Zap2it Closing Down

[whurlston]

Have you been able to overcome the problem that occurs when there is no tuner in an MCE machine?

I found the registry settings that are supposed to enable the EPG. The are listed in the MceEpg2XmlTv thread in the Dev forum. I will be testing them shortly.

[davidjrichard]

It's beneficial to a cable companies bottom line to carry stations in digital instead of analog. They can broadcast several digital stations in the place of one analog.

Yep it's already happening. See http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/82836 [I would've jumped in on that thread, but I was away on vacation that week.] Anyway, I'm on Time Warner and I haven't heard of a schedule yet for them to stop analog. They'll have to drag me kicking and screaming to get off analog.

[wtg]

Are you positive that they at least won't be carrying the local channels in the clear via QAM? My understanding is the law requires this. To the average cable user this would still require a box and so you can see why the reps might be saying this - they might not even be aware that QAM decoders are available. My guess is you'll find that at least the locals are available via unencrypted QAM and maybe even some more.

Regardless, going from premium channels available without a box to a few unencrypted QAM would be still be a huge loss. I'd sure be bummed out.

[wtg]

Ah, I guess if you can't get anything via attenna then they aren't required to put anything in the clear.

[Smoker]

tipstir when did you get your box ?

[topperdude]

Perhaps this thread could help clarify some things about the "must carry" rule for cable companies?

Hope it helps,
-Topper

[Smoker]

Last Aug and one more this year..

The reason I asked is because I had read that a new law (by the FCC) was that digital boxes had to be configured differently if given to new customers on or after July 1st.

[whurlston]

Next up is all digital HD channels so no more limited HD content, everything will be HD. I can't wait..

Digital does not mean HD. You can (and most likely will) have digital SD channels.

[whurlston]

The reason I asked is because I had read that a new law (by the FCC) was that digital boxes had to be configured differently if given to new customers on or after July 1st.

What had to be configured differently? Are you referring to the requirement that all customer premised equipment support CableCard?

[pvruser]

OK i know this is selfish though it may apply to many others too - but i'm only using OTA ATSC and i was wondering how easy/hard it would be to add the EPG from the programs into the update (when the free zap2it goes way). i've found that twinhan's software has a EPG thing that downloads 2 days of programming off the channel itself and does it in about 15 seconds. 2 days is not a lot but its still great for scheduling shows instead of manually entering when to start/stop recording. it is probably also more accurate than EPG providers since the station can do real-time updates.
considering pay-alternatives i'd rather have a plugin that can read ATSC EPG data. is that possible?