said by nasadude 
:said by Lazlow :...shouldn't it be cheaper for them to rebroadcast them than to convert the signal back to analog? ...
they are not allowed to down-convert digital signals to analog (some amendment passed by congress!), so they have to transmit analog channels. I believe it's so people on the basic tier don't have to get a box - so even after the transition, if you have an old analog TV, but subscribe to a basic cable tier, you can still get channels on your old tv without a box. The basic tier is the only cable programming still regulated by the govt.
this requirement goes away eventually, but I forget when.
The cable franchising agreements for BASIC cable only REQUIRE a very small set of cable channels(usually local OTA channels, and a couple PEG channels). The channels being moved to digital tiers are most likely not included in those agreements. If that is true, and I think it is, the FCC doesn't have a leg to stand on when demanding price decreases for basic tiers.
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