Mediacom to soon drop most of its analog cable television service

Mediacom Communications Corp. will begin phasing out all but 17 channels of analog cable television service on March 1 in a nine-county area of Eastern Iowa that includes the Corridor, moving toward a 100 percent digital lineup.

The state's dominant provider of cable television on Wednesday said it will distribute adapters with a rent-free lease that will allow subscribers with non-digital televisions to view digitally-transmitted channels. The adapters will require a fairly simple installation.

Newer televisions manufactured since 2007 with built-in digital tuners can view Mediacom's all-digital lineup of 82 Family Cable channels using only a cable connection, but a digital or high-definition cable box is needed to receive most HD channels and digital features like On Demand.

Phyllis Peters, Mediacom communications director, said channels 2 through 22, known as basic or limited cable service, will continue to be offered in analog format for customers with a non-digital TV who do not wish to use a digital adapter.

“We're shutting off the analog above channel 22 on March 1. Without the adapter, subscribers without a digital TV will only have access to those 17 channels,” Peters said. “With the digital adapter you will get 54 channels, but you will still pay the basic subscription rate.

“The additional channels include digital channels from local broadcast stations and Iowa Public Television, C-SPAN channels and others.”

Doug Frank, Mediacom regional vice president, describes analog signal transmission as an outdated and inefficient process that most of the larger cable companies are working to eliminate.

“In television technology, digital is the world of ‘more' because consumers get more channel choices at every level of cable service,” Frank said. “As we eliminate much of the analog bandwidth from our network, Mediacom customers can be confident that we'll keep pace with their demand for more high-definition channels and the ultrafast speeds of our next-generation broadband service.”

The Eastern Iowa area where Mediacom is making the initial conversion from analog to virtually all-digital cable TV consists of Linn, Johnson, Benton, Cedar, Iowa, Jones, Keokuk, Muscatine and Washington counties. It will affect up to 28 percent of Mediacom's area customers who are not using digital cable service, and also digital customers who use older televisions for some of their viewing.

Mediacom will provide free shipping for adapter orders submitted online at www.MediacomCable.com/GetDigital or by phone to (800) 578-8697.

Digital adapters also can be picked up at Mediacom offices in Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and Monticello.

Peters said Mediacom also is planning several open houses in area communities to make the adapters available and answer customer questions.

Mediacom clears up confusion over adaptor cost

Updated by George Ford today

Customers of Mediacom Communications needing adaptors to receive digital television channels after March 1 will get them at no cost after confusion was cleared up Thursday.

The dominant provider of cable television in Iowa announced Wednesday that it will phase out all but 17 channels of analog cable television service on March 1 in a nine-county area of Eastern Iowa. Channels 2 through 22 will continue to be offered in analog as well as digital transmission.

Adaptors will be required for older television sets to receive digital channels above channel 22. Local Mediacom customer service representatives mistakenly quoted a $2 per month charge for the adaptors in response to customer inquiries Thursday.

Phyllis Peters, Mediacom communications director, said the issue has been rectified and the adaptors will be available on a rent-free basis in advance of the March 1 conversion. Peters said there also was some confusion over customer requests for “digital tuners,” which Mediacom representatives took to mean set-top units that rent for $10 per month.