Does anyone else have Comcast (cable TV)?

[femmocrat]

I am irate! Effective July 15, they are moving MSNBC to channel 266 (local listing). This means I won't get to see it on my older TVs.

Something called "Versus" is going where MSNBC used to be. And "The Golf Channel" is replacing Headline News.

I think it's a conspiracy. Is there anything we can do?

[Gidney N Cloyd]

1. I haven't seen anything yet about losing MSNBC in the Chicago burbs.

If they do that here I'm probably switching to satellite-- Dish has more channels for less money but right now MSNBC is in their upper tier.

[My Good Babushka]

2. Comcast eats a bag o'dick

They moved several of the channels we watch to a higher tier of programming within three months of signing the contract. Do you know what happens when a one and four year old can't see Blues Clues at the appointed time? It's not pretty. We caved, and shelled out the extra $10. BASTARDS!

[Eurobabe]

3. right now my ComC-ASSED cable box is out of order

so I am paying for service that I can't receive, and it looks like it won't be fixed until Monday at the earliest. They are also on my shit list for this bandwidth limiting stuff too. But what other options do we have? There are so few cable companies, somebody needs to bust these monopolies. TWC, Comcast, etc.

:mad: :mad:

[bigwillq]

4. I do.

And yeah, we just got that notice that some stations are changing. I get that channel on me TV though. We have so many channels.

[Bread and Circus]

5. I have comcast cable and MSNBC is not even offered!

[khashka]

6. Comcast sucks

They keep switching channels around, saying some you have to pay extra for then changing their minds. It's run by crazy people.

Khash.

[Phentex]

7. I have lots of Comcast stories. My favorite right now is

They e-mail my bill and let me know it's ready. But when I try to pay, I get an error message saying they don't have my e-mail address in their files.

Customer service has no idea how to fix this. I finally just blocked their e-mails.

[MonkeyFunk]

8. I canceled my Comcast last week

going to switch to satellite.

They just got more expensive each year, until it was ridiculous.

[pokerfan]

9. Yes

We Already have Versus on 31 so I don't think MSNBC is going digital. Given a choice, I would take Olbermann over Hockey.

[graywarrior]

10. Had Comcast in Florida. H A T E D it.

[Orrex]

11. As House of Kewpie noted above...

We got hosed when they moved a bunch of channels into the upper registers. "Not to worry," said Comcast. "For just $9.95 extra you'll get an additional 60 channels, including the ones that you lost."

"Does that mean the two channels I want, plus 58 Golf channels?" I asked.

"Um," said Comcast.

[Critters2]

12. We have Mediacom. But live very near areas with Comcast,

so I hear the horror stories. I used to complain about Mediacom. Then I learned about Comcast. I'll take Medicom (with MSNBC on channel 61), thank you.

[LeftyMom]

13. They Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.

I can't have a dish where I live (no clear line of sight, there's another building in the way) and anyhow, I mostly have service with them so I can access the intertubes. I'm hoping I'll be able to sign up with surewest soon, they're supposed to have much better customer service, and they're definitely cheaper.

[femmocrat]

14. Thanks everyone for your replies.

I feel (somewhat) calmer now, knowing that I'm not alone. I wonder how much it would cost to start a website called "comcastsux.com"? There must be millions of dissatisfied comcast users.

:banghead:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

15. I get only basic-basic, but it seems that they're moving all the channels

that intelligent people can stand to watch up to the digital tier.

[femmocrat]

16. I swear it's a conspiracy!

We even lost C-Span 2 several months ago. No more "Booknotes" on the weekends.... :cry:

A couple of years ago, they took off C-span in the mornings and showed ancient children's programming (that NO modern kid would watch). There were letters to the editor, etc. They eventually restored C-span, but it took awhile and a lot of complaining. I bet it's owned by conservatives.

[Angleae]

17. Only for those with digital cable

Those of us with non-digital cable, channels stay where they are.

[Carnea]

18. You know if congress can vote to invade another country and kill all their people.

You would think they would allow you to pick and pay for only the channels you want on cable.

I pay fox news every month. I don't watch fox news yet I give them money. MsNBC and CNN can join this pile. (I have BBC, some German news program and some Japanese financial channel so I Godzilla attacks I'm sure I'll see live coverage.)

I give MTV money even though I would not watch a single program on that station on a bet.

I get 47 odd sports channels honestly I need 1 channel for about 3 hours every Sunday in the fall and winter till lets say Feb.

I don't speak Spanish so the half dozen Spanish channels can go. (Though I do find some of there female hosts memorizing.)

I have not interest in soft-core porn movies without the nudity or Jerry Springer style reality showws so I don't need the WE network or Lifetime movie channel.

I will not buy anything from the shopping stations (Though like the Spanish station sometimes the girls do memorize)

Oh and I( haven't watched ABC CBS or NBC for years. (I still have a couple of shows I DVR on Fox like House... Hey no ones perfect)


Needless to say I could go on,

[Lydia Leftcoast]

20. Yes, I'd have very few channels

People in other countries can get channels a la carte. In Japan, they're the equivalent of three to five dollars each. Now if you're a heavy TV watcher, you pay a lot, but those of us who watch maybe five channels in a year, it would be a DEAL.

I'd have no shopping channels, no fundamentalist channels, no sports channels, no kids' channels, no right-wing channels. I'd be fine with the Spanish channels, since I sometimes toy with the idea of resurrecting my Spanish and maybe traveling in Latin America, but I'd like cable subscribers to have the option of things like TV Japan or France 24.

When I expressed my anger at Al Gore for buying Newsworld International and turning into YouTube, I mean, Current, someone told me that NWI had very few viewers. Well, duh, the only place it was ever advertised was on its own broadcasts. Yet with content mostly from Canada but also from other countries, it was an amazing news source. It was the only news source I trusted during the initial stages of the Iraq invasion, because Canada didn't have any troops to "support." The same is true for Ovation, which showed wonderful historical and cultural documentaries, and even some performances, although its library must have had only about fifty films in it. It was never advertised.

I picked up an older (2004) issue of the New Yorker the other day, and it talked about how Rhapsody, Netflix, and Amazon had discovered that there was SOME market for everything. Even music/movies/books that were unpopular with the general public were eventually sought out by SOMEBODY. They had almost no stock that nobody had ever ordered. In their vast stock of choices, everyone could find something they liked.

Yet the TV networks are going in the opposite direction, filling what used to be their niche channels with endless "reality" programming. The last straw was when BBC America went all reality show and ANCIENT reruns (Benny Hill??), except for maybe two shows a week that you can watch without rotting your brain, and National Geographic went in for marathons of The Dog Whisperer.

On another board, people were complaining that TVLand no longer shows the variety of old shows that it once did, and I've already ranted about the deterioration of A&E, Discovery, Bravo, and the History Channel into channels for people who think that the Naitonal Enquirer is great literature. There are a couple of network shows that I can stand to watch if I happen to catch them, but I don't feel bad if I miss them. This is a change from 10 or 15 years ago.

Instead of appealing to diverse interests, as Rhapsody, iTunes, Netflix, and Amazon are, the TV networks are going for homogeneity, and not in a good way.

[lizerdbits]

19. I don't like them

About 4 years ago I got a bill for double my normal bill and when I called they said I'd called them that September (this was Dec) to request 3 free trial months of movie channels (or some other bunch of channels). No, I said (since I don't watch movie channels and had never actually called them). OH YES YOU DID she tells me with an attitude. I said FUCK YOU I'LL CALL BACK AND TALK TO SOMEONE ELSE (coworkers looking at me strangely). So I called back later and got it straightened out with sans attitude rep, my bill was changed, I just had to return that digital box which I didn't need anyway but was given when they installed. I have to get condo association permission for a dish so I just never bothered, and I just don't watch that many channels.

A LA CARTE CABLE NOW!!!!!1!

[bicentennial_baby]

21. I'll still get it, but it annoys me...

On our tv it's like this:

FauxNews (not that we ever watch it, but for reference): Ch 41
CNN: Ch 42
Headline News: Ch 43
CSPAN: Ch 44
CNBC: Ch 45

MSNBC: Ch 67

Now it's all of the above and then MSNBC: 266 or whatever. Grrrrr. I'm still pissed about them moving CSPAN2 to the 200-s. x(