Comcast XFINITY TV → Standardized cable lineups coming soon

Ken H, a moderator at AVSForum, posted this:

quote:

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Comcast has developed a Master Channel Lineup (MCLU) that will be deployed across the country over the next year or so. All channels will be grouped by genre.

- 99 and Below: Will remain the same with channel numbers decided by the local market. All channels in this range will be replicated in higher channel numbers.

- 100's: News, Local, and Public Service, Educational, Government.

- 200's: General Entertainment and Lifestyle cable channels (FX, TNT, Discovery, etc)

- 300's: General Entertainment and Lifestyle cable channels (Lifetime, A&E, TLC, shopping channels etc)

- 400's: Music Channels

- 500's: Kids and Religious channels

- 600's and 700's: Sports

- 800's: Movies and PPV

- 900's: Premium channels

- HD channels will move to the 1000's with the same channel number as the SD version + 1000.

- International Channels will be in the 2000's.

A few systems in Indiana will test the new lineup in June.

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»www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/ ··· 18576965

I'm looking forward to this standardized lineup, and making use of 4 digit channel numbers.

This sounds good! I think Comcast does a great job even now, with channel groupings. Sports, news, family, and science channels have been perfectly placed around here, IMO

It's about time!

But I still would like to see an option (yes option means you could turn it off), so that if you tune into a channel, it automatically is smart enough to grab the HD copy of it. IE) Tune into Channel 6 (ABC here), you get ABC in HD.

Then put the SD copies up high for if the HD feed is borked, or you simply want to record something in SD to save space.

Only Scientific Atlanta DNCS System release 4.0 and later support this. Cablevision is deploying this feature. Chances are if the restaurant/bar you go to has a flatscreen TV with an HD box, you finally get to see the game in HD! Also chances are you've got a wife, whatever she's watching is finally in HD!

I've been asking them for a universal lineup for a long time. I don't care if you live in Seattle, WA, or Linden NJ.... If Comcast is on your bill, Channel x should be the same.

Will RSN's say in the local range?

Will part time over flows get fixed channle numbers and not shear channels any more?

What will Chicago area do CSN + sd uses cltv (hold over from the analog days and FSN days) And CSN + HD uses info HD (looping help videos) used to be MOJO HD?

Will they add CLTV HD? make CSN + have it's own channle / info sd? CSN + needs to be on the dta's. Why is it missing there?

Where will HD only channels fit in full time ones?

Part time HD only channels stuff like PPV HD (events) PPV HD 2 (events) game 1 HD (sports) game 2 HD (sports) team HD (sports)?

1) Seems like RSNs would go in the sports range, with HD equivalents in the 1000s
2) We have overflow channels that are dedicated for sports now except for TV Guide, but I think since it's being migrated to digital that shouldn't be a worry anymore
3, 4, 5: All your CSN, CSN+, CLTV, etc questions belong in another thread and do not belong here. They are region specific and this thread is about the nationalized lineup.
6) HD only channels, I would think, are just going to be in the HD channel section
7) Part time HD channels, that's an interesting one...I wonder if they'd keep the GAME1 and 2 HD in the sports section or in the HD channels section...PPV HD I would think would be in the movies/PPV section with maybe mapping to the 1000s as well.

I agree. I have two residences in the same COUNTY in New Jersey, and the lineups aren't even the same. I get that historically they were different, but geez, the whole county has been Comcast for probably a decade at this point.

The RSN should say in the local rage with there HD at 1000
or in the 600 / 700 as well with 2 HD listings per Channel in the 1000.
PPV HD is events ppv and is part time and Game 1 HD Game 2 HD PPV HD, PPV HD 2 (if need) and Team HD all use the same bandwidth and only 2 can be live at the same time.

About time. Short term it will be a pain to remember new channel numbers, but at least now everything will be grouped accordingly.

the rsn over flows should be next to the main channel number like how fios, uverse, Direct does it.

Don't forget Digital Sub Channels and also Music Choice.
I'm all for Local channels/RSN'S like Chicago TV Land,Central Florida News 13,Show Me Weather,Metro Sports been available to all Cable Systems in every State.

No Channels below 99 would be good like S. Dish,AT@T U-Verse do only if need because more new kind of Channels could come available and need space for them or just for Local ones.

Any word on which Indiana locations are going to be testing the new channel line-up? Frankly, I'm surprised that Comcast hasn't tried to standardize the cable channel numbers before now. Seems like it'd be much easier on them to have 1 set of channel numbers nationally. I sincerely hope this comes to fruition.

With A28 if you tune to a SD channel and that channel is available in HD there will be a pop up on the bottom flip bar that you can select that will take you directly to the HD version of that channel.

Yep. A band-aid to the fact that this could be part of the auto-tune when you have access to the HD channel like competitor's offerings.

That would be a much better solution. In fact I would of been ok if they just put the HD version of the channel directly above/underneath the STD version of the channel in the program guide like some satellite providers do.

5 NBC
5 NBC HD

The problem with that, while I see the button, you see the button, Women, young children and bartenders tend NOT to click the button!

I like this terminology. Perhaps under the Auto Tune selection in Cable Box settings, there could be an HD Auto Tune (On or Off).

Interesting that CC is now going to copy Insight, who already did this sometime ago on ALL their systems. Unfortunately for the systems CC took over, they have screwed up the genre groupings for new channels they added after the fact, instead of at least trying to keep the groupings intact.

Considering most of our groupings are still intact, it'll be interesting to see what cc does with the old Insight properties...

This is very seamlessly-implemented by Cablevision. It took me by surprise when I visited a friend in Dolan Country a few months back and saw it in action. It was funny - they never even heard of changing to an "HD channel" before. You just turn the correct channel and the system displays it in HD.

There not the bandwidth to have all the rsn's like that and that may also force CSN Philly on to sat (some thing that comcast does not want) And many of the Local channels are Local area only.

How would that force CSN Philly on to sat?

And if they were to use SDV or to migrate to full digital (including limited basic) they would have enough bandwidth. I'd be ok with having the RSNs only during the events themselves.

The new system is part one of setting the system up for FUTURE HD feeds of all the sports package games.