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.

Sean Combs’ Revolt TV will be appearing on your Time Warner Cable lineup whether you want it or not.

The network, projected to launch this fall, is one of four African-American independent cable networks that Comcast pledged to carry as a pre-condition for its merger with NBCUniversal. Time Warner Cable is coming along for the ride, agreeing to launch the channel across all of its cable systems nationwide.

Most of Revolt’s programming is expected to be music programming targeting an urban audience.

Between Comcast and TWC, Revolt will launch in 25 million homes, which is an accomplishment for a network nobody heard of and few asked to receive.

“This is a landmark distribution deal that demonstrates Time Warner Cable’s commitment to bringing a platform for music artists and fans to their subscribers,” said Combs, Revolt’s founder and chairman. “It positions Revolt to come out of the gate strong, and we look forward to igniting the passion of initial audiences across the U.S.”

Discussions with other providers are ongoing, so expect the network to eventually also end on other cable, satellite, and telco-TV systems.

Neither cable company disclosed exactly how much the new network will cost each cable subscriber.

[flv width=”640″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/Revolt TV Launch Promo 6-13.flv[/flv]

Sean Combs’ appears in this launch promotional video for Revolt, which will target an African-American audience when it launches this fall. (Warning: Profanity) (1 minute)

Time Warner Cable is extending an online promotion to Extreme (30/5Mbps) customers to upgrade to Ultimate (50/5Mbps) service for an extra $10 a month above your current pricing.

But you may want to call Time Warner to take advantage of the promotion because we found the cable company’s website forced the selection of a $4.99/month fee for a “Home WiFi and Internet Modem” you will not need if you own your own equipment.

You must have a DOCSIS 3 cable modem to take advantage of this offer.

The deal can be accessed by logging into Time Warner Cable’s My Services page and selecting “View or Make Changes to My Internet Service.”

Time Warner Cable’s decision to spend $11 billion to broadcast Los Angeles Lakers and Dodgers games at an estimated cost of $50-60 a year per subscriber is the subject of a class action lawsuit from fed up customers.

The plaintiffs are upset cable subscribers across Southern California will have to cover the cost of the 20-year deal with no option to opt-out of the sports channels because they are bundled into the most popular cable package.

The suit, filed this week in Superior Court alleges at least 60 percent of subscribers have no interest in the sports programming, but will collectively cover $6.6 billion of the deal and never watch a single game.

Time Warner Cable is also accused of forcing AT&T U-verse, Charter Cable, Cox Cable, DirecTV and Verizon FiOS to sign restrictive contracts that compel the companies to include the sports channels on the basic lineup.

Ironically, Time Warner Cable itself regularly complains about the increasing cost of programming and contract terms that force it to bundle expensive sports channels inside the basic tier instead of offering customers optional, added-cost sports programming packages.

Both sports teams are also named as defendants in the suit because they were aware that all subscribers would face rate increases as a result of the deal.

“TWC’s bundling results in Defendants making huge profits, much of which is extracted from unwilling consumers who have no opportunity to delete unwanted telecasts,” the complaint states.

The suit claims there is no legitimate reason Time Warner Cable and the sports teams could not have offered the new networks only to customers that wished to pay for them. The suit wants the bundling of the sports networks stopped and customers given refunds for the higher television bills that resulted.

Time Warner’s “Because We Can” One-Time Charge applies to new customers signing up for certain promotions.

Time Warner Cable has increased the monthly rental fee for its leased cable modem from $3.95 a month to $4.99 a month and has introduced a “one-time charge” of $19.99 applicable to certain Internet service new customer promotions.

CEO Glenn Britt earlier commented that Time Warner Cable had room to grow its modem lease fee:

“It was received with a minimum of push-back and we’re still actually charging less than Comcast ($7/month), so I think there is room to charge more going forward. People can buy their own if they want and a small percentage of customers have chosen to do that which is fine with us.”

For now, the increase only applies to new customers, but Stop the Cap! expects it will also eventually apply to current customers as part of the next round of rate increases. The Internet Modem with Free Home Wi-Fi, available to customers ordering 30/5 or 50/5Mbps service costs $14.99 a month.

Time Warner Cable has pulled back on customer promotions since the beginning of the year and has begun shifting its pricing for its most profitable service — broadband, to capture price-sensitive customers who have been unable to previously afford Internet-only service from the company.

Time Warner has introduced a new “Lite” tier offering 1Mbps service for $20 a month and has made the 3Mbps “Basic” service the staple of many of its bundled promotions.

Stop the Cap! strongly encourages Time Warner Cable customers to buy their own cable modems and avoid the rental fees. Customers can also bypass the rental fee by signing up for Earthlink service through Time Warner Cable.

Our top modem choice remains the Motorola SB6141, which can be found at the “Buy It Now” price on eBay as low as $77.99 with free shipping and no upfront sales tax for most buyers. This model does not include Wi-Fi, but most people don’t need it — a router generally provides Wi-Fi connectivity on its own.

We highly recommend purchasing DOCSIS 3-ready modems to avoid obsolescence issues.

The most recent list of “acceptable” modems that can be activated with your Time Warner Cable broadband service are: