Cablevision will stop selling analog TV by 2010
updated 03:50 pm EDT, Thu March 12, 2009
Cablevision analog TV stop
Cablevision, a New York-based cable TV service provider, announced on Thursday it will no longer offer analog television cable service in 2010 and only offer digital services. Only about 155,000 of Cablevision's 3.1 million customers, a mere 5 percent, subscribe to the company's basic analog service and they will continue to receive the service, though no new clients will be added. The company already offers exclusively digital packages to its customers in the Bronx and Brooklyn.
Cablevision offers digital TV in the most areas among US cable operators, and has been converting its current analog service subscribers to digital services. From a provider's point of view, digital cable frees up capacity, as one analog TV channel is equal to between eight and ten digital channels. The majority of operators send analog signals along with digital content.
The government has mandated the stoppage of free, over-the-air analog broadcasts by June 12th, though no such imposition was placed on analog cable signals.
