Comcast not all that committed to CN8?

[Kevin Vahey]

I know that several long time staffers of what is now CN8 who were
with the company as far back as Continenta Cable have been let go from
the CN8 Brookline complex.

This may or not be in play with Comcast yet..but a friend of mine
lives in Anchorage and the cable company there has sent a letter and
posted on their website www.gci.com that they have informed the FCC
that they will be complient with new digital cable rules by December
31 2008. They inform the subscriber that as of Jan 1 2009 cable ready
sets will no longer get service and a box MUST be rented for $2.88 a
month.

I have long suspected this is the plan for Comcast and other systems
but this Alaska company is the first I have heard of actually doing
it.

On 6/14/08, Garrett Wollman <wollman@bimajority.org> wrote:
> I just got my cable bill for this month (due in six days, natch).  It
> included an insert announcing yet more lineup changes.  "CN8", the
> former "AT&T 3", is being moved to a digital tier, on "channel" 188.
> I suppose that's slightly better than channel 3 from a branding
> perspective, but I wonder how many viewers will ever notice it there.
>
> They are also moving MSNBC and several services I've never watched to
> their "digital starter" tier (which is apparently the digital
> equivalent of "expanded basic").
>
> I suppose it's time to resume the search for a CableCARD-equipped
> digital TV to replace my old 13-inch Zenith.  It seems that Comcast is
> determined to make everyone rent STBs.
>
> -GAWollman
>
>