Chicago, IL - Comcast - Page 244

Odds are it's on the same channel as 5-1 and 5-2. Comcast basically keeps digital broadcast channels and their subchannels together. Here in Schaumburg, it's on analog 115.

As for the name, my guess is they'll change it to WMAQ3 or similar, like they do for WLS.

Over the weekend, I bought a Samsung LN19A450 for the bedroom that is directly connected to the cable. I can now get some more direct info on the digital channels for the Excel sheet. I already caught a few issues that need updating.

Most of the clear QAM channels that are also available OTA and are translated to the same virtual channel as their OTA counterparts are on 113, 114, 115, or 116, I think.  I really don't have a way of knowing which are where, short of wiping out the entire QAM channel table by scanning with no coax connected and then trying to add one real QAM channel at a time and seeing which virtual channels turn up.

So far they have not fixed it.

Thanks a lot Comcast. You guys suck. I heard no audio problems on CBS HD the entire summer. Now tonight, the first night of the new TV season we get flipped front and rear channels, no sound, sound in and out, and static. Idiots!

Make sure you put the blame where it belongs. It's not Comcast's fault - it's WBBM. They switched to their new digital digs this weekend and that's where the problem lies.

Oops. I guess I"m just used to blaming Comcast as its usually their fault.

WBBM better have everything straightened out by tonight. If NCIS is ruined I'm really not going to be a happy camper.

The SD feed also had problems last night. Wife kept asking me what was wrong with the TV during How I Met My Mother.

True, it's also doing it on WBBM's DirecTV SD & HD signals, & NOT just during network prog, either - pretty bad...

The CBS problems started Sunday evening during the football game, where I could hear the crowd but not the announcers. Strangely, the problems vary by tuner. Any tuner that picked up 5.1 audio was LOUD. I thought I blew my speakers.

On Monday night, my 3416 was still very loud on CBS, but not as bad as Sunday. Here's the really weird part: My Sony DVR got normal sound on CBS commercials, but got only the Spanish audio track from the left front speaker on CSI Miami. Other channels (and tuners) are normal. What the heck could cause that?!?

Looks like good news - the audio problems appear to be fixed. No problems during the evening newscasts, and even Entertainment Tonight is coming in without glitches.

Doh! Spoke too soon - NCIS just started and they forgot to flip to 5.1 audio.


OT - I don't watch E.T., so imagine my surprise when I saw their set for the first time tonight. Holy crap, they have three 100"+ monitors on swiveling platforms!

This sucks. So much for watching NCIS tonight... When are they going to fix this issue. Seems like they should have made the move before all these shows start.

Well, I called WBBM's newsdesk (the only number I could find for the station) and asked to speak to engineering. The receptionist told me they're trying to fix the audio problem, so I imagine she's gotten plenty of calls on it.

What really sucks is the problem is also on the analog channel, so watching in SD is not a solution.

Guess thats what On Demand is for... LOL Hopefully this gets fixed though. Honestly, You couldn't even watch the Big Bang Theory last night but CSI Miami was fine. Thanks for making the call though. I was just looking up a number so I could do the same.

Finally fixed at 7:21. Geez...

Nice it's working. Just 23 minutes late... haha

The sound on Letterman is currently out on Comcast with my motorola HD DVR. Had similar problems with football on Sunday.

In the past, the page up and down buttons duplicated the 15-sec review and undocumented 30-sec skip buttons. Today, I noticed they reconfigured them to skip or review by 5 minutes instead. The regular review and skip work the same as before.

Sort of confusing. I thought something was broken when I tried to review by using page down and it jumped WAY back. The way my universal remote is laid out, it's easier to use page down as review. Now I have to use another button for the regular review.

My Comcast 6 month promo package is coming to an end. I previously called & "complained" that they were way higher than DirecTV, which they were. They reduced my bill to DirecTV's price and gave me Digital Classic. I tried to get another deal, but they won't budge. They said I could cut back on my service in order to reduce my cost.

Does anyone know of any current Comcast deals and/or secret phone number to call?

I did check with AT&T and they offered me phone/internet/Dish package for $100/month. It's their entry level Top 100 package and included locals and a DVR. That's less channels than I now get, but it does give me the ones I want. I know some folks here have tried Comcast & Dish and I would like to know what the current state of satisfaction is with Dish. Most things I read give Comcast the edge in PG. Is Dish really that much different?

Well, doesn't that suck. I just checked and yeah - the skip feature changed to 5 minute intervals. Egads.

At least I still have a 30 second skip thanks to this tip. Now I just have to put back the 15-second rewind...

For SD? Probably not. At least from what I see with my Dish SD compared to my BIL's Comcast digital SD in this same area. Some of the stuff even looks better on Dish, IMO (YMMV though).

Many people here are saying that U-verse's SD is supposed to be very good (just not their HD).

What's the deal with Comcast not showing the Cubs game against
the Mets on Wednesday night. It was to be shown on 173 ESPN HD.
ESPN news HD was on instead. It was played in N.Y. so why are we
part of the blackout in the Chicago area? It seems like everytime
the Cubs were on ESPN HD we did not get the signal in the Chicago
area.

I think the Sox have priority this week (since the Cubs clinched already), so CSN ran the Sox game and pushed the Cubs to CSN+ (which is WCIU or sometimes MOJO). I'm guessing ESPN didn't carry the game here because of the blackout rules, but I thought those only applied to home games.

It doesn't apply to home games only. Check to see if your cable system gets CSN+ because that's where the game is broadcast tonight.

Well that was lame. MOJO cut off the very end of the game. By the time I turned on CLTV, Reyes had just scored. Oh well.

So if an away game is not sold out the blackout rule applys to both teams?

MLB blackouts have nothing to do with home or away, tickets sold or even if a game is being aired in the home market.

Using the Cubs as an example. The home market rights to all of their games are owned by Comcast SportsNet, WGN and WCIU. Whether they exercise those rights is up to them for each particular game. When ESPN broadcasts a game, they have the national rights to the game but cannot air the games in the home market for the Cubs or the visitor.

That said, there are going to be many changes in blackout rules during this offseason because of the MLB Network as well as some areas that have no team nearby (Las Vegas in particular) but are claimed by 6 different teams as a home market and are therefore blacked out of national games while the games are not available on any broadcast outlet in the area.

I noticed it as well, so it's happening in the city as well as the suburbs.
Except that there is no regular review button now; the customer has to program one per the wikibook's instructions to send code 00173.

I cannot get U-verse so am thinking about Dish. I don't want to get off topic, but I would like to compare Dish with Comcast.

I don't know what package you have, but Dish says they supply local channels. Does this include WGN and WTTW (11)?

If you have an HD package, does it include WTTW-D?

Thanks in advance.

I just have the Top 100 SD's. I supplement that with OTA HD, using my Sony DVR (I use a Panny EH75V to record from Dish).

For local SD they have:
WBBM
WMAQ
WLS
WGN
WOCK
WYCC
WWME
WCIU
WFLD
WSNS
WPWR
WYIN
WXFT
WJYS
WGBO

For HD I'm not sure if they have PBS-HD or not - they might. Not sure about WGN-HD, either - but they do have the WGN Superstation-HD, I believe. I know for sure they have CBS, NBC, ABC & Fox-HD.

Looks like we finally got the new guide in Oak Forest sometime between Monday night and yesterday. The tipoff was the record light on the DVR being lit for the first time yesterday.

Some of the new features are nice, but what I would like is a feature from the old Hughes E-1 Directv boxes, which when using the mini guide and hitting the last channel button, the guide would stay on but go to the channel on the screen instead of having it exit like it does now.

But I can live without that if I get the extra HD channels that the City has.