Charter changes Clear QAM lineup

[trev57]

It appears as if Charter has scrambled over half of their Clear QAM channel lineup. You are no longer able to receive the HD channels of TMJ4, WISN, ion, My24, CW 18, mptv 10, and mptv 36. Now only FOX 6, CBS 58, and WMLW are available in HD without a box. This comes after they moved NBC Sports, Speed, Oxygen, VH1, Spike, CMT, and Travel (among others) to the Digital only tier last month.

This was officially the last straw for this household, as we are done with Charter. I hope others will follow suit, so they can see the stupidity behind what they are doing and that they aren't the only option. :bang:

[budda]

Not sure when but TW will be following. Box required. Mo Money! I have a friend who has Charter. He said he got a letter and a phone call that this was coming 6 months ago. Was this a surprise to you?

[trev57]

Not sure when but TW will be following. Box required. Mo Money! I have a friend who has Charter. He said he got a letter and a phone call that this was coming 6 months ago. Was this a surprise to you?

Yes, the QAM switch was a complete surprise. The moving of cable channels to digital only, no.

[budda]

Sorry dude. So who you gonna switch to? Or are you going OTA?

[PONIES]

Who cares? Just use an antenna.

[LoadStar]

Who cares? Just use an antenna.

Most of those who would have Charter would be in rather distant/fringe areas of the broadcast area, to the north and west of the city. It would probably require a rather good outdoor antenna, of which some may not be willing/able to install.

[budda]

I have a friend in Hubertis he has 18 TV's. The all Digital thing is going to kill him. He has like two DVR's . But the rest of his house is run straight coax to the TV's. He has them in both garages, bathrooms, rec rooms, kitchen, patio, well you get picture. If the new signal is digital and not scrambled. Will a digital converter work? Just so he does not have to rent more top set boxes. I am going to take one I got for free when they were subsidized and see if it works. Will take a week to get over there but I will post results. Unless anybody has tried this yet? Peace. PS I am not talking about unscrambling paid channels. Just passing thru digital channels,

[trev57]

Sorry dude. So who you gonna switch to? Or are you going OTA?

Not sure yet. Probably either at&t or DirecTV.

[budda]

I like Dish. But every provider has things to like mo better then the other.  If not for Sports I think I might try just OTA and a TIVO. For the most part connivance is the motivator. Good luck.

[PONIES]

You are cancelling cable because you can no longer receive these channels unencrypted and thus play them back without the need for a cable receiver or CableCARD, only to go to a provider like AT&T or DirecTV where an all-proprietary environment has always been necessary? Got news for you, chief: "ClearQAM" is a non-existent concept with telcoTV or pizza pan satellite TV. You will need to rent a box from AT&T or DirecTV and it will be more expensive than just renting a CableCARD from Charter.

What kind of sense does that make?

[trev57]

You are cancelling cable because you can no longer receive these channels unencrypted and thus play them back without the need for a cable receiver or CableCARD, only to go to a provider like AT&T or DirecTV where an all-proprietary environment has always been necessary? Got news for you, chief: "ClearQAM" is a non-existent concept with telcoTV or pizza pan satellite TV. You will need to rent a box from AT&T or DirecTV and it will be more expensive than just renting a CableCARD from Charter.

What kind of sense does that make?

We've had it with Charter in general. Simple enough for you?

[PONIES]

But their implementing encryption like all the telco and satellite providers have had since the start is the "final straw" that did it?

This situation is like moving to Canada in protest of Obamacare...

[trev57]

This situation is like moving to Canada in protest of Obamacare...

Lol.

But no, we've had issues with Charter as far as customer service and lack of channel options and packages, so if we have to get a box to have HD, we're going to switch to someone who has more options than Charter.

[trev57]

UPDATE: As of today, all channels have been restored. I'm not entirely sure what they're doing anymore.

[budda]

Just like with the OTA conversion, I would bet they got a few phone calls. A lot of old people have cable, and there is a lot of old people. They don't like boxes they want one remote and nothing should change. lol:rolleyes: