What happens to Cable Analog in 2009?

[Mormegil]

I've currently got "Broadcast Basic" - meaning, no set box, and I just plug the cable company's coax line directly into my TV.

Does anybody know what will happen in Feb 2009 when Analog TV stops boadcasting over the air? Will this affect my analog signal? Will Time-Warner start sending OTA HDTV signal down the coax cable, as if I had an OTA antenna?

[redwudz]

AFAIK, the digital TV mandate just applies to OTA broadcast. It's up to the cable companies if they still want to send SD TV over the cable, in addition to the digital signal. You would have to ask this question to your cable company. But SD selection may be limited.

And by 2009, cheap converter boxes may be available so that any SD TV would work with a HDTV signal.

[edDV]

I've currently got "Broadcast Basic" - meaning, no set box, and I just plug the cable company's coax line directly into my TV.

Does anybody know what will happen in Feb 2009 when Analog TV stops broadcasting over the air? Will this affect my analog signal? Will Time-Warner start sending OTA HDTV signal down the coax cable, as if I had an OTA antenna?

As an analog only customer, you will see little change. Basic analog channels are already being fed by the primary digital channel in most markets. You will see more letterbox as more prime time programming goes 16:9 HD. Many local HD productions like HD news show only the 4:3 center of the 16:9 wide screen in the analog feed. They frame the picture so that it works as 4:3 or 16:9 (e.g. graphics are centered).

Extended basic analog channels will be fewer in number over time. OTA digital primary channels are supposed to be available over cable as free QAM. That means if you have a new digital TV with a QAM tuner capability you can receive the digital version of the primary digital channel with basic service without a cable box. Subchannels are not required to be offered as free QAM but typically PBS subchannels are offered + sometimes news, weather and entertainment subchannels like "The Tube".

See this thread for more "analog" basic issues.
https://forum.videohelp.com/topic336761.html


Note that "QAM" tuning is not the same as over the air ATSC tuning. All TV sets are required to tune over the air digital ATSC channels from now on but free QAM tuning for cable is a separate feature. QAM is the digital tuning method used for cable. "free QAM" channels are unencrypted. The remaining higher QAM cable channels are encrypted and require a cable box or "cable card" to decrypt them.

[jagabo]

In all likelihood cable companies will use the FCC madate as an excuse to drop all analog TV service even though it doesn't apply to them. Little other than the local broadcast networks will be available over clear QAM. You'll have to get a converter box if you don't have a QAM tuner or if you want more than the three or four clear QAM channels.

[edDV]

The tradeoff comes in the "Extended Basic" analog channels that aren't regulated by the FCC. The cable company needs to balance the needs of the analog only customer (about 30% of customers) against demands for more digital SD/HD channels for premium service customers.

The FCC decision means that more local channels that few want will be required to be carried in HD in addition to the analog version. The bandwidth for this will come out of the "Extended Basic" analog channels.

[oldandinthe way]

The FCC introduced a new analog mandate on Tuesday

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6478706.html

No one other than very small cable systems will be able to drop analog distribution of over-the-air stations before 2012.

Beyond this individual cable systems make decisions. Comcast in my area is currently giving free digital cable boxes to subscribers. Comcast is promising us, no change when over-the-air transmission ceases. It being Comcast, we have no idea what they really mean by that. And the current free boxes skirt the cable-card capable regulations for new boxes.

[edDV]

That article mostly covered the same dual carriage ruling discussed earlier but added an additional ruling requiring that the cable networks make their programming available (for a fee) to TV stations for subchannel broadcast until 2012. That is wild!

That means local digital TV stations could offer CNN, Disney, or even HBO on a subchannel. Previous rulings allow subchannels to be encrypted so the hypothetical HBO broadcast would require an encrypted tuner rental. CNN and Disney type channels could survive on local advertising revenue.

This is interesting for small markets where a TV station could carry cable channels in competetion with the local cable provider.

[oldandinthe way]

The second ruling was intended for Disk and DirectTV, but your take on it is interesting.

[edDV]

These guys tried to do just that but didn't survive the startup phase.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USDTV

Others may be more successfull.

[Mormegil]

Thanks for all the responses everyone!