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[icrf]

Oh, so that's the minumum that cablecos HAVE to support analog, and if they want to support them after that, it's fine.

How would digital cable come otherwise? Is it all going to be cable boxes/cable cards or will we be luck and get some more clear QAM goodness? Nah, you're right, they couldn't resist to nickel and dime us and get another $5-10/mo out of their customer base.

[whurlston]

They will still be required to carry local channels in the clear.

[icrf]

That's quoted a lot as fact, but I don't think it's a legal requirement, just something many cablecos do. If anyone knows of some FCC ruling on it, I'd love to see. I wouldn't be surprised if it were part of some regional franchising agreements, but those can vary widely. I'm just happy my local Comcast does it.

[whurlston]

That's quoted a lot as fact, but I don't think it's a legal requirement, just something many cablecos do. If anyone knows of some FCC ruling on it, I'd love to see. I wouldn't be surprised if it were part of some regional franchising agreements, but those can vary widely. I'm just happy my local Comcast does it.

It's called the Must Carry law. There is some confusion with it though. They are required to carry the station but they are not required to carry it in digital format. It is in their best interest to do so though and one thing we can count on is for cable companies to do is what's intheir best interest.

[icrf]

Ah, I see, that's where the confusion comes. If they carry a digital version today, it doesn't have to be unencrypted because they carry a clear analog version and that satisfied Must Carry. If the analog version goes away, then it sounds like they should be unencrypted. Or, I guess, they could give you a cable box to unencrypt it. If all cable TV is digital and encrypted, I could see the argument.

Anyway, got years to worry about that. Maybe we'll all have personal fiber connections and IPTV by then.