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A very useful article for sorting out all the broadcast digital transition (DTV) misinformation in the media these days. It also highlights cable company strategies for playing the transition to their own end (the cable digital transition deadline isn't until Feb 2012). Lost here is any mention of affordable 'basic' cable service, the tier of analog service consisting of local broadcast and PEG channels priced to ensure that low-income and fixed income families can afford basic local TV service. We need to ensure that digital cable affords this tier of service for those that need it most.

from: MultiChannel News

Analog is Dead. Long Live Analog
Why Cable Won’t Go All-Digital By Feb. 18, 2009, Even If Broadcasters Will

By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 2/18/2008 8:22:00 AM

Is analog TV an albatross for cable?

from: Multichannel News

Where PEG Fits In Squarely

_ At a public hearing in New York City on Jan. 17, a man stood up and told city officials about a category of local programming that is cable-exclusive.

"You're not going to find this on satellite," the man said. "You're going to find it on cable."

from: MultiChannel News

N.C. Franchise Law Helping … Cable Incumbents
AT&T, Other Competitors Have Yet To Apply For Statewide Application
By Linda Haugsted -- Multichannel News, 2/16/2008 9:29:00 AM

A bill designed to aid competitive video providers in North Carolina has actually deregulated many incumbent operators, while no new competitors have applied to serve the state, according to data compiled by a municipal consultant.

Medina Gazette

Wadsworth irked over funding halt by Time Warner
February 6th, 2008
By MARIA KACIK
Staff Writer

The city of Wadsworth may take official action against Time Warner Cable after the company halted its funding of a portion of the city’s public education and government (PEG) programming on WCTV.

from: ZDNet

January 31st, 2008
Tornado destroyed woman’s house: then she gets this $2,025.45 bill from Time Warner Cable
Posted by Russell Shaw @ 3:21 pm

From Wisconsin’s Kenosha News comes this story that after a January 7 tornado demolished her home, and ensuing rain and snow made it a bear to fix, a woman from the area has received a $2,025.45 bill from her (now former, well duh) cable television service.

Note: Another case of rising 'basic cable' rates a a result of state franchises. Once local oversight is lifted by the FCC, cable and phone companies have raised the 'basic cable' rate by as much as 200%.

from: Moorpark Acorn

Time Warner wants to get off the hook with Moorpark

from: MSNBC

Cable TV: King of misleading come-ons
Companies focus on bottom line, not customer satisfaction

By Bob Sullivan
Technology correspondent
updated 9:38 p.m. ET, Mon., Jan. 28, 2008

Television, from the start, has always been addictive. And there’s nothing easier than stealing from an addict.

from: Ojai Valley News

Thursday, January 24, 2008
Ojai's Public Access May Be Closed

If Time Warner inks deal with state, it will likely be curtains for local television shows

By Nao Braverman
Public access television stations, known to feature quirky television shows with all the amateur charm of low-budget production and editing, may be heading for demise in California, and even sooner in Ojai.

from: The Signal

City Eyeing Public Access TV Options
Santa Clarita has a year to figure out a way to save public channel.

By Katherine Geyer
Signal Staff Writer
Monday January 21, 2008

The city of Santa Clarita will spend the next year figuring out how to continue providing programming on its public access channel thanks to a 2006 state law that relieves cable companies of the responsibility of operating a public access studio beginning in 2009.

from: Broadband Reports

Verizon, Industry Comment On Time Warner Cable Plans
Verizon taunts MSO, analysts think low caps are a ripoff
03:10PM Monday Jan 21 2008 by Karl

As we were the first to report last week, Time Warner Cable will be testing overage charges in one of the company's Texas markets. We've noted that Charter is also exploring metered bandwidth, and Business Week confirms that Comcast and Cox are as well. In the Business Week report, Verizon takes aim at the cable industry, suggesting that Time Warner Cable is interested in the plans because they lack bandwidth: