California

[BFG]

This is the thread to discuss cable companies and HD available on them in California.

 

[rickshobbies]

Time Warner Cable, Los Angeles

I am hoping that Time Warner will add the WB and UPN to their HD locals lineup soon. I am also awaiting the release of their new Scientific Atlanta 8300 HD DVR.

I also hear that SciFi is working on an HD simulcast.

Anyone have any information on this?

 

[OHMS]

THE OC ; VOOM-less in southern California...help wanted...

I am hoping that Time Warner will add the WB and UPN to their HD locals lineup soon. I am also awaiting the release of their new Scientific Atlanta 8300 HD DVR.

I also hear that SciFi is working on an HD simulcast.

Anyone have any information on this?

With VOOM about to swoon in THE OC; any ideas for HD beside OTA in a non-Verizon (no fibre here)? thanks, mike

 

[SKrueger]

I am hoping that Time Warner will add the WB and UPN to their HD locals lineup soon...

...I also hear that SciFi is working on an HD simulcast.

Anyone have any information on this?

I've heard the same info regarding SciFi, but haven't been able to confirm it anywhere.

Don't plan on UPN being added anytime soon as they don't broadcast in HD yet. Their digital broadcast is not in HD even tho' many of their shows indicate simulcast in HD.

 

[rkrenicki]

Sci-Fi is not making this public if they are indeed doing it. It would be nice however!

The only way we get Sci-Fi right now is from an Analog VC2+ Feed (which is prone to C-band noise), They do not even have a digital feed yet..

I talked to a few people at Sci-Fi today,and they did not know anything about an HD feed (but it does not mean that the higher ups are not planning it.. logistics is usually the last to find these things out)

As for the WB and UPN.. do you have a local affiliate that transmits those networks in HD? because I do not know of any HD feed for those particular networks... and my local broadcasters are SD, while the rest (The big 4) are now HD

 

[dlsnyder]

Adelphia is the WORST when it comes to HD content, at least in my area. They only offer KTTV (FOX) and Discovery HD. They say there is no room to add HD right now. I hope Time Warner (or Comcast) finds some way to do it when they take over. Adelphia is so overpriced and underperforming that better than 50% of my neighbors have made the switch to DBS since I first did in 2000.

 

[rkrenicki]

I know all about room.. our plant has absolutely no room for anything new. To add anything, we have to either move analog channels to digital, or just outright give something up.

Then again, you have to worry about the customer backlash... like the last change, where we moved our TV Guide channel from channel 28 to 98 (where the analog box carrier resides, and causes problems with digital carriers) to make room for 3 more HD channels.. This simple change (which did not even delete anything, just changed it) was a VERY BIG DEAL to our subscribers. The change happened 3 weeks ago, and we are still getting complaints about it.

Thats the thing about Cable, is that there is such a hatrid for it (everyone seems to have the worst cable company), so that any small change is slammed and deemed to be a "reason to switch to dbs"..

 

[dlsnyder]

The people who complain the loudest about things like that are probably the ones who will never switch to DBS anyway. There are some people for whom cable is just the only option. Take for example my mother. She has been in a nursing home for several months and was complaining that she couldn't watch her favorite shows. It turns out that the shows she usually watches are all on cable channels and the hospital only has an antenna. I asked for and received permission to set up a Dish Network receiver for her, which I took great pains to make as foolproof as possible for her to use. On my following visit a week later I found the TV tuning only OTA channels off of the antenna again. I asked my mother what happened and she said that the box had quit working, and that it had been too hard for her to use anyway. I looked it over and, after asking around, discovered that it had been turned off by a power failure in the building the day before. My mother could not figure out how to turn it back on. She had also been frustrated by the fact that none of the channel numbers were the same as her cable system at home AND that all the feeds were on eastern time. Her whole routine had been disrupted so she decided it wasn't worth it and gave up. I disconnected the equipment and never mentioned it again.

 

[Zookster]

Tell me about it. I've tried to get my grandmother, who timeshifts everything she watches with a VCR (programming everything manually) to get a DVR from Cox (who she's already with), but she won't hear of it. Too afraid she won't understand how to use it.

 

[Tvlman]

From what I understand about UPN (channel 13 in Los Angeles) they do not even have a digital signal so can not broadcast in HD. However the UPN network does carry HDTV. So it may be a ways off in LA.

Have discovered that my local Time/Warner (Orange County) carries HDNET, HDNET MOVIES, TNT, DISCOVERY, ESPN & INHD1, INHD2 all HD channels; also Showtime HD and HBO HD. So that's 9 all HD channels plus the others I get OTA (CBS,NBC,ABC,FOx, PBS) Total Count currently is 14.

 

[truggy0]

I live in OC, and there is nothing cable wise thats any good to me.. My only choice is Adelphia.
And that has just a few HD channels....Dont know where to turn.....

 

[SKrueger]

From what I understand about UPN (channel 13 in Los Angeles) they do not even have a digital signal so can not broadcast in HD.

Actually they do have a digital signal, but do not broadcast in HD. They only broadcast in SD and their signal is weak. You need a good antenna to get a good stable signal from LA.

 

[Go Bears]

For comparison purposes, here's what offered in HD by Comcast in the S.F. Bay Area:

Locals:

FOX HD
NBC HD
KRON HD (independent station showing old HDNet programming 24 hours per day)
CBS HD
ABC HD
PBS HD

Locals Note: Comcast could add UPN HD anytime it wants but doesn't want to spend the bandwidth on it until it adds more true HD programming.

Digital Cable:

INHD
INHD2 (Including pre-emptions for Fox Sports Net Bay Area HD -- Giants, A's, Warriors)
Discovery HD
ESPN HD
HD Special Events (NFL Network HD Game of the Week and occasional third INHD feed)

Digital Cable Note: Comcast could add TNT HD anytime it wants (bandwidth is NOT an issue) but hasn't yet, although at this point (4pm PDT on 4-26-2005), 80 percent of Comcast's other markets have already added it.

Premiums (west feeds only):

HBO HD
Showtime HD
Cinemax HD
Starz HD

General note: Some Comcast systems in the Bay Area (the ones not yet rebuilt to 750 Mhz or greater bandwidth) are missing certain HD channels-- INHD, INHD2, KRON HD and HDSE, for the most part.

 

[truggy0]

Sad isnt it........

 

[djjsin]

it is sad, after voom died, i had to make the decision to go with adelphia, and i hate it. i hate there lack of service, luckly i have hbo showtime cinemax and discovery, but no inhd's, or hdnet's, or starz, which was my favorite premium.

the problem with cable is the stupid laws that you can only have one cable company per area. Kill that law and competition would start. Why we still have the cablesystem/Phone monopoly's is beyond me. I remember years ago when adelphia had to finally be FORCED by the city to add more content. That tells you something right there somethings wrong.