tigrzeye
Control4 Certified Installer
join:2007-07-18
LHV, PA
| [CATV] More Info on digital channels being scrambled
I watched a Fox News 29 (Philadelphia) evening news spot on Sunday the 17th of February that had Peter Putnam of HDTVEXPERT.COM. He was reporting on the status of analog TV's after the switch to all digital. He again, as many others have said, if you have cable and a digital tuner in your TV you are good to go. No additional equipment needed. I sent an email questioning his report and the fact that RCN is scrambling/encrypting all digital channels and here is his response via email back to me:
>From a communications lawyer in Washington, DC.
For now, RCN can scramble the local digital channels, since they carry the analog versions unsrambled. However, after the transition, if the local digital station wants its signal treated as a "must carry" then RCN cannot scramble it. It must be "in the clear.
PP
Pursuant to the FCC's cable carriage rules, during the transition, cable operators are only required to carry a television broadcast station's analog signal. When a station ceases analog broadcasting, then its mandatory cable carriage rights shift to its digital-only signal. The Communications Act requires that a station's carriage-eligible signal (i.e., its analog signal or its digital-only signal) be carried by a cable operator on its basic service tier. The FCC's rules prohibit encryption of the basic service tier.
In sum, if a television broadcast station is transmitting both an analog and a digital signal, a cable operator can place the digital signal on a separate non-basic digital service tier and scramble the signal. If the station is transmitting only in digital, then the cable operator must place the digital signal on the basic service tier and must transmit it in the clear.
I hope this clarifies things. Let me know if you have any further questions. |
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nycityny
Premium
join:2005-08-09
New York, NY
 ·PHONE POWER
·VoicePulse
 ·RCN CABLE
·ViaTalk
| This is very interesting.
It seems to me, though, that if RCN ends up scrambling everything except broadcast channels then we will still need a cable box or cablecard for our televisions and DVRs. I mean, why pay for cable just to watch broadcast channels? |
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ike
join:2000-10-23
Whitehall, PA
·RCN CABLE
| Though, this line jumps out at me: The FCC's rules prohibit encryption of the basic service tier.
Now, the debate will be "what is basic" as RCN has "Broadcast Basic" and "Extended Basic" in their list... what part of "basic" is covered by the FCC rule? I'm sure RCN will say "Oh, Broadcast is what they mean..."
Unfortunately, since part of the verbiage is that, until the broadcast channel goes all digital (next year), they will encrypt the digital feeds. For those in Chicago, they'll have to deal with STBs for a year at least... |
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cdr1000
join:2004-02-18
10100
·RCN CABLE
| They should not encrypt channels that are free off the air.
See what's available in my area:
2 WCBS WCBS
cbs 2.1 WCBSH WCBS HD
nbc 4 WNBC WNBC
nbc 4.1 WNBC-DT WNBC HD
nbc 4.4 WNBC4 WNBC 4.4
fox 5 WNYW WNYW
fox 5.1 WNYWH WNYW HDTV
mnt 5.2 WNYWDT2 WNYW-DT2
abc 7 WABC WABC
abc 7.1 WABCH WABC HDTV
abc 7.2 WABC+ WABC Plus
abc 7.3 WABCN WABC Eyewitness News Now
mnt 9 WWOR WWOR
mnt 9.1 WWOR-DT WWOR HDTV
cw 11 WPIX WPIX
cw 11.1 WPIXD WPIX HD
11.2 WPIXT WPIX The Tube
pbs 13 WNET WNET
pbs 13.1 WNETHD WNET Thirteen HD
pbs 13.2 WNETK WNET Kids 13
pbs 13.3 WNETDT3 WNET V-me
pbs 21 WLIW WLIW
pbs 21.1 WLIWDT WLIWDT
pbs 21.2 WLIWHD WLIWHD
pbs 21.3 WLIWC WLIW Create
pbs 21.4 WLIWW WLIW World
23 WVVH WVVH
pbs 23.1 WNJSDT WNJSDT
pbs 23.3 WNJSDT3 WNJSDT3
pbs 23.4 WNJSDT4 WNJSDT4
pbs 23.5 WNJSDT5 WNJSDT5
25 NYC TV NYC TV 25
pbs 25.1 WNYE-DT WNYE-DT
31 ION ION
31.1 WPXNDT WPXNDT
31.2 qubo qubo
31.3 IONL ION Life
31.4 Worship Worship
32 WXNY WXNY
39 WNYN WNYN-LP Azteca America 39
uni 41 WXTV WXTV Univision 41
uni 41.1 WXTV-DT WXTV-DT Univision
pbs 42 W42AE W42AE
43 WSAH WSAH
telmun 47 WNJU WNJU - Telemundo 47
pbs 49 CPTV CPTV/Connecticut Public Television
pbs 50 WNJN WNJN
pbs 50.1 NJN-1 NJN-1
pbs 50.3 NJN-3 NJN-3
pbs 50.4 NJN-4 NJN-4
pbs 50.5 NJN-5 NJN-5
54 WTBY WTBY
54.1 WTBYDT WTBYDT
55 WLNY-2 WLNY-2
55.1 WLNY-DT WLNY-DT
pbs 58 WNJB WNJB
pbs 58.1 WNJBDT WNJBDT
pbs 58.3 WNJBDT3 WNJBDT3
pbs 58.4 WNJBDT4 WNJBDT4
pbs 58.5 WNJBDT5 WNJBDT5
62 RISE RISE TV
62.1 WRNNDT WRNNDT
63 WMBC WMBC
63.1 WMBCDT WMBCDT
66 WFME WFME
66.1 WFMEDT WFMEDT
67 WFTY WFTY Telefutura 23
67.1 WFTY-DT WFTY-DT Telefutura
68 WFUT WFUT Telefutura 68
»tv.yahoo.com/listings_setup
OTA HDTV picture quality is better than off RCN cable feed. |
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tigrzeye
Control4 Certified Installer
join:2007-07-18
LHV, PA
| text from a follow up email:
"Right now, they are under no obligation to carry the local digital channels in the clear, since they are satisfying the "must carry" regulation by carrying the analog versions of each station in the clear. The FCC is currently mandating that cable systems carry three versions of each station - one analog standard-definition, one full-bandwidth (HD or not) and one digital standard-definition. Some cable networks are suing the FCC to get this overturned, as they are afraid they'll be closed out due to lack of available channels."
"Once the analog stations go dark on 2/17/09, cable systems have a choice to carry the full-bandwidth DTV station in the clear, or carry a downconverted version in the clear. One or the other must be unscrambled."
"I would assume the smart decision would be to carry the full-bandwidth (HD) signal with virtual channel information (VCT), so that each station shows up correctly in the TV's channel map after a scan."
"The wild card is if a station (like KYW-DT, owned by CBS) opts for a retransmission agreement, going forward, which would involve payments to CBS. Such an arrangement could allow RCN to scramble the signal and carry it on a higher tier. If CBS/KYW opts for "must-carry" status, then no compensation is paid to CBS for carriage - but then, the station must be "in the clear" and receivable with a basic QAM tuner. Virtual channel info should also be present."
"I would hope that RCN's legal people are fully aware of FCC "must-carry" rules. From my contacts in Washington, it would appear that all local DTV signals, full-bandwidth, would be considered "must carry" after 2-17-09. That's the current interpretation." |
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nycityny
Premium
join:2005-08-09
New York, NY
·PHONE POWER
·VoicePulse
·RCN CABLE
·ViaTalk
| reply to tigrzeye
Here's what I don't understand:
I've had RCN for 11 years and the "basic" channels (2-99) have been unscrambled that entire time. Whatever security issues that worry them now about cable theft didn't seem to worry them during the past 11 years.
So why does this digital changeover necessitate that they start scrambling everything? How does one issue cause the other to occur? Is it just an excuse to start bilking people for cable boxes they didn't used to need? |
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jcjost
join:2004-08-21
Bethesda, MD
| reply to tigrzeye
I'm similarly confused. Is RCN claiming that it is easier to steal the unscrambled basic digital service than to steal the unscrambled basic analog service? I find that a difficult claim to swallow. It's hard not to conclude that RCN's motivation is to boost revenues by forcing people to rent more cable boxes. -- John |
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tigrzeye
Control4 Certified Installer
join:2007-07-18
LHV, PA
2 edits | Agreed, it's greed.. but .. either way you have to spend money to get the new digital channels if they are encrypted. Either by replacing older analog TV's with newer models that contain a digital/qam tuner and cable card slot, or by renting an STB.
If they are not encrypted it is a matter of convenience, it's costly either way but atleast you don't have to have a TV with cable card slot, just a digital tuner. But, to force the use of RCN's boxes does not give you the "choice" to use other available choices. I don't want STB's stacked on top of each other where you have multiple TV's in one room. (sports bar style) Plugging into the wall, connecting cable to the wall, and done sure is neater and easier.
I'm not trying to steal anything, just want the same convenience I have enjoyed for the past 10 years or so with my TV's to watch "basic" cable channels 2-97 without an STB to contend with. If I wish to view anything more and I pay for the digital tier, extended digital tier, HD tier, the above and beyond who knows tier, and then yes I would have to get an STB to view the non-basic channels on a particular TV.  |
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JimF
join:2003-06-15
Allentown, PA
| For what it is worth, if you check on most cable companies, you will find that they encrypt most channels. RCN was something of an exception. I looked into that issue before getting my HDHomeRun digital tuner, and was pleasantly surprised that I could record the shows I was interested in (History Channel, Discovery, etc.). But the fun times are over. Too bad that theft of cable service is that prevalent. |
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Y2K
@rcn.com
| reply to tigrzeye
Actually, I live in Chicago and according to numerous people from RCN's so called support I spoke with, my area (Lakeview) is schedule to fully go digital around March A.K.A fully scrambled. They told me that they will no longer carry SD channels which would mean that they will have to unscramble QAM/digital channels. This assuming that the lawyer is correct.
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On an angrier note they kept telling me that my HDTV was obsolete and incapable of handling digital channels and that's why I needed a converter box. They told me I needed to upgrade to which I reply "just cancel my cable when it goes black on March".
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