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TedTurnerJr
@mindspring.com

TedTurnerJr

Anon

Time Warner Cable NYC - Free OTA Channels now Scrambled

I'm an Internet only subscriber to Time Warner Cable in Manhattan.
For years I have had the cable plugged into my HDTV w/ built in digital tuner so I could get all the free HD channels like CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, etc.

Today I can't get any of those free channels, because TWC has decided to scramble them all.

Is there anything I can do? I thought the cable company was required to not scramble these free OTA channels on their feed. I refuse to pay for basic cable just to get channels that should be free.

I've tried using a radio shack OTA HD antennae but I only get 2 channels! I'm all the way uptown in Washington Heights.

hobgoblin
Sortof Agoblin
Premium Member
join:2001-11-25
Orchard Park, NY

hobgoblin

Premium Member

"I thought the cable company was required to not scramble these free OTA channels on their feed. I refuse to pay for basic cable just to get channels that should be free."

Free over the air, not free to cable companies that now pay
re-transmission fees to provide them on their cable system.

Hob
Maris
join:2002-10-28
Astoria, NY

Maris to TedTurnerJr

Member

to TedTurnerJr
said by TedTurnerJr :

Is there anything I can do?

Yes indeed. You can sue TWC for no longer providing free television service over their cable system to people who do not subscribe to their television service.
said by TedTurnerJr :

I refuse to pay for basic cable just to get channels that should be free.

You don't have to pay for free OTA channels, as long as you can receive them OTA.

TedTurnerJr
@mindspring.com

TedTurnerJr

Anon

said by Maris:

You don't have to pay for free OTA channels, as long as you can receive them OTA.

I only get 2 channels when I use an antennae.
I contacted Time Warner and they said if I want CBS, NBC, FOX, ABC etc I have to pay $20 a month for them unscrambled. Looks like they'll do anything to squeeze all the former customers (now millions) that cut the cord. Screw this company, I'm cancelling my internet with them because of this.

ReasonNo
@rcn.com

ReasonNo

Anon

You should thank time Warner for all those offers of basic cable that otherwise costs $20 per month. So if you cancel Internet with them, who you gonna go with? Not many options in your hood.
etaadmin
join:2002-01-17
united state

etaadmin to TedTurnerJr

Member

to TedTurnerJr
Let me guess you are subscribed to TWC internet but not to TWC TV? Then one day you found out that you could get basic programming so you bought a splitter and connected your modem and a TV set. I know people that enjoyed 'free' TV for 8 years before TWC disconnected them.

This is the whole idea of the digital migration to prevent this thing.

TedTurnerJr
@mindspring.com

TedTurnerJr

Anon

said by etaadmin:

Let me guess you are subscribed to TWC internet but not to TWC TV? Then one day you found out that you could get basic programming so you bought a splitter and connected your modem and a TV set. I know people that enjoyed 'free' TV for 8 years before TWC disconnected them.

This is the whole idea of the digital migration to prevent this thing.

Actually no. I was a cable subscriber for 25 years so I already had a cable going to my TV. Their pricing just got too ridiculous so I cancelled. My bill went from $90 a month to $190 a month in less than 5 years...for the same package.

Every single channel I had airs commercials, except for HBO, so that pricing is ludicrous.
Charging $20 a month for CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox is also ludicrous. I can't wait for services like Aereo.com to takeoff so Slime Warner can lose more customers.
etaadmin
join:2002-01-17
united state

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etaadmin

Member

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said by TedTurnerJr :

Actually no. I was a cable subscriber for 25 years so I already had a cable going to my TV. Their pricing just got too ridiculous so I cancelled. My bill went from $90 a month to $190 a month in less than 5 years...for the same package.

Every single channel I had airs commercials, except for HBO, so that pricing is ludicrous.
Charging $20 a month for CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox is also ludicrous. I can't wait for services like Aereo.com to takeoff so Slime Warner can lose more customers.

In that case all you need to do is to call TWC and request a DTA (digital adapter) so you can continue watching the basic channels.

»www.timewarnercable.com/ ··· apt.html

You can always install your own antenna... I have a discone that I use for my ICOM scanner and it works perfectly with OTA I get dozen of TV channels.

EDIT: Goto www.tvfool.com enter your zip code and see what OTA stations are available and in range.

kilrathi
Premium Member
join:2005-04-22
Rockaway Park, NY

kilrathi

Premium Member

I believe DTA no longer matters that was only for areas when they go all digital, but once free ota channels are encrypted even DTA wont help you I believe.

TedTurnerJr
@mindspring.com

TedTurnerJr

Anon

said by kilrathi:

I believe DTA no longer matters that was only for areas when they go all digital, but once free ota channels are encrypted even DTA wont help you I believe.

Yes, I don't think that would help me, my TV is an LG from 2013, it already has a digital tuner.

I think I will try a few different antennaes and see if they work any better than the one I have which is worthless.
TedTurnerJr

TedTurnerJr

Anon

I'm going to try this one from Best Buy. On Sale for $32.00 - Antennas Direct - ClearStream Micron Indoor Long-Range Digital TV Antenna.
Mele20
Premium Member
join:2001-06-05
Hilo, HI

Mele20 to etaadmin

Premium Member

to etaadmin
We can't call and we are forbidden to use the mainland TWC site. Both TWC mainland customer service and Oceanic TWC have told me this. We are only to use Oceanic.com. At any rate, I don't think analog will be disappearing that soon in Hawaii but I will try to find out more about it.

Besides Fx and SeaMonkey claim www.tvfool.com is a secure site and they throw a security warning that has no way to allow an exception. (I'm getting really tired of how screwed up these two browsers have become).

Racerbob
Premium Member
join:2001-06-24
Webster, NY

Racerbob

Premium Member

I can get to TV Fool just fine here. 24.2.0 Firefox. No warnings.

skuv
@rr.com

skuv to TedTurnerJr

Anon

to TedTurnerJr
TWC's DTA has nothing to do with the digital tuner in your TV.

Their DTA can unscramble the channels that is the whole point. They are moving analog channels to digital QAMs and encrypting them where they were not. The DTA unencrypts as well.

This is not the DTA for antennas.

girlyman
@verizon.net

girlyman to TedTurnerJr

Anon

to TedTurnerJr
said by TedTurnerJr :

Actually no. I was a cable subscriber for 25 years so I already had a cable going to my TV. Their pricing just got too ridiculous so I cancelled. My bill went from $90 a month to $190 a month in less than 5 years...for the same package.

Every single channel I had airs commercials, except for HBO, so that pricing is ludicrous.
Charging $20 a month for CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox is also ludicrous. I can't wait for services like Aereo.com to takeoff so Slime Warner can lose more customers.

paying customers got notice last summer about DTA boxes. they were being offered for free TO PAYING CUSTOMERS!!!!! since all this encryption is news to you and they tied to charge you $20 for basic it means you werent a paying customer. Paying customers get free DTA boxes...like me I got 2 from the walk in center on broadway & 96 street back in november. Sure Slime Warner may lose customers..customers that were stealing TV. they will gain more than they lose.

TedTurnerJr
@mindspring.com

TedTurnerJr

Anon

said by girlyman :

Sure Slime Warner may lose customers..customers that were stealing TV. they will gain more than they lose.

Ummm, wrong. They have been losing customers in droves. "Time Warner Cable lost 825,000 customers over the past year". That's just the tally for last year.
And now they lost me as an internet subscriber because they wanted to scramble free channels.
TedTurnerJr

TedTurnerJr to skuv

Anon

to skuv
said by skuv :

TWC's DTA has nothing to do with the digital tuner in your TV.

Their DTA can unscramble the channels that is the whole point. They are moving analog channels to digital QAMs and encrypting them where they were not. The DTA unencrypts as well.

This is not the DTA for antennas.

Hmm. I will try that.
TedTurnerJr

TedTurnerJr

Anon

I picked up the ClearStream Micron Indoor Long-Range Digital TV Antenna ($32 at Best Buy).
It's not bad.

I get a clear HD signal for:
CBS
NBC
FOX
Channel 9

Not having any luck getting ABC or CW 11.
trollscience
join:2013-12-14
Carrington, ND

1 recommendation

trollscience to TedTurnerJr

Member

to TedTurnerJr
H3r3 is an avsforum thread about. are your QAM channels scrambled?

Goody
@107.14.223.x

Goody to TedTurnerJr

Anon

to TedTurnerJr
TWC lost 825000 subs but now they can gain some from those like u previously stealing basic cable

kilrathi
Premium Member
join:2005-04-22
Rockaway Park, NY

kilrathi to TedTurnerJr

Premium Member

to TedTurnerJr
dta boxes are not free even to paying customers:) Dont believe me? check your next bill lol

Atrain22
@rcn.com

Atrain22

Anon

I hope ur not paying for DTA as they are free for now. Even when they start charging its only $1

»www.timewarnercable.com/ ··· ers.html
System

to Maris

Anon

to Maris

(topic move) Time Warner Cable NYC - Free OTA Channels now Scrambled

Moderator Action
The post that was here (and all 3 followups to it), has been moved to a new topic .. »Time Warner Cable NYC - Free OTA Channels now Scrambled

Anon

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The post that was here (and all 1 followups to it), has been moved to a new topic .. »Time Warner Cable NYC - Free OTA Channels now Scrambled

TedTurnerJr
@mindspring.com

TedTurnerJr to Goody

Anon

to Goody

Re: Time Warner Cable NYC - Free OTA Channels now Scrambled

said by Goody :

TWC lost 825000 subs but now they can gain some from those like u previously stealing basic cable

I never stole Basic Cable. OTA channels are not Basic Cable. They're FREE.
MTV is Basic Cable.
scooper
join:2000-07-11
Kansas City, KS
·Google Fiber

scooper to TedTurnerJr

Member

to TedTurnerJr
said by TedTurnerJr :

I never stole Basic Cable. OTA channels are not Basic Cable. They're FREE.
MTV is Basic Cable.

Nobody is accusing you of that (and it certainly isn't our business if you do). What you're failing to comprehend is that the local OTA channels ARE NOT "free" to the cable companies / DBS companies, so to combat people doing what you're doing - they are encrypting them (and this is done with the blessing of the FCC) (IOW - good luck with any court action on this). Just because you have been able to receive them "free" with your cable modem subscription in the past doesn't mean they would always remain so. I for one am somewhat surprised that they are not moving faster on this - I would guess mostly having to do with how many DTAs they can get how fast.
dustman81
join:2002-05-28
united state

1 recommendation

dustman81 to TedTurnerJr

Member

to TedTurnerJr
said by TedTurnerJr :

Is there anything I can do? I thought the cable company was required to not scramble these free OTA channels on their feed. I refuse to pay for basic cable just to get channels that should be free.

The FCC in 2012 started to allow cable companies to scramble all channels. Basically, if you want OTA channels, you need to either get an antenna or pay TWC.

budd
@verizon.net

budd to TedTurnerJr

Anon

to TedTurnerJr
I too, live in Washington Heights and was disappointed that the channels were scrambled during the snowstorm. My wife stressed how much she wanted to watch the Grammy Awards so I decided to buy an ota tv antenna as neteorks are required by law to broadcast over the air. Ordered from amazon on Friday, got it on Sunday morning, hooked it up and did a scan and gor 50 hd channels! Some of course, are spanish, but we get cbs, nbc, fox, abc and others! Here is the antenna that I bought for under 10 bucks! It really works and it sure beats paying for cable!

»www.amazon.com/HomeWorx- ··· +antenna

JimMcCoy
join:2011-08-20
Midlothian, VA

JimMcCoy to TedTurnerJr

Member

to TedTurnerJr
Not sure if you understand (or care), but TWC has to pay retransmission fees on those 'free' channels; ergo, why you have to pay.

As it has been stated above, those channels are still 'free' you just have to have an antenna for them. Don't see why you think TWC should have to eat the cost of your television usage, but hey everybody wants something free now days...
JimMcCoy

JimMcCoy to kilrathi

Member

to kilrathi
DTAs are free until January 2015, and then you will pay 1.00 / each; per month.