Comcast beefs up HD lineup in DC Metro area
We could certainly get used to hearing all these HD expansion stories, but the ones most excited about Comcast's latest additions are housed all around our nation's capital. According to tipster Casey, customers in and around Baltimore, Maryland and Northern Virginia are just now receiving six new high-definition channels: Discovery Channel HD, CNN HD, TLC HD, USA HD, Animal Planet HD, and yes, Sci-Fi HD, too. Interestingly, it's said that subscribers in Washington, D.C. have yet to see the newcomers, but feel free to toss a comment in below if that status changes.[Thanks, Casey B.]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Matt @ Dec 24th 2007 12:11AM
In Chicago we just recently got Discovery HD, CNN HD, USA HD, TBS HD, National Geographic HD, History HD... but no Sci-Fi HD. :(
kcha295 @ Dec 24th 2007 12:13AM
same in atlanta
Ross Finlayson @ Dec 24th 2007 12:44AM
In my area (Mountain View, CA), Comcast recently added some new HD channels - but still does not offer pay-per-view events in HD. I have tried in vain to get any information from Comcast about if/when they plan to offer HD PPV events, but all I get is a canned response along the lines of "we are continuing to upgrade our service, but can't give any specific dates".
Does anyone know a way to get a meaningful non-canned response from Comcast? I want to know if I should just give up on them, bite the bullet, and switch to DirecTV or Dish...
tetu81 @ Dec 24th 2007 11:04AM
Several people have noted that contacting Rick Germano, Senior Vice President of Customer Operations, gets a person with a clue to answer your question. After I was unable to get an answer about HD channels in DC (or even for anyone on the phone to admit that HD Theatre != Discovery HD), I used that form on the Comcast site and got a call back the next day. Others have received similarly fast responses from someone who has real information (even if it isn't what you want to hear). You'll find the form by going to www.comcast.com, click on Contact Us, click on "Send an e-mail to Rick" in the box to the right. Just ask a succinct and polite question and I bet they return a polite answer (by phone if you leave your number).
Ross Finlayson @ Dec 27th 2007 3:42PM
Thanks for the suggestion to try the "send an email to Rick" link. To my amazement, I ended up getting real feedback from a real person (someone named Dave). Unfortunately, though, it wasn't what I wanted to hear. Apparently Comcast has *no* plans to start offering PPV events in HD.
So, in my case at least, it's time to switch to DirecTV or Dish.
Dan @ Dec 24th 2007 1:21AM
They only added A&E HD, History Channel HD, National Geographic HD and USA HD here in Washington State (Bremerton market). We still have yet to get Discovery HD (THE ONE I WANT MOST) Personally, I am fully tempted to say screw Comcast and head over to DirecTV.
orky @ Dec 24th 2007 1:45AM
Umm, I'm in Arlington, VA and we still have the same craptastic lineup and service as we did before - i.e., no new channels.
Bennie @ Dec 24th 2007 2:22AM
Here in Baltimore, Comcast added USA, SciFi and Discovery to their HD lineup. It was truly unexpected. I am used to them making an announcement about new channels before adding them.
Marcus Carr @ Dec 24th 2007 3:48AM
The three new Baltimore channels are considered a "sneak preview" and were mentioned a few weeks ago by someone at AVSForum in the local thread. We should get CNN, History, and TLC in mid-January. Comcast sent out a flier recently officially announcing all six for January.
Jordan @ Dec 24th 2007 8:00AM
In Northern Virginia, all of the new channels can now be seen on the HD channel lineup, but they all show up as blank channels and the guide says "To Be Announced." If you change to one of these channels, the programming is coming in without an issue, though - it's just taking Comcast some time to label them, I guess...
jcd @ Dec 24th 2007 8:08AM
No changes to the Washington DC lineup as of this morning--unless my TiVo simply hasn't picked up the new channels yet.
tetu81 @ Dec 24th 2007 10:58AM
I spoke to someone at Comcast after I "emailed Rick" and was told the city would get these channels in mid-January. Someone else noticed that the lineup for DC ZIP codes has already been updated at www.comcast.com (not tvplanner, though). I'd say a few more weeks' patience will be rewarded! :)
Mike Botros @ Dec 24th 2007 10:09AM
I just came home to the detroit area, and since the last time i was here for thanksgiving weekend i found a few new HD channels. TBS HD, USA HD, History Channel HD, and CNN HD. In York, PA still haven't gotten those or Food Net HD, HGTV HD, FSN HD, or ESPN2HD yet which Detroit has had for a while.
Emisi @ Dec 24th 2007 10:34AM
I'm in Northern Virginia and I noticed SciFiHD last night. Merry Christmas to me!
RobC @ Dec 24th 2007 2:29PM
Well, I'm in Prince William Co, VA (Eastern side - NoVA), and I have the HD channels. They are in the 220s to 230s, but I do not see any listing of what is where. Any one have any luck with finding a channel guide?
BTW, I'm on CableCard in the Digital ReBuild Area. Don't know if that means anything extra..
Kevin @ Dec 24th 2007 3:23PM
We got these in the Atlanta area this past week.
Ryan L @ Dec 24th 2007 3:26PM
I got these a week ago or so in Manassas, VA (Northern Virginia)... they are great, we got i think 8 or 9 new total ones
Jerry @ Dec 24th 2007 3:49PM
Here in Montgomery Co, MD...we only got USA HD and SciFi HD :( where's our Discovery HD package?
trvincanity15 @ Dec 24th 2007 4:11PM
Fellow Montgomery County reader,
What are the channel numbers for the new channels? Thanx
Nick Stark @ Dec 25th 2007 4:55PM
Anyone know if Richmond is included in these new additions?
Matt @ Dec 26th 2007 3:19PM
Richmond, VA has ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, A&E, NationaL Geographic, HD Theatre, INHD, MHD, HGHD, Food Channel HD, TBS HD, USA HD, Sci Fi HD, Discovery HD, TLC HD, NFL HD, TNT HD,Universal HD, Comcast Sportsnet HD, ESPN & ESPN 2 HD, VS HD
Dan in DCVA @ Dec 26th 2007 11:06PM
In Woodbridge, VA, we got the whole list.
I'm glad I called them a month ago and complained about the weak Comcast line-up and how I wanted SCI-FI (BSG) and History in HD or I was going to switch to DirecTV (which a grove of trees is blocking right now anyway).
Could someone have actually listened to me? Might Comcast *no*t suck?
Doubtful at best.
EB @ Jan 21st 2008 3:10PM
But for normal subscribers in DC, Comcast has just, without any notice on the bill or separately in the mail, removed several channels from cable package. Aren't they required to give notice?
Scott @ Jan 29th 2008 8:47PM
I'm in Montgomery County MD too and all I got was Sci-Fi HD and USA HD. I don't understand why they aren't rolling everything out at once...
Paul @ Jan 30th 2008 11:11AM
Coming to the party late (DirecTV can't replace my existing standard dish with the HD dish...no line of sight to the new satelite and nothing to which to connect the (much larger) HD dish on the roof). Does Comcast offer HBO or any of the premium channels as HD in Washington? Any good links for the story of why cable is so far behind dishes (bandwidth? technology? channels beholden to the dishes?)? Thanks for the thread--now I know why I can't get a straight answer from Comcast or its website.