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SpHeRe31459
Premium Member
join:2002-10-09
Sacramento, CA

SpHeRe31459 to telcodad

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to telcodad

Re: Say goodbye to ClearQAM

There's a slight irony there, considering Samsung OEMs the cable boxes with downloadable security that Cablevision uses.

DocDrew
How can I help?
Premium Member
join:2009-01-28
SoCal

DocDrew

Premium Member

Samsung also produces a few of the cable box models TWC uses with their Navigator guide, which have CableCards.

telcodad
MVM
join:2011-09-16
Lincroft, NJ

telcodad

MVM

Click for full size
Click for full size
Two slides from Samsung's letter to the FCC.
telcodad

1 edit

telcodad

MVM

An article on the Light Reading Cable site today about the Samsung Smart Media Player and other retail CableCARD-powered devices:

Samsung Embraces CableCARDs
By Mari Silbey, Light Reading Cable - May 28, 2013
»www.lightreading.com/dvr ··· 40155638

EDIT: Also an article on the MCN site this evening:

Samsung Developing CableCARD Retail Video Device
Its Smart Media Player to Handle Linear Subscription TV and Over-the-Top Video Services

By Jeff Baumgartner, Multichannel News - May 28, 2013
»www.multichannel.com/tec ··· e/143541
dishrich
join:2006-05-12
Springfield, IL

1 edit

dishrich

Member

Springfield, IL limited basic encrypting 6/25/13

Just got our letter; Limited Basic encryption starts here on 6/25/13.

- limited basic subs can get 2 FREE DTA's for 2 years; 5 years if you receive Medicaid
- higher tier subs can get 1 FREE DTA for 1 year

You CAN request an HD-DTA, for the same offer(s)

To qualify for any FREE equipment, you must request the (FREE) equipment between 5/25/2013 & 10/25/2013.

telcodad
MVM
join:2011-09-16
Lincroft, NJ

telcodad

MVM

said by dishrich:

Just got our letter; Limited Basic encryption starts here on 6/25/13.

- limited basic subs can get 2 FREE DTA's for 2 years; 5 years if you receive Medicaid
- higher tier subs can get 1 FREE DTA for 1 year

To qualify for any FREE equipment, you must request the (FREE) equipment between 5/25/2013 & 10/25/2013.

Thanks for letting us know.

BTW - Here's the bill notice and a letter that a (Limited Basic) subscriber in MA received: »Re: Comcast is going to SCAM their customers
telcodad

2 edits

telcodad

MVM

Re: Say goodbye to ClearQAM

Another set-top box replacement coming soon:

Fan TV revealed: is this the set-top box we’ve been waiting for?
Built in secret, Fanhattan is finally showing off its Yves Behar-designed device to the world.

By Casey Newton, The Verge - May 30, 2013
»www.theverge.com/2013/5/ ··· anhattan

I wasn't sure if this would use a CableCARD to view live TV, but this article »www.multichannel.com/dis ··· r/143588 about it on the MCN site this morning says:
quote:
Fanhatten’s BianRosa did not go into the technical details of how it would access live TV from MSOs and other pay TV partners. The Fan TV device won’t use a CableCARD or connect via coax. But there are a number of technical options it could pursue.
Also see: »gigaom.com/2013/05/30/wa ··· -fan-tv/

»www.zatznotfunny.com/201 ··· her-box/
telcodad

telcodad

MVM

said by telcodad:

An article on the Light Reading Cable site today about the Samsung Smart Media Player and other retail CableCARD-powered devices:

Samsung Embraces CableCARDs
By Mari Silbey, Light Reading Cable - May 28, 2013
»www.lightreading.com/dvr ··· 40155638

EDIT: Also an article on the MCN site this evening:

Samsung Developing CableCARD Retail Video Device
Its Smart Media Player to Handle Linear Subscription TV and Over-the-Top Video Services

By Jeff Baumgartner, Multichannel News - May 28, 2013
»www.multichannel.com/tec ··· e/143541

A picture that Dave Zatz took of it at The Cable Show: »twitter.com/davezatz/sta ··· /photo/1
telcodad

1 edit

telcodad

MVM

said by telcodad:

said by telcodad:

The CEA officially filed its challenge with the FCC today:

CEA Challenges Charter's FCC Set-Top Waiver
Says Media Bureau decision is illegal and sets dangerous precedent

By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable - May 20, 2013
»www.broadcastingcable.co ··· iver.php

TiVo has joined the CEA now in challenging the FCC's conditional waiver they gave to Charter:

TiVo Asks Bureau to Rethink Charter Waiver
Says it needs to add guarantees that it is not creating de facto downloadable security system without any notice or opportunity for comment

By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable - May 21, 2013
»www.broadcastingcable.co ··· iver.php

In response to a recent court decision, TiVo has filed a petition with the FCC asking them to reinstate CableCARD customer access rules:

TiVo Petitions FCC to Reinstate CableCARD Customer Access Rules
Seeks to Retain Consumer Choice to Access Cable Content on Retail Devices Using CableCARDs Until Successor Solution Is Available

Press Release, Marketwired - June 16, 2013
»www.marketwire.com/press ··· 1516.htm

EDIT: An article about this on the MCN site: »www.multichannel.com/ind ··· r/144432
telcodad

telcodad

MVM

Latest update on TiVo's petition to the FCC:

Media Bureau Seeks Comment on TiVo Petition
DVR Maker Wants FCC to Clarify Cable Operator Obligations to Set-Tops with CableCARDS

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News - July 26, 2013
»www.multichannel.com/dis ··· n/144586
telcodad

telcodad

MVM

An Ars Technica article last week about a draft bill in Congress that proposes to prevent the FCC from mandating that cable companies have to use CableCards in their own boxes:

TiVo, media center PC makers alarmed by CableCard-cutting bill
Cable operators could leave CableCard behind in their own hardware.
By Rob Pegoraro, Ars Technica - August 2, 2013
»arstechnica.com/tech-pol ··· ng-bill/
GTFan
join:2004-12-03
Austell, GA

GTFan

Member

If you check opensecrets.org you'll see that the bill's sponsor received over $100k in contributions from the cable industry.

Bills like this are paid for, and no one should be surprised. But it's not like the FCC is doing anything to stop companies like Charter from doing whatever the hell they want to get away from cards...

telcodad
MVM
join:2011-09-16
Lincroft, NJ

telcodad

MVM

Like TiVo received for their new Roamio series DVRs, Samsung was just granted an analog tuner waiver by the FCC for their CableCARD-based "Smart Media Player" which may be released by the end of this year:

Samsung Scores FCC Waiver For Retail-Focused CableCARD Device
Gets CE Giant a Step Closer to Launching ‘Smart Media Player’ That Will Mix Live TV with OTT Video

By Jeff Baumgartner, Multichannel News - September 9, 2013
»www.multichannel.com/ind ··· e/145341
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GTFan
join:2004-12-03
Austell, GA

GTFan

Member

Re: Say goodbye to ClearQAM

Clear QAM scheduled to go away on 12/10 in the ATL per recent Xfinity notice.

We'll have Cablecard for a LONG time, after all they have to support a ton of STBs with them anyway. I do hope the industry gets an IP-based standard that Tivo et al can implement (as required by FCC next year) so we can get past all this card nonsense though.
joejoejeo
join:2006-04-02
Bloomington, IN

joejoejeo

Member

Some newer tvs are going the way of ditching the tradition antenna/cable port and putting in a antenna/cable card port, so that people do not have to worry about if they cable to get a DTA or settop box so they can recieve there channels. So the port is the same as the traditional antenna/cable port but has a cable card slot underneath the port so to get it to work with cable you would have to put in a cable card

DocDrew
How can I help?
Premium Member
join:2009-01-28
SoCal
Ubee E31U2V1
Technicolor TC4400
Linksys EA6900

DocDrew

Premium Member

said by joejoejeo:

Some newer tvs are going the way of ditching the tradition antenna/cable port and putting in a antenna/cable card port, so that people do not have to worry about if they cable to get a DTA or settop box so they can recieve there channels. So the port is the same as the traditional antenna/cable port but has a cable card slot underneath the port so to get it to work with cable you would have to put in a cable card

I haven't seen a new CableCARD enabled TV in at least 6 years. They were around from about 2001-2007, but most manufactures stopped after all the problems they had with them.

camper
just visiting this planet
Premium Member
join:2010-03-21
Bethel, CT

camper

Premium Member

said by DocDrew:

but most manufactures stopped after all the problems they had with them.

 

I've oft wondered if those problems were intentionally created to keep the STB rental fees in place....

DocDrew
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join:2009-01-28
SoCal
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Technicolor TC4400
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4 edits

DocDrew

Premium Member

said by camper:

said by DocDrew:

but most manufactures stopped after all the problems they had with them.

 

I've oft wondered if those problems were intentionally created to keep the STB rental fees in place....

Most of the problems I saw where on the TV side. Such as badly made CableCARD ports, firmware issues on TVs with no easy way to fix them short of RMA (USB and networking on TVs didn't exist), but the worst problem was the lack of an easy to use guide (TVGOS was best of the worst). 400+ channels with a shitty guide was death. Cable side problems were usually fixed when you got the right person in support.

Then there was VOD and since services like Netflix, Amazon Video, and Hulu weren't around, people wanted VOD which didn't work without a box. Add to that CableCARD wasn't needed since most systems still had large amounts of clear analog and clearQAM TVs were gaining market share as broadcasters started switching to HD.

I think by 2006 customers were apathetic to CableCARD, it had too many problems and wasn't really needed yet, so makers started dropping it as a feature. By the time Tivo release Series 3 in 2006 it was too little too late for general consumer interest. The FCC mandated better cable support in 2007 was way too late.

TV makers could revive it if they wanted too. The wide spread encryption of digital and dropping of analog is creating a new market for it on the infrequently used TV sets or space constrained installs. FCCs announcement of the DOA AllVid pretty much killed it though.

Agent 86
@comcast.net

Agent 86

Anon

I got "the letter" from Comcast informing of the encrypting of basic cable. My question is, if you ask for a free (for a limited time) cable box, what do you get? An SD box or an HD box? And if you subscribe to a higher tier (which was already encrypted), will the box receive all channels, or just the basic tier previously available unencrypted (e.g. ABC/NBC/CBS/FOX/PBS)?
SpHeRe31459
Premium Member
join:2002-10-09
Sacramento, CA

1 recommendation

SpHeRe31459

Premium Member

said by Agent 86 :

I got "the letter" from Comcast informing of the encrypting of basic cable. My question is, if you ask for a free (for a limited time) cable box, what do you get? An SD box or an HD box? And if you subscribe to a higher tier (which was already encrypted), will the box receive all channels, or just the basic tier previously available unencrypted (e.g. ABC/NBC/CBS/FOX/PBS)?

You get a DTA which is a very basic digital box.
»Comcast Cable TV FAQ »What is a DTA? What channels can I get with a DTA? What about those new HD-DTA?
Expand your moderator at work

telcodad
MVM
join:2011-09-16
Lincroft, NJ

telcodad

MVM

Re: Say goodbye to ClearQAM

RE: Court Won't Block FCC Viewability Rule Decision - Denies broadcaster request for a stay pending resolution of appeal
»Re: Say goodbye to ClearQAM

The broadcaster appeal of the FCC's decision to sunset the Dual-Carriage/Viewability rule has now been rejected:

Federal Court Rejects Dual-Carriage/Viewability Sunset Appeal
Says FCC Got it Right the First Time; Broadcaster Appeal has 'No Basis' in Law

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News - December 31, 2013
»www.multichannel.com/cou ··· l/147419