Editor: David Tanny
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D.T.'s Cable Channel Slot LineupRevised 9-98OK, how many of you travel from one place in your county to another to visit a friend who has another company's cable service? Do you get frustrated trying to find where they placed ESPN and Cartoon Network on. Do they carry Fox Sports West 2 there?You're not alone if you are that frustrated. Why can't the cable companies agree on cable channel placement? First off, not all cable channels are carried everywhere. Just pick up TV Week from the San Diego Union or other papers or TV Guide and turn to the page with the cable grid layouts. You'll see blank spaces where they don't carry the channel, and most of the cable channels and some broadcast ones are all over the dial. What a mess! Would it be grand if all the major channels appearred on one channel countywide, no matter what cable system it is? It can be done, but it won't be easy. I'll have more on the problems with pay channels ala carte with basic cable later, but let's concentrate on the lineup for San Diego County! All the broadcast channels widely carried will appear on one channel countywide. No more figuring out where it is on what other system! The low-power channels, as well as the cable-only local channels will also get a recommended channel slot, though not all systems are required to carry them...EXCEPT when the channel is of interest in their sub cable areas. The satellite-delivered cable channels, such as CNN and ESPN, will appear on another band just above that of the PAY/PPV channel band. That way, the cable channels can disable the cable band above the PAY/PPV band if they subscriber wishes to get just a pay channel with the broadcast band. Here is how I figure out the mess! Not all systems use the channel 1 between channels 4 and 5 on the band. Also: Not all cable systems have to carry all the Tijuana or low-power channels either. Shopping and leased access channels may appear in their place or whatever else they offer. The channels in boldface should be on every system. stations in Bold are stations that should be on most cable systems in that location. All other channels are placement suggestions if your cable channel capacity goes that far and may be used in place of less-desirable bold channels.
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