Time Warner Cable subscribers in New York and New England are receiving letters notifying them their local public access, educational, and government (PEG) channels are being removed from the analog television lineup and switched to a digital-only format.

Time Warner Cable is moving towards a higher quality, digital only experience to provide better picture and sound, more HD channels, and more robust Internet speeds. Delivering channels in digital format is one way we continue to improve the quality of our service.

Starting on or about July 23, local Public, Educational, and Government access programming will be delivered in digital format only. These channels will remain in your existing package, however they will only be viewable with digital equipment, such as a TWC supplied digital set-top box, Digital Adapter or CableCARD.

If you want to view these channels on a TV without digital equipment, you may request Digital Adapters and remote controls free of charge through Sept. 23. Beginning Jan. 1, 2015 each Digital Adapter will cost 99 cents a month.

Time Warner has since had to stress the forthcoming changes will not affect local public television (PBS) affiliates.

QAM-capable sets will be able to continue accessing the channels, although Time Warner provides only basic information about how to find them. If customers want a Time Warner technician to install a Digital Adapter, there is a fee of $39.99.

Time Warner Cable is not following other cable operators that have switched most of their channels to digital-only service. Instead, it is gradually moving a handful of channels at a time and moving others to a bandwidth-saving “Switched Digital Video” format that only delivers certain networks in neighborhoods where those channels are actually being watched. Unfortunately, SDV technology is not currently compatible with Time Warner’s Digital Adapters, so customers without full-featured digital set-top boxes will still lose more than a dozen channels on older sets.