Cablevision / Optimum coaxing CableCARD users back to HD STB

by Darren Murph posted Mar 19th 2008 at 4:07PM

It seems The Man is still trying to hold CableCARD users down, as just a month after Bright House and Time Warner users in various locales were forced to either revert to a carrier-issued HD STB or lose out on a few HD channels, along comes Cablevision trying to do the same. This time, however, Cablevision / Optimum actually had the nerve to print up flyers and mail 'em out to CableCARD users informing them that they'll need to switch to the box they (likely) intentionally snubbed to begin with in order to catch the high-def action on the Voom HD family. Worse still, it tries to coax said users into ditching their card by offering an HD cable box gratis for a full year. Needless to say, SDV support for CableCARD can't come quickly enough.

Gallery: Cablevision / Optimum coaxing CableCARD users back to HD DVR

[Thanks, Ramon]

Filed under: Industry, DVRs, Set-top boxes, Tuners, Cable

Tags: cablecard, cablevision, io, issue, new york, NewYork, ny, Optimum, problem, sdv, switched digital video, SwitchedDigitalVideo

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

Iscariote @ Mar 19th 2008 4:26PM

Oh, Voom channels. I'll stick with my Tivo, thanks though.

Neutral

Vertebra @ Mar 24th 2008 12:27AM

Tell Cablevision to keep their boxes... the Voom network is a joke. Take a look at their stellar HD line up on their Monsters channel. They show the same crappy b rated movie every other hour! The best thing about the channel is the preview of what SHOULD be showing on a regular basis.

Neutral

MeisterGeek @ Mar 19th 2008 9:21PM

I have called their bluff! and are waiting for Cablevision or Optimum (as they would like you to call them) to respond! The dongle was announced 11/27/2007 by the National Cable and Telecommunications Association", of which they are a member.

The loose availability in that press release is 2nd qtr. 2008, so I guess that could mean end of June before we hear more about that development.

Meanwhile what is outrageous is the fact that Cablevision in their flyer make no mention of the dongle, so if you are a CableCard customer call their bluff and contact their customer service demanding a release date for the dongle!

Stay tuned!

Neutral

Moaner @ Mar 19th 2008 9:50PM

I missed that announcement on the dongle. Thanks for the tip and count me in on hassling Opium, er Optimum for delivery!

Neutral

keith @ Mar 20th 2008 12:03PM

The dongle will only work with Tivo.
The notice says you need the cable box to get the interactive program guide and the music channels. That is wrong. New TV's and Tivo have TV Guide on screen and both get the music channels. You don't even need cablecard to get the music channels, they are unscrambles QAM.

Neutral

JoN @ Mar 19th 2008 10:49PM

cablevision can keep their crappy voom channels and i shall keep my not crappy tivos

Neutral

Pipper @ Mar 20th 2008 10:22AM

I would forward that flyer straight to the FCC. This is exactly why the law they passed was supposed to prevent.

Neutral

Loralyn @ Apr 16th 2008 9:26PM

Why does the FCC swallows every rationale fed to them by cable companies without question? The latest sham? Citing a lack of bandwidth, the cable companies have successfully sabotaged the use of cablecards by moving HD stations to SDV.
Was there really no alternative? What about the bandwith dedicated to providing 6-10 versions of Premium stations? As cable customers now record programs for viewing at their convenience, having the exact same programing on 10 stations only appears to provide more choice.
For decades, the cable companies have fought and delayed implementing every FCC regulation designed to improve cable services and lower the costs to consumers. The use of a cablecard not only freed cable customers from the necessity of having a set-top box, it would have freed customers from the necessity of renting a set-top box from their cable provider.
Clearly competition in this area would have been beneficial for consumers.

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