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Comcast HDTV - Page 383

post #11461 of 11882
7/23/11 at 8:36am
The following was published in the "Legal Advertising" section of the Florida Times Union Thursday:

"Attention Comcast Cable Customers

On August 23, 2011, for current and new residential and commercial subscribers in Duval, Clay, Baker, Nassau and parts of St Johns County, Comcast will:
*Add GSN HD channel 361, DIY Network HD, channel 362, Cooking Channel HD, channel 363, BBC America HD, channel 364, The Hub HD channel 382, Nat Geo Wild HD, channel 385, Ovation HD, channel 522, to the HD Digital Preferred tier.
*Add Bloomberg HD, channel 359,C-SPAN HD, channel 383, to the digital Starter tier.
*Remove HBO Comedy HD, channel 485, Action Max HD, channel487, Thriller Max HD channel 488, Womens Max, channel 489, Showtime Showcase HD, channel 491, Showtime Extreme HD, channel 492, 5 Star Max HD, channel 493, OuterMax, channel 494, The Movie Channel Extra HD, channel 516, form the HD premium tier."
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post #11462 of 11882
7/26/11 at 6:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by slowbiscuit View Post

Top Gear is coming back next month - where's my BBCA in HD Comcast??

BBC America HD is up and running on my system in Peachtree City...Vinings headend I believe. In the 750's...DIY, FOOD, WILD and an Outdoor Channel as well. Maybe one more, not sure.

Saw it late last night.
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post #11463 of 11882
7/26/11 at 7:02am
Comcast adds HD channels

By DAVID BARRON Copyright 2011 Houston Chronicle
July 25, 2011, 5:26PM

Comcast has added seven high-definition channels to its Houston service and relegated several channels to its On Demand service.

The new HD channels are PBS Kids Sprout (channel 740), Nat Geo Wild (687), Outdoor Channel (708), Oxygen (718), BBC America (730), Big Ten Network (707) and Galavision (650).

Programming from the following HD channels is now available only through On Demand: Starz Edge, Starz Kids & Family, Starz Comedy, 5StarMax, ActionMax, HBO Comedy and Showtime Extreme.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...#ixzz1TDhF7Zwt
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post #11464 of 11882
7/26/11 at 7:53am
Looks like Comcast is going to continue to hold Fox Soccer HD hostage.
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post #11465 of 11882
7/26/11 at 8:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Demolition Man View Post

Looks like Comcast is going to continue to hold Fox Soccer HD hostage.

What do you mean by "hold Fox Soccer HD hostage"? Fox Soccer HD is available in some markets (e.g. Seattle). Presumably the issue is available local bandwidth and local decisions about which channels are in the highest demand by local subscribers.

We have 100+ HD channels here in the Seattle area, but there are channels available in other Comcast markets that I would like to see here - some ahead of Fox soccer (and all of them ahead of Home Shopping Network and Jewelry TV) - but until we drop the remaining analog channels (2012 please!!!), HD fans will continue to be frustrated. Of course, those folks with limited basic will scream when they needs to get DTAs for all of their old analog TVs when the remaining analog signals are dropped. With finite bandwidth, someone will always be unhappy...
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post #11466 of 11882
7/26/11 at 9:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marcus Carr View Post

Comcast adds HD channels

By DAVID BARRON Copyright 2011 Houston Chronicle
July 25, 2011, 5:26PM

Comcast has added seven high-definition channels to its Houston service and relegated several channels to its On Demand service.

The new HD channels are PBS Kids Sprout (channel 740), Nat Geo Wild (687), Outdoor Channel (708), Oxygen (718), BBC America (730), Big Ten Network (707) and Galavision (650).

Programming from the following HD channels is now available only through On Demand: Starz Edge, Starz Kids & Family, Starz Comedy, 5StarMax, ActionMax, HBO Comedy and Showtime Extreme.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...#ixzz1TDhF7Zwt

Note: These channels are still not available throughout the Houston area system. Comcast is generally moving north to south, but this is skewed by the locations of specific sub-headends. It's happening, but slowly.

For instance, I'm in 77096, and we've got DTA's available, but the analog channels are not entirely eliminated. The result...no new channels yet.

David Barron lives just down the street, I'll update him.
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post #11467 of 11882
7/26/11 at 3:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jhachey View Post

What do you mean by "hold Fox Soccer HD hostage"? Fox Soccer HD is available in some markets (e.g. Seattle). Presumably the issue is available local bandwidth and local decisions about which channels are in the highest demand by local subscribers.

By "hold hostage" I mean its not available beyond a few select markets. Trust me there's quite enough demand in my market for Fox Soccer HD along with more then enough bandwidth to add it. Its just a matter of Comcast getting off their lazy butts and adding it at this point.
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post #11468 of 11882
7/28/11 at 12:28am
As someone who pays for a premium tier, I am pissed at these changes. Cinemax HD only for two of its channels? Showtime HD also just two channels now. Some of the new channels dont even deserve to be called HD. And when there is so much informercial stuff going on late night, why not compress those new HD channels to create space for the existing premium pay HD channels? A lot of the new HD channels dont even have enough HD programming to deserve a regular slot. How about channel sharing concept for networks unwilling or unable to provide enough round the clock HD programming? Maybe those untested channels should be the ones in the ON Demand section. FEARNET seems to be doing just fine there. COMCAST does not even carry any of the premium sports packages such as NHL Center Ice or Extra Innings in HD. They got a garbage DVR. Unfortunately, in Atlanta, my option is either satellite or COMCAST. No FIOS here.

And that talk about those showtime and Starz HD channel programming being available on demand? I just checked the one in Atlanta. A lot of the Showtime Extreme movies are missing in the HD on demand section.
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post #11469 of 11882
7/28/11 at 4:27am
The Comcast DVR prob is easily fixed - get a Tivo, a Moxi, or roll your own HTPC with any of 3 different Cablecard tuners on the market now (or very soon). They will let you self-install after 8/1 and they'll give you a $2.50/mo. credit for each card.
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post #11470 of 11882
7/28/11 at 5:15am
I hope S. Florida gets BBC HD before the new season of Dr. Who starts! One can dream.
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post #11471 of 11882
7/28/11 at 9:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by slowbiscuit View Post
The Comcast DVR prob is easily fixed - get a Tivo, a Moxi, or roll your own HTPC with any of 3 different Cablecard tuners on the market now (or very soon). They will let you self-install after 8/1 and they'll give you a $2.50/mo. credit for each card.
Is it a flat $2.50 everywhere, or does that amount vary by provider?
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post #11472 of 11882
7/28/11 at 2:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by keenan View Post


Is it a flat $2.50 everywhere, or does that amount vary by provider?

It varies from region to region.
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post #11473 of 11882
7/28/11 at 2:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by homcom View Post

It varies from region to region.

That's what I figured. I currently have 3 cards myself, but only get charged $1.10 per month for an "additional Card IN Same Device". So naturally the thought that Comcast might credit me $7.50 per month for something I'm basically getting for free($1.10) anyway sounded pretty good.
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post #11474 of 11882
7/29/11 at 4:18am
Here are the HD channels added this week in the ATL. BBCA was the only channel I was really missing.

BBCA (finally!!!)
Cooking
DIY (Do-it-Yourself)
GSN (Game Show Network)
Outdoor
NGC Wild

Taken away: a couple of Cinemax and Showtime HDs, not sure why.
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post #11475 of 11882
7/29/11 at 5:27am
Quote:
Originally Posted by slowbiscuit View Post

Here are the HD channels added this week in the ATL. BBCA was the only channel I was really missing.

BBCA (finally!!!)
Cooking
DIY (Do-it-Yourself)
GSN (Game Show Network)
Outdoor
NGC Wild

Taken away: a couple of Cinemax and Showtime HDs, not sure why.


Nashville gained these 10 new HDs this week.
C-SPAN HD
BBC Ammerica HD
Nat. Geo Wild HD
Cooking Ch. HD
DIY HD
GSN HD
Ovation HD
Hub HD
RetroPlex HD
IndiPlex HD

We lost 1 HBO, 6 Max, 2 Showtime, 1 TMC HD Channels.

We are told there is a max number of HDs a system can get. We are maxed out at a little over 115. To get new HDs we will lose existing, until new technology comes along.
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post #11476 of 11882
7/29/11 at 6:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by nashman2 View Post

We are told there is a max number of HDs a system can get. We are maxed out at a little over 115. To get new HDs we will lose existing, until new technology comes along.

Do you guys still have your limited basics in analog? If so, THAT'S going to be your "new technology" - getting rid of those will easily enable them to add at least 30+ new HD's in it's place.

We STILL have analog limited basic here & we lost several HD premiums, but only gained 5 new HD basics: Cooking, DIY, BBCA, HUB, NGC Wild
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post #11477 of 11882
7/29/11 at 9:06am
I can't speak for the Motorola areas; however, in Houston (an SA-Cisco market), I have noted that when entering "ON DEMAND-HD",there is no tab for "Free Movies"; however, if you click "Free Movies" in the SD area, and surf through the tabs, it will show up as "HD Movies." NO...this is not how they have SD choices arranged, but then, let's remember who we're dealing with here. Oh...and there are many fewer choices...Thank you Cc!
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post #11478 of 11882
7/29/11 at 10:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by hdguru View Post

I can't speak for the Motorola areas; however, in Houston (an SA-Cisco market), I have noted that when entering "ON DEMAND-HD",there is no tab for "Free Movies"; however, if you click "Movies" and surf through the tabs, it will show up. NO...this is not how they have SD choices arranged, but then, let's remember who we're dealing with here.

Yeah, I noticed that changed here a couple of weeks ago. Pretty odd.
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post #11479 of 11882
8/1/11 at 8:27am
Moving in a month and still no sign of fsc hd on comcast in my area. Looks like I'll be going satellite. Been a comcast customer for 13 years but ive had it with waiting and pathetic hd sports coverage.
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post #11480 of 11882
8/1/11 at 8:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by chad473 View Post

Moving in a month and still no sign of fsc hd on comcast in my area. Looks like I'll be going satellite. Been a comcast customer for 13 years but ive had it with waiting and pathetic hd sports coverage.

Hi Chad - It actually depends on where exactly you are moving to. FSC HD is available on some COMCAST systems.
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post #11481 of 11882
8/1/11 at 9:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by faceoff View Post

Hi Chad - It actually depends on where exactly you are moving to. FSC HD is available on some COMCAST systems.

Which is still not enough as its very few markets that have Fox Soccer HD.
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post #11482 of 11882
8/1/11 at 9:43am
I'm aware of the agreement they have. I'm only moving about 10 miles though. Same channel lineup. European leagues start this month, so I'll see if that motivates them at all. I doubt it, though.
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post #11483 of 11882
8/3/11 at 9:42pm
I think COMCAST should force channels that dont have at least 75% HD programming to channel share. This way, I get more of my pay channels in HD. And also my premium sports channels and on demand sports in HD.
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post #11484 of 11882
8/7/11 at 6:14pm
Anyone seeing the TV listings incorrect for many channels, even online listings?
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post #11485 of 11882
8/31/11 at 10:52am
Comcast Faces $875M Class-Action Suit

A class-action lawsuit against Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) over allegations that the MSO violated antitrust laws is moving ahead after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit declined Comcast's appeal in a 2-1 ruling (PDF) handed down last week. The suit (Behrend v. Comcast Corp), which seeks more than US$875 million in damages, alleges that the MSO overcharged customers after engaging in a number of system swaps in the Philadelphia area starting in 1998 that increased Comcast's share of the pay-TV market and established a monopoly position there in violation of sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act. The suit also contends that Comcast engaged in similar conduct in the Boston and Chicago markets.

http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=211695
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post #11486 of 11882
9/1/11 at 7:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mantar View Post

As someone who pays for a premium tier, I am pissed at these changes. Cinemax HD only for two of its channels? Showtime HD also just two channels now. Some of the new channels dont even deserve to be called HD. And when there is so much informercial stuff going on late night, why not compress those new HD channels to create space for the existing premium pay HD channels? A lot of the new HD channels dont even have enough HD programming to deserve a regular slot. How about channel sharing concept for networks unwilling or unable to provide enough round the clock HD programming? Maybe those untested channels should be the ones in the ON Demand section. FEARNET seems to be doing just fine there. COMCAST does not even carry any of the premium sports packages such as NHL Center Ice or Extra Innings in HD. They got a garbage DVR. Unfortunately, in Atlanta, my option is either satellite or COMCAST. No FIOS here.

And that talk about those showtime and Starz HD channel programming being available on demand? I just checked the one in Atlanta. A lot of the Showtime Extreme movies are missing in the HD on demand section.

As a fellow Premier package subscriber, I couldn't agree more. Whenever Comcast actually manages to add some moderately intersting to totally useless HD channels, Premier subscribers are made to pay for it by seeing the number of premuim HD channels available to them shrink. In my area we are now down to 12 Premium HDs and we haven't even gotten any of the newer HD channels. While the On Demand offerings have been muscled up, that is no substitute for good old fashioned linear channels. I'd rather look through the program menu than have to continually search the On Demand listings. The SD Premium channels show how packed and versatile their offerings are. Comcast appears to be telling it's $200+/month customers that, in its business model, they are insignificant. The only thing that has stopped me from seriously considering Direct or Uverse is their lack of a viable On Demand system. It is very valuable to me but again, the continuous stripping of Premuim HDs by CC is very unfortunate. Direct could make a real dent in Comcast's subscriber base of it could figure out how to implement a real On Demand system wit its current level of technology.
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post #11487 of 11882
9/1/11 at 8:50am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cal1981 View Post

As a fellow Premier package subscriber, I couldn't agree more. Whenever Comcast actually manages to add some moderately intersting to totally useless HD channels, Premier subscribers are made to pay for it by seeing the number of premuim HD channels available to them shrink. The only thing that has stopped me from seriously considering Direct or Uverse is their lack of a viable On Demand system. It is very valuable to me but again, the continuous stripping of Premuim HDs by CC is very unfortunate. Direct could make a real dent in Comcast's subscriber base of it could figure out how to implement a real On Demand system wit its current level of technology.

We're still in the transition process (Houston, TX), and haven't gotten any of the "new" HD channels, and I was told yestereday that our area of town probably won't see them until late this year or Q1 of 2012. I can't speak to Direct; however, I wouldn't consider U-verse unless you have fiber direct to the house. Pulling a quality signal from a nearby network node via 30-40 year old copper results in (dare I say) simply lousy PQ. I know, we tried, but had to return to CC in 60 days.
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post #11488 of 11882
9/1/11 at 9:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by hdguru View Post

We're still in the transition process (Houston, TX), and haven't gotten any of the "new" HD channels, and I was told yestereday that our area of town probably won't see them until late this year or Q1 of 2012. I can't speak to Direct; however, I wouldn't consider U-verse unless you have fiber direct to the house. Pulling a quality signal from a nearby network node via 30-40 year old copper results in (dare I say) simply lousy PQ. I know, we tried, but had to return to CC in 60 days.

I've heard that about Uverse. Frankly, if Direct could get a decent On Demand system and I was going to leave Comcast, it would be my choice over Uverse.
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post #11489 of 11882
9/1/11 at 10:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cal1981 View Post

As a fellow Premier package subscriber, I couldn't agree more. Whenever Comcast actually manages to add some moderately intersting to totally useless HD channels, Premier subscribers are made to pay for it by seeing the number of premuim HD channels available to them shrink. In my area we are now down to 12 Premium HDs and we haven't even gotten any of the newer HD channels. While the On Demand offerings have been muscled up, that is no substitute for good old fashioned linear channels. I'd rather look through the program menu than have to continually search the On Demand listings. The SD Premium channels show how packed and versatile their offerings are. Comcast appears to be telling it's $200+/month customers that, in its business model, they are insignificant. The only thing that has stopped me from seriously considering Direct or Uverse is their lack of a viable On Demand system. It is very valuable to me but again, the continuous stripping of Premuim HDs by CC is very unfortunate. Direct could make a real dent in Comcast's subscriber base of it could figure out how to implement a real On Demand system wit its current level of technology.

I can't believe we have only 2 HBO HD channels here, actually losing a 3rd channel in the last 6-7 mos. Part of our problem in the SF Bay Area is we have one of the very largest concentrations of local stations in the whole nation, all looking for a spot in limited spectrum, reducing space for additional national/premium channels.
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post #11490 of 11882
9/1/11 at 4:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by keenan View Post

I can't believe we have only 2 HBO HD channels here, actually losing a 3rd channel in the last 6-7 mos. Part of our problem in the SF Bay Area is we have one of the very largest concentrations of local stations in the whole nation, all looking for a spot in limited spectrum, reducing space for additional national/premium channels.

And to my knowledge, Comcast seems to be reluctant to do a final digital conversion of the channels below 34 in the Bay Area. That would free up a bit of bandwidth.
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