Chicago, IL - Comcast - Page 8

We'll see indeed, only we won't have to wait until tomorrow! It's up and running now (6:30pm; I never thought I'd be so happy to see Entertainment Tonight).

And life is good again...


Thanks to Comcast, Viacom, or whomever got together to put the best OTA *COUGH* HD channel back on cable!

looks like i'm going to have to get an HD box now that wbbm's back

It's official
Just got this from a contact at Comcast Corporate..

I am pleased to inform you that we have now formally rolled out HDTV and Comcast has been able to quickly reach agreement with CBS HD and the channel is now being aired. If you have any further questions please call me.

I live in DeKalb and I have not been able to get a consistently straight answer from Comcast on whether/when HD will be available in my area. A month ago I thought that I had convinced them to let me be a tester in my area and we even scheduled an appt for them to come out and install it but they cancelled at the last minute because the "equipment" was not available. I called last Sat. to ask when the service would be rolled out and the nice lady that I spoke to said (after discussing it with her supervisor) that it was available in DeKalb now and that I could call today to schedule installation. When I did that, I ended up dealing with what, in my experience, has been the more typical Comcast customer service person - the guy had no clue, put me on hold forever to find out and then told me that the service was not, in fact, available in DeKalb. I insisted on talking to a supervisor and, after another lengthy wait on hold, I was told that the latest "update" was that HD was not available here but that they would get back to me within 48 hours to let me know when it would be. I have literally gotten a different story every time I have called to ask about HD. Can it really be that hard to roll out a service over broadband data lines that are already installed and capable of handling the traffic? Digital cable and broadband Internet service have been available here for months.

This is mostly a rant but if anyone can suggest something helpful I'm listening.

Thanks.

Fellas, I have WBBM coming in -- but it just has the "THIS CHANNEL WILL BE AVAILABLE SHORTLY" message. Are you guys getting the full blown deal already or what?

does this mean comcast hdtv will be available in the ny area too soon?

189 and 191 both display this right now. I called Comcast twice about this and they tried resetting my box (I told them that probably wouldn't help, since the message differs for unauthorized channels), but that didn't help.

Called again, and the rep. told me he'd call back...he did and told me that they are still working on getting the WTTW signal up an running. Then he told me that his list didn't show 189 as being an offered channel.

My guess is that both will eventually come in fine, but it will take time. It seems my local system (Villa Park) always seems to be updated last when a change is made...not sure why.

I surely do hope that Comcast truly reached an agreement with CBS/Viacom, since this bodes well for their negotiations with ESPN and Discovery.

so this means they reached an agreement with all comcast stations?? even ones owned by cbs?

WBBM-DT is coming in fine here. HBO-HD has been flaky for most of the night, but Showtime-HD and all of the other channels have been coming through loud and clear.

WBBM-DT coming in fine here also! Hope it continues!

Jasrich

Went thorugh the exact same thing here. I just kept calling back (calmly) telling them I wanted to be a beta tester for them and eventually it worked. Looking back on my experience I'd say you were within weeks if not sooner..

Good luck... it's worth the wait!

Hi All,

WBBM has confirmed with Comcast that removing WBBM Digital from their Chicago systems was a misunderstanding. The signal should have been restored last eveining.

Meanwhile, CBS is continuing to work on a long term, national agreement with Comcast that would provide for carriage of the digital signal of all CBS stations in Comcast markets, including Chicago. We hope that agreement can be reached soon.

Bob

Jasrich

I too am in Dekalb and have gone through the same troubles as you have. Last week I was in town during the day so stopped by their office and talked to a tech. He said that we are not hooked into the "fiber optic loop" with the suburbs, and this is why we don't have HD yet. He also mentioned that we are scheduled to be put into the "loop" in August and it should only be a matter of weeks after that.
I know it's not the answer you were looking for, but I at least feel somewhat confident hearing it face to face from a tech. I've waited two years for a signal, I guess two more months aren't going to kill me(hope I don't gnaw off my own arm by then).

Steve

Thanks a lot Steve. If I could only get that straight of an answer from Comcast. I guess we'll cool our heels until August.

Jason

Thanks for the update from the CBS side of things. It's great to be able to view CBS HD programming again - the week without it really made me appreciate what I was missing!

See everyone it does pay to write these people like CBS and the sponsor. Very happy to have CBS back

Sorry for the 2nd post But I now think Cable is the best bang for the buck on HD content ..............and it really will be if they sign up ESPN and HDNET

Bob Ross,

It's nice to see you posting here again.
So what's the real skinny on this, is CBS looking for a retransmission fee or are they concerned about being retransmitted with full bandwith?

Woke up this morning to see a red light on my box. I got excited and thought it was downloading some new update or something.

However, I got two surprises once I turned my box on.

1. my free HBO-HD and SHOWTIME-HD are now gone.

and 2. All that red light was was a new message indicator!! YAY!! Two messages about spanish channels that I can't even READ!!

Not a great way to start my day.

I suspect that the free HD movie channels had something to do with the NCTA show here in Chicago this week. It ended yesterday and, coincidentally, so did our freebie.

I also suspect, for no other reason than the curious timing, that the Channel 2 thing was resolved due to the show, also. Maybe a little embarrassment on CBS's part. So I guess we have to weigh the good with the bad. Can't wait for CSI tonight.

Mike.

i called comcast today to get an HD converter now i just have to find out when it'll be installed

Anyone in Lincoln Park/Lakeview/Wrigleyville areas signed up yet? I've given up calling.

I will finally be getting Comcast because of my inability to get WBBM DT OTA. I already have a Sansung T160. The box already has the OTA in one input and directv in another. Also on the box is a input labeled cable. Will I be able to put the incoming cable line in that input and scan for channels since the only ones I aminterested in are the DT channels? Will I need the box provided by Comcast at all since none of the channels are "scrambled"? I don't want to disconnect the OTA antenna and use that input (I seem to remember some discussion about that) since then I lose WGN DT (not on Comcast). Will the cable input on the Samsung work?

Thanks for your help.

The Comcast HD locals are in the 256QAM format. The T160 has no circuitry to handle this, so you'll need the Moto 5100 box. The T165 was said to have 256QAM capability, but Samsung chose not to activate it on that model.

it'll be installed next thursday btw

radarblip- I am having similiar problems with HBO. My wife has been watching it more than me and said that it has been unwatchable. The picture breaks up and the sound goes out. Are other people having this problem? If it is a system wide problem I will take a different approach with the whole thing. HBO is the only channel I am having a problem with (if you don't count the brutal focus problems on NBA games, the lack of HD on the Triple Crown races, bad sound on NHL games, etc.).

Same problem in Highland Park. It's been that way for a few days, now. Sounds like it could be a reception problem from the satellite.

Mike K.

HBO was unwatchable 50% of the time that I had it. In just 3 days or so, half of the movies would break up and sometimes just completely cut out every couple seconds. Completely unwatchable, and I would have been PISSED if I was paying for that garbage.

I think it's sick what radarblip mentioned earlier about the lack of motivated support from the Comcast staff. I feel the same way as him about calling them up for help. They really don't know a thing about what they're dealing with (HDTV) and it's so unbelievably frustrating knowing that every time you call up they're just going to set up a "service call."

You guys know as well as I do that the problems with HBO aren't solveable from our homes. It is obviously a problem over at Comcast or at HBO or whatever. I think it's sad that we are more knowledgeable about this then the people we are supposed to call for "help."

HBO breaking up in Oak Park also.

The people answering phones have no clue (I feel a little sorry for them). No one can confirm an availability date for HD in DeKalb and when they proimised that someone would call me back within 48 hours, naturally no one ever did. The only good thing that can be said about Comcast so far is that they aren't AT&T.