Comcast XFINITY TV → [HD] Basic Cable and HD

OK - I posted this in the direct support forum, and it's not being responded to, so I'll try it here.

»[Cable] HDTV Stations Not Coming In

Please help me understand, if possible, what is going on with HD through basic cable. Here's the post, and forgive my ignorance on the subject:

I noticed a few weeks ago that ABC and NBC would no longer come in via Basic Cable on my Samsung HDTV. I have been told by a Comcast rep that those HD channels would no longer be available for free. I thought they were free OTA? I wrote an email in below:

Steve:

I live in the Harrisburg Area (Middletown PA 17057) and our HDTV channels stopped working a couple of weeks ago. Specifically 27-1 (WHTM) and 8-1 (WGAL). Both stations have been contacted, and are unaware of why we would no longer have the service. I have basic cable and cable high speed internet, and have always had the OTA HDTV available. I called the Comcast line, and someone stated that the HDTV was no longer free. Through research I discovered that statement to be completely untrue. I am following the thread linked below, which is where I got your information.

»forums.comcast.com/t5/Ch ··· /1070271

I did a rescan last week, and it worked for a while, but we just lost 27-1 again. I'll try another rescan, but would appreciate a response if you can.

Thank you in advance for any assistance you can provide. I appreciate your diligence.

Respectfully,

______________________________

No response so far. Did do another rescan (they take over 30 minutes), and the channel came back - but dropped again. Since I'm getting conflicting information from Comcast, I thought I'd check with some Comcast dslr folks for some straight answers. Appreciate any feedback you can give. (End Post)

So, here I am asking for advice. Thanks in advance for any input.

If it's dropping, it could be a signal loss issue.

Never dropped before now, and if you look at the thread I linked in the Comcast forum, it looks like something they did on their end that's botching it up.

Did you call Comcast?

Btw, no one else can read your thread:

"You cannot read topics created by other members in this forum"

Got it. When I called Comcast, they said the basic HD channels are no longer free. I call bullshit on that. I also link the Comcast thread that is not locked.

Comcast doesn't really support direct QAM tuning, so you'll likely never get accurate information when asking about that.

Most clueless CSRs hear "HD" and are programmed to think the only way to get HD is with an HD box. Local HD continues to be included with at least a limited basic subscription

Sounds like you need to call again and take your chances with another rep, perhaps calling again a few times until you reach someone who may be interested in helping you. Try not to let them dig too much into your issue and log your call, making a call log history of you.

I'll try that. The thread I found on the comcast web site said that a lot of the problem was a block found in the local box (the one attached to the house) that stops some HD channels (the one I'm having trouble with) from getting in. It even references a recent change Comcast made, that coincides with the date I lost the channels. I'll call again after work today and see what happens.

sounds like they are moving things around, keep rescanning when you lose them.....

I'll continue to do so. It's the same channels that drop, and when rescanned come up as the same channel they were when dropped. I'll try another scan tomorrow, if any are not coming in. Too busy to call tonight anyway.

You are not ever going to be able to get a straight answer out of anyone by calling in. The call center you are reaching is most likely handling different areas. It is unlikely they are given any detailed information for how channels are handled in all those markets. Good example would be of anytime Comcast moves a channel from one number to another. Even though its published in a newspaper and also noted on the bill, ( yes it is not usually easily found) the call center wont know and will set up a trouble call for a tech visit rather then let the customer know the new channel number.

All of that aside, Comcast has no obligation to provide HD local channels in Clear QAM. They may be moving it to do some upgrades or such. Unlikely they are repeatedly moving it just to make it difficult to locate.

7.1 is not a real channel, when whatever channel it is on say frequency 250 Mhz comes in and is detected it tells your tv its 7.1, so when CC moves it to 300 Mhz and you rescan, it finds it, and tells your tv its 7.1, then when they move it back becasue the engineers forgot to TELL everyone they were doing this, your tv finds it at 250 again and is told this is 7.1.

Whether the channels stay free or not depends on the contract the carrier makes with CC, and eventually you can be assured it will be encrypted, it all will be encrypted, requiring a box or Cable card, but if the agreement is good til say 2015, then its going to be that way until 2015.

Edit - Rant removed.

I could set up a TV card and stream services to your house.

There is a comcast support dslr member who is looking into this for me now. Hopefully it will be resolved. I'm still not happy with the possibility of having to pay for OTA HDTV in the future, but I'll deal with that when it happens.

Just a question, do you currently pay for any type of cable TV service other than Internet. Maybe you have a trap on the line.

That's what people are saying. I have basic cable, and high speed internet. Someone from Comcast is looking into it now, but I have a feeling that it may be a trap. Thanks.

By "basic" cable do you mean "Limited Basic" or "Expanded Basic"(both are Comcast specific terms). Do you get ESPN,CNN, etc?

If you do NOT, then it could very well be a trap is on your house for the expanded basic channels, and they moved the HD local channel into a frequency trapped out by the trap for expanded basic.

That's what I bet it is. I have limited basic.

You said when you rescan it comes back. That means its not a trap and is just them moving things around. They do it all the time around here

So to conclude what happened with my cable:

I was contaceed in that other forum by someone who really tried to help. He contacted my local comcast to get in touch with me, which they never did. At least he tried. I'm sure his hands are pretty much tied.

I rescan now and the ABC channel is just no longer available, period. When I called in, I was told rather rudely by a supervisor that I needed a digital box and that was that. They are messing with service just to get you to upgrade. What a piece of shit company.

So, I'm hunting for a new high speed internet provider, and plan to cut regular cable TV entirely. Will be happy to join the rest of the cord cutters in saying FU to Comcast.

It is possible that your local stations are now requiring payment from comcast to carry the HD feed. It is the option of the station to choose "must carry" or to negotiate fees from the cable companies.
It is also possible that your comcast area has chosen to limit HD channels that did not opt for must carry to those paying the HD fee.
I take it using an antenna for over the air is not an option for you. Voting with your wallet is really you only option to let comcast know how you feel.

Yeah, it seems it's the only option at this point. I'll just get internets from another carrier, and either forget tv entirely, or go with someone else. My wife always wanted a few extra channels. Maybe I'll send my money to one of the other ones. Either way, dropping Comcast.

I used to get HD channels via the digital tuner built into my HDTV, until last year when Comcast stopped it and now require digital equipment to recieve them. Also I know in my area for example they turned off the analog channels and now require at least a DTA device to access limited expanded.
I don't mind the cable cutters because that just frees up bandwidth for more HD channels and faster internet for me

The banishment of the analogs continues apace.

Prince George's County (MD) (Beltway Region) saw the analog go bye-bye one month ago - our six TVs connected to Comcast have three STBs, two DTAs, and one with a CableCARD (mine - Motorola M-card). Amusingly, two non-OTA HD channels are in Digital Starter - A&E HD and Versus HD (which becomes the NBC Sports Network in January). We have one HD STB (Pace RNG-110) and the CC - our DTAs are both SD.

What have me feeling somewhat frustrated is that my plasma TV (which actually supports CableCARD) is headed south after six years (when you see a black strip down the right-center of the screen, you know you have Issues).

We lost ours about a month ago also. I didnt get to upset as all the other providers require a box here. These OTA stations are getting out of control on what they are charging for retransmission fees. Fox is the worse.

I've always wanted to have a cablecard supported TV, I’m sorry for your loss.
So anyway this is pretty exciting that Verses is being rebranded, I just hope that it actually continues to be carried in HD

It's a straight rebranding - the HD content will stay in place.

The FOX stations that aren't O&O are the ones that STARTED the trend (two specifically - Sinclair and LIN Broadcasting own a large number of Fox affiliates; both companies also own CW and CBS affiliates as well); the networks (specifically for their O&Os) only piled on when they saw the affilates (of theirs) getting away with the BOHICA.