new HD

[stevenl]

I agree with scottey. We need to start moving more and more all digital. If you raise everyones cable by 50cent it will well in cover the 20-20k people who may need that converter box. Give the first for free and charge for each additional ones. .50 per sub x 1million subs is quite a bit of money a month to cover converters...

[Khandurian]

They are charging like $2 a month for that digital converter.

I don't know about other areas, but here in brevard they have a digital box for $1. They serve a dual purpose. For those old tv's that can't support the digital signal and for the gov. channels that moved to strictly digital signals.

Heres the kicker, its a one time fee! You only pay that $1 at the time of install. It's not even a re-occurring fee!

So the plan is there and were already doing it here.

[skottey]

I don't know about other areas, but here in brevard they have a digital box for $1. They serve a dual purpose. For those old tv's that can't support the digital signal and for the gov. channels that moved to strictly digital signals.

Heres the kicker, its a one time fee! You only pay that $1 at the time of install. It's not even a re-occurring fee!

So the plan is there and were already doing it here.

That is great news.... I like that plan. They are charging a few dollars a month for the device here in the Tampa Bay market. We really need to get moving ahead with digital only. Hell, if nothing else they could cut down on piracy. I have known many people in apartments and houses over the years that have just tapped into the main line and had free analog service. If it was all digital and required a box, this would be harder to fraud. I remember when just putting in a splitter on Roadrunner gave you all the analog channels and many people just paid for the Internet... $45 for high speed and standard cable with no tax was a deal for the casual TV watcher.... considering basic cable alone was like $20-$30 plus taxes at the time.

Really... I like what you said. That would be a win-win for all subscribers. If the customer can't afford the $1, which has been subsidized by BHN already in that they are paying an installer and the box certainly costs them more than that, than that customer shouldn't have cable at all. It is $1... less than the cost of a cup of McDonalds coffee.

Anybody that bitches about this $1 plan is just bitching for the sake of bitching.

[XSwiftX]

Have some patience. By this time next year everyone will have to have a box of some sort. Also have some compassion. I had an old lady who was legally blind and was a standard subscriber. She had memorized her TV remote and had no trouble finding her channels. The channel change which switched Telemundo to the box upset her whole world. She could not see the remote enough to know what the button functions were. The boxes provided at $1 for accessing Telemundo have no guide function and she could not have read the text on screen anyway. The whole process was so frustrating for her she finally just switched to basic only so she could retain her ability to watch tv. But this time next year she will have no choice left but to get a box or not watch TV. Remember she is legally blind so she doesn't get out much. All she had was TV and her favorite channel was Telemundo. She was willing to settle for Galavision, but soon she won't even have that. Screwing over the Elderly for the sake of change is not something I want on my conscience.

[skottey]

Have some patience. By this time next year everyone will have to have a box of some sort. Also have some compassion. I had an old lady who was legally blind and was a standard subscriber. She had memorized her TV remote and had no trouble finding her channels. The channel change which switched Telemundo to the box upset her whole world. She could not see the remote enough to know what the button functions were. The boxes provided at $1 for accessing Telemundo have no guide function and she could not have read the text on screen anyway. The whole process was so frustrating for her she finally just switched to basic only so she could retain her ability to watch tv. But this time next year she will have no choice left but to get a box or not watch TV. Remember she is legally blind so she doesn't get out much. All she had was TV and her favorite channel was Telemundo. She was willing to settle for Galavision, but soon she won't even have that. Screwing over the Elderly for the sake of change is not something I want on my conscience.

So let's stop the world for this one lady.

If all she "watches" is Telemundo, have somebody tune it to that station and never change channels. Problem solved.

Seriously, if she is legally blind, she MUST have SOMEBODY caring for her with at least a daily visit to prepare a meal or do some jobs for her. They can tune the TV to her station.

I don't mean to sound like a jerk but let's not stop progress for one sad case like this lady.

Like you said, in a year everybody will have a box... so let's not put it off any longer. The sooner the changes are made the better.