Topic 'Re: [HDTV] Comcast Prez says that they may not carry ESPN HD?' in forum 'Cable & Satellite TV'

Topic 'Re: [HDTV] Comcast Prez says that they may not carry ESPN HD?' in forum 'Cable & Satellite TV' - dslreports.com http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6570996 en Thu, 24 Mar 2022 20:08:35 EDT Thu, 24 Mar 2022 20:08:35 EDT Re: [HDTV] Comcast Prez says that they may not carry ESPN HD? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6588854 http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6588854 Wed, 16 Apr 2003 20:22:07 EDT Re: [HDTV] Comcast Prez says that they may not carry ESPN HD? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6586919 said by imrf:

it was really meant for you in general.it was aimed at everybody who is opposing the HDTV take-off.

Ahh..well I've got no problem with HD, just the TV part =)

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-In a bad mood since 1824]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6586919 Wed, 16 Apr 2003 17:02:35 EDT Re: [HDTV] Comcast Prez says that they may not carry ESPN HD? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6586888 http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6586888 Wed, 16 Apr 2003 16:58:30 EDT Re: [HDTV] Comcast Prez says that they may not carry ESPN HD? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6586755 said by imrf:

if people dont like the price of HDTVs right now fine dont but they, but dont piss on the shoes of the people who do buy the TVs and want the service.

I don't believe I was pissing on anything. I just think there's no TV on this planet I would spend a grand on.

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-In a bad mood since 1824]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6586755 Wed, 16 Apr 2003 16:45:41 EDT Re: [HDTV] Comcast Prez says that they may not carry ESPN HD? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6583829 said by Interactive TV »www.media-visions.com/it ··· dtv.html :

Cable Prepares
to Carry HDTV
by Ken Freed.
.
The difference is VSB or QAM, and the fact cable must carry digital ATSC broadcasts.

The national broadcast networks are initiating ATSC feeds as a growing list of local broadcasters start transmitting high-definition TV (HDTV) or multiplex standard-definition digital TV (SDTV). Is cable ready to deliver broadcast digital channels to cable customers?

When it comes to HDTV, said Bill Wall, technical director of subscriber networks for Scientific-Atlanta. The critical difference between cable and terrestrial broadcast is signal modulation.

Cable uses 256 QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) to form the digital bitstream in the cable. Broadcast HDTV uses 8VSB (vestigial side band) to form the waves in the air. Each method works perfectly for its transmission environment (e.g., error correction), but the two modulation schemes are incompatible.

"It's been a real issue inside cable on how to handle the HDTV situation." he said. Neither broadcasters are not about to alter their infrastructure for cable. To deliver HDTV content, therefore, cable must either pass through the VSB signal or else convert it to QAM.

Converting VSB to QAM makes the most sense for cable, said Denton Kanouff, marketing VP for digital network systems at General Instrument, noting that GI also builds transcoders for broadcasters. If the VSB is passed through untouched, the HDTV content cannot easily be merged into the electronic program guide (EPG), which might churn out the cable customers with HDTV sets.

That's the risk being taken by Time-Warner Cable in Manhattan, "To satisfy early consumer demand," said Wall, "they signed a deal with CBS to carry a daily HD news feed at 8VSB over cable. The pass-though is not efficient, but it works. They only have a few hundred customers with digital sets, but it may help keep them customers."

In support of the alternative solution, Wall said, "S-A is now building a special Explorer 2000 set-top with full HDTV decoding." Converting VSB to QAM at the headend [S-A builds the converters], the QAM is returned to VSB in the box. He explained, "We figure the people who do have HDTV sets today can afford to get a special box designed for them. We're shipping the device now."

General Instrument introduced an HDTV solution for cable at the 1998 NCTA show, said Kanouff, noting that the DTC-5000-plus integrates HDTV decoding into the box. GI also can sell VSB to QAM transcoders to any interested broadcasters.

A source at AT&T Broadband said that GI is "very close" to completing a customized HDTV version of the DTC-5000+ with a Apples' 1394 "firewire" interface for deployment on the former TCI cable systems "within a year."

Today's expensive digital TV sets need a digital set-top box with a QAM modulator inside to receive HDTV signals through the cable rather than off-air. Essentially, this means a cable modem with a robust graphics chip. The second generation of HDTV sets, he said, will not only be more affordable, but the sets will be cable-ready.

"This first generation of HDTV sets now in the stores," said Wall, "are designed only for terrestrial broadcast reception. The goal is to get QAM converters built into cable-ready HDTV. Therefore, NCTA and SCTE (Society of Cable Television Engineers) are talking with CEMA (Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association).

For the time being, he said, "a special HDTV set-top seems to be the direction most of the MSOs are going to supply HD content to those with digital TV sets." He's not willing to make any predictions.

"The main thing," Wall said, "is that HDTV works today on a number of cable systems. Nationally, he noted. HBO signed a deal to carry an HDTV feed from Viacom, and similar deals are happening among all the big players, including HITS. "I think cable wants to sign up as much HD footage as it can get."

]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6583829 Wed, 16 Apr 2003 11:04:50 EDT Re: [HDTV] Comcast Prez says that they may not carry ESPN HD? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6583660 http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6583660 Wed, 16 Apr 2003 10:42:42 EDT Re: [HDTV] Comcast Prez says that they may not carry ESPN HD? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6583636 http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6583636 Wed, 16 Apr 2003 10:39:53 EDT Re: [HDTV] Comcast Prez says that they may not carry ESPN HD? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6583452 *DUH! ROLLING MY EYES*, but the many Cable TV subscribers want more High-Definition channels. Is Comcast going to add more HDTV channels in the very near future? Why doesn't Comcast pass-through the HD feeds at 8VSB over the cable, and help keep their subscribers?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6583452 Wed, 16 Apr 2003 10:12:59 EDT Re: [HDTV] Comcast Prez says that they may not carry ESPN HD? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6582474 said by imrf:

they arent all that expensive.my 47" Panasonic only cost me $1300 in August of 2001, now i can get it for $900.

And you don't think that's way to expensive for something as stupid as a TV? I can buy a 25" TV for $200. That leaves me an extra $700 for something that I actually care about.

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-In a bad mood since 1824]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6582474 Wed, 16 Apr 2003 06:34:43 EDT Re: [HDTV] Comcast Prez says that they may not carry ESPN HD? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6581667 http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6581667 Wed, 16 Apr 2003 01:26:28 EDT Re: [HDTV] Comcast Prez says that they may not carry ESPN HD? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6581470 http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6581470 Wed, 16 Apr 2003 00:47:21 EDT Re: [HDTV] Comcast Prez says that they may not carry ESPN HD? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6581428 http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6581428 Wed, 16 Apr 2003 00:40:53 EDT Re: [HDTV] Comcast Prez says that they may not carry ESPN HD? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6581362 http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6581362 Wed, 16 Apr 2003 00:32:03 EDT Re: [HDTV] Comcast Prez says that they may not carry ESPN HD? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6581354 http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6581354 Wed, 16 Apr 2003 00:30:56 EDT Re: [HDTV] Comcast Prez says that they may not carry ESPN HD? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6581326 http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6581326 Wed, 16 Apr 2003 00:28:17 EDT Re: [HDTV] Comcast Prez says that they may not carry ESPN HD? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6581223 http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6581223 Wed, 16 Apr 2003 00:15:26 EDT Re: [HDTV] Comcast Prez says that they may not carry ESPN HD? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6580985 http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6580985 Tue, 15 Apr 2003 23:47:58 EDT Re: [HDTV] Comcast Prez says that they may not carry ESPN HD? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6580757 http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6580757 Tue, 15 Apr 2003 23:22:01 EDT Re: [HDTV] Comcast Prez says that they may not carry ESPN HD? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6580646
I don't think there is any mandate for satellite channels to broadcast in HD now.

Problem is that these networks keep raising their fee per sub because they can.... and is pissing off the cable companies who need the price increases for their pockets.

Also cable companies don't want to have to purchase expensive HD receivers, encoders, and new set top boxes

In the end.. the customer is screwed again.
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]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6580646 Tue, 15 Apr 2003 23:11:24 EDT Re: [HDTV] Comcast Prez says that they may not carry ESPN HD? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6580644 [text was edited by author 2003-04-15 23:11:18]
]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6580644 Tue, 15 Apr 2003 23:11:05 EDT Re: [HDTV] Comcast Prez says that they may not carry ESPN HD? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6580502 said by mikedz4:

i think he means television stations like local stations (abc,nbc,cbs,pbs,fox)

I thought of that, but that would mean he was making a poor argument, and I didn't want to make that assumption...I'd rather assume that I didn't understand him, and let him clarify. And why are cable companies singled out? Satellite providers carry even less HD content then cable, at least in my area.
[text was edited by author 2003-04-15 22:59:14]
]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6580502 Tue, 15 Apr 2003 22:55:38 EDT Re: [HDTV] Comcast Prez says that they may not carry ESPN HD? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6580453 http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6580453 Tue, 15 Apr 2003 22:51:20 EDT Re: [HDTV] Comcast Prez says that they may not carry ESPN HD? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6580354 http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6580354 Tue, 15 Apr 2003 22:38:56 EDT Re: [HDTV] Comcast Prez says that they may not carry ESPN HD? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6580295 said by imrf:

And this is the exact reason why HDTV is not taking off as fast as analysts had hoped for.The lame cable companies say that there are not enough feeds which is a lie and they also whine about the costs of carrying the feeds.USA Today had an article the other day about this exact issue,and it said that there are about 880 HDTV feeds being sent in the US right now out of a total of 1300 feeds, so that complaint that there are not enough is bull.But for you its only a guessing game on when you will get more.If you are in an ex-ATT area you might be waiting a while.

What do you mean by a feed? I don't know what a feed is. If you mean channels, well, we can count the national cable channels with HD availability on one hand. HBO, Showtime, Discovery, ESPN, and I guess you could say HDnet which is satellite only. That's 5. F I V E. (There may be a couple more...someone correct me if I'm wrong.) Where in God's name do you get 880? Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you mean by a feed.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6580295 Tue, 15 Apr 2003 22:32:58 EDT Re: [HDTV] Comcast Prez says that they may not carry ESPN HD? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6571862 http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6571862 Tue, 15 Apr 2003 00:10:07 EDT Re: [HDTV] Comcast Prez says that they may not carry ESPN HD? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6571474 http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6571474 Mon, 14 Apr 2003 23:25:23 EDT [HDTV] Comcast Prez says that they may not carry ESPN HD? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6570996 said by »www.hdtvpub.com/local/vi ··· bleco_1/ :

"... Title: ESPN HD?

I stumbled across another HDTV forum on the web. One of the threads was related to ESPN HD on Comcast. The thread contained an email that is supposedly from Comcast's President indicating that they will not carry ESPN HD because the carrying fees are too high. You can check out the thread at: »www.espnhd.com/voice/sho ··· did=4058.

I obviously have no way of verifying the authenticity of the posting. If true, it is very disappointing, not just for the lack of programming but because Comcast appears (once again) to be giving us wildly inaccurate info when we call customer service. ..."

said by »www.espnhd.com/voice/sho ··· did=4058 :
"... As you may have seen in one of my previous posts, I'm a bit disturbed my Comcast's decision to not pay and carry ESPN HD. I was able to get Comcast President Steve Burke's email address and sent him the email below, to which he gave the following informationless reply. I will admit that I was impressed that he took the time to answer me first thing in the morning, even if he said nothing.

Please forgive me for forgetting to remove his email address from this. Afterall, I would HATE to see a few hundred people email him regarding this subject. That would be a REAL SHAME! No, really, you shouldn't. I'm not kidding. ..." more in the thread.

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Does anyone know when the greater Seattle, WA area is going to get more than the current (2)High Definition Channels (ie. Local HDTV Channels) and/or additional High Definition Channels we won't be getting (ie. ESPN HD)?

[text was edited by author 2003-04-14 22:50:57]]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/HDTV-Comcast-Prez-says-that-they-may-not-carry-ESPN-HD-6570996 Mon, 14 Apr 2003 22:34:04 EDT