Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

Did Rogers cut the # of basic cable channels

15K views 12 replies 5 participants last post by  hugh 
#1 ·
I am wondering if Rogers has cut the number of basic cable channels? Videotron cut the number of channels from about 50 down to about 22. To me this sucks big time. If you want to get more of the basic cable you have to get Videotron's digital tuner.

What happened to CRTC & the Cable Co.s saying that after August 30th? you had nothing to worry about if you had either Cabel or a Dish?

I have a couple of tvs & I have an HD PVR hooked up to both, as well as Basic cable hooked up to one of them. Since you can't have two tvs on with the one hd receiver at the same time, I used to be able to switch the "source" on one of them to cable & still be able to watch CNN.

To me this seems like the Cable co.s or at least videotron are taking advantage of the Digital Only broadcast to scr*w with the consumer. Anyone else feel like that?
 
#2 ·
This topic has been discussed in each of the provider forums as they migrate to more digital channels, moving the (above basic) analogue channels to the digital tier. I don't believe Rogers has done this yet in any of their areas, although most other providers have started (Shaw, Cogeco, etc). There are threads in each provider forum discussing the status of various areas.

Please don't confuse basic cable (which usually encompasses channels roughly 2-30) with analogue cable, which can encompass channels from 2 - ~100 depending on the provider. The channels above ~30 were always not part of the basic package (~$30) and required you to pay more (~$50+). What is happening with most providers is that those channels above ~30 are being moved to the digital tier to free up much needed bandwidth for other services like HD.

This is necessary for the providers to give most customers the many services they are requesting. It is true that this will not please those analogue-only customers, however, the change is inevitable and in a few years, there won't be any analogue services at all - even basic.

I believe that something like 85% of Rogers customers now have at least one digital STB. The reason there is no thread on this topic in the Rogers forum is that the (many channel) migration of analogue to the digital tier has not yet begun, however it is only a matter of time. Over the past few years some (few) analogue channels have been moved to the digital tier, however, not the vast majority - channels above ~30 - that has begun with other providers. Note that satellite and IPTV has always been all digital.
 
#3 · (Edited by Moderator)
... I don't believe Rogers has done this yet in any of their areas...
Thanks for the quick reply! Perhaps I am just being a bit cynical? I do know that a couple of videotron customers that I know, that only had the "basic"cable pkg, received "free" digital stbs. Even prior to the recent changes, I discovered that on my HD pkg, which includes about an extra 20 channels, there were some channels that I was only getting on the other tv when source was cable, such as Sci-fi, comedy, HGTV, TLC...It struck me as being odd that with a so called "premium Pkg" that you would not receive ALL of the basic + the extra that were being paid for though the Premium Pkg?
 
#5 ·
By mentioning roughly channels 2-30, I was trying to indicate the typical channels that are included in basic and to indicate that the full analogue package includes channels above basic. Yes, there are some that are higher up that are also included in basic. I was also trying to make my post general enough to apply to all providers, not just Rogers. By using the terms roughly and ~ I was hoping to get the general point across and avoid nitpicking.

Of course when you go digital basic you can get many more channels including ROD, Galaxie, timeshifts, FM, etc. I believe that the last time I looked, there were close to 200 "channels" on digital basic in Toronto. Whether these are of interest are a totally different discussion.
 
#7 ·
If you were getting all the channels up to 62, I don't believe that was basic analogue. Most providers charge around $30 for basic analogue (up to about channel 30 and perhaps some other channels higher up) but for the channels from around 30 to 60+, most people pay rates higher than basic. How much were you paying?
 
#8 ·
Well, I have what videotron calls "basic", but then the same cable feeds my hdpvr, and there I have all the netrworks, tsn, golf, the movie network, discovery, etc. Bill is about $80.00 pm. I can geed both tvs 1 hdmi & the other component...BUT, I can also change the source to cable without the stb...All I know is that if the source is just the cable about 30+ channels are now gone. You probably have a better idea then me about the changes. I do know that a couple of my neighbours that ONLY had basic cable @ about $40.00 pm were GIVEN digital stbs at no charge, but that was in July before the OTA broadcasts ended. I am not sure what if anything they are offering now?
 
#9 ·
Your question regarding Rogers has been answered. I suggest you use the following Videotron thread to discuss Videotron channels and migration, since it's an active thread. Read the thread before posting in it.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=143167

I went to the Videotron website and they have a basic package for less than $30, so you obviously are not paying for what I call basic cable since you're getting "premium" channels like TSN. I suggest you try to negotiate a free STB (or whatever makes you happy) with them.
 
#10 ·
I'm not sure what this has to do with Rogers.

For Videotron, certainly channels like Showcase, CNN, etc, were part of Telemax, not basic.
In the old days these were availalbe on basic. Perhaps now Telemax has moved to digital only? It seems likely.

I haven't noticed any such changes on Rogers in Ottawa. Analog basic is still 2-28, 62, 63, 65, 70, 93, 94, 95.
29-61 is a higher tier of analog.
 
#12 ·
I'm not sure what this has to do with Rogers.
The OP was asking whether the basic analogue channels from Rogers were removed from analogue feed and whether there was a digital migration as is happening with other providers already. The answer to both of these questions is basically no at this time (with minor channel exceptions discussed above).

The OP is confused about the definition of basic, since he's obviously receiving channels well beyond basic. The topic is already addressed in the Videotron forum and I will probably close this thread soon since the questions have been answered and the OP can continue discussion in the Videotron forum for his Videotron questions.
 
#11 ·
Rogers hasn't dropped any basic analogue cable channels that I can think of ... with the possible exception of TV5 in some areas many years ago.

If anything, they've added basic channels with the addition of digital. I suppose there was the deletion of CJON in Newfoundland and a couple of others from basic digital ... but that doesn't seem to be the kind of thing your talking about. and it was more about removing them from Rogers completely than anything else.
 
#13 ·
Since 57 has answered the questions, I will close and any VIdeotron questions can be asked and answered on that forum.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top