Houston, TX - Comcast / DBS - Page 314

Happy Thanksgiving all!

Channel Lineup Changes

Channel Additions:
669 - Bloomberg HD (Digital Starter) - 12/8/11
742 - The Hub HD (Digital Preferred) - 12/8/11
705 - Tennis HD (Sports Entertainment) - 12/8/11
504 - Discovery Familia (MultiLatino) - 12/15/11

Channel Deletions:
437 - MoreMax HD (Cinemax) - 12/8/11
463 - HBO Zone HD (HBO) - 12/8/11
466 - HBO Family HD (HBO) - 12/8/11
504 - Sorpresa (MultiLatino) - 12/15/11
326 - Vision Celestial (Basic Cable) - 12/15/11

Channel Package Changes,
from Preferred to Digital Starter:
226 - BBC America (Digital Starter) - 12/8/11
730 - BBC America HD (Digital Starter) - 12/8/11

Seriously? I was happy to finally get some premiums other than the flagship stations in HD and now they are taking these away? They should be adding more, if anything!

So by the we time we get (if we ever get?) the new HD channels there won't be any additional premium channels? What a crock!!!!!!

Lying, greedy, incompetent bass- turds. Comcraptic.

I don't understand. My channel lineup for 77401 shows most of the new channels. Now, when I will get them is another story.

We got a postcard on Saturday as a "final notice" that subscribers in 77096 should have their DTA's by 12/7, so I "assume" that the new channels should be available within the next 2 weeks or so.

Are you running Media Center? If so, the listings are on Zap2it already - just gotta wait, like I did. I guess you could go in and hide those channels until they are live, but how would you know?

For your sake I hope so but my 1st notice said end of August and my 2nd said end of November and still nothing. I did get a call from Comcrap last night but they didn't leave a message, I'm sure they just wanted to sell me phone service and not provide the core business services they should be providing.

I am in the Shapstown area across the freeway from the mall (77074) and I have never gotten a date by mail for when I am scheduled to get the new channels. Almost all my 2011 bills say "you may be at risk of losing channels 21-52 & 56-80 . . .", except June (News about Xfinity Home Secitiry instead) and November (Channel Lineup Changes instead).

I don't expect the new channels until sometime next year.

I arrived from work today and my daughters stated their TV wasn't working. Lo and behold, analog channels are gone and new HD channels were added overnight. I'm in 77055.

If you don't already have your DTA boxes here's how you can order them. Or I think you can go by a Comcast store. You get two free.

https://digitalnow.comcast.com/

Yes! The new channels are on in 77040.

Not running Media Center. My point is that just because some channels are being deleted doesn't mean ALL the new channels are being deleted. Refer to the post I qouted.

Off topic . . . been meaning to say "hey" to a couple of regular posters in this thread.

RussB and RobertWy - my auto repair shop is real close to both of y'all.
Bellaire Auto Center, 5118 Spruce St. in Bellaire. 1/2 block west of one of the best known Bellaire landmarks - Jax Grille.

Just wanted to say hello.

OK now - back to topic!

Well wadda ya know? Got home last night and the new channels were there! Hal-a-lu-ya. One extra cinemax and a bunch of HBOs, no Showtimes, Encores or Starz. But I guess finally having all the basic cable channels in HD will have to do for now.

BTW 77092

Once I lose my analog channels, what channels can I get with a DTA? I have Triple Play with almost all channels with my three digital converter boxes. Is it something like Expanded Basic or Digital Preferred?

FWIW - I live out in Greatwood (Richmond area with a Sugar Land zip code) and we got our updated channel lineup a couple of weeks back.

My ex-wife lives in Greatwood as well. She's just using basic cable, and was forced to add the DTAs the same time my channel lineup was updated.

According to RussB's post above I only have tonight to enjoy my premium upgrade channels. You think they'll take a year to delete them like they did to add them? Not likely.

FYI - the DTAs only output in SD, so useless to hook to an HD set. I just scanned for clear QAM on the TV upstairs - that's all I need right now, and they are in HD.

That explains this:

http://customer.comcast.com/Pages/He...dapter-to-hdtv

My understanding is QAM goes away once your area is converted to all-digital.

Mine is still there. And I got the channels probably 3 weeks ago.

Still waiting for the changeover here - so I don't have firsthand experience with the new digital lineup.

However, this changeover will not have any impact on QAM. QAM is the digital format used to broadcast SD and HD channels on the cable.

After the changeover, there will still be some clear QAM channels that can be viewed directly on most HDTVs without a cable STB or DTA. Unfortunately, the only channels that will probably be "clear" will be the same channels you can get over-the-air (OTA) with an antenna.

It is very likely that all (or almost all) of the non-broadcast channels will be encrypted - and will require a cable STB, DTA, or CableCard tuner (such as TiVo or for PCs running Windows Media Center either SiliconDust or Ceton).

The diagram that was shown can be a little simpler if your HDTV has two antenna input ports. If that's the case, the A/B switch can be eliminated and one of the outputs from the 2-way splitter can be connected directly to the HDTV's "Antenna A" or "Antenna B" ports.

It really is unfortunate that Comcast has decided to go this path - because by forcing customers to have a DTA or STB for every TV, they've eliminated what was a major advantage over all of the other competing providers (Dish, DirecTV, AT&T, Verizon Fios, ...) - which have required a box for every TV.

It was extremely convenient to hook your TV directly up to the cable and get the broadcast and "basic cable" channels without requiring an extra box.

Oh well, the price for "progress"...

over here in 77064, we got some changes on Monday or Tuesday. All clearQAM channels except Telemundo are gone, and the three or so non local channels we did get on analog basic (not extended) are gone too.

I did check to see if the clearQAMs had moved but only picked up Oxygen HD.

What is the status of QAM in houston (I am in pearland) trying to sift through this thread is confusing.

I would love to purchase their extended basic cable and then use my TV's with QAM tuners and my HTPC. No set top boxes nothing....but it seems that block a lot of the channels that way.

Also, what is still free? Can you get CBSHD, ABCHD, NBCHD, and FOXHD and the such?

Thanks in advance.

Since I don't have the new channels, yet, can someone with the new channels tell me if Comcast made the channel lineup changes scheduled for December 8, 2011?

Click the following link for the channel changes:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...0#post21252200

Yes, they did make the changes. Sucks that they deleted those Cinemax and HBO HD channels. Channel 705 I am "Not Authorized" for (maybe a subscription service?) and channel 504 is still labeled as "Sopresa TV," though I only get a message saying "Subscription Service" on that channel. Everything else is right.

Thanks for the update.

This is what I've been going by:

http://customer.comcast.com/Pages/He...ital-migration

And this link indicates I will need an A/B switch to get the local HD channels.

http://customer.comcast.com/Pages/He...dapter-to-hdtv

I am subscribed to Triple Play, which means I get all channels, including "Limited Basic" and "Expanded Basic" (I think). But I am waiting to see what happens when I am switched over to digital and lose my analog channels.

If Comcast would dedicate just 10% of their Xfinity advertising budget to "getting the word out" they might have a lot better response. However, subscribers are human and creatures of habit. Most will never trouble themselves about something that does not trouble them (until the day that it finally does). You sometimes have to slap people in the face because most people don't bother to read the billing inserts.

Also a high percentage of subscribers are intimidated by wires and connections and/or prefer not to soil their hands, even though the process is quite simple. They're willing, only as long as someone shows up at their door to do it for them. That was especially true in my Katy neighborhood (over-55 restricted living community).

It might also be the misguided mindset of planning to replace an aging TV, but waiting until they have to, even though nothing is "cable ready" anymore. This group thinks they still won't need a cable box if they just replace the old relic. There certainly will be cries of anguish when they discover that an STB or DTA, etc. is suddenly required.

I heard that Rush Blakely (Director of MDU sales) has recently left Comcast for other pursuits. Anyone know if this was a voluntary (or involuntary) separation?
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