Charlotte, NC - Charter - Page 15

Hugh,

At this time Comedy Central, Disney HD have already launched in your area. Now we will have more HD channels to come, but no concrete dates or channels to share at this time. I will send the request of ESPNU and CNBC to the local marketing group.

Thank you,

Seph

Even though we have NO HD channels in the Avery County area, we were at least able to receive WBTV channel 3.1 on channel 80.2 on our QAM tuner. But, a month or more ago that channel disappeared along with channel 3.2 from WBTV. Can you tell me why they were removed and if they will be putting those channels back on?

Thanks,
Johnny

Johnny,

I sorry to hear of the issue and I will be more then happy to take a look and see what is going on. Have you rescanned to see if the channels has just move? Let me know if you have tried the rescan and if not when you do please let me know if that works.

Thank you,

Seph

Yes, there for a while I was rescanning a couple times per week. When nothing ever changed, I quit doing it like that. Now, I've not rescanned in about a week to 10 days.

I'd surely appreciate anything you can find out.

Thanks,
Johnny

Johnny,

I have the Technical Operation group looking into this. Please PM me the phone number on the account so we can see what channel line up that you are on. ]

Thank you,

Seph

Same here,up to 5 days ago there was a QAM channel for every local station. Designated by the stations original channel number and a -1. 13 NBC Rockford was 13-1 and so on, for all the local stations. We have Charter. Five Days ago all QAM was gone. If you call Charter tech support they disavow any knowledge of the QAM channels saying "any channel number with a dash in it is not ours." "They originate with the individual broadcast stations" Of course they would rather rent you a box and charge you extra bucks for HD. When the TV isn't tied up I'll try rescanning and see what happens but I am thinking they have blocked the QAM signals somehow. The public once again losing to the Cable Companies.

Did you ever get a response to this? I've tried to find the Charlotte locals for my Dad... he has Charter, but all I find are 46 music channels. Thanks!

Do you know where Fox Sports Carolinas HD shows up on clear QAM? Thanks so much for the updates!

Could this mean there's hope that these will soon be available in HD on Dish Network?

Ah. Of course. That makes perfect sense. Thanks for the reminder! (And again, for the updates. They are really helpful.)

Oh, how wonderful. I got a letter from Charter yesterday saying that they'll be taking away some of my On Demand content, but for $10 more per month I can have it back. Why don't they just go ahead and demand that cable customers have their paychecks direct-deposited to the Charter bank account and get it over with.

I am not to sure what you are talking about. Could you please clarify for me.

Thanks Seph

Sure. Here's the letter:


"Dear Valued Customer,

We hope that you are enjoying your Charter TV in Digital service as much as we enjoy providing it for you. It is our commitment to you that drives us to offer more programming, ensure unbeatable technical service and strive to bring you the best in overall customer care.

We're reaching out to customers to inform you that we will be making adjustments to the content available On Demand. Because Charter is now required to provide customers only the On Demand channels that are part of the TV package they subscribe to, we are no longer able to offer some of the On Demand choices you're currently receiving. Between 4/6/11 and 4/27/11, the On Demand options you have access to will be revised to match the TV channels included in your level of service. Please see the reverse for a complete list of affected channels.

Please feel free to contact us if you would like to explore additional Charter TV in Digital packages that will include these On Demand channels you have been enjoying. Charter is extremely proud to offer customers a significant amount of On Demand programming, and we encourage you to explore our vast library of hit TV shows, new release movies, special events and more, all available to start anytime you want. If you upgrade to our Digital View Plus package today, you will be able to keep nearly all of the great channels you've been enjoying for only $10 more per month!

If you have any questions or concerns, or would like more information, please don't hesitate to call us at 1-877-906-9195.

Sincerely,
Your Friends at Charter "


So, all the programs I've been watching (and paying for, I thought) On Demand HDNet, Military Channel, Science Channel, Smithsonian Channel, Planet Green, and Sundance will be gone. A reduction in services provided should result in a reduction of my monthly bill in my view, but we all know that's not going to happen.

Thanks, Seph.

I went to my Grandmother's house in Lenoir today and I hooked up her new HDTV. When I scanned for QAM channels, I noticed that she had all of the same local channels in HD and SD from the Charlotte DMA that we have in Boone/Blowing Rock. However, I also noticed several out-of-market channels that only appear to be available on QAM. I definitely saw WXII in HD on 106.2 and another CBS station in HD on 106.1, which I believe is WFMY. I also saw WLOS in SD, This Carolina (WXII-DT2), and The Country Network (WXLV-DT2 or possibly WMYA-DT3).

In Boone/Blowing Rock, we do have four stations from the Johnson City DMA, but none of them are in HD. Also, nearly all of the QAM channels are available with a digital or HD box (except TBN and Univision). From what I can tell, the Hickory area lucked out getting all of those out-of-market stations through QAM, and they also have WSPA on their basic lineup. Can anyone in the Hickory area list their full QAM lineup, or at least all of the network stations including the ones in SD?

I appreciate the quick reply! It would be nice if we had WSPA as well, but I can pick it up over-the-air with an indoor antenna anyway.

On channel 81-2, I saw a commercial for ABC programming with the WLOS "13" logo in the corner. The same commercial was also shown on WSOC (81.8), but it didn't have a logo bug (unless you count the ABC logo!). Am I correct in assuming that WLOS is also part of the lineup? I know Lenoir used to have it on cable over 15 years ago before it was replaced by WTBL.

Speaking of that, I have wondered something for a long time. On analog channel 13, why does Lenoir have WTBL while Hickory has WTVI? I've never watched either station that much, but I've still been curious about it!

Thank you once again for the quick reply. It's nice to have someone on here who knows what's going on at Charter in this area! Do you know what goes on with the Boone system as well (the one I have)?

Charter does not carry any Charlotte channels in the Greenville-Spartanburg area, but I do believe some of the Clt channels are still carried on cable in Gaffney. Years ago, WBTV was carried in Spartanburg and Asheville, and WSOC and WBTV were both offered in Hendersonville. And I believe both Clt and GSP stations are currently carried in Morganton. Such selective cable carriage is why I prefer OTA antenna for local/regional channels, and cable/sat for the specialty networks. I like to watch WBTV, WSOC, and WCNC in addition to WYFF and WSPA.

Here on Charter in Watauga County, we have most of the Charlotte stations on basic cable (except WNSC and WTVI), but WHKY was just added in the last couple of years. We didn't have WCNC until about the mid 2000s when they dropped WXII. For some reason, our cable company used to replace WXII's feed with WCYB's during most NBC programming, but that was stopped by the late 1990s. We used to have WGHP as well, but it was replaced with HSN in late 1995 not long after WGHP switched to FOX. I also remember we used to have WUNG here instead of WUNE, but I guess it didn't really matter since both stations are exactly the same!

Also, we have four stations from the Johnson City, TN DMA (WCYB, WJHL, WKPT, and WLFG). WKPT and WLFG had been on cable in Avery County before we got them (back when both systems were called High Country Cable), but they didn't have WGHP (when we had it) or WXII. In January 1997, the Watauga and Avery County lineups were merged and we got WKPT for the first time. I don't believe they added WLFG to our lineup until later, but I could be wrong. I'm not sure when Avery County got WXII, but it was eventually replaced by WCNC there as well.

I distinctly remember seeing that 1997 lineup on our Community Bulletin Board channel in late 1996 before it went into effect, and it showed us keeping WCCB while Avery County was going to replace it with WEMT. Not long after that, the lineup on that same channel was changed to show WCCB staying on both systems. That could somehow relate to why WCCB is available on Charter in Johnson County, TN instead of WEMT.

This month's bill from Charter states that on December 6, Golf Channel and Versus are moving to the digital tier. Also, VH1 is moving from channel 65 to 70 in my area, but it doesn't state if it will remain on analog or move to digital. On my system, the last analog channel is on 67 and the first QAM channel is on 69. I wouldn't think they would be adding more analog channels since I thought that was a thing of the past. But, they must be moving VH1 for some reason since it is currently positioned next to MTV and CMT. I figured I would post this just to see if Charter customers in other areas got the same notice.

Good afternoon,

VH1 will remain on the analog tier when it moves from 65-70. Was there anything else that we can assist with today?

George

Thanks for the response. Do you happen to know why it's moving to channel 70?

Channels are often relocated to make room on certain frequecies during lineup changes.