Comcast’s Efforts to Decommission Analog Cable Channels Can Have Unfortunate Side Effects

Comcast, the nation’s largest cable operator, has been aggressively seeking to decommission many of its analog channels to free up spectrum to carry the increasing number of digital High Definition cable networks and local stations on its cable systems.

In addition to subscribers facing the expense and inconvenience of placing a digital converter box on every cable-wired television in the house, those channels and networks bumped from analog sometimes find themselves stuck in Digital Siberia, with a channel number in the hundreds, often lost amidst hundreds of other channels.

WEIU, a secondary PBS station serving viewers in central eastern Illinois, found itself in such a predicament in April, given a choice by the cable operator to either remain on analog, to be phased out down the road, or agree to be placed on the digital tier, where it would also be granted a second TV channel to carry “WEIU World” and a radio station, where it could be received beyond its normal coverage area.

WEIU management opted for the latter, and digital customers found WEIU on Channel 14 and Channel 189. Analog customers found themselves out of luck, unless they agreed to pay a monthly fee for a set top converter box, ranging in price from $1.38 for “basic analog” tier customers to $3.48 for “standard analog” tier customers. Many standard analog customers found a cheaper option – the Digital Starter service for $1.99 a month.

Comcast, like many cable operators, reached an agreement with PBS to carry just one primary PBS local station on analog in most communities. As Champaign is already served by primary PBS affiliate WILL-TV, WEIU left analog behind.

Unfortunately, a side effect of the station’s decision was its listings were deleted from some area newspapers’ TV schedules.

With the nation’s transition to digital television now complete, the listings for WEIU will be returned to Champaign-area newspapers, and now WEIU has four places on the Comcast dial: WEIU-TV on channels 14 and 189 for its primary signal, WEIU World on Channel 418, and WEIU-HD on Channel 915.

Some cable subscribers have been unimpressed with the dwindling number of analog signals Comcast is carrying, particularly in smaller communities, forcing them to pay additional fees for converter equipment for their analog cable-ready TV sets.