Count on us for complete, in-depth coverage of changes that could the services you receive and how much you pay for them.
Time Warner Cable is digitizing 10 to 15 channels next month, and in order to continue to watching those channels, non-digital subscribers will need a digital adapter and remote control, the cable provider said.
Staring on or about Nov. 12, Time Warner will move to digital format EWTN (Channel 9 in the Dayton area), C-SPAN (Channel 10), WKOI (Channel 15), WGN (Channel 17), WRCX (Channel 22), the Golf Channel (Channel 30), the Weather Channel (Channel 56), Lifetime Movie Network (Channel 61), as well as certain public, educational and government access channels. (WKOI will move to digital in early December.)
Most of Time Warner Cable’s customers — about 75 percent — already subscribe to a digital channel array, and they won’t see a change, Time Warner spokesman Michael Pedelty said. Those with a digital set-top box will continue to get those channels, as will those who use a retail “CableCARD”device or a digital TV set equipped with a QAM tuner, the company said.
Some non-digital subscribers may be able to pick up channels through a re-scan of their lineup, Pedelty said. Others not connected to digital equipment will have to request digital adapters and remote controls, which will be free through Jan 1, 2015.
But non-digital customers must request the adapter and remote between now and Jan. 12, 2014, Pedelty said. A customer who requested the devices in March, for example, would get them, but would have to pay $1.50 a month.
Those devices can also be picked up at Time Warner Cable retail stores, such as the store at Dayton Mall, he said.
Time Warner Cable, the largest cable TV service provider in the area, is not cutting analog channel lineups, he added. The move helps the company manage its bandwidth, a finite resource, he said.
“We are not eliminating analog,” he said. “We are digitizing certain channels.”
Also Thursday, Time Warner Cable said it and Al Jazeera America have agreed to bring Al Jazeera America to Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks customers’ lineups.
The channel will be launched on digital basic in Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks markets over the next six months.
The channel will be available to almost 55 million homes, the company said.
About the Author
