Really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really bad cable systems

[Dan]

Everybody thinkks their cable system is the worst in the country; too many religion stations, too many home shopping channels, missing a couple of channels that you might really, really like, or intermittent service outages.

I want to know about cable systenms that are really, truly bad. I'm wondering if there are systems out there that don't have certain basic channels because fundies in the community pressured the company into not carrying them, doesn't have digital channels, has 36 or as few as 12 channels on a system that hasn't been upgraded since the 1970s, and/or doesn't provide broadband Internet access.

Everybody thinks they cable system sucks. Are there any that are really, truly gawd-awful?

 

[Rem]

We only have Fox - so all our channels suck.

 

[Dan]

Fox channels, or a Fox-operated cable system? Does Rupert control entire cable systems in Australia? That's got to be scary.

Time Warner, the cable system serving my town, has several Fox channels - the local over-the-air Fox network affiliate (NTSC and HDTV 1040i), Fox News (the equivalent of Sky News in the UKoGBaNI), Fox Family, Fox Sports Net, Fox Sports World (mostly UK, Australian and South American football), Fox Sports Atlantic, Fox Sports Central, Fox Sports Pacific, and Fox Movies.

I wouldn't say that my cable system sucks, although there are some things that peeve me; eight religious channels, five home shopping channels, and three stations that just promote the cable system itself. That's not really too bad, though; I get about 200 regular channels, 15 free on-demand channels, and 45 audio/music channels. Sometimes, I'll flip through everything, and still there's nothing interesting on.

 

[JNA]

before I got cable, with rabbit ears I got both Indiana and Kentucky PBS. And no computer.
This was ok because every night, different local PBS programing, thus some choice beyond the std network stuff.
now with cable get only Indiana PBS plus their education channel
and even better have a seperate computer modem connection, thus cable is ok.

 

[donk]

My paren't have the worst cable. 12 stations only (abc, cbs, nbc, PBS, CBC, Global, ASN, Fox, TSN, MM, TLC, Cspan) With no cable they might be lucky and get 3 stations.

The funniest thing is that the american feeds are mostly from detroit.

My cable is pretty bad, no OLN. I have to read the tour in real time.

 

[Tranplanner]

My cable is pretty bad, no OLN. I have to read the tour in real time.

You got someone taping it for you?

 

[michaelskis]

COMCAST BLOWS...

I now have no TV because they kept raising my rates, and it was always going out. .

 

[donk]

No tapes, I don't own a VCR.

I'll probably watch the tapes at a friends house next winter when we ride rollers.

Hopefully the weekly update on NBC is on this week.

 

[Tranplanner]

Our new house has a huge TV Antenna. When I first saw it, I thought "oh great, I'm gonna have to take that down somehow". The next day I got a rate increase notice from the local cable company. Now we're going to keep the antenna, and see how many channels we can get with it. $50/mo. for a TV that gets watched maybe 3 times a week is not worth it.

 

[Jeff]

I'm the only neighborhood on Philly or SE PA for that matter that doesn't have Comcast Cable. We got Urban Cable, which doesn't have FX which means no NASCAR when its on that channel

 

[H]

Charter in miami is good.

I have "basic" cable and it includes over 200 channels (including BBC America witch is the best station out there). It also has a DSL package line.

I am sedated just fine.

 

[Repo Man]

I think I am the only person in America that likes their cable service. I have Time Warner digital cable and a cable modem. I have been a customer for over 10 years and have rarely had any problems. They have always showed up when scheduled, I have never had an outage, and they have every channel that I want, with the exception of this low-powered local channel that boradcasts some local sporting events like Wisconsin Badger Basketball. I am hoping that they pick up the new NFL channel this fall too.

My only complaints are 1) it is somehwat expensive - my cable bill is almost 100 a month (with cable modem and HBO & TMC) and 2) They don't have access to the NFL sunday ticket. 3) I have never had the "cable guy" offer to hook me up with every channel if I slip him $100.

Now that I said all that I will probably have all kinds of problems with them when I move next month.

 

[moose]

AT&T Broadband in Sacramento was so bad (persistent sound problems that they simply refused to fix), I cancelled my service and haven't done business with AT&T since, for cable or otherwise. Besides, the less TV, the better.

 

[Cardinal]

Although I am within sight of the cablehead, I can't get cable. Thay have not strung wires out to "the country." I once signed up for a dish, but the installer never showed up on the morning I took off from work, and then never showed up "first thing in the morning" on the second appointment, so I told them to ** off.

Without getting the service, I can't say how bad it really is. On the other hand, my telephone and DSL are provided by SBC. It took way too long to get installed, I have had numerous problems I have spent hours trying to solve. After almost a year of wrangling, I got a promised rebate - only after that received a call from the Attorney General's office to start a consumer fraud investigation. The last problem I had, the supervisor actually said "I know other people with XP Pro who do not have a problem." WTF? Do I give a d*** if somebody else's computer works? Mine does not, and you need to solve the problem. In the end, they didn't figure it out, I did. AT&T will soon be bundling telephone services in this territory and I am just waiting to jump.

 

[Dan]

3) I have never had the "cable guy" offer to hook me up with every channel if I slip him $100.

I don't think you can do thnat anymore. Digital cable boxes are very difficult to unlock, and channel selection with digital cable is controlled from the main office, not by filters where cable comes into the house.

When I first got cable here, I had about 20 foreign language channels. There was stuff in Spanish -- far more than just Univision and Galavision --, French, Arabic, Tagalog, Russian, and Hindi. It was fun to watch, and I spent about a third of my channel surfing time there; watching Indian music videos and Tagalish programming from the Phillipines can be rather surreal. Most Arabic programming consists of Sunday morning-style panel shows, for some reason ... yawn! After a couple of weeks, though, it was gone.

My beef with Time Warner is minor. My cable box crashes every few days. I think it's actually a small embedded Linux-based computer.

 

[SlaveToTheGrind]

My system does not show Howard Stern until midnight. The other local systems and satellites show him at 9pm. My system does not have Oxygen (okay so maybe I should put this on the other post dealing with men and their feminine side) so I can't watch Dr. Sue Johnson (think a Canadian-like Dr. Ruth showing the latest toys and positions with dolls) or Girls Behaving Badly.

 

[Rem]

Fox channels, or a Fox-operated cable system? Does Rupert control entire cable systems in Australia? That's got to be scary. .....
(mostly UK, Australian and South American football), Fox Sports Atlantic, Fox Sports Central, Fox Sports Pacific, and Fox Movies.....

Rupert has a part share of the main cable network and the only real channel operator. I think his son, Lachlan, is the CEO of a merged company that runs the mess. We had two companies but they could not survive in such a small and relatively dispersed market. Following an inquiry by our consumer watchdog (Australian Consumer and Competition Commission) they were permitted to merge. We now have effectively one cable network and one channel - though the original interests were part of larger media conglomerates and supposedly remain independent. I don't kow much about the intracacies.
I don't have (and can't get) cable - a satellite service is available for delivery of the same 'cable' stations as those with a landline. I have three kids under 13 so I don't really want it in the house. There are also some wireless options available. Some people have big satellite dishes to receive OS TV. Mainly people from NESB.
I believe there are about 30 stations available, Fox Sports x2, Movietime, Cartoons, National Geographic etc. It hasn't been a popular product overall as I don't think it is viewed as value for money. Sports would get more people signing up but legislation protects many sports from monopolisation by the cable company (ie. they must be available for free to air).

Tell me about the Australian Football you see. Which code is it? Rugby League, Rugby Union or Aussie Rules. What do you make of it?

 

[Zoning Goddess]

My cable service is really, really bad, only because they call me 2-5 times a week, trying to sell digital cable, even when I tell them GO AWAY. It's Bright House, talk about a dumb name.