Quote:
Originally Posted by Electronic M
I missed the 'free' part of the title...No part of TWC is free.
You are lucky to still have analog cable. TWC killed that here this summer, and I believe they were the last analog TV holdout in my area.
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Time Warner will eliminate analog cable in my area, 30 miles east of Cleveland, by the end of this year. I got a letter from them yesterday stating that two channels would be moved to digital tiers next month, being watchable only with a digital transfer adapter (DTA) or a TWC-issued cable box ahead of the TV. The letter did not go into any further detail as to when the remaining analog channels will be moved to digital.
If, like myself, you are using a Roku player ahead of your television instead of a TWC-issued cable box, however, you may notice two sets of channels on the channel listing which shows on the left side of your TV screen, which is used to change channels using the up/down buttons on the remote control. (There is also an on-screen channel guide, accessed from the Roku home screen and operated via the remote.) TWC tech support says the lower numbered channels (2, 3, 4...etc.) are standard definition channels, whereas the second set of channels are the HD ones, and are numbered starting with 1001. Both sets of channels will be available even after TWC eliminates analog cable, although older TVs will only show the SD (standard definition) channels.
Note that Time Warner Cable is the last cable operator in the US which still has analog channels on its systems. Since they are transitioning to all-digital service (have been for some time), however, the removal of analog channels is a logical step toward this goal, as most people now have flat screen TVs these days. The exceptions are antique/classic TV collectors who may be able, if they are TW Cable subscribers, to use their treasured old sets with the SD service without the use of a cable box.
If you have cable service with Comcast (parent company of NBC Universal) or most other US cable operators, however, you will need a cable box ahead of your TV to get anything at all. Canadian cable operators still have analog service in some areas; however, I do not know if they have plans to eventually convert every cable system in the country to DTV, as American cable operators did years ago.
BTW: Tom C. (VK member Electronic M), you are absolutely correct. As I mentioned in the first sentence of my post, there is no free lunch and, of course, no free service on Time Warner Cable or any other US or Canadian cable company. If you want free TV, hook up your old classic set(s) to a DTV converter box and an antenna. DTV converter boxes are still available on eBay and probably CL as I write this, although since most average TV viewers now have flat screens and have almost certainly junked or otherwise disposed of their old CRT televisions, I honestly don't know how much longer converter boxes will be available, even on the used market.