Comcast/Time Warner Joint Bid for Adelphia - Tivo Works with Voom
Vlad,
Telemedia is owned by Adelphia, and has begun taking over control of all Telemedia cable companies in South Florida. This process started in December. I could not find any press releases for the specific offices in our area. Adelphia has HD, but I am unsure if their DVR's are SD or HD. Their site is horrible. I would recommend calling them to make sure. From what I found out, they have CBS, NBC, HBO, Starz, HDnet, HDnet Movies, and INHD 1 & 2 in the Miramar/Pembroke Pines area.
Their local offering is a little weak, but if we get to keep the OTA antennas from Voom you should be ok. Also INHD 1 & 2 are great. I actually watch these channels more than the Voom originals. They have a better rating then HDNet, and offer great programming. Check out their site at:
www.inhd.com
By the way, On Monday, Adelphia agreed to take a joint bid from Comcast and Time Warner to buy out Adelphia. Adelphia has gone bankrupt and ripe for a takeover. They are currently accepting bids, and Comcast and Time Warner are the only ones stepping up. (Comcast owns shares of Time Warner.) Comcast would assume ownership of the offices based on operations in our region. Time Warner would take the regions next to their operating offices in other regions.
This means all of you Adelphia subs MAY come out ahead since they have licenses for HDNet and HDMovies, which Comcast does not have. Otherwise, you would get the same offering as Comcast subs, which is pretty strong and growing. Video On Demand is currently being tested, and we will have HD VOD soon. Sweet!
Also, the cable companies are moving all their analog channels to digital which means we should, at a minimum, have comparable PQ to any satellite provider. When I post my review, I will provide further details on comparisons between cable, D*, and V*, as well as the HD DVR. By the way, the DVR's with the cable companies have lower fees than Tivo service.
The stand alone Tivo's do work with Voom. Please be advised that HD OTA locals will not load a guide, and none of the Tivo features will work with any of our Local HD channels. In order to utilize Tivo features with locals, you must connect cable or a non-HD OTA, as well as a Voom. In the Tivo setup, it will allow you to use inputs from both sources. Then in Tivo, you can choose which duplicated channel to record. For example, you could have TNT on cable and Voom. Things over at Tivo are pretty hectic right now. Last week their CEO and President resigned.
In regards to E* or D*, I would recommend that you minimize any expenses. I am waiting on the sidelines until the MPEG-4 issues are resolved. Eventually our D* equipment will be useless. In regards to your D* HD equipment, the plan is that you will be able to see the current HD line-up until the end of the year only, and any new HD channels added will not be visible via a none MPEG-4 box. The details are still a little fuzzy in regards to the conversion plan. My advice is to avoid any commitments, which you can do with cable and E*. I think you can get out of a D* commitment if you still use your old STB.
I still have my D* account active, but I am calling tomorrow to cancel. I currently have D*, V*, and Comcast, because I wanted to make sure I would be happy with cable and liked the ability to make comparisons. I will post anything I learn after my call to D*.
Once again, another lengthy reply.
I hope this helps. . .
I tend to be detailed in my responses, but wanted to give you enough to make an informed decision.
