Comcast of Southwest Florida has taken the first step in aligning channels between Comcast Cable-vision and the former Time Warner channel lineup.
The effective date for the repositioning is Dec. 16, according to Barbara Hagen, market vice president and general manager for Comcast of Southwest Florida.
Perhaps the biggest change for local viewers will come when they look to tune in city council or county government meetings.
“Instead of channels 11, 12 and 14,” Hagen said, “they’ll be tuning into channel 97 and 98.”
The city of Cape Coral’s program will switch from channel 14 to channel 98.
But aside from that, the changes will provide a more uniform service to customers countywide.
“Comcast customers have been requesting a move to more consistent channel numbers for Collier and Lee counties,” Comcast announced Monday. “Since the former Time Warner communities in Southwest Florida became Comcast of Southwest Florida, the company has been working to align the channel numbers for both areas.”
“What happens today is that if a customer moves, they could be living in an area traditionally served by Time Warner … If they happen to move from one area to another, they see a significant change,” Hagen said. “So if somebody moves within Lee, Collier, Glades or Hendry as a Comcast customer, they will not see a change in their channel lineup once this project is completed.”
On Tuesday, Dec. 16, the multi-phased process will begin when Comcast aligns approximately half of the analog channels in both areas. Comcast hopes to finish the alignment completely by the end of next year.
“It is important to note that not all analog networks will be changing locations,” the company reported.
Customers can visit comcastflorida.com/channelsandservices to view channel lineups for their particular area; when customers call their local Comcast office, a recorded message will remind them of the analog channel alignment.
As part of this relocation plan, new channels will be added. On Dec. 16, Comcast will launch the MLB Network on Digital Preferred and AMC HD. Versus HD and Golf HD will be on separate channels with 24-hour feeds of separate programming. As HD viewing skyrockets, Comcast … now has more than 1,000 high-definition (HD) viewing choices, delivering on the company’s commitment to significantly increase HD programming.
“These channel alignments are not related to the digital transition” mandated by the Federal Communications Commission, Comcast reported.
The federal government requires that, as of Feb. 17, all full-power TV broadcast stations like ABC, CBS, NBC, Univision, Fox and PBS begin broadcasting exclusively in digital format. As a result, the analog TV signals that non-cable and non-satellite viewers receive “over the air” with rooftop antennas and rabbit ears will shut off. Consumers’ television sets will stop receiving analog broadcast TV signals unless they are connected to cable (Comcast) or satellite services or they purchase a new digital television with a built-in converter or a digital-to-analog converter box.
The transition has been planned for years by the federal government to free up parts of the broadcast spectrum for public safety communications such as police, fire departments and rescue squads.