Cable One makes some HD channels viewable only with CableCARD / STB

At first glance, we assumed that Cable One had relegated a number of channels to switched digital video, but that doesn't appear to be the case. Instead, company officials have proclaimed that "cable programmers like Discovery HD, Nat Geo HD and ESPN HD have requested their signals to be scrambled," meaning that subscribers will now need to fork out for a CableCARD or cable company-issued set-top-box in order to see all 24 high-def stations offered in Sioux City, Iowa. Ah well, you've been looking for a valid reason to make the leap to a carrier with a real dose of high-definition anyway, right?

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 20th 2008 8:19PM]

My Father in Boise noticed some of his HD channels scrambled by Cable One last week. It was bound to happen I guess.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 21st 2008 7:11AM]

This is a new development, programmers are starting to require their HD channels be scrambled before allowing carriage on cable systems. Example: Turner Networks requires that CNN-HD, TNT-HD, and TBS-HD be scrambled before they can be added to a lineup. Of course this requires a cable system to spend about $40,000 for controllers, scrambling equipment, and spend $400-500 on "advanced" cable boxes or Cablecards systems. Cable systems below 2000 customers can't justify this expense, which means they won't be able to carry these channels, causing them to lose customers to DirecTV and Dish, meaning the complete end to smaller cable operators. 80% of the actual cable systems in the US are small systems. Those who dislike the "cable monopoly" should be thrilled that there will soon be only satellite for television, two providers in lockstep price-wise. Progress.