers are unhappy. Please email us again if you have other issues with Comcast that have not been resolved.

Janet Jensen
Seattle Office of Cable Communications
Department of Information Technology
206-386-0031
janet.jensen@seattle.gov

I also sent an e-mail to KOMO4's Problem Solvers, but haven't heard back. I figure if enough people inform the media and city leaders, we might have some actual results. As opposed to, "Seattle will get them in 2 to 3 months."

Hey everyone, new member here.

I sent an e-mail, to the Seattle Office of Cable Communications informing them about Comcast's inability to deliver good on when Seattle will get HD channels that other markets and competitors have and this is the response I got:

Thank you for sharing your concerns regarding the HD programming provided by Comcast. Although we are not able to regulate the number of HD channels provided by any cable company, we will keep your comments on file and let Comcast know that customers are unhappy. Please email us again if you have other issues with Comcast that have not been resolved.

Janet Jensen
Seattle Office of Cable Communications
Department of Information Technology
206-386-0031
janet.jensen@seattle.gov

I also sent an e-mail to KOMO4's Problem Solvers, but haven't heard back. I figure if enough people inform the media and city leaders, we might have some actual results. As opposed to, "Seattle will get them in 2 to 3 months."

I just got back the same email from Seattle office of Cable Communications. homerjr thanks for sending in emails....

I just sent emails to problem solvers and Seattel office of Cable Communications as well. I sent my email to a different staff member (the one over cable bill of rights) for variety :)

Speed-HD -- for the F-1 races.
(Of course, there's no Speed-HD yet, and no real HD for F-1, but it still beats KONG.)

At least FOX was nice enough to broadcast in widescreen, which put them well up on CBS the past two years.

Of course, getting the SPEED commentating crew was pure genius, as well, since they did a masterful job of explaining F1 to folks killing time until NASCAR on TNT started. :D

Hey everyone, new member here.

I sent an e-mail, to the Seattle Office of Cable Communications informing them about Comcast's inability to deliver good on when Seattle will get HD channels that other markets and competitors have and this is the response I got:

Thank you for sharing your concerns regarding the HD programming provided by Comcast. Although we are not able to regulate the number of HD channels provided by any cable company, we will keep your comments on file and let Comcast know that customers are unhappy. Please email us again if you have other issues with Comcast that have not been resolved.

Janet Jensen
Seattle Office of Cable Communications
Department of Information Technology
206-386-0031
janet.jensen@seattle.gov

I also sent an e-mail to KOMO4's Problem Solvers, but haven't heard back. I figure if enough people inform the media and city leaders, we might have some actual results. As opposed to, "Seattle will get them in 2 to 3 months."

I got the same reply, word-for-word as you, except mine was from Brenda Tate. These automated replies really make me feel like something is being done...NOT! I'm afraid Comcast has us all by the you-know-whats...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071011/ap_on_hi_te/tivo_comcast;_ylt=AvQ9gnBKfB2VDLrdyQ8ECZVj24cA

Comcast rollout of TiVo box begins Thu Oct 11, 4:25 PM ET



After more than two years of promises and delays, Comcast Corp. has finally begun the commercial rollout of its first cable set-top boxes that run TiVo's digital video recording technology.

As expected, New England is the first market to get the long-awaited Comcast-TiVo offering. The rollout started in the last few days, TiVo spokesman Whit Clay said in a statement Thursday.

He declined further comment.

The Comcast-TiVo deal was first announced in 2005 and is considered a key part of TiVo's future as it works to attract more customers and become profitable. TiVo pioneered the DVR and is the best known brand name but has struggled amid cheaper offerings by rivals, including Comcast.

Comcast, the nation's largest cable TV provider, has said it will continue to offer its basic DVR service; the TiVo-based offering will be a premium service. Pricing details were not immediately available.

Shares of TiVo gained 3 cents to close at $7 Thursday.

Are we going to run onto the same problem as we had in the UCLA game, when MOJO cuts in @ 10:30 pm?

Are we going to run onto the same problem as we had in the UCLA game, when MOJO cuts in @ 10:30 pm?

That's why comcast needs a seperate channel for FSN-HD

Are we going to run onto the same problem as we had in the UCLA game, when MOJO cuts in @ 10:30 pm?

No, we're not. They cut in at 10:45 so there is PLENTY of time. You've never seen a game go more than 3.5 hours have you? :D

so where'd you find these answers? and what were they? is komo still at 82-4?

Advanced search by poster. Look for the most recent posts by "pastiche".

AFAIK 82-4 is not getting KOMO on my set. Someone suggested connecting where you have the best signal in the house and scanning to pick it up. Should be 4-1.

Advanced search by poster. Look for the most recent posts by "pastiche".

AFAIK 82-4 is not getting KOMO on my set. Someone suggested connecting where you have the best signal in the house and scanning to pick it up. Should be 4-1.

On my cable (and probably most) KOMO-HD is at 82-4, but the PSIP maps it to 4-1. Some sets/tuners support PSIP, some don't.

No, we're not. They cut in at 10:45 so there is PLENTY of time. You've never seen a game go more than 3.5 hours have you? :D

Maybe i am crazy, but im pretty sure that even though the guide said 1045 it cut off at 1030 and I had to switch to SD FSN.

Maybe i am crazy, but im pretty sure that even though the guide said 1045 it cut off at 1030 and I had to switch to SD FSN.

Maybe it was a mercy switch...? :)

--
Sang

Are we going to run onto the same problem as we had in the UCLA game, when MOJO cuts in @ 10:30 pm? I think Comcast was invoking the mercy rule by sparing us the last part of that debacle. Or at least forcing the real diehards to switch to the SD version.

So it was just on the news that comcast is increasing rates 4.5% NOV 1.

So it was just on the news that comcast is increasing rates 4.5% NOV 1.

I just don't understand how they can get away with the constant rate increases especially in this market where they are one of the slowest for all of the new channel additions. Especially with the new pressure from Direct TV with the new satellite. That's not to say I particularly like Direct TV either but if they keep feeding us crap, why do they have to keep charging us more for it?

So it was just on the news that comcast is increasing rates 4.5% NOV 1.

Where did you see this?

Edit: OK, I saw this. http://www.tvpredictions.com/comcastrates101607.htm . . . and this http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/335602_bizbriefs16.html

Looks like the 3416 is getting pretty touchy about playing around with searches while it's recording - it tends to spontaneously reboot. This is a problem I used to have with the Dish Network DVRs, so I'd avoid doing anything other than watching programs while it was recording. Hasn't been a problem with the 3416 until now...

Where did you see this?

Edit: OK, I saw this. http://www.tvpredictions.com/comcastrates101607.htm . . . and this http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/335602_bizbriefs16.html

I wouldn't mind paying more if we have all the hd channels....but until then we shouldn't have to pay a penny more....

COMCAST U SUCK

So Comcast is going to raise their rates at November 1st.
That's just fantastic.

I had posted a while back that I e-mailed KOMO4's Problem Solvers, still no response from them. But today I figured we should also e-mail the Seattle-PI and/or Seattle Times.

Below is the e-mail I have sent to the Seattle-PI. Feel free to use it exactly as it is or add in your own word. Obviously make sure to add in your name at the bottom. But the fact that they are going to raise rates for what, the addition of five (though realistically it's going to be four) channels is absurd.

Again, the following below is my e-mail that I have sent to the Seattle-PI. You are more than welcome to use it and maybe if a lot of us, and I mean a lot of us start talking, maybe then someone will listen and take action.

Because this is just plain absurd.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was wondering if you guys could look into Comcast's inability to deliver promised high-definition programming that other competitors provide with very little effort.

A few weeks ago, DirecTV announced that they were rolling out new HD channels (link: http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/global/contentPageNR.jsp?assetId=P4360042&CMP=ILC-Q407-Film-100HD) for their subscribers with the goal that by the end of the year, they would have 100 channels. Being a subscriber with Comcast, I was curious what answer (if any) they would have with DirecTV's latest move. I had called my local Comcast office and asked them when will the Seattle market get new HD channels and there was not a definitive answer. However, the lack of an answer is not new to many Comcast subscribers inquiring the same thing as various message boards (like this one: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=253006) have long documented Comcast's claims that Seattle will get new HD channels by a certain date only for the actual delivery to be months late.

What frustrates a lot of Comcast subscribers is the fact that Comcast fails to deliver when they say they will, but in addition the fact that a major market like Seattle has fallen behind other comparable cities. Comcast has taken the defense that it takes time, money and technological resources to deliver the new HD channels, but a lot of us do not buy this defense since we live in a technologically-rich city. How is it that Seattle can only have no more than five true high-definition channels, when smaller television markets in the Midwest have twice the amount and in some cases, have had it for well over a year. This does not take into account Comcast's OnDemand feature which does have high-definition content, but the general HDTV crowd (despite what Comcast might say) does not classify those as HD channels.

I know there are alternatives to cable/high-definition programming, namely DirecTV, but I am like a lot of residents in Seattle where we live in apartment complexes where satellite dish installation is not permitted, so we are left with no option but Comcast. To a lot of us, it's absurd that we are in the dark. Surely Los Angeles and San Francisco are actually staying competitive with DirecTV down there, so why wouldn't Seattle?

All we are asking for is Comcast to make good on their claims that they will give us the same HD channels that competitors like DirecTV and Dish Network have already rolled out for their customers. And by making good, we mean giving us an exact date and actually delivering on that.

And now with the press release that Comcast will be increasing rates for some subscribers in November (link: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/335602_bizbriefs16.html), it makes us subscribers feel we are getting shafted. While they have announced that they will add five new HD channels "by the end of the year," many of us are skeptical of that given Comcast's track record with claims. What they fail to mention about one of the channels being added, (NFL Network HD) is the fact that in order for us to enjoy the high-definition programming, we have to upgrade our current cable plans and add a premium sports package, adding more costs to what is already a costly monthly bill for some. Meanwhile, satellite TV subscribers do not have to pay for an extra "sports package" for this channel. While five, though realistically four high-definition channels is better than none, it doesn't compete with what satellite TV can offer at basically the same price that us Comcast subscribers pay. At the pace Comcast is going, it appears that by the time they can reach the 20 channels that DirecTV has offered to their customers already, it will have taken Comcast maybe at least a year. Who knows how far and ahead DirecTV will be with regards to high-definition programming come October 2008.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I am most certain that this is not the only letter regarding this issue that you have received as a movement has been going on ever since DirecTV's announcement a few weeks back and unlike Comcast, they actually delivered on their claim.

Sincerly,
(your name here)
(your neighborhood here)

I received my monthly email update of what's on Comcast HD this month today.

Sure was nice of them to let me know what will be on National Geographic HD. :rolleyes:

At least FOX was nice enough to broadcast in widescreen, which put them well up on CBS the past two years.

Of course, getting the SPEED commentating crew was pure genius, as well, since they did a masterful job of explaining F1 to folks killing time until NASCAR on TNT started. :D

Apparently D* has just added SpeedHD, and the last F-1 race this weekend will be (upconverted) 16x9. Let's add Speed to the priority wish list, since they'll likely be full HD next season.

Apparently D* has just added SpeedHD, and the last F-1 race this weekend will be (upconverted) 16x9. Let's add Speed to the priority wish list, since they'll likely be full HD next season.

To the petition-writer, Robin!

I've read through the thread, but seem to find conflicting information... and I couldn't find the information on the Comcast web site.

I have one Tivo HD, I want to add another one and not require a Comcast truck roll (and waiting around for an appointment.)

Is there a physical location where I can go pick up two CableCards and then do the install over the phone with Comcast?

I live in Bellevue. Thanks for any help! :)

I got the same reply, word-for-word as you, except mine was from Brenda Tate. These automated replies really make me feel like something is being done...NOT! I'm afraid Comcast has us all by the you-know-whats...
I got this email from a comcast rep just today. Yay! New HD Channels FINALLY:

Thank you for contacting us regarding your Comcast cable service. We are adding these HD channels by October 30th .
37 Comcast SportsNet
130 FOX Business Channel
317 Azteca America (KXPD)
717 NFL Network HD
750 The History Channel HD
752 A&E HD
758 USA HD
767 HDTV HD

Please feel free to contact us if you have any more questions. You may respond directly to this email. Thank you for your interest in Comcast.

I've read through the thread, but seem to find conflicting information... and I couldn't find the information on the Comcast web site.

I have one Tivo HD, I want to add another one and not require a Comcast truck roll (and waiting around for an appointment.)

Is there a physical location where I can go pick up two CableCards and then do the install over the phone with Comcast?

I live in Bellevue. Thanks for any help! :)

You should be able to get them at the Comcast Redmond Cable Store, assuming they let you do a self-install=>

14870 NE 95th St
Redmond, WA 98052
877-824-2288

I know you can swap equipment there.

I got this email from a comcast rep just today. Yay! New HD Channels FINALLY:

Thank you for contacting us regarding your Comcast cable service. We are adding these HD channels by October 30th .
37 Comcast SportsNet
130 FOX Business Channel
317 Azteca America (KXPD)
717 NFL Network HD
750 The History Channel HD
752 A&E HD
758 USA HD
767 HDTV HD

Please feel free to contact us if you have any more questions. You may respond directly to this email. Thank you for your interest in Comcast.

I assume the first 3 are not HD, and that the last one is HGTV HD.

You can do the self install. I did mine last january. Just walked in to the Auburn comcast store and asked for 2 cable cards. One minute visit...It was the 4 phone calls after getting home and many minutes later that we finally got a CSR that knew how to proceed with the cable card setup over the phone. I kept calling til I got a CSR that knew about them. Good luck.

You can do the self install. I did mine last january. Just walked in to the Auburn comcast store and asked for 2 cable cards. One minute visit...It was the 4 phone calls after getting home and many minutes later that we finally got a CSR that knew how to proceed with the cable card setup over the phone. I kept calling til I got a CSR that knew about them. Good luck.


I got my multistream card from the store in Lynnwood. I had to make a couple calls to them to get the cards activated, which they're really poor at telling you in the store. When you call, make it clear you have a TiVo HD (or a Series 3) because there are different signals they need to send to the cards for the TiVo than for a TV, for instance. It was the second person I talked to who realized that.

If the rep you're talking to doesn't seem to know what you mean by a TiVo HD, then call back until you get one who does. They have instructions that they can refer to.

Good luck :-)

I have one Tivo HD, I want to add another one and not require a Comcast truck roll (and waiting around for an appointment.
Is there a physical location where I can go pick up two CableCards and then do the install over the phone with Comcast?

Take it from someone who went through a couple of weeks of hell with Comcast and a TiVoHD: Make sure you get the newer multi-stream 'm-card'; you'll only need one. It took a ton of calls to Comcast, several visits to the store on Aurora, and one truck call to get both TiVoHD tuners working. Apparently the new 'm-cards' have been rolled out specifically to deal with TiVoHD issues.

Good luck.

I assume the first 3 are not HD, and that the last one is HGTV HD.
You're probably right - I copied and pasted exactly what was in the email, but it was a bit unclear.

You're probably right - I copied and pasted exactly what was in the email, but it was a bit unclear.

Interesting info obtained by Googling:

37 Comcast SportsNet -- Comcast SportsNet NW is due to be put on 37 in the Portland area (37 is already History Channel in Seattle).

317 Azteca America (KXPD) -- KXPD is a Portland area channel.

I wonder is someone at Comcast got his emails crossed up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More evidence of the above from Salem, OR:
http://news.statesmanjournal.com/notice.cfm?i=8679

717 NFL Network HD
750 The History Channel HD
752 A&E HD
758 USA HD
767 HDTV HD


I agree this seems incorrect. Most of our HD channels are in the 600s.

Interesting info obtained by Googling:

37 Comcast SportsNet -- Comcast SportsNet NW is due to be put on 37 in the Portland area (37 is already History Channel in Seattle).

317 Azteca America (KXPD) -- KXPD is a Portland area channel.

I wonder is someone at Comcast got his emails crossed up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More evidence of the above from Salem, OR:
http://news.statesmanjournal.com/notice.cfm?i=8679

Hmmm... yes I agree, there seems to be a mix up. I was really excited to hear this news today but after going back and reading a post that I posted earlier about SW Washington and Oregon getting 5 new HD channels on Oct 30th, I notice all those channel numbers are the same. Are we sure this info isn't for SW Washington and not Seattle or are we getting the same lineup and channel numbers as well?

Below is what I posted earlier. It shows the list of channels Portland/Vancouver will be getting on Oct 30th the same as the article above:

"effective on or after oct 30 2007 Comcast will make the following changes

new networks being added
comcast sportsnet(november1) added to expanded basic ch 37
fox business network added to digital classic ch 130
NFL NETWORK HD added to sports entertainment tier hd ch 717
THE HISTORY CHANNEL HD added to digital classic hd, channel 750
A&E HD added to digital classic hd, channel 752
USA NETWORK HD added to digital classic hd, channel 758
HGTV-HD added to digital classic hd, channel 767"

I really hope we get new HD additions on Oct 30th, but since KXPD was listed in there as well, and all the channel numbers are the same for the Portland additions, I'm guessing this is wrong info for the Seattle area.:confused:

This doesn't seem right to me.
I think the rep got their wires crossed and gave you info for the wrong market.
The best update for Western Washington is NFL-HD coming 11/1 to channel 418, NGC-HD plus 3 unnamed HD channels to be added 12/6. Fox Business to be added January 2008 but no news on the HD version.

Yes I'm pretty sure you are correct. That info must be for SW Washington, not Seattle. SW Washington got NGC-HD last January, thus, it's not in the list of new HD additions they are getting Oct 30th. We won't even get that till December, almost a year after SW Washington! This just really shows how slow Seattle is at getting around to upgrading HD in our area.:mad:

what a buzzkill. I thought we might have something here but it is clear this news was about some other market.

I'm giving up on Comcast and their promises.

I got this email from a comcast rep just today. Yay! New HD Channels FINALLY:

Thank you for contacting us regarding your Comcast cable service. We are adding these HD channels by October 30th .
37 Comcast SportsNet
130 FOX Business Channel
317 Azteca America (KXPD)
717 NFL Network HD
750 The History Channel HD
752 A&E HD
758 USA HD
767 HDTV HD

Please feel free to contact us if you have any more questions. You may respond directly to this email. Thank you for your interest in Comcast.

Since you "may respond directly" - would you ask them for correct information for Seattle?

Since you "may respond directly" - would you ask them for correct information for Seattle?

For that matter, ask why we don't get notification like this:
http://news.statesmanjournal.com/notice.cfm?i=8679

Ever since the switch in the programming guide (from MS to ?), my DVR seems to hate me. Random reboots, incomplete recordings, etc.

What is the current AVSForum recommended DVR/firmware from Comcast?

Kipa

...
What is the current AVSForum recommended DVR/firmware from Comcast?
...

You might try swapping the DVR for the DCH3416. Whatever firmware Comcast provides is what you'll get, since you can't control firmware updates.

Since you "may respond directly" - would you ask them for correct information for Seattle?
I replied and here is what the comcast rep said:

"I have checked this information and the launch dates for these channels in your area will be in December."

The channel numbers will probably be different.

"I have checked this information and the launch dates for these channels in your area will be in December."

I though another exec said they did not know which channels we were going to get (other than NFLHD and maybe NGHD).:rolleyes:

I got a message last night that comcast is removing three hd on demand channel (I think 657, 658, 659) on 11/20. Is this the sign that we might get new channels around that date?

Also, I have been communicating with Steve Kipp alot lately and yesterday per his message it sounded like comcast will try to add more then 5 hd channels by end of this year.

Most likely we will get same hd channels as OR.

I sent a letter to every member of the Bellevue City council and the Mayor. After a few responses from the city technical person I received an email from him containing the Comcast response. Here it is:

Mayor Degginger and Councilmembers, David Kerr forwarded to me the e-mail that was sent to each of you from Mr. Smith, asking for information relative to our High Definition cable offerings. When I sent my response to David yesterday, I received his out of office reply, so in an effort to communicate our position to you more quickly, I decided to go ahead and send this to you directly. And, I apologize in advance for the length of this e-mail but Mr. Smith raised many questions and made numerous assertions that required a response.

First of all, as you know, we are in a very competitive environment, which means that we provide as much quality programming as we can and that includes HD programming. We try very hard to provide programming that is going to appeal to the largest number of customers. HD programming however, requires a fair amount of bandwidth. So, in order to continue providing additional HD programming in the future, we have to manage our bandwidth very carefully and migrate as many channels as possible from analog to a digital tier. The more channels we can reclaim from analog, the more bandwidth we have available for HD programming, it’s that simple.

To address Mr. Smith’s issues specifically, let’s start with the fact that Mr. Smith seems upset that he’s not getting the same channels as what’s being offered elsewhere. It’s important to note that we manage our programming locally, specifically for the WA Market. Just because Portland announced the launch of various channels, doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re ready to make the same announcement. Often times we may be working on a similar deal, but until our programming contracts are finalized, we can’t make any announcements. And, sometimes, Seattle is the first market to announce launch of a certain channel – it just depends on Market conditions.

Mr. Smith first complains about sports HD channels and our Mojo Channel. The Mojo Channel is offered as part of the Digital Classic tier and it offers a variety of programming including select Fox Sports Net HD events. There aren’t enough events to fill a whole channel, so instead, we put pre-empt programming on this channel whenever a new event becomes available at the list minute (this happens a fair amount in college sports). In terms of knowing what’s on and when, he can certainly see what’s offered through his on-screen Guide, which is accurate about 90% of the time, the rest being those events that were added at the last minute due to playoffs, etc. Mr. Smith could also check the Fox Sports Net NW website, which posts game schedules as well and would probably reflect last minute changes more accurately than our Guide.

As far as baseball in HD goes, I’m told that those games were available exclusively on TBS HD, which we currently don’t carry. We do carry TBS on analog, so Mr. Smith could see the games, but not in HD. If we receive a lot of requests for TBS HD, that may certainly be added in the future, but to date, it hasn’t been a top priority for carriage and we’d have to drop another channel from analog in order to accommodate.

As for future HD launches, we will be launching the NFL Network & the Comcast Sportsnet in HD on 11/1 (1 day later than Portland). On December 6th, we hope to launch 4 new HD channels, including A&E, History, USA Network and National Geographic. Please note that this is not a done deal though and that is why we have not yet made any public announcements. In January, we will also be adding the Fox Business Network to our digital line-up. And, there will be a couple of other changes to the digital line-up as well, but Mr. Smith seems mostly concerned with the HD line-up so I am limiting my response primarily to those channels.

With respect to Mr. Smith’s complaint that we moved the NFL network from a digital pkg. to a special sports tier at extra expense – yes, this summer we moved the NFL Network from Preferred Digital to a Sports & Entertainment Pkg. The reason we did this was quite simple – it’s niche programming and it’s relatively expensive, so why force everyone to pay for it when only a select few want to watch it.

I hope you find this information helpful and as always, please don’t hesitate to give me a call or drop me an e-mail if you have any questions or concerns.

Take care,
Kathy Putt
Director, Franchising and Government Affairs
Comcast Cable Communications, Inc.
14870 NE 95th St.
Redmond, WA 98052
Tel: 425.867.7447
Cell: 425.471.1638
Fax: 425.867.7455

I got a message last night that comcast is removing three hd on demand channel (I think 657, 658, 659) on 11/20. Is this the sign that we might get new channels around that date?

Also, I have been communicating with Steve Kipp alot lately and yesterday per his message it sounded like comcast will try to add more then 5 hd channels by end of this year.

Most likely we will get same hd channels as OR.

I thought a Comcast exec already said we would be getting the channels on Dec 6.

Take it from someone who went through a couple of weeks of hell with Comcast and a TiVoHD: Make sure you get the newer multi-stream 'm-card'; you'll only need one. It took a ton of calls to Comcast, several visits to the store on Aurora, and one truck call to get both TiVoHD tuners working. Apparently the new 'm-cards' have been rolled out specifically to deal with TiVoHD issues.
Thanks for the info! :)

Is there any special number I need to call, or just the main Comcast number?

I assume they'll just ask for the information from the CableCARD screen on the Tivo?

What will we get from comcast sportsnet hd? It will only have blazers game in HD which will be Blackout for seattle market. Will this be another wasted bandwidth like KONG HD?

What will we get from comcast sportsnet hd? It will only have blazers game in HD which will be Blackout for seattle market. Will this be another wasted bandwidth like KONG HD?

Probably. We really need Speed.

Probably. We really need Speed.

I prefer hallucinogens. :)

FAUX News, Business or otherwise, is banned in my house. We finally get an HD cable news channel and it is on the propaganda network.

Unfortunately, there is no such thing as news anymore. It's political bias masquerading as reporting. No matter what station you turn to, they're shilling for someone, some group, or some cause.

I sent a letter to every member of the Bellevue City council and the Mayor. After a few responses from the city technical person I received an email from him containing the Comcast response. Here it is:

Thanks for posting that illuminating response. But I had to laugh at this line:

"And, sometimes, Seattle is the first market to announce launch of a certain channel – it just depends on Market conditions."

When has that ever happened? And is "Market" referring to Pike Place Market? :D

A side note. My cable and internet went out last night from Exactly midnight to exactly 6 AM this morning in South King County. This looks like a "scheduled" maintenance act that was not identified to their paid users. It might have involved an upgrade of some hardware. sam

All my scheduled shows recorded between midnight and 1:00am in Bellevue, so we seem to have been unaffected.

Thanks for posting that illuminating response. But I had to laugh at this line:

"And, sometimes, Seattle is the first market to announce launch of a certain channel – it just depends on Market conditions."

When has that ever happened? And is "Market" referring to Pike Place Market? :D

Hey, I'm sure we were the first market to launch KONG HD. Beat that Portland. I just wish FIOS would step up its efforts in the area so those of us with tall tree issues would finally have some alternative to Comcast.

It's funny because when I moved to the Seattle area I figured there would be multiple options for TV and internet given how high-tech the area is. The town I moved from in Michigan had two cable providers to choose from (how I miss you WOW) as well as Verizon FIOS. Here we have Comcast or a combination of cruddy DSL and satellite. Yippee.

Anyone have a currently list or link to the comcast QAM channel mapping? not sure if my terminology is correct, but the list showing that KOMO HD is 82-4, kong HD is 83-2(?), etc

Seems like things have moved alot lately, and the TV I'm about to get does not have a cable card slot...

Anyone have a currently list or link to the comcast QAM channel mapping?...

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=11633296#post11633296

"With respect to Mr. Smith’s complaint that we moved the NFL network from a digital pkg. to a special sports tier at extra expense – yes, this summer we moved the NFL Network from Preferred Digital to a Sports & Entertainment Pkg. The reason we did this was quite simple – it’s niche programming and it’s relatively expensive, so why force everyone to pay for it when only a select few want to watch it. "

so does this mean we get a discount on our cable bill for this? Things that make you go hmmmmmm....

so does this mean we get a discount on our cable bill for this? Things that make you go hmmmmmm....

NFL-HD will be added Nov 1st, coincidentally, that's the same day our cable bill will increase 4.5%:rolleyes: