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Shaw Cable analogue to digital migration

200K views 490 replies 123 participants last post by  Dr.Dave 
#1 ·
I received a notice from my apartment building, who bundles basic cable into my rent, and was told that Shaw needs to install digital boxes to remain receiving basic cable. Makes no difference to me since I already have a HD PVR, an HD box (awaiting a new TV to hook it up to as it is a rental) and a SD box. But here in Lloydminster are they phasing out analog cable altogether or did my apartment building make this decision?

If so, does this mean that Lloydminster will finally receive all the channels Shaw offers elsewhere such as Canadian Timeshifting and Superchannel? I would assume this would be a solution to the finite capacity issue as I understand that digital has a higher capacity (possibly infinite like IPTV) and could carry all of these channels without a capacity issue.
 
#139 ·
I've had the PSA and lost the 29+ analogue signals for a few days, in North Vancouver. No new channels, however, yet, such as DisneyXD and Family HD. zap2it.com shows them, just not my TV. Does anyone know when we can expect them? I suppose the whole of North Van or the North Shore needs to be converted to digital?
 
#142 ·
Winnipeg, west of Red River scheduled to go in February or April

I have been told that the areas in Manitoba that have not yet been converted are
Winnipeg (St James), Winnipeg (Scurfield), Winnipeg (Winnipeg Sun), Winnipeg (Burrows), Winnipeg (Misericordia), Winnipeg (East Kildonan), Winnipeg (Transcona), Winnipeg (CKY), Winnipeg (Carlton), Portage la Prairie
and that the schedule calls for their conversion in either February or April, subject to any slippage that might occur. I have also been told that loss of the analog tiers may occur before the loss of analog basic cable.

I am also supposed to be notified by mail about a month before it happens. I don't know if this is the letter I received in the fall or whether there will actually be another one.

I have no way to know how accurate any of this is. I thought, for example, that people in Winnipeg (East Kildonan) and Winnipeg (Transcona) were already converted.
 
#143 ·
I'm not sure what that means. I don't know what area "Winnipeg (Winnipeg Sun)" is; Winnipeg Sun is a newspaper with no affiliation to Shaw, and "Winnipeg (CKY)" is a CTV Winnipeg TV station which is being broadcast from a transmitter tower in a rural location south of the city.

I'm in the West End. Has the West End been converted yet? Although I'm not in any of the following areas, the areas in your post that are closest to me are Carlton st (to the East, downtown), St James (to the west, past Polo Park), and Misericordia (to the south, in Wolseley by the river).
 
#144 ·
Ah, tux, I too don't know about the Winnipeg (Sun) and Winnipeg (CKY) locations either. When told that I was in Winnipeg (St. Vital) I too described my location in terms of the centers around me. I still don't know what center I'm in.

At the moment I still get the Analog Tiers 1, 2, 3, and 4, FWIW.

[Edit: as per mismag's comment below, not analog Tier 4.]
 
#145 ·
"and that the schedule calls for their conversion in either February or April, subject to any slippage that might occur. I have also been told that loss of the analog tiers may occur before the loss of analog basic cable."

Not sure what this means either, of course they are converting the analog tiers before analog basic and currently there are no plans to convert analog basic.

Also not sure how you are getting tier 4 with analog as it was never on analog.
 
#146 ·
mismag, that's because I am not getting analog Tier 4 (that was a mistake), only Tiers 1, 2 and 3. Good catch.

I do not get (e.g., on Tier 3) 53 E! Entertainment and 66 Family Channel but I get those as 38 E! Entertainment and 34 Family Channel.

But I thought that Analog Basic was disappearing. A relative of mine got a notice to that effect. That's really the main reason I care.
 
#147 ·
Nope. Only the Tiers are switching to digital, which includes ch. 14-21 and 23-44. All other channels are unaffected by the upgrade.

According to http://www.shaw.ca/Television/Digital-Network-Upgrade/Analog-Customers :
In order to continue watching channels such as A&E, TLC, Discovery, CNN, The Score and Food Network, you will need a Digital Box for your TV. Your Basic Cable channels (like Global, CTV, CBC, NBC, etc.) will still be available on any TV not connected to a Digital Box.
They'll probably still carry Analog Basic for a few more years as an unadvertised legacy service.
 
#151 ·
That is a good question, I would assume they would have to however they are going to try their darnedest to contact you to get you on to digital.

Do they even sell just basic cable anymore? I only see digital and hd on their website. Channel listings show basic and classic cable even though you cannot sign up for classic cable anymore.
 
#155 ·
I got the letter in July 2011 announcing the digital network upgrade for my area would begin Sep 12, 2011 (Vancouver).
I'm sure it takes them quite some time to upgrade the whole city.

I still have 3 of 4 TVs on analog cable - Digital Classic (incl analog T1,2,3) + HD Plus.
 
#157 ·
Generally a DCT700 (non-HD, non-PVR) box.

If you have Classic Cable, you should receive a letter from Shaw sometime before the digital upgrade occurs(many people received it last summer). This letter would inform you of the digital network upgrade, and the impending loss of analog channels.
 
#158 ·
If you change your package like I did to try out BB50 for a few months, you will have a very hard time going back to Analogue w/ Tier 1-2-3. If you are using it this way and are satisfied with it, don't change things and expect to get them back the way they were afterwards.
 
#161 ·
Here is what it says on their website. It sounds similar to the TV Ad and is probably similar to the mail out as well.

http://www.shaw.ca/Television/Digital-Network-Upgrade/Analog-Customers/


We’re upgrading the Shaw Network by moving all analog tiered channels to digital. Currently about 60% of your total channels are analog. Shaw’s Network upgrade will make it possible to bring you more TV choices and the fastest download speeds in Canada.



In order to continue watching channels such as A&E, TLC, Discovery, CNN, The Score and Food Network, you will need a Digital Box for your TV. Your Basic Cable channels (like Global, CTV, CBC, NBC, etc.) will still be available on any TV not connected to a Digital Box. Shaw’s Digital Network Upgrade will not affect the cost of your programming. In fact, your new Digital Box will give you access to an additional 20 channels for free.




We'll make the move to digital easy for you.

We’re excited to provide you with:

A complimentary rental of a Shaw Digital Box
Free installation of your new Digital Box
Assistance on how to use your new hardware and Shaw Remote
 
#172 ·
Yet I am in East Kildonan and lost them all in November. How many areas of Winnipeg still have the analog TIER channels?
 
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