Angry customers were seen turning in their cable equipment this week as Bright House Networks switched off its analog and unencrypted signals in central Florida as part of a digital upgrade.

Customers had until Tuesday to pick up a set-top box for every cable-connected television in the home. Bright House is supplying up to two boxes for free until the end of this year after which basic adapter boxes are expected to cost customers $2 a month each.

“They’ve come up with a new scheme to sell us another piece of equipment we don’t necessarily need,” Bright House customer Chris Brown complained to WFTV. He canceled his cable service.

So did customer Steve Cartaya.

“I’m canceling my service with Bright House today,” Cartaya said. “Bills go up every month.”

“We’re transferring from an analog signal to a digital signal here in Central Florida,” said Donald Forbes, senior director of corporate communications for Bright House Networks. “In order to get that digital encrypted signal, you’re doing to need that digital adapter.”

“I say this is the biggest bunch of garbage that has ever been bestowed on the public in this county,” said Kenneth Harter. “Because I have $1,000 worth of TVs at home with built-in features, they have intentionally designed this system so I can’t use it, to where at the end of 12 months they can collect revenue on this equipment.”

[flv]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WFTV Orlando Bright House customers without boxes losing signals 4-30-14.flv[/flv]

WFTV in Orlando talked with some Bright House customers arriving with equipment in hand to cancel their cable service over a digital conversion that will encrypt every cable channel. (1:28)

[flv]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WKMG Orlando Bright House Customer Digital Conversion 4-28-14.flv[/flv]

WKMG in Orlando explains more about the digital adapters being distributed to Bright House customers and those unhappy they are now forced to use them. (3:30)

The head of the country’s largest Spanish-language television network Univision said on Monday that Comcast’s proposed purchase of Time Warner Cable could be “bad for Hispanic audiences.”

Univision President Randy Falco told Wall Street analysts that the combined cable company would serve 91 percent of all Latino households and be the dominant distributor of multichannel programming in 19 of the 20 largest Spanish-language television markets.

“We are hoping at the very least there is that scrutiny and potentially much tougher restrictions added to the existing [Comcast-NBCUniversal] consent decree that will protect Comcast competitors such as Univision who are serving minority communities in particular,” said Falco.

Although Falco did not directly oppose the merger, he did express concern that Comcast would not treat independent Spanish language networks like Univision as well as NBCUniversal-owned Telemundo network. Falco noted Comcast has refused to carry Univision’s sports network. Time Warner Cable does.

“Either Comcast doesn’t understand that soccer is a passion point for Hispanics or they don’t support competitors who have competing services,” Falco said. “My fear is that the latter is the case and this type of anti-competitive conduct would continue.”

Falco is among the first media executives to publicly criticize the merger. Critics of the deal say programmers are keeping quiet fearing future retaliation from Comcast.

Time Warner Cable TV subscribers with a set-top box can now access more than two dozen new channels on the company’s TWC TV App, now offering more than 300 channels for in-home streaming.

The newly available channels may vary depending on your local lineup, but generally include a large number of subscription international channels, home shopping, and religion. (Note: ITV Gold is not part of the United Kingdom’s ITV network. It is a network targeting the South Asian diaspora with Bollywood musicals, soap operas, and movies. C1R should probably be listed as Channel One Russia (Первый Канал), so it isn’t confused with C1R.com, an adult video site. Oops.)

1. America’s Auction Net SD
2. BlueHighways TV HD
3. C1R
4. CCTV 4 America (Mandarin)
5. CCTV News English
6. Daystar TV Net (National)
7. Filmy
8. Gem Shopping Network
9. GMA DWLS Radio
10. GMA DZBB Radio
11. GMA Life TV
12. GMA Pinoy TV
13. Infinito
14. ITV Gold
15. Liquidation Channel
16. NASA TV
17. Phoenix North America Satellite TV
18. RAI Italia
19. RLTV
20. Sundance HD
21. TV Asia
22. TV5 Monde
23. TVB1
24. UTV Movies SD
25. YouToo
26. Zee TV

Now you can watch Law & Order reruns in HD on Sundance TV.

The TWC TV App is available for iOS, Android, PC & Mac, Roku, Samsung Smart TV’s, Kindle and the Xbox 360 — you can find out more about it at the TWC apps page.

The only mass interest channel in the list is Sundance HD, although NASA TV is also a welcome addition.

Viewing is free for current cable subscribers, but many of these channels may not be available for viewing outside of the home.

Aereo will face off with broadcasters next week in the U.S. Supreme Court over the legality of the online video provider’s business plan — using dime-sized individual antennas to receive over-the-air local stations and stream them to paying subscribers over the Internet.

On April 22, Aereo will appeal for its future as it presents its case to the high court in defense of a consumer’s right to access local stations over the air, even if a third-party installs an antenna on their behalf.

Broadcasters consider Aereo just another end run around copyright law, arguing the online service has no right to profit off the resale of their signals to consumers without permission and compensation.

Today Aereo launched a website, ProtectMyAntenna.org that frames its legal case as a basic viewing rights issue. Aereo says the broadcasters’ intransigence is nothing new — they also fought cable television and the videocassette recorder in the courts in the past, suggesting both technologies were stealing their signals.

“What is at stake in this case is much bigger than Aereo,” says the website. “We believe that consumers are entitled to use a modern, cloud-based, version of an antenna and DVR and that consumers should not be constrained to 1950’s era technology to watch free-to-air broadcast television. The broadcasters’ positions in this case, if sustained, would impair cloud innovation and threaten the myriad benefits to individuals, companies, and the economy at large of the advances in cloud computing and cloud storage.”

The Obama Administration has sided with the broadcasters and is seeking time to speak before the Court on the broadcasters’ behalf. Consumer groups are largely lined up behind Aereo, claiming online video competition is something worth protecting.

The crux of the case is likely to be which side is correct in their interpretation of what defines a “public performance,” which makes all the difference in determining whether Aereo must pay broadcasters or not. Private viewing at home is protected by earlier case-law and if Aereo is found to simply be facilitating home viewing, it will likely be deemed legal. Aereo assigns a single antenna to each customer, a fact they hope will strengthen its argument they are not redistributing programming to the masses. How the signal gets to the customer, over an antenna cable or the Internet, should not make any difference.

Broadcasters are hoping for a different interpretation — one popular in California courts, that would find any redistribution of programming over the Internet to be a public performance. Several other ventures have tried to launch virtual cable systems that streamed over the air stations and all were quickly shut down by west coast courts. Aereo has better lawyers, deeper pockets, and apparently a better argument that won favor in several eastern U.S. courts last year.

The Supreme Court will ultimately decide Aereo’s fate. If it loses, expect it to close down operations immediately. If Aereo wins, the company expects to continue expanding into other television markets across the country.

Aereo currently provides service in 11 U.S. cities.

[flv]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/Yahoo Aereo CEO Chet Kanojia on the Future of TV 4-17-14.flv[/flv]

Katie Couric from Yahoo! News sat down for an extensive interview about Aereo with its CEO Chet Kanojia. Kanojia argues broadcasters were already well-compensated when they received free spectrum for their stations. (20:20)

Despite arguing its merger with Time Warner Cable would result in greater discounts for cable programming, America’s largest cable company Comcast is already receiving the best volume discounts available but is not passing the savings on to customers.

No major cable operator raised cable television rates more than Comcast, according to a new study from Free Press. Since 2009, Comcast jacked up prices on its broadcast basic television tier by 68 percent. Its more popular expanded basic cable service saw rate hikes amounting to 21 percent over the same time.

In contrast, Time Warner Cable actually cut rates for broadcast basic cable by 2.5% and raised expanded basic prices by 17 percent.

Comcast’s top lobbyist David Cohen has made clear the company’s prices are going to keep rising even if the merger is approved. That is likely to give Time Warner Cable customers sticker shock if Comcast takes over. Comcast is likely to pass whatever cost savings it realizes from the merger back to shareholders, not to customers.