[Discuss] Comcast gets rid of the remaining analog channels

[tmetro-blu at vl.com (Tom Metro)]

Tom Metro wrote:
> I received a letter this past week that Comcast is getting rid of the
> remaining analog channels on their Newton/Needham system (other towns
> likely to do likewise). After their "digital conversion" a while back
> they continued to transmit the "basic" channels (largely local
> broadcast) in analog, but by March 13 will be strictly digital.

This change was finally implemented last night, it appears. I can
confirm that my MythTV analog tuners see nothing but snow. Even the home
shopping channel is gone. :-)

The engineer flipping the switch seems to have a sense of humor, as it
was timed almost exactly to correspond to the start of Spring[1] at 1:14
AM this morning.

There was no follow-up reminder letter, no on-screen crawls or messages
at the top of the half-hour, like they did with the discontinuation of
analog "extended basic" channels. No explanation for the delay from
March 13.

I'm still not clear as to whether this change is even permitted under
the FCC rules. The articles from February where Boxee complained about
the FCC pondering a changes to its rules implies it is not permitted.

 -Tom

1. http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/march-equinox.html

-- 
Tom Metro
Venture Logic, Newton, MA, USA
"Enterprise solutions through open source."
Professional Profile: http://tmetro.venturelogic.com/