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WhatHappened
join:2004-08-06
Waseca, MN

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WhatHappened

Member

[MN] History channel HD turned in to encore action HD

Yesterday was the date the new HD channel line-up was supposed to be ready in my area according to: »www.mediacomtoday-lineup ··· _mn.aspx

Most of the new channels have shown up for about a week now with the exception of the new premium channels like Starz and Encores.

Today the History channel HD 848 was taken over by "encore action HD". This is on the Mediacom HD STB and my cablecard DVR.

I hope Mediacom is aware of this.

Update:
MSNBC HD 855 has turned into Staz2 HD
Fox New HD 856 has turned into Starz Kids HD
Bravo HD 859 has turned into encore HD
Life HD 863 has turned into Starz Cinema HD

Update 2:
The above channel are now fixed. I guess they were just in the middle of adding them.
WhatHappened

WhatHappened

Member

Looking at the cablecard channel map, Mediacom is moving many of the Family HD channels down to the lower frequencies where the analog Family channels were (before the all digital conversion). They are then adding the new premium channels where the Family HD channels were.

I wonder why they would be doing this? Seems like the only logical reason to move an encrypted channel was if you wanted to do frequency filtering later and that would only apply to clear QAM.

Is Mediacom going to move the Family HD channel to clear QAM?

MediacomChad
Mediacom Social Media Relations Team
Premium Member
join:2010-01-20
Gulf Breeze, FL

MediacomChad to WhatHappened

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to WhatHappened
Is this still happening for you? I am checking the headend right now and 848 is showing up as HISTHD, 855 is CNBCHD and 856 is FNCHD.

I'm assuming your speaking of Waseca right, as your tag states?
MediacomChad

MediacomChad

Premium Member

Just saw your last updates...sorry about that. Ignore me.
MediacomChad

MediacomChad to WhatHappened

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Once everything is all digital, they will all go to clear QAM.
WhatHappened
join:2004-08-06
Waseca, MN

WhatHappened

Member

said by MediacomChad:

Once everything is all digital, they will all go to clear QAM.

Wow... There is going to be some happy customers when Family HD is clear QAM.

That is opposite of the current industry trend to encrypt everything to allow for less truck rolls for connection/disconnections.

I am reading more and more cable companies encrypting all SD and HD channels rendering clear QAM tuners useless.

I have already invested in cablecard technology, so I won't benefit.
But I bet Iowaman is happy to hear this! (»Re: [Cable TV] Premium channels on Digital adapter???)

IowaMan
Premium Member
join:2008-08-21
Grinnell, IA

IowaMan to MediacomChad

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to MediacomChad
Well now.. This has me reconsidering.... May Now get a Tivo with a CableCard Hmmm... Will this happen soon or when ALL areas are digital?

My area as you stated is February of 2012.
IowaMan

IowaMan to WhatHappened

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to WhatHappened
This confirms with the "Ask the Manager" show

»www.askthemanager.tv/episode/47/
Here's another idea, Mediacom needs an "Ask the Manager" for Iowa show
CR_Client
join:2005-02-04
Cedar Rapids, IA

CR_Client to IowaMan

Member

to IowaMan
said by IowaMan:

Well now.. This has me reconsidering.... May Now get a Tivo with a CableCard Hmmm... Will this happen soon or when ALL areas are digital?

My area as you stated is February of 2012.

I would guess it would be when ALL areas are digital, as Cedar Rapids has been all-digital for almost a year (or is it over a year? I can't even keep track of the days of the week any more, for crying out loud), and still no Family HD over QAM unless you switch to ImOn, which is available to maybe 20% of the city, if even that much.

IowaMan
Premium Member
join:2008-08-21
Grinnell, IA

IowaMan

Premium Member

I would say your right due to how analog and digital are completely different

About ImOn, Does the QAM over HD include any "Guide Info" as the locals on Mediacom do However, another poster stated that it was probably due to the fact that Mediacom is simply taking the OTA ATSC signal and sending it over there system.
IowaMan

IowaMan to MediacomChad

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to MediacomChad
Is Mediacom simply sending the ATSC signal over the system and that is why I get the guide data to pop up on my tv?

Will mediacom do that for ESPN, Big Ten etc?
WhatHappened
join:2004-08-06
Waseca, MN

WhatHappened

Member

No they don't send any ATSC. They are taking the MPEG transport stream and sending that over QAM256. You can get 2 full ATSC channels in 1 QAM256 channel (the reason is QAM256 has less error correction since it doesn't have to travel over the air.)
k9iua6
join:2004-05-23
Dubuque, IA

k9iua6 to IowaMan

Member

to IowaMan
said by IowaMan:

Is Mediacom simply sending the ATSC signal over the system and that is why I get the guide data to pop up on my tv?

Will mediacom do that for ESPN, Big Ten etc?

No, they are not sending ATSC - it is being converted to QAM before it goes out over the system. But the original ATSC signals already contain the needed PSIP programming "TV guide data" frames, and all Mediacom needs to do is substitute the virtual channel piece to match the new QAM channel, and send it on. In other words, minimal effort on the part of Mediacom. For all the other Family channels, however, there is much more effort involved, as they would need to generate the programming information in the first place, as that is not coming with signal over the satellite. And since Mediacom is already providing TV-guide information you can get over their STB and the gateway, a system for which they get money to cover the costs, they don't need to do it for the clear-QAM signals.

OldCableGuy
@communications.net

OldCableGuy to CR_Client

Anon

to CR_Client
>which is available to maybe 20% of the city, if even that much.

ImOn has overbuilt over 60% of Cedar Rapids, where did you get the figure you provided? They have avoided building out the ghetto (read: SE side), so if that's where you live I can see the confusion.

Despite what you SE'rs think though, the SE does not make up 80% of the city.
CR_Client
join:2005-02-04
Cedar Rapids, IA

CR_Client

Member

said by OldCableGuy :

>which is available to maybe 20% of the city, if even that much.

ImOn has overbuilt over 60% of Cedar Rapids, where did you get the figure you provided? They have avoided building out the ghetto (read: SE side), so if that's where you live I can see the confusion.

Despite what you SE'rs think though, the SE does not make up 80% of the city.

Nope, I live on the NE side; not in the ghetto, not out near Palo, just on the plain-jane NE side. But thanks for playin'...

OldCableGuy
@communications.net

OldCableGuy

Anon

NE side? So besides 15th to 19th st on B Ave what other areas don't have ImOn? What Hy-Vee do you live by over there... the Ghetto -Vee???
CR_Client
join:2005-02-04
Cedar Rapids, IA

CR_Client

Member

The entire neighborhood surrounding Daniels Park and Mount Mercy University, which are hardly in "the ghetto", are un-served by ImOn, except for the college itself, of course.

So, no, not the Ghetto-Vee, the Oakland Vee, but south of 29th.

If ImOn had a build-out map for people to look at, instead of an imperfect address locator, it would likely be a lot easier to tell where they did/didn't service.

OldCableGuy
@communications.net

OldCableGuy

Anon

Calling BS.

Almost all of that area is overbuilt, I lived on 25th St and had ImOn service (called McLeodUSA ATS back then) for multiple years around 96-98. In fact that entire area was one of the very first they built out.
Whaa5
join:2012-01-07

Whaa5 to MediacomChad

Member

to MediacomChad
said by MediacomChad:

Once everything is all digital, they will all go to clear QAM.

So what exactly does this mean? No STB for HD/Digital are needed anymore for those who have HDTV's? Enlighten me!
WhatHappened
join:2004-08-06
Waseca, MN

WhatHappened

Member

said by Whaa5:

said by MediacomChad:

Once everything is all digital, they will all go to clear QAM.

So what exactly does this mean? No STB for HD/Digital are needed anymore for those who have HDTV's? Enlighten me!

Yes, That is what it means. Family HD channels on any HDTV connected to Mediacom cable with Family service. This is at some point in the future if Mediacom doesn't change their mind before that point. I am surprised by this because an insider at Mediacom had previously told me that the content providers didn't allow their HD signals in the clear to prevent unauthorized duplication.

Note there were a few early HDTV models that didn't support clear QAM, but any HDTV purchased after 2007 should be fine.

IowaMan
Premium Member
join:2008-08-21
Grinnell, IA

IowaMan

Premium Member

My guess it will be the HD channel's themselves only, No info as to what is on now and what is next. (Although I'm hope I'm wrong)
Whaa5
join:2012-01-07

Whaa5

Member

Hey that's fine with me! I use my iPhone TV Guide app for that anyway. Curious when this will happen. How close are they to full 100% digital? Our area was completed last month and have to be one of the last.
WhatHappened
join:2004-08-06
Waseca, MN

WhatHappened to IowaMan

Member

to IowaMan
said by IowaMan:

My guess it will be the HD channel's themselves only, No info as to what is on now and what is next. (Although I'm hope I'm wrong)

There will be no guide data on family HD channels. That is only for OTA ATSC channels. The networks don't provide that information with their video stream feeds.

Not a big deal, the OTA ATSC guide data in the US is next to useless anyways. Only a few hours ahead of real time.

IowaMan
Premium Member
join:2008-08-21
Grinnell, IA

IowaMan to Whaa5

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My area is going digital next month on the 15th
In Iowa

Is 100% digital just for ALL of Iowa or ALL of Mediacom system?