I was told in January that it would be upgraded in Ross by July.

So how long after that till we see the channels we should already have? Weeks? Months?

What exactly do they have to do to rebuild the end(s)? I was at Best Feeds on Babcock a few weeks ago and I saw Comcast running what looked like FO wires from pole to pole. Will they be running fiber to the poles and then coax from the poles to the houses then?

I doubt they will add much fiber. Probably just swap out the guts of all the line amps. Although, I swear I spotted some shiny new line amps in Etna today, right along side RT. 28. Aluminum corrodes, so the new ones look different.

So how long after that till we see the channels we should already have? Weeks? Months?

What exactly do they have to do to rebuild the end(s)? I was at Best Feeds on Babcock a few weeks ago and I saw Comcast running what looked like FO wires from pole to pole. Will they be running fiber to the poles and then coax from the poles to the houses then?

I was told that they have most of the remote infrastructure in place already and will have completed that by July. The last remaining piece that is holding it up is the head end equipment.

My contact with Comcast told me that "It should take about a month" give or take to upgrade the head end and they started this week.

So, we may have new stuff by mid June even.

My contact with Comcast told me that "It should take about a month" give or take to upgrade the head end and they started this week.

So, we may have new stuff by mid June even.

Well that would be fantastic!

On a side note, and I've been meaning to ask this for a while now, why on earth do we have 2 of each premium HD channel? Couldn't they just get rid of 1 of each and add other HD channels in their place?

Well that would be fantastic!

On a side note, and I've been meaning to ask this for a while now, why on earth do we have 2 of each premium HD channel? Couldn't they just get rid of 1 of each and add other HD channels in their place?

Don't fret. They aren't taking up bandwidth. They are simply additional mappings.

I too was worried about that. I jumped into the diagnostics menu of the box and found that those channels had the exact same frequencies.

Kind of like how GSN still has it's old number spot in the middle of the analog tier even though it's a digital only station now and has a digital channel spot too.

Now, what I want to know is why they can't offer us some HD on demand programming for the HD channels we don't get. I could stomach not having Scifi HD if I could simply watch BSG in HD on demand.

Don't fret. They aren't taking up bandwidth. They are simply additional mappings.

I too was worried about that. I jumped into the diagnostics menu of the box and found that those channels had the exact same frequencies.

Kind of like how GSN still has it's old number spot in the middle of the analog tier even though it's a digital only station now and has a digital channel spot too.

Now, what I want to know is why they can't offer us some HD on demand programming for the HD channels we don't get. I could stomach not having Scifi HD if I could simply watch BSG in HD on demand.

Thanks for clearing that up. I didn't know GSN switched to all digital. My 80+ year old neighbor was complaining to me about that a few weeks ago. He really likes that channel and is pretty darn mad at Comcast for taking it away from him since he has no digital box.

You want Scifi HD OnDemand? They can't even give us HBO HD OnDemand and it has an HD channel for cryin' out loud! Hopefully this upgrade will cure all our ailments. ;)

Don't fret. They aren't taking up bandwidth. They are simply additional mappings.

I too was worried about that. I jumped into the diagnostics menu of the box and found that those channels had the exact same frequencies.

Yeah, I checked the same thing and found that they were the same. They probably do this so they can include them in different packages.

Now, what I want to know is why they can't offer us some HD on demand programming for the HD channels we don't get. I could stomach not having Scifi HD if I could simply watch BSG in HD on demand.

That would be nice, but it wouldn't help me since I use cablecards (in TiVo) and wouldn't be able to get them anyway. Let's get the upgrade. Mid-June would be nice.

My problem now is that sometime this week I lost all my Premium HD channels (HBO, SHO, MAX, etc.). I hate the thought of calling Comcast since I'm sure they will totally mess up the Authorization on my cablecards, but I guess I'll have to do it.

Edit: Before I had a chance to call Comcast all the channels suddenly came back after being gone for 3 days. Life is great!

I just happened to be looking at the channel lineup on the Comcast web site today and noticed Comcast Sports Net HD on channel 255. I don't believe I have this. How about anyone else out there?

I just happened to be looking at the channel lineup on the Comcast web site today and noticed Comcast Sports Net HD on channel 255. I don't believe I have this. How about anyone else out there?Channel 255 is the Versus/Golf Channel HD on my system.

Channel 255 is the Versus/Golf Channel HD on my system.

It has been around for several months. It is the CSN channel most times, but reverts to Golf/VS HD when they have telecasts in HD.

I took a traffic detour off of rt. 28 today, saw all new shiny line amps in sharpsburgh, so i asked a co-worker about etna and he said he's seens guys on the poles there for a couple weeks now. I'm not sure, and not that it matters but the fiber nodes optical/elect. looked the same in sharpsburgh. Yeah, i notice this kinda stuff.
I did a scan and seemed to find 3 blank digital channels on channel 89. Anyone else see this ?
P.S.
A verizon guy told me west view CO 931/939 exchange is on hold :-(

what will happen with all of this stuff for the people who have underground wiring?

everything in my neighborhood is underground (cable,phone,electricity)

im worried i will never be able to get fios or benefit from these comcast upgrades

what will happen with all of this stuff for the people who have underground wiring?

everything in my neighborhood is underground (cable,phone,electricity)

im worried i will never be able to get fios or benefit from these comcast upgrades

You are set for Comcast upgrades. Fios, ... unless they have spare room in the underground conduit, be prepared to have your lawn dug up.

You are set for Comcast upgrades. Fios, ... unless they have spare room in the underground conduit, be prepared to have your lawn dug up.

A guy I work with lives in a new Ryan Home plan and the fiber was not run to their houses when they were built a couple of years ago. His neighbor did just get FIOS and he watched as Verizon used some kind of machine that laid conduit without having to dig a trench. I'm guessing it is similar to the machine that lays plastic tubing for sprinkler systems. IIRC it makes a thin cut in the ground and prys up the earth so another part of the machine can roll the conduit under the flap it just lifted. Then the back end of the machine pushes the flap of earth back down. So you'll have a small cut in the ground but it's better than a back filled trench and is almost undetectable too.

I can't say that they do that everywhere. But that's what they did there apparently where all wiring is under ground.

and more including screen shots:

http://www.comcast.com/newguide/

Did any of you get this new guide? I called Comcast yesterday and asked where it was and got a resounding "DAH"

Amplifier replacement for the n. hills 1 Ghz. upgrade made it to millvale on babcock blvd. near the shop'n'save.

Amplifier replacement for the n. hills 1 Ghz. upgrade made it to millvale on babcock blvd. near the shop'n'save.

So is this upgrade almost done then? Do they need to test forever before they can give us what we've been paying for for a long time?

So is this upgrade almost done then? Do they need to test forever before they can give us what we've been paying for for a long time?

Millvalle is a long way from Wexford, which I think is how far north our headend reaches, so I have no idea when they will be done. I think the other boundaries are bellevue, Emsworth, shaler, sharpsburgh. They test and align each node as they replace the amps. My guess is they will add new HD channels some where before they finish the field upgrade.

I always wanted to say we know comcast lies, so why believe it is just a headend upgrade as they said, instead of an entire system upgrade as they are now doing.

I also go by Verizon's millvale exchange, and I have seen them adding conduit, so it sure looks like Fios is on its way to the Millvalle 412 821-xxxx and other millvalle phone numbers.

Millvalle is a long way from Wexford, which I think is how far north our headend reaches, so I have no idea when they will be done. I think the other boundaries are bellevue, Emsworth, shaler, sharpsburgh. They test and align each node as they replace the amps. My guess is they will add new HD channels some where before they finish the field upgrade.

I always wanted to say we know comcast lies, so why believe it is just a headend upgrade as they said, instead of an entire system upgrade as they are now doing.

I also go by Verizon's millvale exchange, and I have seen them adding conduit, so it sure looks like Fios is on its way to the Millvalle 412 821-xxxx and other millvalle phone numbers.


Someone else said June or July so that still seems to be the case if your logic is correct. I'm in Shaler so it looks like the equipment around me is done now which is encouraging.

I'll take their lies as a good thing this time. If they want to upgrade everything to something better than they've been promising for a couple of years now, then I'm all for it!

I'm not far from Millvale, a couple of miles maybe, and I've had Fios available to me for probably 7 or 8 months. Kind of strange how it can be available in one place but not available right down the street.

Speaking of Fios, I keep getting offers to switch but have no intentions of doing so after seeing their prices and channel lineup. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Fios does not seem to offer VS HD which means all Pens games would be in SD. That's awful! Unless I'm missing something that is.

A guy I work with lives in a new Ryan Home plan and the fiber was not run to their houses when they were built a couple of years ago. His neighbor did just get FIOS and he watched as Verizon used some kind of machine that laid conduit without having to dig a trench. I'm guessing it is similar to the machine that lays plastic tubing for sprinkler systems. IIRC it makes a thin cut in the ground and prys up the earth so another part of the machine can roll the conduit under the flap it just lifted. Then the back end of the machine pushes the flap of earth back down. So you'll have a small cut in the ground but it's better than a back filled trench and is almost undetectable too.

I can't say that they do that everywhere. But that's what they did there apparently where all wiring is under ground.

Yeah, absolutely right. My mother's home in Maryland was one of the first areas to get Fios. They dig right up to all the little conduit boxes on everyone's street, so don't worry about them digging up your yard, because usually these are all laid on the sidewalk side of the property. Not to mention they place the grass right back on top.

It's a strange sight seeing 50-60 workers digging up the whole neighborhood lol, especially if you've got that neighbor you hate who love his lawn. :D

I just thought I'd point out that TBS HD is actually showing HD programming today.

I just thought I'd point out that TBS HD is actually showing HD programming today.
At least you have TBS HD. We still don't have that channel.

Anyone know about Versus in HD, I saw that Direct TV offered that... :(

I'm moving to Coraopolis on Sunday from Maryland... I'm hoping Comcast is a little better up here then Maryland where it's nothing but problems...

I'm pretty sure that I'm signed up for all the possible HD channels... I guess I'll find out on Sunday, because you never know with Comcast...

I have Versus HD. For me it's channel 255.Don't go buy the channel listing on their website, it is usually wrong.

Comcast has a sports channel of its own (something like CSNDHD) which in the North Hills is on channel 255. Whenever GOLF or VS have HD programming it is shown on that channel, albeit without proper guide info.

If you are into baseball, they do a similar feat with the FSN channel (which carries Penguin and Pirate games). It is on channel 29 (here), but when there is an HD telecast they show it on 226 (MOJO).

Another great experience with Comcast customer service. I was having problems getting into the Comcast Digital Voice webpage and sent them an e-mail describing the problem. I received the normal automated response telling me to clear history files, temporay files, cache and even the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) state and AutoComplete history.

When I yelled at them, I got a personal response saying their web site was down and to try again later.

Does everyone here have the Motorola HD set top box with DVI out?

I've read that Comcast may be using newer HD boxes with an HDMI output (I'm not talking about the Scientific Atlanta STBs available only in certain areas).

My aunt, who just got service last January, still has an older Motorola box like mine that has DVI and component video out.

Does everyone here have the Motorola HD set top box with DVI out?

I've read that Comcast may be using newer HD boxes with an HDMI output (I'm not talking about the Scientific Atlanta STBs available only in certain areas).

My aunt, who just got service last January, still has an older Motorola box like mine that has DVI and component video out.

They've had HDMI moto boxes for a long time. I got one as my first box last July when I first got HD service from comcast. To bad it had a fragged hard drive and the replacement box the guy had on the truck was only DVI.

They are pretty much the same though, think minor hardware revision. They aren't radically different boxes. I wouldn't bother with one unless you have an HDMI receiver and really want to cut down on the cable clutter. The general rule with the moto boxes is if you have one that actually works more than 80% of the time correctly, don't rock the boat.

Now, i'm talking about the older DCT6412 boxes. I would assume the newer all digital DCH3416 cable card HD DVRs that they are deploying in some places around here are all HDMI

Yeah, but you have the DVR service. I don't want or need that.

Do they offer regular boxes with HDMI?

I was at the Pirates' game tonight (friend invited me) and sat in a box. They had the newest Motorola STBs hooked up to the LCD HDTVs.

Here is a picture of it: Motorola DCH6200 (http://www.motorola.com/business/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=3d6d9e3eeed46110VgnVCM1000008406b00aRCRD&vgnextchannel=49c3b4ca024b6110VgnVCM1000008406b00aRCRD)

Why can't we get one of these babies for ourselves?

My brother in law has the Motorola DCH6200, in shady side. Maybe you just have to ask for one. Not sure. He had a problem with his other moto box.. and they swapped it out with one of those. Nothing new however. Same old comcast guide and system.

I got a call on my voicemail today from comcast. An automated message saything they will be doing maintinance in my area sometime in the next 48 hrs that will cause in interuppution in service.

I've seen the trucks around here too. They seem to be up near the poll, opening up some big black box that hangs off the wire, and working on that.

I hope that means my area is getting some major upgrade. I need more HD channels, and I need the new guide already!

Hey, danfoley, I know a Jordan Foley from Butler, PA. Are you related to him?

I got a call on my voicemail today from comcast. An automated message saything they will be doing maintinance in my area sometime in the next 48 hrs that will cause in interuppution in service.

I've seen the trucks around here too. They seem to be up near the poll, opening up some big black box that hangs off the wire, and working on that.

I hope that means my area is getting some major upgrade. I need more HD channels, and I need the new guide already!

What area are you in ?

I too got the Motorola DCH6200 , I live in the Southside. They switched from the old box when I moved. I do pay the DVR so perhaps thats why they allowed the switch. Your not missing anything, other than in my experience, more HDMI handshake issues, though I have a 3 yr old JVC .

I too got the Motorola DCH6200 , I live in the Southside. They switched from the old box when I moved. I do pay the DVR so perhaps thats why they allowed the switch. Your not missing anything, other than in my experience, more HDMI handshake issues, though I have a 3 yr old JVC .

I'm in the southside as well. What area of SS are you in? Have you had any problems with ABC or PBS dropping in and out latley? Maybe it's just me.

I'm around 15th below carson. I haven't had an problems with ABC, cant say I watch much PBS. Though I have had problems recently with DiscoveryHD breaking up

i know this is the wrong thread, but im ordering comcast digital cable today, what packages do you guys have?

wich one should i get?

how is the dvr/hdtv??

im not sure exactly what to get here

thanks!

Looks like some more HD channels around July 15th.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08165/889539-237.stm

i know this is the wrong thread, but im ordering comcast digital cable today, what packages do you guys have?

wich one should i get?

how is the dvr/hdtv??

im not sure exactly what to get here

thanks!

I have the Digital Premier triple-play for $159. It all depends on what channels are important for you. I wanted the premier channels (HBO, SHO, MAX, etc.) as well as the Sports Package (NFL).

I tried their DVR and found it awkward, unreliable and old-tech. I'm using the TiVo S3 instead and love it. Actually I have 3 TiVos networked together to allow viewing in different rooms.

Looks like some more HD channels around July 15th.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08165/889539-237.stm



In addition to the five HD channels that will be added to most area systems, Penn Hills will get an additional mix of 19 new HD and digital channels. Folks in Ross and Castle Shannon, who always seem to be left out of these HD upgrades, will get the same mix of new channels as Penn Hills, including nine HD channels: AMC, Animal Planet, CNN, Discovery, FSN-P, Sci Fi, TBS, TLC and WPCW.

Color me shocked. I should have Scifi hd in enough time to watch the new season of Stargate Atlantis and Eureka.

I could not be happier for all of you who were "2nd class customers" of Comcast. It was an embarrassment to read that you paid the same and always got less.

Now we can all enjoy the new Comcast HD Lite lineup together. :D

Well, it's still not going to keep me from leaving comcast at the first available opportunity, but it's nice knowing that my last month or so with them will be a bit more bearable.

I wonder if they are launching ADS at the same time in Ross.

Looks like some more HD channels around July 15th.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08165/889539-237.stm

Looks like some on july 15 and some later ?
... The changes in Ross and Castle Shannon will take place on Aug. 19. ... per the news story.

But, will the idiots give WPMY a channel number so their customers with out a QAM tuner can watch it on the comcrap settop box ??

Looks like they are freeing up 9 analog channels. Kinda funny if they are getting close to completion on the 1 GHz. plant upgrade ?? Maybe Ross area won't be completed till Aug. but 15237 will be by july 15th ??

Looks like some more HD channels around July 15th.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08165/889539-237.stm

I don't see Food Network HD in there for the North Hills. Since we're going to get what Penn Hills has am I to assume we'll get that channel too? Penn Hills already has it IIRC.

To add more confusion to the situation go to http://comcastdigitalworld.com/.

If you punch in 15229, you get a different list than when you punch in 15237. Yet both are serviced off the Ross head end. The 15229 is obviously wrong because it has G4 moving from basic cable to digital but it's already on digital.

At this site, it claims the changes are going through on July 15th as well. Who knows. It does, at least, give a better list of what HD channels to expect in Ross. WPMY is listed as well as all the back HD stations that we haven't gotten yet like Food HD and A&E HD.

Additionally, when I put in my ZIP it gives me a completely incorrect channel lineup (like VS on Channel #72) and indicates that I have analog channels that I really don't (like CMT). Glad that they sprung for a domain name to just confuse people even more.

Well, according to TVPlanner.comcast.net I've had scifi HD and discovery HD for the last 6 months anyways.

To add more confusion to the situation go to http://comcastdigitalworld.com/.

If you punch in 15229, you get a different list than when you punch in 15237. Yet both are serviced off the Ross head end. The 15229 is obviously wrong because it has G4 moving from basic cable to digital but it's already on digital.

At this site, it claims the changes are going through on July 15th as well. Who knows. It does, at least, give a better list of what HD channels to expect in Ross. WPMY is listed as well as all the back HD stations that we haven't gotten yet like Food HD and A&E HD.

Punching in my zip gives me the exact same listing as 15229 which better be wrong like you said! If I don't get the channels everyone else has had for a while now when this is all said and done then Comcast is going to be out of my life for a long, long time. Every zip code bordering mine has the same listing as 15237 so I don't see how it can be right for mine.

As of this morning there has been no Public Notice filed of the changes meaning that July 15 changes are unlikely since 30 day notice is required.

I just ordered a second hd box today. I can't believe it's over $10 a month for additional hd boxes.

edit: look here also... http://pa.mypublicnotices.com/PublicNotice.asp?Page=PublicNotice&AdId=1007119

I just checked now:

For 15229 (where I am :( ) :

They have only 5 new HD channels: FOX-P (which is just torture since its Pirates games), AMC, Animal Planet, TLC, CW. They also have listed a bunch of SD crap (Qubo? Ion Life?)

For 15237:

They have 14 new HD channels, with the same as above, along with A&E, TBS, MyNetwork, HGTV, Food Channel, TLC, CNN, Sci-Fi, NFL Network and Discovery. They're also getting the extra channels for the premium sports packages (which 15229 never had), NBA & NHL Networks for the regular sports package (which again 15229 never had, they stuffed NBA TV games from a week ago on MOJO for no reason), and some SD crap like Bloomberg, Fox Business and Fox Reality. EDIT: I saw the article saying Ross will get those, but isn't 15237 Ross too? Plus NFLN isn't mentioned, and watching football in SD is painful on a HDTV.

I really wish Verizon would come down Perry Hwy near I-279. By the time we get the normal amount of channels, my HDTV will be obsolete, along with probably every other region having 2x as much service.

That stupid ass Comcast commercial with them saying "More" must not apply to my zip code.

Sorry I'm done ranting. I'm going to leave now for work since I-279 is a parking lot now.

I just ordered a second hd box today. I can't believe it's over $10 a month for additional hd boxes.

edit: look here also... http://pa.mypublicnotices.com/PublicNotice.asp?Page=PublicNotice&AdId=1007119

All my friends laughed about my cablecards not have a guide or on Demand excess. Who's laughing now, $2.00 a month per card (HDTV) $8.00 a month is not bad at all. With the five new HD's coming that brings this areas tally up to over 31.

To add more confusion to the situation go to http://comcastdigitalworld.com/.

If you punch in 15229, you get a different list than when you punch in 15237. Yet both are serviced off the Ross head end. The 15229 is obviously wrong because it has G4 moving from basic cable to digital but it's already on digital.

At this site, it claims the changes are going through on July 15th as well. Who knows. It does, at least, give a better list of what HD channels to expect in Ross. WPMY is listed as well as all the back HD stations that we haven't gotten yet like Food HD and A&E HD.

If you punch these 2 zip codes in now the listings are reversed. 15237 now has the shorter list like my area's zip codes have (15116, 15101, 15223) and 15229 has the long list which is what I better get for my zip sometime soon too!

I'm going to call to see if I can find out what's going on.

*EDIT*

I spoke with Rita at Comcast and all she could see for most of the North Hills were the channel changes and the 5 new HD channels which will go into effect on 7/15. No Food, TBS, NFL, etc HD channels being added yet for most of us in the NH. So maybe those are to be added on 8/19 as mentioned above.

Official Press Release

June 19, 2008


Comcast, Big Ten Network Reach Broad Multimedia Agreement for Big Ten Network Content

Comcast customers to receive Big Ten Network HD, Big Ten Network high-speed Internet content through Comcast.net, and condensed game replays and other programs through Comcast On Demand

Philadelphia and Chicago -- Comcast Corporation and the Big Ten Network announced today that they have reached a long-term multimedia agreement for Comcast to carry Big Ten Network programming across television, broadband and video-on-demand in time for the 2008 college football season.

Under the terms of the agreement, Comcast will initially launch the network as part of its expanded basic level of service to promote it to the majority of its customers residing in states with Big Ten universities (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, with the exception of the Philadelphia region which will launch on a broadly distributed digital level of service) starting August 15th. (Comcast does not have systems in Iowa, the eighth Big Ten state.) In Spring 2009, Comcast may elect to move the network to a broadly distributed digital level of service in most of its systems in these states. Comcast's digital customers in the Big Ten states will also have immediate access to live Big Ten games and events in high definition, Big Ten programming via Comcast's video-on-demand platform, and a wide array of conference-related content through Comcast.net.

Outside of the Big Ten states that Comcast serves, Comcast has the option to provide Big Ten Network programming on any level of service, including its Sports Entertainment Package.

Officials from Comcast and Big Ten Network said they look forward to utilizing both traditional and emerging media to bring more Big Ten programming to fans than was ever available to them before.

"We are very pleased with the agreement we have reached with the Big Ten Network to carry hundreds of live Big Ten events," said Madison Bond, Executive Vice President, Content Acquisition, Comcast Cable. "We will be providing our customers with Big Ten programming through our signature video-on-demand service, and will have lots of highlights, replays, scores and more through Comcast.net so fans can keep pace with Big Ten action whenever they want to."

Big Ten Network President Mark Silverman said the network is thrilled to have Comcast as a distribution partner. "This agreement allows us to reach many more Big Ten fans with our programming because of the high concentration of Comcast subscribers in Big Ten states. With the Comcast deal now in place, the Big Ten Network will be available to more than two-thirds of all homes in Big Ten Country."

Big Ten Network already produces more high-definition television content than any new sports network in television history. Over the next year, more than 400 live Big Ten sporting events will be carried by the Big Ten Network in high definition, including football, men's and women's basketball, baseball, softball and soccer, as well as other NCAA-sponsored sports.

Comcast's digital customers who receive the network will have On Demand access to programming such as weekly extended highlights and condensed game replays from around the conference, classic Big Ten sporting events, bowl game coverage and coaches' shows, plus original campus programming and nightly studio shows from Big Ten Network, most of which is available in high definition.

Comcast also has the ability to deliver much of that same content to its Comcast High Speed Internet customers via the company's Comcast.net portal. Additionally, Comcast has the rights to carry certain network content on Fancast.com.

About Comcast Corporation
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) (http://www.comcast.com) is the nation's leading provider of entertainment, information and communications products and services. With 24.7 million cable customers, 14.1 million high-speed Internet customers, and 5.2 million voice customers, Comcast is principally involved in the development, management and operation of broadband cable systems and in the delivery of programming content.

Comcast's content networks and investments include E! Entertainment Television, Style Network, The Golf Channel, VERSUS, G4, PBS KIDS Sprout, TV One, ten Comcast SportsNet networks and Comcast Interactive Media, which develops and operates Comcast's Internet business. Comcast also has a majority ownership in Comcast-Spectacor, whose major holdings include the Philadelphia Flyers NHL hockey team, the Philadelphia 76ers NBA basketball team and two large multipurpose arenas in Philadelphia.

About the Big Ten Network
The Big Ten Network is dedicated to covering the Big Ten Conference and its 11 member institutions. The Big Ten Network provides unprecedented access to an extensive schedule of conference sports events and shows; original programs in academics, the arts and sciences; campus activities; and associated personalities. Sports programming includes live coverage of more major men's and women's events than ever before, along with news, highlights and analysis, all complemented by hours of university-produced campus programming. The network is available to all cable and satellite carriers and television distributors nationwide, with most programs offered in stunning high-definition television (HDTV). The Big Ten Network is a joint venture between subsidiaries of the Big Ten Conference and Fox Cable Networks.

So, the bottom line for Big Ten Network on Comcast.

In Big 10 states it will be on expanded basic until next spring. Then it will move to Digital Package.

Other states it will be part of SEP.

Good compromise.

Will they be carrying the HD channels that they provide?

I spoke with Rita at Comcast and all she could see for most of the North Hills were the channel changes and the 5 new HD channels which will go into effect on 7/15. No Food, TBS, NFL, etc HD channels being added yet for most of us in the NH. So maybe those are to be added on 8/19 as mentioned above.

Well just have to see what happens.

If it does take them until Aug 19th to add Scifi HD, I will likely have won the "race." Awhile back I pondered what would come first, me moving to a location where I'm not held hostage by Comcast or the completion of upgrades that give me Scifi HD. A middle of Aug go live date makes it very likely that I will have beat them to the punch and purchased a house before they manage to deliver on promises made years ago.

I'm also in the SoSide, top of 18th. Comcast forcefully disables lots of digital features in their signal to ensure that 3rd party DVRs will *not* work as much as possible. They have been stripping the names of the stations they broadcast, and encoding their lineup data in a strange way. They also encrypt a majority of their stations. This prevents DVRs from properly identifying the channel, the channel lineup, and some channels are simply not tunable -- even if they're part of a package.

I'm using MythTV and an HDHomeRun tuner. I get more HD channels using an antenna than I do with Comcast's Digital Starter package.

It looks like they have begun the analog to digital migration already, ... Oxygen (SD) is on 21.2 (analog ch. 21). It seems like some blank carriers on 82 also.

Well just have to see what happens.

If it does take them until Aug 19th to add Scifi HD, I will likely have won the "race." Awhile back I pondered what would come first, me moving to a location where I'm not held hostage by Comcast or the completion of upgrades that give me Scifi HD. A middle of Aug go live date makes it very likely that I will have beat them to the punch and purchased a house before they manage to deliver on promises made years ago.

http://www.comcastdigitalworld.com
Punch in 15215 which is Sharpsburg and some of Shaler and O'Hara. They list some changes for 7/15 and the rest of the stations in a separate table for 8/19. My Shaler zip shows all of the channels now for 7/15, which makes me happy, but the info for 15215 contradicts that. So I'm expecting to see the regular 7/15 changes on that date and then get the rest on 8/19. I'm fine with that!

Boy, is that digitalworld website messed up. If you punch in 15237, 15229 or 15202 zipcodes it says the new channels will be here on 7/15. If you punch in 15215 it says those channels won't be here until 8/19 for Ross and West View, yet Ross and West View are the other three zipcodes that I originally punched in.

To me that means that I will probably have the wrong channel numbers and guide data for five weeks on my cablecard equipped TiVos.

Boy, is that digitalworld website messed up. If you punch in 15237, 15229 or 15202 zipcodes it says the new channels will be here on 7/15. If you punch in 15215 it says those channels won't be here until 8/19 for Ross and West View, yet Ross and West View are the other three zipcodes that I originally punched in.

To me that means that I will probably have the wrong channel numbers and guide data for five weeks on my cablecard equipped TiVos.

Yeah, it's pretty messed up alright. But at least now it's showing that those who did not have the additional HD channels (Food, TBS, SciFi, etc.) are going to get them this Summer. When exactly is the big question.

Man, all this time I kept waiting in anticipation for Comcast to get their act together and get more HD stuff.

Now it seems like I'm going to do the same thing with Fios. I'm going to be putting a bid in on a house today that has FIOS available and I would much rather move completely to FIOS for TV and Internet. Oh well, maybe I'll move to FIOS for Internet only for now and do Directv or Dish for TV.

Well, assuming nothing blows up the deal, I'll be moving from West View to McCandless (behind McIntyre square) sometime in late August/early September. Fios is avaliable so I will be able to kick Comcast to the curb once and for all.

Comcast has only themselves to blame. If my service would have been worth a damn over the past 6 years, maybe I wouldn't be looking to jump ship at the first available opportunity, but there you go.

It seems that Fios is pretty much matching Comcast's new HD lineup by August 6th so I'm not going to have much to worry about losing. I would have just gone with directv, but it looks as if Fios is going to have just about everything I care about and their picture quality is about the best you can get. Not to mention, only Comcast and Fios are going to have WPCW HD until WPXI vacates channel 11 next year. Since Supernatural and Reaper make up a significant portion of what I watch in the fall, I can't really pass that up.

It seems that Fios is pretty much matching Comcast's new HD lineup by August 6th so I'm not going to have much to worry about losing.

Where did you see/hear that? Link?

I'm still finding that the Fios triple play is still more expensive than Comcast's even with the intro offers I get once or twice a week. Adding all those stupid boxes for my TVs is what raises the price too high.

http://newscenter.verizon.com/press-releases/verizon/2008/verizon-adds-22-new-channels.html

I know this is for Ft. Wayne IN. That's just talking about the actual channels coming.

http://www.satelliteguys.us/verizon-fios/137661-fios-channel-re-alignment.html

Most places seem to discuss an Aug 6th go live date for those channels in Pittsburgh.

For me, it's not about price anymore. I would pay more for less service at this point to get away from Comcast as long as it met the basic station needs I have.

Can anyone tell me if they are having problems holding a video signal with a Motorola DCH6200 digital box? I have one hooked up to a LCD Projector through DVI. When I power up the projector and the Comcast box I get a steady signal. But after changing channels I lose the video signal and cannot get it back unless I power down the projector and the Comcast box. I called Comcast and they said my digital box was the problem.

This happened a few years ago and Comcast wouldn't admit it was their problem until after my projector was sent in for repair. Then they told me it was a software problem with the DVI signal and to use the component cables until the problem was resolved.

Are they telling me the truth?

Just picked up my "not so new" 3416 at my Comcast Service Depot and it is of course refurbished. It took only a couple of hours to find out why someone didn't want this box, neither recording lamp comes on. Yes, it records on both tuners, but you have no indicator regarding the process.

Do any of you have this tuner, and if you do, how about those indicators on the left? Do they work or have they been disabled?

Just picked up my "not so new" 3416 at my Comcast Service Depot and it is of course refurbished. It took only a couple of hours to find out why someone didn't want this box, neither recording lamp comes on. Yes, it records on both tuners, but you have no indicator regarding the process.

Do any of you have this tuner, and if you do, how about those indicators on the left? Do they work or have they been disabled?

Talked to CS and it is not enabled with this latest firmware. Whether that is a bug or done deliberately is unknown, but I am not alone.

Also found a whole thread documenting this issue.

Guess I should research this stuff more. :o

Checked out FIOS service and ran cost sheet to compare Comcast features with same setup if I switch to FIOS. Comcast $134-month (cable internet, SHO/HBO/STARZ, HD-DVR, 3 cable cards, 4 HDTV’s), at last count 28 HD channels and 5 more next week. I can’t see any reason to change.

FIOS with same setup $ 166-month, might have some different HD ckannels but not worth $30 a month more.

Just being "not comcast" is worth much more than $30.

Considering the fact that I've wasted no less than 16+ hours on tech visits and who knows how long on phone calls, I've payed far more than that in my own time.

Guys, we know comcrap is screwed up but, this could be bad news. if you go to comcastdigitalworld and enter 15234. It says north hills/north boroughs area is scheduled for 8/19. WTF ??? Of course, if you enter 15229, it says 7/15.

Guys, we know comcrap is screwed up but, this could be bad news. if you go to comcastdigitalworld and enter 15234. It says north hills/north boroughs area is scheduled for 8/19. WTF ??? Of course, if you enter 15229, it says 7/15.

That's what I pointed out before. It looks like we in the NH are getting the new additions and basic channel changes on the 15th like everyone else but have to wait for what we should have had for quite some time now, Food, TNT, SciFi, etc., until the 19th of Aug. It does the same thing for Etna, Sharpsburg, and Shaler zips on digitalworld.

Just being "not comcast" is worth much more than $30.

Considering the fact that I've wasted no less than 16+ hours on tech visits and who knows how long on phone calls, I've payed far more than that in my own time.

I'm not saying it has been a bed of roses with Comcast, i've had at least 3-5 tech call for each CableCard installed and I'm on my forth DVR and ahve had some issues with the cable internet,so I have paid my dues to cto the Comcast God. But to think all will be solved if you go to FIOS you are in for a shock, stuff will happen, things won't work the way they said they would, promised HD addition will be delayed and the costs will increase. i haven't had a problems for about two years and i don't want to go through all that again. I may change to FIOS internet, but i going to see how service and prices shake out the the next year before I jump ship.

All of our Comcast services were on and off this morning because 3 trucks and 3 Comcast technicians were going from pole to pole, every 3 obviously, upgrading something. I yelled up to one of them if this was part of the "big upgrade" and he said it was. He couldn't tell me when we would have all of the stations we should be getting because he was "only upgrading the equipment".

So something big is happening if they are taking the time to upgrade every house connection one by one.

I'm not saying it has been a bed of roses with Comcast, i've had at least 3-5 tech call for each CableCard installed and I'm on my forth DVR and ahve had some issues with the cable internet,so I have paid my dues to cto the Comcast God. But to think all will be solved if you go to FIOS you are in for a shock, stuff will happen, things won't work the way they said they would, promised HD addition will be delayed and the costs will increase. i haven't had a problems for about two years and i don't want to go through all that again. I may change to FIOS internet, but i going to see how service and prices shake out the the next year before I jump ship.

I'm not saying all will be solved and that I will be issue free. I am saying that Comcast has created so much bad faith over the past 5 years or so between outright lying to my face about certain things to just general bad service that I cannot support them anymore when I have alternatives. Up until now I've had the choice of use Comcast or be satisfied with OTA since that's all I could do in my apartment. Once I close on my house and move in, I'll have the choice between Comcast, Fios, Directv, and Dish and you can be damn sure I'm going to explore every alternative before even thinking about coming back to Comcast.

This goes way beyond slow upgrades and cost of service. This stems from a systematic alienation of me as a customer over the course of years to the point where I cannot in good faith do business with Comcast anymore if I have a choice.

All of our Comcast services were on and off this morning because 3 trucks and 3 Comcast technicians were going from pole to pole, every 3 obviously, upgrading something. I yelled up to one of them if this was part of the "big upgrade" and he said it was. He couldn't tell me when we would have all of the stations we should be getting because he was "only upgrading the equipment".

So something big is happening if they are taking the time to upgrade every house connection one by one.

Well, they are moving to a 1ghz system. If the drops to the house aren't RG6 , they are likely going to have to upgrade them in order to take full advantage of the bandwidth. That likely won't be necessary in this first round of channels, but it will eventually.

Also, my zip code (15229) says ALL the channels will be added. In addition, I've gotten no less than two messages over the past few days saying that new channels will be added the between the 15th & 17th this month and to go to Comcast Digital World web site to see what they are. If by the 18th all those channels aren't there, you can bet CS is going to get a call. If they are going to put conflicting information out there and promise one thing and not deliver on it, they are going to get called on it.

All of our Comcast services were on and off this morning because 3 trucks and 3 Comcast technicians were going from pole to pole, every 3 obviously, upgrading something. I yelled up to one of them if this was part of the "big upgrade" and he said it was. He couldn't tell me when we would have all of the stations we should be getting because he was "only upgrading the equipment".

So something big is happening if they are taking the time to upgrade every house connection one by one.

What part of the n. hills are you in ?

I'm not saying all will be solved and that I will be issue free. I am saying that Comcast has created so much bad faith over the past 5 years or so between outright lying to my face about certain things to just general bad service that I cannot support them anymore when I have alternatives. Up until now I've had the choice of use Comcast or be satisfied with OTA since that's all I could do in my apartment. Once I close on my house and move in, I'll have the choice between Comcast, Fios, Directv, and Dish and you can be damn sure I'm going to explore every alternative before even thinking about coming back to Comcast.

This goes way beyond slow upgrades and cost of service. This stems from a systematic alienation of me as a customer over the course of years to the point where I cannot in good faith do business with Comcast anymore if I have a choice.

lieing, systematic alienation ... i agree !

What part of the n. hills are you in ?

Shaler. One street off of Mt. Royal Blvd. if you know where that is.

Well, they are moving to a 1ghz system. If the drops to the house aren't RG6 , they are likely going to have to upgrade them in order to take full advantage of the bandwidth. That likely won't be necessary in this first round of channels, but it will eventually.

Also, my zip code (15229) says ALL the channels will be added. In addition, I've gotten no less than two messages over the past few days saying that new channels will be added the between the 15th & 17th this month and to go to Comcast Digital World web site to see what they are. If by the 18th all those channels aren't there, you can bet CS is going to get a call. If they are going to put conflicting information out there and promise one thing and not deliver on it, they are going to get called on it.

I asked a tech at my house about the 1ghz and he confirmed it. However he did say they were only going to use 750 mHz for now and have room for expansion when they need it later. I'm assuming some of that will be for their new ultra high speed internet service going live next year.

My zip still says we get all the channels tomorrow or thereafter but Sharpsburg, 15215, is also still stating that all of the NH won't get them until 8/19. I also received the two reminder messages on both of our boxes recently. Both said the 15th for new channels.

Well as I expected, my channel lineup for my TiVo is all screwed up today. TiVo gets their channel lineup from Trib Media Services, which gets it from Comcast. Today I got a message saying the following changes were made to my lineup:

Added:

125 QUBO (whatever that is)
136 IONLIFE
222 TLCHD
224 APLHD
227 AMCHD
242 OXYGEN
250 FSP-HD

Moved
TVGN 18 to 182
EWTN 22 to 184
CNBC 30-36
MSNBC 31-183
TNT 36-52
HALMRK 55-187
IONSAT 56 - 124
OXYGEN 59 - 177
VS 60 - 30
FX 62 - 55
TRUTV 63 - 185
GOLF 65 - 31
STYLE 66 - 59
G4 67 - 162
BET 72 - 56

Of course, none of this actually happened for me (Ross Twp - 15202) which means that my Tivos (3) all have the wrong channel lineup for these many changes. My dilemma now is: Do I notify TiVo to change it back (which they will do), or wait and assume that in the next day or two these changes will really happen. I don't want to leave them messed up until August 19th, or later.

Oh hum. The joys of Comcast.

When I left for work this morning around 6:50 I did not have any of the new HD channels. When I got to work, I did a scan on my Vizio TV here and saw that TNT, FX, VS were all moved to their new channel slots. I hope to see the HD channel additions when I get home. I also hope my other HDTV using cable card will find them when I do a scan.

BTW, it looks like the total sum of changes that were supposed to have been made are:

8 channels moved from analog to digital
4 HD channels added
2 Digital channels added

Looks like the changes will not happen until August 19 according to Gabe:

I sincerely apologize for this inconvenience; if you are able to swap back to the previous lineup until August 19, 2008 I would recommend to do so. Your area is currently scheduled for this upgrade and should occur on August 18, 2008 once we complete rebuilding your area's headend to support this upgrade.

Again, I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any more questions.

Thank you for choosing Comcast.

Sincerely,

Gabe
Comcast Customer Care Specialist


abeas,

Where are you located that you seem to be getting these changes?

If the upgrade isn't scheduled until the 18th of August, why were they spamming us with messages all weekend about the upgrade taking place today through Thursday?

God I hate this company. No really, I hate this company. They hype up their channel additions, dangle them in front of us, and then go "ha ha, not for another month, sorry."

I'm going to take SO much joy in canceling my service after I move. It's going to be interesting to hear what CS comes up with to try to retain me when I just flat out say, "I do not like Comcast as a company and I refuse to do further business with them."

When I left for work this morning around 6:50 I did not have any of the new HD channels. When I got to work, I did a scan on my Vizio TV here and saw that TNT, FX, VS were all moved to their new channel slots. I hope to see the HD channel additions when I get home. I also hope my other HDTV using cable card will find them when I do a scan.

abeas, what area do you work in that had the ch. changes you describe ?

This morning at 7:30 in 15229, i checked and it was the same old COMCRAP. Un-plugged box to reload channel assignments, and still the same. What do you expect from in-competent Brian B.S. Roberts !

Looks like the changes will not happen until August 19 according to Gabe:




abeas,

Where are you located that you seem to be getting these changes?

I am in the southside. My job is at Duquesne University, which is where I noticed the channel changes of analog stations like TNT, FX etc....
I bet when I get home I will see the new Hd channels. Maybe 7AM was too early and they weren't launched yet.

I am in the southside. My job is at Duquesne University, which is where I noticed the channel changes of analog stations like TNT, FX etc....
I bet when I get home I will see the new Hd channels. Maybe 7AM was too early and they weren't launched yet.

Sure, if you live in the city, insted of the red-headed step child of comcrap north hills.

My Toshiba 56HM195, 3 years old in the fall, is now limping along waiting for its new light engine to be installed. The blue hash in the picture makes my favorite pastime less than enjoyable, but hey, that is the way of electronics.

Back to the real point. I quickly looked at the new channels this morning and was disappointed that AMC HD was doing stretch-o-vision of "Funny Farm." I was hoping for a nice digital version with pillars unless they had a wide screen version. What I saw was more waste of bandwidth. :(

Fox Sports Pittsburgh was showing a test pattern.

TLC looked OK, but not special. Looked like a reality show about dogs.

WYMP HD was showing a pillared SD show. At least they had enough sense not to stretch it.

The only one that has a chance for me is Fox Sports Net, Go Pens.

Stretching isn't so bad as long as they don't fisheye like Turner stations do because I can just correct it by setting 4:3 on my TV (though I would prefer that they didn't stretch it.

The only time things get really annoying is when it's a letterboxed SD program on an HD channel. I don't know why these feeds can't be pre-processed to zoom such material so that it retains the correct aspect ratio and gets rid of the black frame made by letterboxing and pillarboxing.

Actually, I'm pretty sure it is very possible because I see the really good HD stations like HDT and Universal HD doing that kind of thing all the time.

Or, alternatively, they could could not stretch and not zoom (leaving the black border around all for edges) and comcast could enable the HD Zoom button on their boxes so that we can fill our screen, keep the proper aspect ratio, and not crop. My TV doesn't have a normal zoom for HD signals like it does for SD signals.

I've actually contemplated hooking up the SD analog outputs of the box to my TV to better be able to manipulate the framing of SD material on HD stations.

My Toshiba 56HM195, 3 years old in the fall, is now limping along waiting for its new light engine to be installed. The blue hash in the picture makes my favorite pastime less than enjoyable, but hey, that is the way of electronics.

Back to the real point. I quickly looked at the new channels this morning and was disappointed that AMC HD was doing stretch-o-vision of "Funny Farm." I was hoping for a nice digital version with pillars unless they had a wide screen version. What I saw was more waste of bandwidth. :(

Fox Sports Pittsburgh was showing a test pattern.

TLC looked OK, but not special. Looked like a reality show about dogs.

WYMP HD was showing a pillared SD show. At least they had enough sense not to stretch it.

The only one that has a chance for me is Fox Sports Net, Go Pens.



What about Animal Planet HD? Do they stretch like AMC?

FSN Pittsburgh will always be color bars unless something is on in HD.

in the city

we got a ton more HD channels then advertised

Disney HD
Family Ch HD
Science Channel HD
TLC HD
Animal Planet HD
FSN HD
CW HD

Yeah, same here. No program guide for Disney, Science, TLC or ABC Family yet. Seems like the only thing we didn't get that several other areas have received is WGN HD.

New HD channel update here in Washington County:

216 WPCW-HD Channel 19 Pittsburgh (The CW)
222 TLC HD
224 Animal Planet HD
227 AMC HD
229 Disney Channel HD
230 ABC Family HD
232 Science Channel HD
250 FOX Sports Pittsburgh HD

So the HD lineup now is:

193 Discovery Channel HD
194 SciFi HD
195 USA HD
196 History Channel HD
197 CNN HD
198 TBS HD
209 Music Channel HD
210 WTAE HD (ABC)
211 WPXI HD (NBC)
212 KDKA HD (CBS)
213 WPGH HD (FOX)
214 WPMY HD (MyTV)
215 Universal HD
216 WPCW HD (The CW)
220 WQED HD (PBS)
222 TLC HD
224 Animal Planet HD
225 Discovery HD Theater
226 MOJO HD
227 AMC HD
228 HBO HD
229 Disney HD
230 ABC Family HD
232 Science Channel HD
233 Cinemax HD
238 Showtime HD
248 Starz HD
249 TNT HD
250 FSN Pittsburgh HD
252 ESPN HD
253 ESPN2 HD
254 National Geographic HD
255 Versus/Golf Channel HD
256 A&E HD
257 Food Network HD
258 HGTV HD
261 NFL Network HD

Reporting in from 15229.

Nothing.

Zip.

Zero.

Zilch.

Words cannot express how much I hate this company.

In case you guys are wondering. Here is the current HD lineup for the north hills. Pretty much unchanged from a year ago except for the addition of USA HD and History HD earlier this year.


195 USA HD
196 History Channel HD
209 Music Channel HD
210 WTAE HD (ABC)
211 WPXI HD (NBC)
212 KDKA HD (CBS)
213 WPGH HD (FOX)
215 Universal HD
220 WQED HD (PBS)
225 Discovery HD Theater
226 MOJO HD
228 HBO HD
233 Cinemax HD
238 Showtime HD
248 Starz HD
249 TNT HD
252 ESPN HD
253 ESPN2 HD
254 National Geographic HD
255 Versus/Golf Channel HD


Let me just tell you how much I enjoy paying the same amount as the rest of you guys.

Yeah, same here. No program guide for Disney, Science, TLC or ABC Family yet. Seems like the only thing we didn't get that several other areas have received is WGN HD.

I don't think that is a bad thing.

Reporting in from 15229.

Nothing.

Zip.

Zero.

Zilch.

Words cannot express how much I hate this company.

In case you guys are wondering. Here is the current HD lineup for the north hills. Pretty much unchanged from a year ago except for the addition of USA HD and History HD earlier this year.


195 USA HD
196 History Channel HD
209 Music Channel HD
210 WTAE HD (ABC)
211 WPXI HD (NBC)
212 KDKA HD (CBS)
213 WPGH HD (FOX)
215 Universal HD
220 WQED HD (PBS)
225 Discovery HD Theater
226 MOJO HD
228 HBO HD
233 Cinemax HD
238 Showtime HD
248 Starz HD
249 TNT HD
252 ESPN HD
253 ESPN2 HD
254 National Geographic HD
255 Versus/Golf Channel HD


Let me just tell you how much I enjoy paying the same amount as the rest of you guys.

Ditto to everything you say. At least I'm only paying ~$80 for Cable, Internet, HD DVR, Digital Premium & Sports package. I can't wait till I move to Shadyside. Comcast has been an utter joke around here.

BTW I'm right next to Giant Eagle in West View. 15229 too.

I checked today as well. I'm in 15090 (Wexford) and I ain't got ****.

Yep, boned in the North Boros as well.

20 vs 37 (by my count). That's completely unacceptable. I know we're eventually going to get them. However, given their track record, what assurance do we have that they are going to keep this mysterious Aug 19th date either? I mean seriously, we get piece after piece of info stating one thing and another thing happens.

Do you know why North Hills got pushed back so far? It was Comcast's Adelphia acquisition. Resources were diverted to get their newly purchased Adelphia areas up to snuff because they were in such bad shape when they got them. I don't know about you, but it seems like there should be something illegal about screwing over your current customer base in order to expand your (almost) monopoly. At the very least, Comcast shouldn't be allowed to charge the same amount for wildly different service levels in a close geographical location.

i live in 15229 also and i did not get ONE of the new channels

im gonna call them up and complain to them today, i think everyone that lives in ross/north hills should

I tried last night. After 15 minutes on the phone without being able to speak to a real person, I gave up.

i live in 15229 also and i did not get ONE of the new channels

im gonna call them up and complain to them today, i think everyone that lives in ross/north hills should


I will give them till the evening of the 17th, then I will call and vent, and waste their time asking about each channel one by one, by one, .....
I also suggest everyone phone and complain. Oh, by the way here is Judy Doherty's email address from comcast, who answers all the questions from the post gazette Q&A:

Doherty, Jody (Jody_Doherty@cable.comcast.com)

If you do email her, be sure to confirm to her that they transmit WPMY in HD in ross, but it has no channel assign. which i asked about and she wanted my address. How typically incompetent of ComCrap ! Too stupid to investigate and answer the question instead of trying to identify me ! I always mean't to email her and ask her how she liked trying to get my address ? And now she knows what its like trying to get info. from and deal with ComCrap !


(FYI, not that it counts, but they moved oxygen from 59 to 177, in 15229 area)

... End of venting :-)

New HD channel update here in Washington County:

snipped

That's exactly what I have in Scott Twp.

all the BW starved areas are going to all digital soon. its not an easy transition though

all the BW starved areas are going to all digital soon. its not an easy transition though

I don't care. What I do care about is that they have TONS of information out there saying that we were getting all the channels on the 15th only to find out that no, they are actually coming a month later. What in the hell is so hard about TELLING YOUR CUSTOMERS WHAT YOUR PLANS ARE AND BEING ACCURATE ABOUT IT. It's funny that Rob Owen at the Post Gazette got taken to task over answering so many Comcast questions in his Q&A column and the reason why we ask them is that no one outside of the media can even extract any information from them.

Also, what I do care about is everyone else in the area has almost twice the number of HD stations that the North Hills has, yet we all pay the same prices.

And the north hills wouldn't be bandwidth starved if they carried through with the upgrades when they originally planned them several YEARS ago instead of just perpetually saying "they'll be done in 6 months." I wish I was kidding about that last one. We've been 6 months away from an upgraded system for damn near 3 years by this point.

So I can't help but take the Aug 19th date with a PennDot sized pile of salt. It's like a running gag with these guys. Ever see "The Money Pit?" Two weeks!

I emailed Jody and I hope to get a response soon. I'm in 15527 and i have nothing. I better get something on the 17th or I'm going to be very mad. I've been waiting for new HD channels. I've not switched to Direct TV. I've given comcast time.

If they screw me over this time, they will lose me as a customer. I'm not kidding.

Ok so i just called comcast.. the tell me that here in 15227.. they are not starting the rebuild untill Nov. WHAT THE F.. (i'd use the full swear word here.. that's just how pissed off i am but the board would probably stop me)

My only hope is that i have some stupid ass person on the phone who has noidea what she is talking about.. If that is the case why the hell did they even tell me with the message..!!!

If this is true.. then i'm signing up for sat. tomorrow. I have to confirm this .. i'm going to email that judy again.. I'm so pissed off...

I don't care. What I do care about is that they have TONS of information out there saying that we were getting all the channels on the 15th only to find out that no, they are actually coming a month later. What in the hell is so hard about TELLING YOUR CUSTOMERS WHAT YOUR PLANS ARE AND BEING ACCURATE ABOUT IT. It's funny that Rob Owen at the Post Gazette got taken to task over answering so many Comcast questions in his Q&A column and the reason why we ask them is that no one outside of the media can even extract any information from them.

Also, what I do care about is everyone else in the area has almost twice the number of HD stations that the North Hills has, yet we all pay the same prices.

And the north hills wouldn't be bandwidth starved if they carried through with the upgrades when they originally planned them several YEARS ago instead of just perpetually saying "they'll be done in 6 months." I wish I was kidding about that last one. We've been 6 months away from an upgraded system for damn near 3 years by this point.

So I can't help but take the Aug 19th date with a PennDot sized pile of salt. It's like a running gag with these guys. Ever see "The Money Pit?" Two weeks!


News is the Nutting and McClatchy family own majority shares in Comcast.

Translation, the rebuilding process could take another 16 years or so.

Reporting in from 15229.

Nothing.

Zip.

Zero.

Zilch.

Words cannot express how much I hate this company.

In case you guys are wondering. Here is the current HD lineup for the north hills. Pretty much unchanged from a year ago except for the addition of USA HD and History HD earlier this year.


195 USA HD
196 History Channel HD
209 Music Channel HD
210 WTAE HD (ABC)
211 WPXI HD (NBC)
212 KDKA HD (CBS)
213 WPGH HD (FOX)
215 Universal HD
220 WQED HD (PBS)
225 Discovery HD Theater
226 MOJO HD
228 HBO HD
233 Cinemax HD
238 Showtime HD
248 Starz HD
249 TNT HD
252 ESPN HD
253 ESPN2 HD
254 National Geographic HD
255 Versus/Golf Channel HD


Let me just tell you how much I enjoy paying the same amount as the rest of you guys.

How much do you pay for your HD package, Bull?

How much do you pay for your HD package, Bull?

The jack offs won't sell you just the HDTV channels they FORCE you to buy expanded basic to get the HDTV for free ! More ComCrap rip off !

I emailed Jody and I hope to get a response soon. I'm in 15527 and i have nothing. I better get something on the 17th or I'm going to be very mad. I've been waiting for new HD channels. I've not switched to Direct TV. I've given comcast time.

If they screw me over this time, they will lose me as a customer. I'm not kidding.

I hope you told her about WPMY-HD being present w/o a channel number, since the stupid woman didn't bother to investigate my question, instead of questioning my legitimacy !

I wouldn't call her stupid. That's just not nice. Not going to get her or anyone else at comcast to help you.

I heard back from her. She's on vacation, but took the time to email me back. Here's what she had to say:

I have been traveling, but back in the office tomorrow and can provide you with specifics. Brentwood, which is part of the castle shannon headend is part of a significant enhancement project. Work will be complete in august and you will be able to enjoy many new hd choices. On or shortly after august 19, we will add 16 new hd channels, 4 new digital channels and some new offering to the sports and entertainment package. I will be happy to detail the new channels for you when I return on friday.

So 16 new HD channels on Aug 19th.

From my math.. i have 20 HD channels now, and from the list above you guys have 38 channels. So that an extra 18 channels. We'll see what happens.

How much do you pay for your HD package, Bull?

Right now, I have a $99 promotion for 1 year (ends December) that bundles internet with (i think) Digital Preferred level of service as well as HBO and Starz (pretty much the same bundle anyone can get if they ask.) Add HD-DVR rental to that and my monthly bill (after all taxes and fees) comes out to 116.99 /month.

That promotion is the only reason why I have HD (or digital cable) service right now. It's actually less than what I would be paying right now if I had straight up analog cable and internet. It's honestly not a horrible price for what I get, but it still annoys me to no end that if I was living about 3 miles down the road I would be getting far more for my money.

And, as mentioned, you really can't break out the HD package. It's just part of digital service if you have an HD box or HD cablecard device.

I just love how all the CS people are dancing around the fact that THEY TOLD US THE STUFF WOULD BE LIVE THIS WEEK and now they are pulling this Aug date out of their ass.

the cs rep told me.. it's not that i'm paying more for less service. it's that the people with more service aren't paying any more..

That's some spin for you.

Regardless, at the end of the day, i want some accountability. I'm am upset that there's a delay with getting these stations, but that's a separate issue. I am more upset that we were told by Comcast that we would be getting these channels this week. We were told through our digital boxes (TWICE!) that new channels would be coming the 15-17th and to go to www.comcastdigitalworld.com to see what they are.

Punch in the zip codes serviced off of the Ross head end into that website and you get a channel lineup with a July 15th go live date.

Now, after wading through several levels of CS, we find out that they aren't going to be available until Aug 19th. Jody's response is unacceptable not because it's telling us a later date for the channels, it's unacceptable because it doesn't provide any accountability for the break down in communication between Comcast and it's customers. It also does not provide any assurance or steps that will be implemented to keep this from happening again.

You cannot run a business this way. You accept that there's a problem, you state when it's going to be resolved, you provide assurance that this will not happen again and show WHY it won't happen again. All we got is a statement of when (supposedly) it will be resolved without even an acknowledgment that they did something wrong in the first place.

They are acting as though we should be thankful for getting anything at all. That's insulting.

They are acting as though we should be thankful for getting anything at all. That's insulting.

Ding ding ding. Welcome to the joys of a pseudo-monopoly.

I'm getting seriously hosed on my bill I think.
1 HD-DVR
2 HD boxes
Digital Preferred w/HBO+SHO
Stern on Demand

for $140?

Add in HSI and taxes, fees, etc. and I'm pushing $200/month.

I never thought I'd see the day where my natural gas bill and cable bills are roughly equivalent! :mad:

Somebody needs to tell Comcrap that the audio on channel 216 is messed up. I just use the left and right speakers (no surround) on my lcd tv and all I can hear is the background music and no voice.
This is going on during the show "Supernatural".
All other channels are fine.

for those of you who did get the new channels. Did you get a notification when they came in.. or are do they just show up?

for those of you who did get the new channels. Did you get a notification when they came in.. or are do they just show up?

They sent notification in my billing statement. I have Digital Starter/HD DVR package so I got 5 new HD channels and they all showed up on the 15th as promised.

We got notification with a list of new channels and changes in my billing statement, but then we ended up getting a few more new channels than they listed in that notification. (Greensburg Comcast system)

got complete confirmation today from jodi that my area (15227) will be all the channel you who got upgraded recently have. we will get them on Aug 19th.

I also asked her about Comcasts poor customer communications. That seems to be the problem here. If they just told us all what was going to happen in our area and didn't give us any other expectations we'd all be fine. And remember that whole "a new guide is coming out" and it never came.. i told her about that too.

She says next week she is going to look into all this and see what information she can get as to why this continues to happen.

It seems to be her job is PR. And if i was in PR, i would hate it to that my company isn't communicating correctly with the customers. Because when they don't it makes a PR job all that much harder.

Poor communications that cause false expectations are bad, but in my case the problem is worse since Comcast told Trib Media Services that the changes would occur July 15th causing TiVo to change my guide data effective that date. Now many of my recordings are messed up.

I sent her a note also.

We got notification with a list of new channels and changes in my billing statement, but then we ended up getting a few more new channels than they listed in that notification. (Greensburg Comcast system)

what others did you get?

What you N.Hills/Ross TWP guys need to do is what I've done. Complain to them until you lower your bill. Make up something. Heck, Comcast can do it to us, why can't we turn the tables.

I pay $94 a month (which I know I can get down if I try) for:

Internet ($29.99 for the year)
Digital Starter ($29.99 for the year too)
^I used the "Well I can't get the Triple Play in Ross TWP, so give me the other 2 at the same price I could have had if the Triple Play was available

Sports Package ($7.95, but usually in August you can complain and get it for free)
HD-DVR ($12.95, only because I wanted one of the newer Motorola boxes, but I should get this reduced too)
Digital Classic ($9.99, in order to get ESPNews and a few other channels)

Premiums aren't worth it to me since I have Netflix for my HD fix.

So hopefully by August, I can get that bill below $80 again. :D

The key is if Comcast wants to screw you, well you have to be willing to screw them harder right back.

The extra unlisted channels that we all are getting are:

Disney Channel HD
ABC Family HD
Science Channel HD

does netflix do blu ray?

does netflix do blu ray?

Yep

Well, I finally got my TIvo Guide Data corrected and back to where it belongs in the North Hills. I had notified TiVo and Comcast with no results. I then e-mailed Jody and now it is correct.

I just hope we get those channels on August 19th and Comcast properly notifies Trib Media Services of the change.

I now have heard the new release date on the new program guide is Sept.

(remember the one we were supposed to get earlier)

You guys will have to let me know what your impressions are since I likely won't see the guide changes. I'm closing on my house next Friday Aug 1st. Hopefully I will be mostly or completely moved by the beginning of Sept. It all really depends on how long it takes me to do some of the things I want to do before I move in like paint and refinish the hardwood floors.

As soon as I have a fairly firm idea on when I'll be moving in, Verizon is getting a call and FIOS is getting installed.

As soon as I have a fairly firm idea on when I'll be moving in, Verizon is getting a call and FIOS is getting installed.

You may want to call sooner. The last I heard they had a seven week backlog on installs.

Hrm, well I guess I can call as soon as I start working on the place before I move in. Worst case is that they can do it right away, but I can schedule the install to happen whenever I would like.

One thing I really want to do before I have any TV/Internet installed is rewire the place with all brand new RG6 cable as well as some new cat5e cable to jacks in every room and bring them all to one common location in the basement. That way it's a simple plug and play no matter what provider I choose. DirectTV has a single wire solution now with the SWM8 so I would be able to connect it to the RG6 I would run.

I may run two coax connections to the living room though so I can backfeed the output of the box there down to the basement to connect the other rooms. I really don't need to have more than one box in my house at this time since there's only me living there. Having the same thing running to all the rooms that the living room is tuned to is just fine.

EFFECTIVE on or after August 15, 2008, Comcast will add the Big Ten Network on Channel 72 on the Standard Cable level of service.

This change will occur in the service areas listed below:

Boroughs of: Ambridge, Baden, Bell Acres, Belle Vernon, Braddock Hills, Bridgeville, Carnegie, Chalfant, Charleroi, Conway, Coraopolis, Crafton, Donora, Dravosburg, Economy, Edgewood, Edgeworth, Elizabeth, Forest Hills, Glassport, Glenfield, Green Tree, Haysville, Heidelberg, Ingram, Leetsdale, Liberty, Lincoln, McDonald, McKees Rocks, New Eagle, North Belle Vernon, North Charleroi, Osborne, Pennsbury Village, Port Vue, Rosslyn Farms, Sewickley Heights, Sewickley Hills, Sewickley, South Heights, Speers, Thornburg, Twilight, Versailles, Wall, White Oak, Whitehall, Wilkinsburg, Wilmerding

Cities of: Aliquippa, Duquesne, McKeesport, Monessen, Monongahela, Pittsburgh

Municipality of: Penn Hills

Townships of: Aleppo, Carroll, Center, Collier, Crescent, Elizabeth, Fallowfield, Findlay, Forward, Harmony, Hopewell, Kennedy, Kilbuck, Leet, Moon, Neville, New Sewickley, North Fayette, portions of Potter, Robinson (Washington County), Rostraver, Scott, Stowe, Washington (Fayette County)

They must have forgotten to mention the North Hills. Surely they wouldn't be left out!!

Is anyone else's TNTHD and TBSHD not comming in correctly? I can't even watch it. I just get random blocks and breakups, no audio and fractions of an image. I notcied these both come in at 537Mhz, or maybe it was 573, none the less they are the same. I know they both worked last night.

537mhz would be UHF channel 25 which is KDKA-DT. I would check all your cable connections to make sure they're tight, you may be getting ingress.

So I am to assume that your TBS and TNT HD are fine?

North Hills so I don't get TBS HD. But my TNT HD appears to be fine.

537mhz would be UHF channel 25 which is KDKA-DT. I would check all your cable connections to make sure they're tight, you may be getting ingress.

Interesting. I show:

537 mhz as WPGH-HD
531 mhz as KDKA-HD and WPXI-HD
633 mhz as TNT-HD

Also North Hills: no TBS, TNT fine.

Anyone else notice new problems with in-clear QAM local HD stations (in North Hills). Suddenly I lost 4-1, 4-2, 13-1, 13-2. I did a new channel scan and it came up with two existances of each channel, one blank and one fine. I deleted the blank channel and now everything is OK on both sets.

Well, whatever the issue, TNT and TBS HD were fine. Might have just been a problem on Corliss St comcast end. I was right, as I do show 537Mhz on both TNT and TBS HD. Seems like we all have different tuned frequencies for our HD stations.

Did anyone else get the new message on their box(es) that two areas (one is Ross and I forget the other right now) will be getting new channels on August 19th? Of course you are directed to http://www.comcastdigitalworld.com again which still states we were to get them on the 15th of July.

Yup, I got the message too. My reaction is "Oh, that's nice, another message telling us we are getting stations, am I supposed to believe this one too?"

At this point in time, I'll believe it when I see it. That's about it.

You know how I would say I would believe it when I see it.

I'm sitting here on my couch laughing at the hilarity. I have it on good authority that we've possibly been lied to once again.

Basically, due to the high call volume after the last transition and the fact that the 19th is also around the college rush, they have postponed the analog to digital channel transition indefinitely. Now, they didn't outright say that there would be no HD channel additions. However, without the analog to digital transitions, I'm not sure we're going to see our fill of HD either.

I've been wondering if their losses to Fios have been mounting and they are stalling in a poor attempt to keep customers. After all, if they are upgrading to 1Ghz., it seems kinda unusual they would move analog channels to digital, to free bandwidth. BTW, I didn't even bother to call and complain about the missed deadline. I guess I was too P.O.'d to waste my time and let them attempt to lie to me, like when they previously said most of direcTv's HD channels are shopping channels. COMCRAP is a laughing stock of the industry.

Come on FIOS !!!!

Actually, I think I'm going to hold off on FIOS tv for the time being and go with Dish Network. I really like the Dish Network hardware, the VIP722 is perfect for how I want to set my house up. I only have one HDTV, but I want TV in several rooms and the TV2 SD output is perfect for that and the box comes with an RF remote to boot for control of that.

Also, I just received an email from someone I know that works at Dish. Come Aug 1st, Dish will be at 100HD stations and will be offering PPV VOD at 1080p. Innovation is coming from every direction but Comcast. They are truly the dinosaur in this industry. They can't even remain competitive in channel lineup let alone innovate and become a leader in other areas.

Actually, I think I'm going to hold off on FIOS tv for the time being and go with Dish Network. I really like the Dish Network hardware, the VIP722 is perfect for how I want to set my house up. I only have one HDTV, but I want TV in several rooms and the TV2 SD output is perfect for that and the box comes with an RF remote to boot for control of that.

Also, I just received an email from someone I know that works at Dish. Come Aug 1st, Dish will be at 100HD stations and will be offering PPV VOD at 1080p. Innovation is coming from every direction but Comcast. They are truly the dinosaur in this industry. They can't even remain competitive in channel lineup let alone innovate and become a leader in other areas.

I had Dish for 2 years before I went screaming back to Comcast. So you think that Comcast CR's are inept?

"It's storming somewhere in North America, don't worry it will eventually come back." :eek:

"Snow Happens, just bring your Dish inside and thaw it out." (a real CS tip to my friend the last day he had Dish)

Sure, service has an available date in 3 weeks. (a real CS response at Dish)

Just tune in to the "Charlie Promises" Channel every month to see what you are going to get. ;)

I cut my neighbor's green grass for him when he was on vacation. Taught me a lesson.

My sister has had Dish for 4 years and hasn't had a single issue with it (and she's north of 80 where they get real snow.) The only time the signal cuts out due to weather, the weather is severe enough to knock out the power as well. Interruptions due to weather are usually signs of a poor install.

I, personally, like that Dish has a track record of being on their subscriber's side in dispute with networks over bundling and price increases instead of just rolling over and tacking their own 20% premium on top while saying that they can't do anything about prices.

No provider is perfect, but anything beats being outright lied to like Comcast does as seemingly company policy.

I pretty much know at least one person on every provider that provides service in western pa (DirecTV, Dish, Fios, Armstrong Cable) and none have ever spoken as ill about their provider as the people I know who have Comcast. For everyone else, it's usually something like "Pretty good, I don't have an major complaints." When it comes to comcast it's nearly always "I hate Comcast, if it were easy/possible for me to switch to someone else, I would."

bull3964, I would agree with your assessment of the situation. It will not get better for you, the poison is throughout your system. You have been spitting venom for quite a while now, and this thread has read your escapades and we certainly feel your pain.

If you lived in another part of the system like I do, none of this would have happened. I get all the channels as soon as possible and a very nice picture (not as good as before though, I know compression when I see it, but who is compressing what), and prompt polite service.

My only arguments have occurred with the business department's shady billing policies that are pretty much done by all providers. That is not a reason for me not to question and demand better treatment.

Sure, I filled an FDA complaint against Comcast when my QAM channels disappeared. But, you do what you have to do to secure success. I got my channels back within only a couple weeks. Kissed and made up!

You have been the neglected stepsister and want to strike a blow of revenge. Most in this group are reading of your problems and thinking, thank goodness that's not me.

I subscribe to this thread to stay abreast of news and upcoming perks that I might get. I do not have any complaints and even when FIOS appears in my neighborhood, it will be scrutinized for its value per dollar, not taken because it is a change that is not Comcast.

Unfortunately, I'm in the same situation as bull3964.
If 8/15 comes and goes with no service upgrades, I will start seriously evaluating my alternatives. I just want what everyone else has for the same price. Their inferior infrastructure is their problem, not mine.

And so would I.

FDA eh, Comcast spoil your food? (i kid)

I think I would probably be looking to get off comcast even if I lived in another area though because they simply can't keep up. After this round you have what, 38 HD channels? DirecTV will have 130 by Aug 14th. Dish network will have 114 by Aug 1st. Verizon is lagging locally, but have launched 100 HD channels in New Jersey and their rollouts are usually national within a month.

About the only edge Comcast has is in their retention bundles which tends to make services a little cheaper if you subscribe to enough. However, even then things are starting to look pretty poor. I could get America's top 200 with a VIP722 and Ultimate HD package + FIOS for internet and pay about the same as I would right now for my service with comcast and for that price i would be getting faster internet and more HD (more than anywhere western PA from Comcast) and much superior hardware. It would also be a true 2-room solution without the need for additional boxes.

North Hills being neglected aside, I just wish Comcast would show some glimmer that they are willing to innovate beyond just hyping up their OnDemand offerings. You have every other provider rapidly expanding their channel lineups and offering new services while Comcast plops out a dozen channels every 6 months or so. If comcast wants to impress me, how about doing something like switching to MPEG4 across the board to improve quality and relieve bandwidth strain? How about pushing that Tivo software option across your service areas a little quicker (I would kill for a better interface on those moto boxes)? How about doing something like in home QAM backfeed so you could run multiple HDTVs off a single HD-DVR box by just hooking them to your in house cable? How about beating direcTV to the punch with the whole home media server idea? Don't tell me they are held hostage to the HW manufacturers, Comcast is one of the largest players in the cable space and if they wanted a new HW solution with new features, they could get someone to build it for them.

There is so much they could do to try to do to innovate, but they just do the bare minimum that's necessary to keep people from defecting (and deploy a lot of FUD in the process.)

Unfortunately, I'm in the same situation as bull3964.
If 8/15 comes and goes with no service upgrades, I will start seriously evaluating my alternatives. I just want what everyone else has for the same price. Their inferior infrastructure is their problem, not mine.

The really infuriating thing about this potential delay is that it has nothing to do with infrastructure this time but everything to do with manpower on the CS side of things. My friend that works for comcast said that their CS people were pulling 16 hour days when the channel changes went live everywhere else. They are basically saying that they don't have enough people to deal with the CS side of things as well as deal with all the new subscriptions due to college starting. (People leaving their summer job at comcast to go to college probably factors into things as well.)

Now again, it's possible that they are only referring to the migration of analog channels to digital (since that would generate the most calls) and we'll still get our new HD channels. We'll just have to see what happens.

Checked all the sources for the big Bills game and it shows SD is a done deal, again. :(

I want to kill KDKA. They always broadcast games in SD. Can't they borrow some HD equipment from CBS?

Also, we're less than a week away from the big 8/19. Anybody wanna bet that we won't see the new channels?

Well, I'll give you a hint.

Go to www.comcastdigitalworld.com right now and punch in some North Hills zip codes like 15229 or 15237.

OMG

I just entered 15090 (Wexford).

I think heads are going to roll.

If these channels do not come, I'm switching to DirecTV or Dish Network. I will explicitly tell Comcast this, regardless if I have to pay more. I'm also going to tell them to shove their Triple Play package up their asses.

Big Ten Net rolls of Friday.

As outlined in an agreement reached in June, Comcast will begin carrying the Big Ten Network Friday. It will add the BTN in high definition Aug. 29. The standard definition feed will be carried on Channel 72.

am i missing something here??

what is the HD channel for kdka???

im on channel 212 (i think) which says DKDKA on it, and the steelers game is NOT in HD

what channel should i go to?

edit* and when are we going to be getting these new channels (HD) and the old ones moved around?

comcast's website says there is nothing happening with my zip code (15229)

if i call and threaten to cancel because they are doing this to me, will they give me a discount or some free movie channels?

Tonights broadcast of the Steelers Pre-Game was produced locally by KDKA and was not available in HD.

KDKA has piss poor production skillz (a.k.a. no HD infrastructure) so we're stuck in SD land for the pre-season.

I'm not so sure about that. Next week, the Steelers Pre-Season game in Minnesota is a CBS national game at 8PM. I would imagine that it will be broadcast in HD.

Just got a new message that said that the HD upgrade is postponed. No new date has been given. Please Verizon, come to my area, I am begging you.

Just got a new message that said that the HD upgrade is postponed. No new date has been given. Please Verizon, come to my area, I am begging you.

the 888 phone number in the message is not valaid in this area, i phoned the local number and they said it was due to audio problems, then i gave them a verbal lashing. they have no new date but somehow they must know the "audio problems" won't be fixed by the 19th.

MORE COMCRAP LIES AND STALLING !!!!!!!

Big Ten Net rolls of Friday.

As outlined in an agreement reached in June, Comcast will begin carrying the Big Ten Network Friday. It will add the BTN in high definition Aug. 29. The standard definition feed will be carried on Channel 72.

I saw it on channels 72 and 192 this morning (Canonsburg HE). Both are currently SD feeds. Since 192 is next to the other HD channels, I take that as a good sign that they intend to make it HD.

However, I just talked to "Comcastic" customer service and got the standard deer-in-the-headlights "there is no information" answer. Where did you get the info that they were going to carry the HD feed on Aug 29?

the 888 phone number in the message is not valaid in this area, i phoned the local number and they said it was due to audio problems, then i gave them a verbal lashing. they have no new date but somehow they must know the "audio problems" won't be fixed by the 19th.

MORE COMCRAP LIES AND STALLING !!!!!!!

"audio problems" as in "we don't have enough ears to listen to all the calls that will happen when we remove analog stations so we are just going to hold back the whole thing."

I wish my timeline on my house was just advanced a little further. I can't effectively move in there until Sept 23rd right now because I'm having some work done. I may just call up dish and get stuff installed ahead of time though and just have the DVR collect stuff until I get my TV down there and cancel comcast. I would really like to cancel the service on the 19th just to make a point, but I don't think i'm going to be able to quite yet.

This is ridiculous but Verizon is pissing me off too. Have they done anything about sports packages yet? I'm not giving up FSN and Vs HD.

am i missing something here??

what is the HD channel for kdka???

im on channel 212 (i think) which says DKDKA on it, and the steelers game is NOT in HD

what channel should i go to?

edit* and when are we going to be getting these new channels (HD) and the old ones moved around?

comcast's website says there is nothing happening with my zip code (15229)

if i call and threaten to cancel because they are doing this to me, will they give me a discount or some free movie channels?

It's pretty simple Pimp, if it ain't being produced and broadcast by the carrier in HD---you ain't going to see it in HD.

This is regardless of whether you're watching it on an HD channel or not.

If you'll notice, most of all of the non-primetime programming on Channels 2,4,11,19,22 and 53 in NON-HD!!!

KDKA has piss poor production skillz (a.k.a. no HD infrastructure) so we're stuck in SD land for the pre-season.

KDKA is way behind the fray for larger-market stations as far as HD infrastructure.

Why KD and WTAE haven't upgraded their newcasts to HD is beyond me. It must be too expensive. What are their budgets over there? I've travelled to smaller markets and have seen more locally produced HD stuff.

Shame on all of them.

I guess they had no foresight on this HD thing.

Maybe they didn't have enough warning the HD revolution was coming. Laugh!

Or maybe---just enough people don't care about their television picture quality. They're happy with 4:3 standard defintion programming because they're so used to it.

I believe it's the latter.

This is to bull3964, HBO Kid, bboyer66, ChuckZ and Scottro.

If you all are so unhappy with Comcrap, why do you still have them?

Last time I looked, Direct TV had over 100 offerings in HD.

Dish has somewhat less, but more than Comcrap.

If you're all so ticked off because of Comcraps lies, why don't you dump them then?

Pay the extra 10 bucks for their internet as a non-tv subscriber and be done with it.

Remember---you don't have to have Comcast!!!

Again, you don't have to have Comcast.

Just got a new message that said that the HD upgrade is postponed. No new date has been given. Please Verizon, come to my area, I am begging you.

Yep. A big "F U" to all the Comcast subscribers in the North Hills/Castle Shannon/Ross areas.

I knew we wouldn't be getting the upgrade!

BTW, the word "postponed" means "cancelled" in the Comcast dictionary. :(

This is to bull3964, HBO Kid, bboyer66, ChuckZ and Scottro.

If you all are so unhappy with Comcrap, why do you still have them?

Last time I looked, Direct TV had over 100 offerings in HD.

Dish has somewhat less, but more than Comcrap.

If you're all so ticked off because of Comcraps lies, why don't you dump them then?

Pay the extra 10 bucks for their internet as a non-tv subscriber and be done with it.

Remember---you don't have to have Comcast!!!

Again, you don't have to have Comcast.

Yes I do have to have Comcast, because I live in an Apartment Complex that does not allow dishes. Thanks for your concern however.

Again, you don't have to have Comcast.

Yes, I do unless I want to do OTA only.

I currently live in an apartment and have no outside leased space. That means I am completely SOL as far as a sat goes without my landlord's blessing and that's something he just won't allow.

I have just bought a house though and will be moved by the end of September, Comcast isn't even going to get installed at the new location. It will be FIOS for internet and likely Dish for TV.

Yes I do have to have Comcast, because I live in an Apartment Complex that does not allow dishes. Thanks for your concern however.

You're welcome. Anytime.

I'm dropping their cable service alright, but their internet is invaluable because I have no good alternatives.

[QUOTE=benji15301;14451263]This is to bull3964, HBO Kid, bboyer66, ChuckZ and Scottro.

If you all are so unhappy with Comcrap, why do you still have them?

QUOTE]

I dropped COMCRAP internet a year ago before it came out that they were spoofing IP packets to block peer to peer file sharing. .... they lied about that too !

I saw it on channels 72 and 192 this morning (Canonsburg HE). Both are currently SD feeds. Since 192 is next to the other HD channels, I take that as a good sign that they intend to make it HD.

However, I just talked to "Comcastic" customer service and got the standard deer-in-the-headlights "there is no information" answer. Where did you get the info that they were going to carry the HD feed on Aug 29?

What I posted was in the Post Gazette yesterday. Comcast reps are clueless as usual. Hope they also carry the overflow channels so we can see all the Big 10 games.

Comcast will be adding Big 10 Network HD on Channel 250. That is the channel now that FSN-HD is on. I am guessing that we will be losing that feed and they will just broadcast on 226 (Mojo) like they did before. I verified the channel for Big Ten HD with the channels website and called Comcrap to see what they said. They told me that 250 is right and didn't know what to say when I asked what happens to FSN-HD.....

Well, in the North Hills, 72 is BET and 192 and 250 don't exist on the lineup.

some news, most of which is COMCRAP double speak, to blur the issue and spin it in their favor:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08229/904639-67.stm

[QUOTE=HBO Kid;14457358]some news, most of which is COMCRAP double speak, to blur the issue and spin it in their favor:


What the hell is the lady talking about? What does any of what she said have to do with getting more HD channels on the air.

[QUOTE=HBO Kid;14457358]some news, most of which is COMCRAP double speak, to blur the issue and spin it in their favor:


What the hell is the lady talking about? What does any of what she said have to do with getting more HD channels on the air.

It looks like she's saying they were running out of boxes due to overwhelming demand for their upgraded service and new lower priced package. So we in the NH aren't getting these upgrades because they don't want to run out of cable boxes?

That might be the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! Here's an idea. Make the new customers wait for their box and give those of us who have been waiting forever for these channels what we want and have been paying a HIGHER price for!!!

Anyone in the Bethel Park system what do you think of it?

Thanks

This is to bull3964, HBO Kid, bboyer66, ChuckZ and Scottro.

If you all are so unhappy with Comcrap, why do you still have them?

Last time I looked, Direct TV had over 100 offerings in HD.

Dish has somewhat less, but more than Comcrap.

If you're all so ticked off because of Comcraps lies, why don't you dump them then?

Pay the extra 10 bucks for their internet as a non-tv subscriber and be done with it.

Remember---you don't have to have Comcast!!!

Again, you don't have to have Comcast.

everyone is not able to have dish's

Stupid question: Does anyone really think four new HD channels will launch this week as the news story indicates ???

AMC (Channel 227)
Animal Planet (Channel 224)
TLC (Channel 222)
WPCW (Channel 216)
Of course, WPMY-HD is not in the list.

Comcrap really has absolutely no credibility.

Anyone see the news article about them changing their name to improve their reputation ? The article suggested they change their name to Enron.
Seriously ... http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20080810_Comcast_losing_its_chance_to_be_terrific.html

A quote from my friend that works for Comcast:

"I have no idea how we have any customers left in the North Hills."

A quote from my friend that works for Comcast:

"I have no idea how we have any customers left in the North Hills."

No doubt, lots of lies.

If you all are so unhappy with Comcrap, why do you still have them?



Although your question wasn't directed to me, let me answer.

I have two TiVo Series 3 DVRs that do not work with sattelite and FIOS isn't in my area yet, so I have one choice: Comcast.

I have a good friend who very much wants the NCAA GameDay package. He has had Direct TV and Dish installers out to his house and they all tell him the tall trees surrounding the back of his property will not allow him to get reception. FIOS isn't there yet also. He has one choice: Comcast.

A quote from my friend that works for Comcast:

"I have no idea how we have any customers left in the North Hills."

The answer is that FIOS is still not available to many in the North Hills.

WPCW-HD is now on (the equiv. of) channel 17

EDIT: OMG ! It and the other 3 are actually in the program guide on the settop box.

Of course, no msg. on the box to tell us, that what we actually pay for is now there !

WPMY-HD is still there, but, of course no channel mapping to the settop box.

LOL, this is amazing that either no one noticed, or everyone is in shock !

No i noticed it. I'm just totally disappoint in it.

AMC-HD looks like CRAP. (yes amc is streching right now but still looks like crap)

A good deal of my HD looks pretty bad. See lots of macroblocking (is that the right word?)

Also to top it all of, I am pissed off because I have been lied to once again.

Someone here said something along the lines of "You don't have to be with comcast, why are you?"

I think i have the answer to that questions for those who do have the options but stay. I've been thinking about going to Dish, DirectTV, or Fios for maybe about a year. All are avaiable to me. Thing is, i'm scared. Comcast service has been horrible, i don't get anything new ever. But i can watch TV, i have a few good HD channels. I can watch anything on the major networks in HD, and i have a DVR that works.

Sure i want better, and I want more. but i'm afraid of Dish, DirectTV or Fios not living up to what they promise. After all comcast never does. And what if it's worse on the other side? What if i have more problems and it actually interferes with the TV watching experience?

I can maybe get beyond that and give one a try, but which one? That's the other question. I can get any one of them. Everyone seems to give difference answers. Fios seems to have one of the best interfaces i've ever seen. (if the web site demo is to be believed) People tell me DirectTV has a great interface.

ANd what about the 2 other TV's in the house that I can run the analog cable into? If i wanted to put comcast boxes on them i'd have to pay an extra $20/month a piece. And i think something like $50 to have DVR boxes. Last time i checked the DirectTV it all sounded good untill i wanted 1 HD-DVR and 2 regular DVR boxes. Now i had to pay a whole bunch of money upfront. Can't do that.

If someone can show me that one of these services will have a great interface, give me all the boxes i need, give me a TON of HD (and not leave out anything major cable or broadcast networks that comcast does.. ), give me MY local broadcast networks (not someone elses).. and will work great, and to top that all of will continue with inovating the service... ..Have no upfront payment, (month bill about the same.. will deal with higher probably) Then i will call tommorrow and sign up.

I'm with comcast for internet, but would give fios a try. I hear it is a lot faster. And maybe Fios TV with Fios internet, verizon as the phone lines (Already have) and verizon wireless (already have 2 cell phones) i'd get some deal. But i still need to know that the service is going to be as great as i need it to be.

I'm not kidding. I'm want to be done with comcast. I want someone to give me the info I need so I know who to go with that can do all that i want.

And even if i don't. I probably will switch to fios. Even if there is a 8 week wait. I'll just make the jump and hope to god it all works.

I liken the experience to flying in a airplane that really sucks, being able to get on one of 3 airplanes that look great on the outside, but the only way to move from one to the other is sky dive down to it and hope for the best!

Of course, no msg. on the box to tell us, that what we actually pay for is now there !

Not really, we're still missing about a dozen that the others have.

Nothing here really excites me except for maybe WPCW-HD, or it would if they were still re-running Supernatural or Reaper right now.

I really wish I had Scifi so I could watch tomorrow's Eureka in HD.

I can maybe get beyond that and give one a try, but which one?

I can't give you advice on the basis of personal experience. I can, however, make a suggestion on the basis of a little research I have done.

My personal situation is that I live in an apartment, and current have Comcast. I live in the city, so I have all of the channels that Comcast offers in Pittsburgh, 2 TVs with HD-DVR, HBO and high-speed internet. My cable package is currently running me $150 a month. FiOS is currently not available in my area.

So, your options are:

1. FiOS
FiOS TV Premier: $47.99
HBO + Movies: $25.00
Home Media DVR: $19.99
SD Set Top Box (2 @ $5.99): $11.98
FiOS Internet: $42.99 (Due to your Verizon Wireless)
Total: $147.95

Pros:
*49 HD channels
*Record shows on your Home Media DVR and can watch them on SD boxes. Let's you cut down on DVR pricing.
*10 Mbps/2 Mbps (DL/UL) Internet.
*Allegedly adding more HD channels in the next year. If you lived in NJ, you'd have 88 channels in HD with the same packages.

Cons:
*No FSN HD currently, until the new channels arrive. You'd have to watch Pirates and Pens games in SD until that time.
*Can only record a couple programs at a time due to only having one DVR. Bad if you have many programs to record that are on at same time.

2. DISH Network
TurboHD Gold: $39.99
Platinum Tier: $10.00
Local Channels: $5.00
HBO: $14.99
Cinemax: $0.01 (For 1 year if you agree to auto bill-pay)
1 HDTV + DVR: $12.98
2 SDTV + DVR: $4.60
FiOS Internet: $42.99 (Due to your Verizon Wireless)
Total: $125.96
$149.00 Down
$50.00 Off first bill

Pros:
47 HD Channels
Separate DVRs for plenty of recording ability
*10 Mbps/2 Mbps (DL/UL) Internet.
*Allegedly adding more HD channels in the next year. Everyone will get all new channels at the same time, no waiting for changes to hit small markets.

Cons:
*Largish up-front costs

If I were in your shoes, I would probably do the FiOS deal, as you would be able to consolidate your bills and it would likely provide the best interface and the best situation for you. DirecTV has pretty large up-front costs for DVRs and they don't offset it with any kind of $50 off first bill stuff.

Anyone in the Bethel Park system what do you think of it?

Thanks

Think of what?

The HD overall quality of everything.

If I were in your shoes, I would probably do the FiOS deal, as you would be able to consolidate your bills and it would likely provide the best interface and the best situation for you. DirecTV has pretty large up-front costs for DVRs and they don't offset it with any kind of $50 off first bill stuff.

I would give Fios a try if it were available in my area, like you I am in the city and can't get Fios where I’m located. My buddy who lives in Castle Shannon just switched over to Fios from Comcast and tells me he loves it. He raves about the quality of the HD channels, I’m anxious to see for myself we have the same model of HDTV so I will be able to get a good head to head quality comparison of the HD channels. Although I’m not going to be able to do anything about it for now, I’ll have something to look forward to when it does become available in my neck of the woods provided it’s worth the jump.

So i went ahead and did. Signed up for Direct TV. They have a special running where you get a free HD DVR box, the premier package for free, if you pay for NFL sunday ticket. (74 a month for 4 months).. after that I can downgrade to whatever package i want.

I'm nervious. Very nervious. If everything works as it should, this is going to be wonderful. But of course i am worrying about it.

Coming on monday to do the install. Will see how it goes.

Keeping my internet with comcast.

Well, FIOS apparently did get their full channel re-alignment in pittsburgh, though they were delayed a week as well. They may not have as many HD channels as sat yet, but they have what I want for now and I think i'll give it a try for now because the picture quality is supposed to be so good.

So, tonight it's time to order me some FIOS service to ensure it gets installed before I move.

So, I'm going to get:

10/2 internet plan (faster than comcast internet)
Premier TV package (more HD than comcast)
Home Media DVR (multi-room, free for 12 months)
SD 2nd box (currently don't have a 2nd box , so I'm getting more there)
Movies+HBO package (currently get HBO+Starz as part of promo, this will net me more movie channels)

$146/month, but the DVR is free for the first year so $126/month for the first 12 months.

My Comcast bill is currently $117 /month. So, for $9 more, i'm getting a whole hell of a lot more. My comcast promo expired in december as well so who knows if they would give me some sort of retention promo.

On or after September 23, 2008, Comcast will add The Sportsman Channel (Channel 153) to the Digital Classic level of service (North Hills).

Well, FIOS apparently did get their full channel re-alignment in pittsburgh, though they were delayed a week as well.

So what is the official channel lineup then? My zip still pulls the short list of HD channels on their site and it's a pretty crappy lineup IMO.

So what is the official channel lineup then? My zip still pulls the short list of HD channels on their site and it's a pretty crappy lineup IMO.

Take a look at the PDF on the sidebar that says "Pittsburgh Effective 8/6" Their online lineup isn't correct which I could fault them for, but non of comcast's online lineups are fully correct either.

http://www22.verizon.com/NROneRetail/NR/rdonlyres/F114B129-02F6-4256-A323-9A0F413B373C/0/PITT_P1_80608.pdf

That should be the correct list, or at least closer to it. My understanding is that just about everything that's listed was added except the extra Starz and Showtime channels. I'm pretty sure all of the Pittsburgh area is serviced off the same head end so there's no variances between zip codes.

Fios got 18 new HD channels in Pittsburgh on the 12th.

http://www.tvpredictions.com/verizon081208.htm

Another important thing to note is this also included a realignment (moving of channels) which basically puts the channel lineup in a state where they just need to add to it rather than move more stuff around. This means that they can add channels at any time and don't need to give 30 days notice because they aren't moving anything.

It's still not as good as Sat as far as number of channels, but it has what I want for now so I'll at least give it a try at least until WPCW-HD goes live OTA so I can watch the upcoming seasons of Supernatural and Reaper in HD. I also have faith that they are going to start adding channels like mad every month or so.

So like i said i just made the jump to direct TV. I'm starting to get exited. From looking at the screen guide for the direct tv hd box, and all even the ondemand stuff from ondemand (it is not as instant as comcast, in that it needs to be downloaded), i'm just pretty exicited to have a nice screen guide.

Also one that actually will be wide screen. How annoying is comcast's guide, that no matter how great it is continues to be 4:3 only.

I'll be sure to post back on monday after that install to let you all know if the grass is greener on the other side.

however, i am worried that maybe i should have gone with fios. Would have been a little cheaper, and they SAY they will have almost all 150 HD that direct tv has, but hey hasn't comcast been saying the same thing for a long time now.

The thing about Comcast's guide that's silly too is, it doesn't have to be that way.

Here's what FIOS's Interactive Media Guide looks like.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/05/22/verizon-launching-fios-interactive-media-guide/

The kicker? Fios uses a variant of the DTC6416 moto box (added video over IP functionality.) So, the core hardware of the boxes is the same as the Comcast boxes, it's just that Comcast has never bothered to design and implement a higher quality guide.

What I don't know is if the FIOS guide actually takes advantage of a widescreen display, but it looks so much better than the comcast guide i'll overlook it if it doesn't.

Verizon rep told me yesterday they'd get FSN/Versus HD "probably by the end of the year." Great. Oh, and even if I signed up yesterday, the soonest they could install it would be October. Double great.

by the way the fios screen guide, while pretty good is not widescreen. Direct TV is.

by the one thing i think is great about direct tv (and probably everyone does this but comcast!) but there is no seperate channel for high def and low def. It's the same channel for both.

If you tune into the channel, and you get the HD version of the channel, the HD version of the channel comes up.

Comcast should do that.

by the one thing i think is great about direct tv (and probably everyone does this but comcast!) but there is no seperate channel for high def and low def. It's the same channel for both.

If you tune into the channel, and you get the HD version of the channel, the HD version of the channel comes up.

Comcast should do that.

Comcast should do a lot of things !

Verizon rep told me yesterday they'd get FSN/Versus HD "probably by the end of the year."

I'm not sure exactly what you asked, so I'll just mention it in case clarification is needed... the "Versus/Golf HD" channel is already on Fios TV in the Pittsburgh area. Check out the link in bull3964's post above for the latest channel guide, and look at channel #590.

FSNP HD is an entirely different channel, and Fios doesn't have that yet. Keep in mind that the response you got was from some random rep. They don't know anything. They were just guessing. The official word from Verizon, according to Rob Owen of the PG, is that they have no timetable. Whatever that means.

Fios remains no option for me until they add FSNP HD.

This is to bull3964, HBO Kid, bboyer66, ChuckZ and Scottro.

If you all are so unhappy with Comcrap, why do you still have them?

...

Remember---you don't have to have Comcast!!!

Again, you don't have to have Comcast.

My 2 cents on this... while I would love to have an improved Comcast, they currently offer the best option for my most important things -- sports in HD. I will not even consider any other options that don't give me the ability to watch all available HD broadcasts of Pens games.

Take a look at the PDF on the sidebar that says "Pittsburgh Effective 8/6" Their online lineup isn't correct which I could fault them for, but non of comcast's online lineups are fully correct either.

I still have Verizon Wireless but I did have their land line service before. My experience with Verizon has been that their CS is very friendly and very willing to help. Only when the help comes, it's ALWAYS wrong. So watch what you wish for. My MIL and now my father both have FIOS internet, phone, and TV. Neither installer was able to hook up a TiVo or a VCR to the TV boxes so pray that nothing goes wrong that they need to fix if you switch to them. :)

That should be the correct list, or at least closer to it. My understanding is that just about everything that's listed was added except the extra Starz and Showtime channels. I'm pretty sure all of the Pittsburgh area is serviced off the same head end so there's no variances between zip codes.

Fios got 18 new HD channels in Pittsburgh on the 12th.


Having said that about Verizon CS, I see everything I would want from their TV lineup now so if Comcast doesn't speak up about when I'm supposed to get these new HD channels soon I'm leaving them.

I won't even consdier FIOS in the city until FOX Sports Pittsburgh. Plus they have not even run fiber to my apartment complex yet. Of course I face the wrong direction for a dish, but I do have to say I am very happy with my Comcast anyways. No service is going to be perfect, but out of all my bills I pay, I don't feel ripped off (Triple Play Premier + HD Box = $188 after taxes).

Sure I would feel upset if I was in an area not getting all the HD stations the rest of the city gets, but odds are that a lot of you probably can go to a dish.

well i'm now a happy direct tv customer. It's amazing. HD looks great. So long comcast!

so... my guide says that KDKA Late Night Show and Jay Leno are both in HD, but they do NOT look HD at all. I am using channels 6 and 12, respectively. Are they not actually broadcasting in HD or am i missing something?

211 for NBC and 212 CBS for HD

211 for NBC and 212 CBS for HD

You're feeding the trolls. :D

well i'm now a happy direct tv customer. It's amazing. HD looks great. So long comcast!

Glad you're satisfied, Dan. I am weighing the notion of switching to DirecTV against the notion of waiting for FIOS.

According to some news I just saw the other day, the Pittsburgh City Council has just recently hired the Cohen Law Group to begin negotiating with Verizon on a cable franchise. They say that they hope to have a deal in place by late fall. My hope is that when the deal is in place, all the people who are currently able to get FIOS internet will be able to get FIOS TV very quickly after a deal is done.

Given all of those developments, I am hesitant to go with DirecTV right now. From what I understand, you have to agree to a contract with them, correct? I don't think I want to sign on for a significant term with a potential FIOS deal right around the corner.

so... my guide says that KDKA Late Night Show and Jay Leno are both in HD, but they do NOT look HD at all. I am using channels 6 and 12, respectively. Are they not actually broadcasting in HD or am i missing something?

Yeah for comcast those are the wrong channels.. But actually last night letterman wasn't HD for some reason.. sometimes the local channel forgets to flip the HD switch.

Given all of those developments, I am hesitant to go with DirecTV right now. From what I understand, you have to agree to a contract with them, correct? I don't think I want to sign on for a significant term with a potential FIOS deal right around the corner.

You have to agree to a min of 12 months. But right now you get EVERYTHING free. The HD DVR and everything else is free if you buy NFL sunday ticket. And with that you get the ultimate package (all the channels basically). You have to pay for that for 4 months (90 a month after all the taxes) then after 4 months you can switch down to whatever package you like.

And if you call them and order over the phone they will give you showtime free for a year.

Is this on topic for Comcast Pittsburgh???? :confused:

Well, not only did the North Hills not get the additional channels on August 19th, but I see that we've lost an HD channel also. Used to be that when FSN HD had a game we'd get it on MOJO (226). But I guess that since the rest of the area now has FSN HD on 250 Comcats has decided they don't need to show it on 226. We lose again!!

I had set up my TiVo to record the Pirate game on 226 last night. Came home and found 4 hours on London Live. Thrilling. Luckily, as a backup, I always record the SD version on my bedroom TiVo just for cases like this. Wouldn't have wanted to miss that thrilling game.:rolleyes:

So, basically, what you are saying that the point about FIOS not having FSN-HD is moot right now for the North Hills.

In fact, it may be likely that FIOS will end up getting it before Comcast ever gets around to giving us the rest of our channels.

I spoke with a Comcast CS agent last month after threatening to cancel my service. When I asked if Comcast was going to start offering Digital Voice in the North Hills, she said they were hoping to have it by the end of the year. If that's the case, will Verizon be able to start marketing themselves in these areas? North Pittsburgh is still holding everyone back, but they've been gobbled up by Consolidated. When will their influence end?

211 for NBC and 212 CBS for HD

thanks bud, the guide didn't seem to state it was HD

Is this on topic for Comcast Pittsburgh???? :confused:

Slightly on topic. We're discussing alternatives to Comcast Pittsburgh :)

Personally, I feel like Comcast has certainly provided some good things to its customers, but they have gotten complacent in their features as of late. I get half as many HD channels, slower internet access and much less SD content than are offered by any of the other big providers and pay the same amount or more on my bill.

I just saw a Comcast commercial the other night where they made the claim that they have the most HD programming available in every city they serve. However, they counted HD content offered OnDemand in their own tally and left out OnDemand content for their competitors. If that is the way they think about their offerings, I definitely don't want to stick around.

It just sucks that the choices are so limited in this city. Right now, for most of us, it's Comcast or Dish/DirecTV. If you live in an apartment, that choice isn't available to you either. This is definitely a market that needs as much competition as possible.

So, I asked my friend that works at comcast about FSN-HD, I got this reply back from him.


Reminder: FSN-HD Drop

Effective Friday, August 29th, Comcast will drop Fox Sports Net-HD in the Three Rivers Region. Customers can be directed to MOJO, as we will pre-empt MOJO programming for FSN-HD programming whenever FSN broadcasts games in HD.

So, it seems that they have realized the problem they created for the north hills about FSN-HD having its own channel.

So, I asked my friend that works at comcast about FSN-HD, I got this reply back from him.



So, it seems that they have realized the problem they created for the north hills about FSN-HD having its own channel.

Did your friend mention that sometimes they "forget" to switch over to the FSN-HD broadcast?

That opens a whole new Pandora's Box because it is totally dependent on someone at the Comcast headend "realizing" or "being aware" of an HD broadcast that is about to happen.

The human factor now becomes a large part of the process because if someone doesn't throw the switch, then nobody gets the HD feed.

Believe me, more than once I've had to call Comcast to let them know a feed was happening.

One time, on a Sunday afternoon (I guess everyone at Comcast was picnic-ing), they didn't pick up a Pirate game until the 5th inning---and only after my persistence through the Comcast telephone menu system and internet research as to the "inside" number to call.

Such a shame.

I really hate their use of MOJO as the channel that gets the axe whenever they want to switch to a feed of FSN-HD. Why can't they just get their act together and distribute that one channel to everyone in the area? Or, even better, use a channel like Homes and Gardens TV as the one that gets hosed. I like a couple of the shows on MOJO, and have DVR'd an episode only to try watching it and discover that I have the 8th inning of a 12-2 loss by the Suckos.

I really hate their use of MOJO as the channel that gets the axe whenever they want to switch to a feed of FSN-HD. Why can't they just get their act together and distribute that one channel to everyone in the area? Or, even better, use a channel like Homes and Gardens TV as the one that gets hosed. I like a couple of the shows on MOJO, and have DVR'd an episode only to try watching it and discover that I have the 8th inning of a 12-2 loss by the Suckos.

I agree. Depending on the programming, MOJO can be very entertaining. The best part about MOJO? 100% HD service! Why on earth would they hose this channel? It's definitely one of the best looking ones!

Actually, FSN-HD should get its act together and provide a SD/HD 24 hr. feed like everyone else does so that Comcast can dedicate a channel to Fox Sports Pittsburgh.

When channel 250 was dedicated to FSN, Fox Sports dropped the ball by providing color bars 99% of the time. It was a real waste of a high def. channel and banwidth.

That's what should happen. No pre-emption of any channel should ever happen.

Did your friend mention that sometimes they "forget" to switch over to the FSN-HD broadcast?

That opens a whole new Pandora's Box because it is totally dependent on someone at the Comcast headend "realizing" or "being aware" of an HD broadcast that is about to happen.

The human factor now becomes a large part of the process because if someone doesn't throw the switch, then nobody gets the HD feed.

Believe me, more than once I've had to call Comcast to let them know a feed was happening.

One time, on a Sunday afternoon (I guess everyone at Comcast was picnic-ing), they didn't pick up a Pirate game until the 5th inning---and only after my persistence through the Comcast telephone menu system and internet research as to the "inside" number to call.

Such a shame.

Over the past 2 years, I've had to call them at least 2 dozen times to tell them to switch over for Pens games. The amount of time you have to spend and people you have to talk to in order to accomplish this is amazing. Every time, it's like pulling teeth. I've even had "supervisors" ARGUE with me that there is no FSNP HD programming. I ended up getting $100 off my bill at one point. Chumps.

But still... when it works, it makes me happy. At least I know there's a potential of seeing a Pens game in HD on Comcast. That doesn't exist with Fios.

At least I know there's a potential of seeing a Pens game in HD on Comcast. That doesn't exist with Fios.

FIOS still carries VS HD and as I recall from last year it seemed that 9 times out of 10 if you wanted to watch the Pens in HD you were praying for either VS or NBC to carry it because FSN didn't have enough HD capacity.

FIOS still carries VS HD and as I recall from last year it seemed that 9 times out of 10 if you wanted to watch the Pens in HD you were praying for either VS or NBC to carry it because FSN didn't have enough HD capacity.


You recall incorrectly. FSN carried at least 35 games in HD last season, and had them all scheduled from the beginning of the season. There was no praying... you just looked at the schedule and realized that FSN was either broadcasting the game in HD or they weren't.

If I had FIOS during the season last year, I would not have been able to watch any of those 35 games in HD. No chance. Neither NBC nor VS simulcast any of those games. They were strictly FSN-HD, which Fios didn't, and still doesn't have.

I don't yet know how many Pens games FSN will have in HD this season, but I anticipate about 40. There's no way I would move to FIOS right now and just about guarantee myself to lose out on 40 Pens games in HD. And that's only the Pens games. I also enjoy the Bucs on FSN-HD and college football on FSN-HD.

I don't know if anyone from Steubenville monitors this thread, but how many digital channels can you pick up from Comcast with your QAM tuner?

I got a dedicated fox sports pittsburgh for a couple weeks, and now it's gone. they have already gone back to showing the programming on the MOJO station. and they put Big 10 HD in it's place. How stupid...

Sorry I am new to this, just got hooked up last night. Is there no FSN on HD, I think I have the Big 10 network on 250. I see they sometimes switch the ffed over, how do you know, just by seeing it on 250?

Sorry I am new to this, just got hooked up last night. Is there no FSN on HD, I think I have the Big 10 network on 250. I see they sometimes switch the ffed over, how do you know, just by seeing it on 250?

Here is a schedule that should be helpful. The EG will not help.

So based on the schedule, the bucs will be on next Friday night in HD on channel 250?

They initially put FSN-HD on 250. But then they went back to putting it on MOJO 226 only when there is actual HD content, and they now put Big-10 Network in HD on 250.

This was mentioned in Rob Owen's Q&A last week in the P-G (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08242/907794-238.stm):Q: I live in the Comcast Castle Shannon/Penn Hills area. I used to be able to watch all FSN Pittsburgh programs on HD on Channel 226. However, since all other traditional Comcast areas received a dedicated FSN Pittsburgh channel (250), I have not been able to view this programing in HD. I have contacted Comcast a few times trying to determine whether or not I will be able to view this channel again on Channel 226. They have not been able to provide answers. Do you know what their plans are for us left out customers? Thank you.

-- Paul, 32, Whitehall

Rob: This response from Comcast applies to both Ross and Castle Shannon customers: "Technical problems prevented FSN's HD broadcast of the Pirates' game in question on Channel 226 in the Ross area. We are working to correct those. Beginning today we will again air all available FSN Pittsburgh HD programming on MOJO (Channel 226 in traditional areas, Channel 774 in former Adelphia areas) and will launch Big Ten Network HD programming on Channel 250 in traditional areas and Channel 769 in former Adelphia areas. The Big Ten Network agreement was signed after our announced addition of channels 250/769 as the locations for FSN Pittsburgh HD programming."

did the north hills get a few more HD channels?

i see ones that i dont remember

did the north hills get a few more HD channels?

i see ones that i dont remember

Like what?

On the 19th we got Animal Planet HD, TLC HD, WPCW HD, and AMC HD. Those have been the only new additions in a year or so.

MHD changed it's name to Palladia, so that's not new just a name change.

WTAE programming answered my info query about new syndicated HD programming with the following reply:

"Thanks for watching, we appreciate that. We will be broadcasting Oprah in HD today, ET in two weeks & our local news will be coming very soon."

Hi everyone. I'm new here; in fact, what started out as a necessity has now become more curiosity on my part to learn more about this stuff. Hope to learn lots and contribute eventually.

For now, I'll give you my situation, and hopefully someone can point me in the right direction.

I just moved to Pittsburgh (address is 5701 Centre Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15206), and live on the 13th floor (total of 16 floors). The apartment building is the tallest in this area btw, especially on the 13th floor where I don't have any obstacles from my window view. I just bought my first TV set in my life, and it's due to arrive in less than a week. Very excited. It's a Samsung LNS4041D (40 inches) and has a ATSC tuner embedded in it. I am currently subscribed to Comcast's basic cable (~$15/month), and am interested in getting OTA HD channels. After looking around a lot of forums and websites, I came across the atennaweb website, and had some questions.

As you can see below, the digital stations available are plentiful (CBS, NBC, FOX, ABC being the most important ones).

https://jshare.johnshopkins.edu/mhwang4/public_html/Availability.JPG

The problem is where my window is located. I live on the side of the apartment such that my balcony windows face southeast-ish, parallel to line C.

https://jshare.johnshopkins.edu/mhwang4/public_html/Map.JPG

From this viewpoint, the only feasible channel I can get seems to be ABC; maybe FOX but 45.4 miles seems a bit far away. All the channels I want to watch are on the other side of the building, for which I have no view of. I'm wondering if there's a solution to this, and what I can do. I was thinking if there was a tall building right across from my view, I could get some signals bouncing off, but that doesn't seem feasible (the apartment across from my view is about 10 stories high). Is it possible to still get a signal originating from the Northwest direction even if I don't have a line of sight? I really hope so, and hope that I am overthinking this. There is a big enough hill about four miles from my view (South) where I can't see what is on the other side. Does anyone think it's enough to deflect some signals to my apartment?

And finally, all the digital signals in my area are UHF. I do remember seeing something about how certain stations may change to VHF come around Feb next year. Should I get a UHF/VFH combo antenna?

Thanks for your help!!

If your TV also has a QAM tuner, you will be able to receive all of the OTA channels from comcast for free, except wwcp, wqex, wpcb. Or, for about $10/month, u can get a settop box from comcast to receive their HD channels. Or, buy a combo uhf/vhf antenna and you should get most Pgh. stations, even on south side of building.

If your TV also has a QAM tuner, you will be able to receive all of the OTA channels from comcast for free, except wwcp, wqex, wpcb. Or, for about $10/month, u can get a settop box from comcast to receive their HD channels. Or, buy a combo uhf/vhf antenna and you should get most Pgh. stations, even on south side of building.

Hi HBO Kid,

Thanks for your advice. Unfortunately, my tv only has NTSC and ATSC.. so I guess i'll probably go with getting an indoor antenna and hope it works even from the "wrong" side of the building. Do you have any recommendations as to what kind of indoor antenna I should get in this situation?

Thanks again. :)

Hi HBO Kid,

Thanks for your advice. Unfortunately, my tv only has NTSC and ATSC.. so I guess i'll probably go with getting an indoor antenna and hope it works even from the "wrong" side of the building. Do you have any recommendations as to what kind of indoor antenna I should get in this situation?

Thanks again. :)
nope, I would start with cheap $10 bunny ears to see what you get and decide from there

I heard the rest of the new HD channels in the Ross area won't be coming until the end of the year.

!@#*(%!&@@!#

Weren't the Pirates games supposed to be in HD this weekend on FSN HD? I live over the Ohio border but have a Pittsburgh base for our Comcast cable and neither of the two games vs the Cardinals were shown here. Were they shown in the local Pittsburgh area on FSN-HD?

Nope. I checked last night.