THE FRONT LINE: MARCH 5, 2008
“Hey, Where’d All My Channels Go?” – A Follow-Up
Readers discuss how their local terrestrial DTV channels show up on cable TV systems.
Last month’s article on the digital TV transition and what it meant for basic and extended basic cable TV subscribers ended with this note:
Editor’s note: If you are a basic cable subscriber and have upgraded to a new digital TV set, I’d be curious to hear whether you are able to receive your local DTV channels with the correct virtual channel numbers. You may find both a standard-definition and high-definition version of some local channels, and it’s usually the high-definition channel that carries the VCT data. Drop me an email at letters@hdtvexpert.com and provide as many details as you can about your cable company and what your channel scans reveal, and I’ll re-visit this topic in a future column.
Here are a few of the responses:
From Portland, Oregon:
I recently bought a Sony KDS-60A3000 (bought it when I found out Sony was about to discontinue their RP sets). I live in zip code 97203 (Portland, OR) and subscribe to expanded basic service from Comcast. This is the analog service provided on channels 2-71.
While scanning for channels, I was rewarded with many channels in clear-QAM. All of the local HD broadcast stations are present and mapped to the correct logical channels (8.1 for the HD version of analog channel 8, etc.). The secondary programs for these broadcasters are also carried and mapped to the correct logical channels (8.2, 10.4, etc.). Two local broadcasters, the ION and TBN affiliates, are broadcasting SD multiplexes only. For these stations, Comcast carries only the primary program in the clear.
In addition to the local broadcasters, all of the analog channels in Comcast's limited basic service (channels 2-30) are simulcast in clear-QAM. However, these are not mapped to logical channels. I'm fairly certain that the remaining analog channels are simulcast but encrypted (encryption for some of them was turned off one morning). The digital simulcasts are superior in quality to the analog.
Comcast says that in a few weeks, customers will no longer be allowed to order expanded basic service. Current customers will be grandfathered for now. New customers will be given digital starter service, which is $1 per month more and includes a digital STB. Limited basic analog service will still be offered for the foreseeable future. A friend who recently switched to limited basic says that he can no longer receive analog channels 32-68, but the clear-QAM channels are still there.
From Kansas City, MO:
I get the basic/standard tier from Time Warner Cable in Kansas City, MO. I first connected a Samsung T-451 tuner in June of 2005. I have never gotten the local channels on anything but the actual (physical) channels, which are spread out from 77 to 113. And these lineups change, sometimes pretty regularly. The Samsung H260 that I now use for OTA did the same when I connected it to TWC. I follow the local HD reception forum on www.avsforum.com and no one has mentioned receiving local QAM channels on anything but the actual channels. This forum covers TWC and Comcast on both sides of the Kansas-Missouri state line. I will have to say that QAM info on this forum seemed to be a closely guarded secret until the local cable companies started scrambling all but the local channels and a handful of SD cable channels. Also, I only have seen the HD version of the local channels, not a separate SD version.
So if I understand you correctly, the cable companies should be passing through the local station’s data? This would be great. But they obviously are not required to do so, are they? And I am wondering why they would do so when they are in the business of selling the digital tiers and converters. Thanks for checking into this.
From Mercer County (Princeton/Trenton area), NJ:
I, too, am a basic cable subscriber to Comcast here in Mercer County, New Jersey. I have no set-top boxes and the cable is connected directly to my 4-year old RCA 50-inch DLP HDTV receiver. The auto search feature finds all of the in-the-clear digital QAM signals and displays them. These include all of the Philadelphia off-air HD signals, including the multicast signals as well as all of the digital SD versions of the basic analog cable channels, which Comcast now simulcasts.
However, none of the channels carry proper PSIP information. They all tune based on the actual (physical) RF channel number on which they are carried on the cable, with a secondary channel number that may be based on the MPEG program number Comcast has assigned. For example WPVI is on 113-1, 113-3 and 113-4 (ABC HD program, ABC news and weather radar respectively) and WCAU is on 113-2 and 113-5 (NBC HD program and NBC Weather Plus respectively). The program title is not displayed and there is no V-chip or caption data displayed on the TV receiver banner (when I use an antenna, all of this information is properly displayed along with the correct two-part channel number). WHYY and KYW share channel 117 (117-1 is WHYY's HD program, 117-2 is the CBS HD program and 117-3 and 117-4 are WHYY's multicast SD programs. The simulcast SD programs are 12 to an RF channel and include the analog signals that Comcast is systematically removing from its basic analog lineup, e.g., channels 4, 9 and 11 from New York.
From Ithaca, NY:
I did a "search analog and digital channels" on my 2007 Sharp 32" Aquos connected to Time Warner cable in Ithaca, NY last week. Lo and behold, it found a bunch of new (to me) digital channels that I swear weren't there a few months ago! These were "digital" versions of local NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, and PBS. Interestingly, PBS had a couple of "new" channels, and NBC had one, too. Often (but not always) they were next to the TW regular analog channel #'s. As D-Day approaches, I guess there may be a few more of these.
Are these HD? My guess is (mostly?) yes. I think by law, TW has (to) carry unencrypted local stations on cable, and as the locals provide HD, then they have to carry that too. These "digital" channels are (I think) HD vs. TW "digital" service/channels which are (I think) SD vs. TW "HD" service, which is HD. Wow, no wonder we are all confused! My other guess is that TW doesn't want to really advertise to its subscribers that there is free HD on basic cable, so they don't really put the word out on these channels - you've got to search and hope.
From Lehigh Valley, PA:
I recorded the Fox WTXF 29 news on Sunday 2/17/08 so I could listen to the report on DTV the next day. It turned out to have you reporting on what going digital will mean to TV owners. I have to say I was disappointed to hear you report, as an expert, that if you had a new TV with a digital tuner that you could plug in the antenna or cable connection and you would be done and receiving the wonderful digital signals.
NOT SO FAST ... if you have RCN Cable and you have a newer TV with a digital tuner, you get nothing!!! Starting first in the Chicago area, RCN is scrambling all digital signals. That means you need either a cable STB (set top box) or a TV with a QAM tuner AND cable card capabilities. Of course, the STB will cost you a rental fee per month, for every TV, digital tuner or not. And so will a cable card from RCN, but at a lessor amount per month, however with a $15.00 installation fee. The STB can be installed by the consumer. RCN will be bringing scrambled digital programming to all their markets including Philadelphia in the future.
See this discussion if you don't believe me.http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19797667
The seventh post on the discussion is by RCNMAN, a VP at RCN and quoted/copied as follows: “With regards to the QAM channels, in going to all digital means all digital channels will be encrypted. I know this isn't going to be a popular answer, and I do apologize for the inconvenience.” Sorry to say your info as reported on the Fox news last night is not correct for cable connections and digital TV signals anymore.
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Now to document my own experiences. Periodic channel scans with QAM tuners have shown that Comcast is indeed mapping the major Philadelphia DTV stations (KYW 3.1, WPVI 6.1, WCAU 10.1, WTXF 29.1) with their correct virtual channel numbers. Comcast also carries all of the secondary minor channels, again with correct virtual channel numbers. These channels are the primary (full bit rate) digital channels, not standard-definition conversions carried only on physical channels. The latter channels are derived from each station’s analog (NTSC) channel.
From time to time, Comcast’s Philadelphia/southern New Jersey head end in New Castle, DE makes changes to encoders, remaps channels, etc. As a result, the virtual channel numbers often disappear, and these stations only show up on their physical cable channels, such as 89-3 and 90-1. I have alerted Comcast each time I’ve observed this situation and the virtual channels are restored each time.
Not all local Philly stations are mapped correctly. The highest virtual channel number I’ve seen mapped correctly is 17.1 (WPHL). WPSG (57.1), WPPX (61.1), WUVP (65.1), WGTW (48.1), WYBE (35.1), WLVT (39.1), and WFMZ (69.1) do not show up on any other but physical cable channels. This is probably because using the terrestrial station’s virtual channel would cause a conflict with another existing cable DTV channel in your television’s channel map.
PSIP issues: It’s important to note that cable systems strip out almost all of a terrestrial DTV station’s PSIP (program and system information protocol) data with a device called a “cherry picker”. These gadgets also allow the cable operator to re-combine different programs to make up multiplexed digital cable channels, adjust bit rates for maximum efficiency, and insert local commercials (among other things).
That means you won’t see any terrestrial (ATSC) PSIP tables that show program guide information, so if you receive local DTV channels in the clear, you’ll have to resort to the time-honored newspaper TV guide to see what’s on a given channel. But the virtual channel information apparently can pass through, and will be detected by your digital TV or set-top box.
Must-carry vs. Retransmission Agreements: The big issue here is what major TV networks and individual stations will negotiate with cable TV systems after 2/17/09. If a station is designated “must carry;” by law, it cannot be scrambled. Local analog TV stations all qualify as “must carry” channels and are carried in the clear.
However, once those local analog stations shut down, the “must carry” provision would shift (in theory) to the full bit rate digital TV broadcast from each local station, meaning you’d still be able to get free terrestrial HDTV. The RCN example listed above would also be covered by this provision.
I received a clarification from John Burgett, an attorney with Wiley Rein LLP in Washington, DC on the wording of “must carry” rules. Here it is:
“Pursuant to the FCC's cable carriage rules, during the (DTV) transition, cable operators are only required to carry a television broadcast station's analog signal. When a (terrestrial) station ceases analog broadcasting, then its mandatory cable carriage rights shift to its digital-only signal. The Communications Act requires that a station's carriage-eligible signal (i.e., its analog signal or its digital-only signal) be carried by a cable operator on its basic service tier. The FCC's rules prohibit encryption of the basic service tier.
In sum, if a television broadcast station is transmitting both an analog and a digital signal, a cable operator can place the digital signal on a separate non-basic digital service tier and scramble the signal. If the station is transmitting only in digital, then the cable operator must place the digital signal on the basic service tier and must transmit it in the clear.”
Based on that wording, what RCN is doing now is within the law, but after 2/17/09, they will have to carry all of those local digital channels in the clear — and they might as well include the correct virtual channel information while they’re at it. Comcast’s carriage of virtual channel info is not required, but they are doing it anyway (and there are very good reasons for them to continue). Time Warner also could scramble the local DTV channels, but then they’d have to put them back in the clear after 2/17/09.
The subject of retransmission agreements came up at the recent Hollywood Post Alliance Technology Retreat. It’s possible that after 2012 (when many of the present cable carriage agreements with networks expire) that a major network could opt for a retransmission agreement and demand payment for the carriage of their local owned and operated (O&O) DTV station’s signals.
Local broadcasters could also demand such a fee for carriage (and some have!). If a retransmission agreement is signed between a cable company and a network/station, the cable operator could then scramble the digital signal and make it part of a subscription tier to recover the costs.
The big question is whether a local station or network-owned station would feel that must-carry status is worth more to them than annual or monthly payments for programming. Obviously an independent station that carries mostly syndicated programming and infomercials would opt for “must carry” status, as the number of eyeballs watching is more important to local advertising rates.
But a top-rated network like CBS might conceivably decide that their content is just as valuable as that of Discovery, or ESPN, or CNN, and demand payment accordingly. What that would do to local advertising rates and TV ratings is uncertain. My best guess (for now) is that the status quo will prevail and that local major network stations will keep their “must carry” status for a few years after the transition.
Beyond that? It’s anyone’s guess and will depend on how TV viewership is affected by the changeover to digital…
