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Time Warner’s Weather Radar Channel moving to digital-only tier
Weather nerd alert!
Time Warner Cable is moving the Color Weather Radar Channel to the digital-only tier, effective April 10.
Why? Allegedly to add lots of bells and whistles to the previously basic Sven-narrated radar picture. But it doesn’t take a genius to know that this is just another nudge by Time Warner to move customers from basic service to digital. More channels, yes; more money, you bet.
To make the move even more annoying, Cable Channel 44, where weather radar currently resides, will be blank after the new-and-improved weather radar channel moves to Digital 355.
Why not just leave the old-fashioned weather radar on the soon-to-be-empty Channel 44? Time Warner spokesman Roger Heaney, who is always polite and pleasant, didn’t know but figured it was a “technical problem.”
What’s the big deal with the digital-level radar channel?
“We’ll be able to provide customized, community-level imagery,” Heaney said. “The enhancements they’re making requires it to be on digital.”
Heaney said the digital weather radar channel will customize the radar image right down to your neighborhood and, through the miracle of digital transmissions, automatically know where you are — or at least where your cable box is.
Heaney also said moving the weather radar channel off the lower tier opens up the possibility of adding three or four HD channels in the future, for which he says customers are clamoring. More HD, less weather. Really?
Time Warner customers who are not on digital service, Heaney says, can still catch weather updates every 10 minutes on Time Warner’s local cable news channel, News 8. And, of course, weather radar is plentifully available on various Web sites.
But that’s not exactly the same as watching the big red and purple storm blobs roll in as Sven calmly describes “possible tornadic activity in the area.” Those of us already on digital no doubt will relish the fancy technology, but we’ll miss Sven’s comforting monotone and the hypnotic images of Central Texas weather.
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By Bob
May 6, 2008 8:50 AM | Link to this
I tuned to 44 this morning to check out the radar to be sure I was not going to be hit by a thunderstorm if I went outside to jog. I found the weather radar channel has now been moved as they had earlier "informed" us was going to happen. So I tried the local tv channel weathercasts and when you look at them most of them are too much glitz and too little useful info (plus you have to know when each is going to be on and figure out which one is best...takes awhile). They use the actual current moving radar so little in their regular weathercasts that you can't get a good read on what is happening. Condense it fellas (and ladies) and use the actual radar more and the glitzy multiple day packages (which "move" too fast to keep up with anyway) less. This whole TW thing is a true case of Big Bidness screwing the public with the complicity of local and federal government. And it seems to be happening every time we turn around.....
By Samuel
April 28, 2008 11:51 PM | Link to this
This is definitely a plot to make money on their legacy analog cable customers. Moving the radar to a switched digital channel 355 will only work with their box, a cable card won't even work. This is just a start, there will be more channels going away which means you will have to pay more! Looking at the city charter, there is nothing I can find to stop them, but hey TW tells me that they are doing this so they can get more space for HD channels. Here is a suggestion, move the public access channels to these switched digital channel, then they will have lots of room for HD. I want my radar back without switching to their dumb box!
By Scott
April 20, 2008 6:06 PM | Link to this
Well,
When I tune to channel 355 I get the same screen as I do on channel 44.
I guess I'll have to go to my computer to check radar now.
In Dallas some of the channels have radar on their secondary or tertiary channels. Does anyone know if this is the case here in Austin? My current TV doesn't have a HD tuner in it.
By Steve
April 4, 2008 12:45 AM | Link to this
Okay real quick…
2009 All Over the Air broadcasters must be broadcasting in Digital Signal not Analog. Digital and HD are NOT synonymous. HD can be recorded on analog and Digital can be 480i, 480p (Standard Def aka SD) as well as 720p, 1080i and 1080p (High Def aka HD).
2009 you can still use your current TV, you will just need a digital to analog convertor if your TV does not have one in it.
Having said that, many broadcasters will go ahead and broadcast in in HD Digital and be done with it. However this will be the larger media markets (probably not Austin) first. Smaller market stations will broadcast in Digital SD thus meeting laws. Markets currently doing SDanalog and HD analog will probably move to SD and HD Digital for a few years and then kill the SD Digital station simulcast. Some stations will probably provide both until FCC forces the move to HD too.
Having said that, TW internet speeds make me miss the speed of the telegraph. Cripes it is painfully expensive and slow, and 7MB for $84/mo if you actually get 7MB transfer data rate.
By Dances with Possums
March 28, 2008 2:14 PM | Link to this
Do what I did and kill your TV sets.
By David
March 27, 2008 9:54 PM | Link to this
Call time warner and tell them you want to cancel. They will drop your rate by about 70$ or 80$ a month. I told them I was switching to AT & T and they offered to lower my monthly bill by 75$ a month.
By Jimmy
March 27, 2008 4:08 PM | Link to this
This sucks. That's actually an important channel, and TWC decides to cut if off to force you to pay to upgrade.
By Dennis
March 27, 2008 3:59 PM | Link to this
I left Time Horror and it's never-ending onslaught of B/S for DISH Network about 6 months ago.
I've never been happier... even without the silly weather radar channel.
By Sherry
March 27, 2008 3:59 PM | Link to this
TW does advertise that their HD is free, but don't you have to rent a box adapter for each tv? TW told me that those boxes rent for $7-10 per month. So, apparently it's not really free.
By Jerry
March 27, 2008 3:25 PM | Link to this
Had my Time Warner HD installed a week ago, but I only get half of the HD channels because of a "problem node" somewhere in Block House Creek MUD. Some Time Warner customer service reps say it was fixed and others say it's still broken. Can't tell who's lying yet, but after three phone calls and a soon to be third tech coming to the house, I'm not sure I'll get any weather channel soon. AT&T is lookin' mighty good right about now.
By Rules
March 27, 2008 3:25 PM | Link to this
This is the last straw. Time Warner is a rip-off........ going to move my service to Grande.
By Kay
March 27, 2008 2:54 PM | Link to this
So someone please translate this change into dollars --- what is the lowest price per month we pay now to have access to the weather radar channel and what will you have to pay to receive the same service (albeit with more bells and whistles)on the digital only tier? What's the cost differential?
By Larry
March 27, 2008 2:52 PM | Link to this
TW can't eliminate the analog cable service they offer because it is still the only choice in lightly populated areas like the Granger- Bartlett area of NE Williamson County. They so far have refused to upgrade here.
By Rules
March 27, 2008 2:48 PM | Link to this
Time Warner is a rip off-----Moving my service over to Grande.
By jb
March 27, 2008 1:55 PM | Link to this
Time Warner doesn't charge extra for HD now, except for the movie packages and their one HDTV pack (which has Mojo, HDNet, and a couple others). The HD versions of ESPN, TBS, TNT, etc. are included in the digital price.
By Bart
March 27, 2008 1:53 PM | Link to this
T/W used to stand for Time/Warner.......
NOW it's Thieving Weasels...or time wasters if
you are calling about a cable problem!
By Bart
March 27, 2008 1:48 PM | Link to this
No, T/W is short for "Thieving Weasles"!
By Bart
March 27, 2008 1:40 PM | Link to this
TW stands for Time-Warner!?!
I'm sorry...I thought it meant Thieving Weasels!
By Ruth Bader
March 27, 2008 1:27 PM | Link to this
When I find a replacement for TW I will leave. I stopped using AT&T 25 years ago and haven't looked back. I may again consider AT&T if they allow me to leave TW for 25 years.
By Mike N
March 27, 2008 1:26 PM | Link to this
Folks who have digital TV over the air can watch radar on KVUE's second channel, 24-2. It also provides a full forecast.
Time Warner continues to put to to Austin consumers. Educate yourselves, folks. The same services are available from other companies, in the case of KVUE, the weather radar is FREE.
By Doug
March 27, 2008 1:23 PM | Link to this
They are moving it to digital so they can use channel 44's 6mhz of spectrum for up to 10 Standard Definition (SD) digital channels or up to 2 or 3 High Definition (HD) digital channels. Analog channels are an inefficient use of the cable frequency so this move is probably just to give more useful digital channels to the people who actually DO pay for digital and high def service. Quit whining, it's just a lousy radar channel.
By David
March 27, 2008 12:29 PM | Link to this
> My question is whether TW will stop charging
> extra for HDTV programming after February 17
> (or is it 19?), 2009 when every station is
> required to stop transmitting analog and begin
> transmitting digital only.
The only stations affected by this transition are the local OTA (over-the-air) stations. The digital versions of these stations are already included in basic tier for no extra charge (with the exception of KNVA-DT which is not available at all due to what I assume is LIN's inability to negotiate).
There are also many other HD channels that are available in the digital tier for no extra charge (e.g. ESPN HD and ESPN2 HD).
By David
March 27, 2008 12:24 PM | Link to this
> Why not just go ahead and eliminate the basic?
RCN Chicago did that earlier this year. See http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6529082.html for more details.
By good1toknow
March 27, 2008 12:06 PM | Link to this
My question is whether TW will stop charging extra for HDTV programming after February 17 (or is it 19?), 2009 when every station is required to stop transmitting analog and begin transmitting digital only. This does not mean they must transmit in high definition, because they can transmit in digital, standard-def, but will TW up the ante, still, on HD?
As far as being required to pay for TV after the conversion, that is untrue. People without cable or without access to it can pick up the digital signals with the same antennas they have now. Not the same televisions, but the same antennas.
Digital television is actually clearer and easier to receive than analog. I live near Mopac & Wells Branch and for some reason, my analog signal is ghosty. When I switch my TV to high-def, it's crystal clear. Digital TV is like your cell phone or CD player. It's either there and beautiful, or you get nothing. There's no static or ghosting. But it is also similar to dial-up, because the signal you receive is constantly being renegotiated if you're in a fringe area. That's why Tyler Sieswerda's face can get all blocky and Christine Haas can just disappear sometimes, watching Kvue News Nightbeat, in a fringe high-def area.
By Frenchie
March 27, 2008 11:43 AM | Link to this
Ah yes...even if it's not broke, go fix it. Time Warner Cable is notorious for stunts like this one. Bye bye, T-W -- it's satellite dish TV for me. I'll get my weather radar picture from KVUE's website. Idiots!
By Brad
March 27, 2008 11:30 AM | Link to this
So when does TW just ditch the non-digital format all together? Sad attempt to one, get more people to pay more and two, boost viewers of their news channel.
By Wes
March 27, 2008 11:28 AM | Link to this
Has anyone seen a greedier company than Time Warner?
If only they'd spend a half as much money on customer service as the money they spend on commercials telling us how bad satellite is...
By julie
March 27, 2008 11:15 AM | Link to this
Well, my mother will be devasted. She LOVES watching radar. Just another example of the powers that be trying to FORCE people to Buy things. Bad enough a lot of people cant watch TV without cable by next year (I cannot get over this) Now, unless you have internet (Not EVERYONE does) you wont know if a bad storm is coming unless you have digital cable. I dont see how Public and Access Tv are putting up with this, since they are supposed to be for the public. And I always thought commercials paid for the Tv, but we have to pay so much and we still have to watch commercials. What a racket!
By David
March 27, 2008 11:11 AM | Link to this
It's all about freeing up space in the pipe to add new channels. As many as 6 digital channels can be added for each analog channel. This channel is one of the few in the analog tier that they are not contractually obligated to make available via basic cable, so it is an easy choice.
I wonder if CableCard users will be able to see the new channel? Many of the new channels are not available to CableCard users.
Additionally, if they'd make it available via non-encrypted QAM as they do the digital locals, then those with QAM tuners in our TV's could still get it without a cable box. The answer to this question would be a good test regarding the motivation (not that there's any real doubt in the motivation).
By Jeff
March 27, 2008 10:54 AM | Link to this
Why not just go ahead and eliminate the basic? It will prevent the illusion that somehow you will be able to afford television in the near-distant future. Good thing I am not an AARP card holder or disabled. Wait. I am both. Never mind.