MediaCon drops WMBB/ABC13

Wha-what? How could they not have at least one ABC station? We have two here.

I mean, there are certain sports events that are only on ABC. Don't want to miss them!

WTF! How can they do this???

MediaCon also just raised their rates again.
I so wish I had a line of sight to the satellite so I could fire them.

I wonder how Sandestin would feel if a bunch of folks showed up to protest outside the MediaCrap office there?

EDIT: It just came back on. yippee!! Wonder if they got a few calls or just wanted to show WMBB that they had all the power?

Done deal?

Does anybody know if this is a done deal, and when it might happen?

It was a black screen on this morning for several hours. It just came back up about 5 minutes ago.

For less than $50, you should be able to put up an external TV antenna, and receive ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, Fox, and a few other channels. If you ditched your cable tv, you could subscribe to Netflix and still have about $40 left over every month.

lol. I now recall Ch13 announcing that they received their new digital processor and they would be running a test for an hour or so, to see if it worked.

For less than $50, you should be able to put up an external TV antenna, and receive ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, Fox, and a few other channels. If you ditched your cable tv, you could subscribe to Netflix and still have about $40 left over every month.

Provided you don't have deed restrictions or HOA rules about external antennas, which are very common in these parts. The deed restrictions in my neighborhood limit external antennas to stuff that's so weak you get like two channels, and I suspect most modern SoWal neighborhoods have even more restrictive rules.

Provided you don't have deed restrictions or HOA rules about external antennas, which are very common in these parts. The deed restrictions in my neighborhood limit external antennas to stuff that's so weak you get like two channels, and I suspect most modern SoWal neighborhoods have even more restrictive rules.

I believe that there are some FCC regulations that override deed restrictions and HOA rules on these issues.

SJ, thanks for the suggestion. I have no HOA or restrictions to worry about, but I am down in a kind of a little dip. I'm thinking I ought to test this out before Feb when I'll need the converter box, is that right? And how would I go about doing that? Just disconnect the cable and connect an antenna and keep going up until I get a signal? I'm pretty clueless, have not used an antenna in many years, don't even own one.

SJ, thanks for the suggestion. I have no HOA or restrictions to worry about, but I am down in a kind of a little dip. I'm thinking I ought to test this out before Feb when I'll need the converter box, is that right? And how would I go about doing that? Just disconnect the cable and connect an antenna and keep going up until I get a signal? I'm pretty clueless, have not used an antenna in many years, don't even own one.

Boy I hate to have to go and put up an antennae again. I thought those days were gone. I understand the HD/Digital signals are going to be on UHF frequencies. If that is the case then I believe the antennae is different for that frequency than it is for the VHF channels. Does anyone happen to know anything about range? I know VHF travels further and through structures better, that is why they want to use it for wireless broadband. I have a forty foot tower up at the house, but hate climbing the thing to put up an antennae unless I just have too.

Provided you don't have deed restrictions or HOA rules about external antennas, which are very common in these parts. The deed restrictions in my neighborhood limit external antennas to stuff that's so weak you get like two channels, and I suspect most modern SoWal neighborhoods have even more restrictive rules.

The HOA's are not allowed to mess around with communications according to the FCC. If they try you should contact the FCC by going to the website and following the instructions on how to submit a complaint. Once that happens the FCC will contact the HOA and fight for you.
This is off the FCC website.
The rule (47 C.F.R. Section 1.4000) has been in effect since October 1996, and it prohibits restrictions that impair the installation, maintenance or use of antennas used to receive video programming. The rule applies to video antennas including direct-to-home satellite dishes that are less than one meter (39.37") in diameter (or of any size in Alaska), TV antennas, and wireless cable antennas. The rule prohibits most restrictions that: (1) unreasonably delay or prevent installation, maintenance or use; (2) unreasonably increase the cost of installation, maintenance or use; or (3) preclude reception of an acceptable quality signal.
Effective January 22, 1999, the Commission amended the rule so that it also applies to rental property where the renter has an exclusive use area, such as a balcony or patio.

Also if you add a small amp to your setup for over the air TV you will pick up more stations. They can be found online or at Radio Shack. One other thing that I found was, I used the tuner in my TV and not the cheaper one that is built into my Direct TV box. The one in the TV has much less loss then the cheap one in the Direct TV Box.

I recently dumped Mediacom. Got the little black box. Can get Dothan, 4 channels. Hope that after the change in Feb. I can get more. The antenna is ugle but it's FREE!

If any one working for or representing Mediacom is reading this, you're company SUCKS! We finally got rid of Sprint maybe next Mediacom then Chelco then Regional Utilities. This Monopoly thing around here Sucks!

Mediacon would do well to remember that in hard times people cut back on the extras - crappy customer service and cost increases just made it an easier decision! :angry:

Mediacom Sucks

Channel 13 just went black about an hour ago. I've been with Mediacom for way too long and ABC has been one the better channels for the last couple years. This super sucks! Does anybody know which is better DirectTV or DishTV? I want to leave Mediacom so bad, but I'm not which way is the best to go...

FYI -- If MediaCON and WMBB don't come to an agreement, WMBB will be dropped as of Jan 1, 2009, the only ABC channel.

NotDeadYet, the short answer is that it depends. If you have a newer TV which can received digital signal, you have nothing to worry about when Feb rolls around. If you have the older TV, like myself, you will need a converter, unless you have cable or satellite. The Gov't offers two discount cards, totaling $40, toward the purchase of a digital converter. HOWEVER, the discount cards are good only for 90days, while supplies last.

Erecting a TV is almost too simple. I found some pvc pipe laying around the yard (long sections), and dug a hole. Found an old antennae in the yard, too, and connected it to the pvc pipe, and connected the a long wire, wrapping the pole. Put one end of the pole into the hole, tossed in some gravel, packed with dirt. Plugged other end of cord into the TV. Turned on the TV and wha-la! I had free TV! A twist or two of the antennae and I soon discovered which direction got the most channels. If I want a better picture of FOX, I would have to twist the pole slightly. Those antenna are directional. ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS all pick up very well from one position, and FOX is just as clear if I twist the pole, but I go for quantity of channels.

We have Directv and it is good unless we have heavy rain. I noticed this morning that Ch 13 was promoting Dishtv so they may have a promotion of some sort.

Thanks, SJ. I have a newer tv (about a year and a half old, a replacement for a lightning strike) but where oh where am I going to find an antenna?
For Lake View Too, you can compare the different channel lineups Dish and Direct offer on the internet. The Dothan channel (is that CBS or NBC?) is not available on Dish, is my understanding. Maybe someone who has it will update the info on that.
Embarq usually has a package deal available, if you use them for landline and/or dsl. Personally I would shop around for the best deal.

WTF! How can they do this???

Aren't they replacing ABC with the new JOE TV channel?

I live in SRB and I am able to get ABC and NBC local stations (13 and 7) with Dish. They explained to me that they could not offer CBS because the closest channel is 4 out of Dothan, and because it is out of Florida, they can not offer it with their package.

The only thing I miss is 60 minutes and I can watch it online if there is something I simply must see--which doesn't happen very often.

I live in SRB and I am able to get ABC and NBC local stations (13 and 7) with Dish. They explained to me that they could not offer CBS because the closest channel is 4 out of Dothan, and because it is out of Florida, they can not offer it with their package.

That seems odd. Because we're on the Okaloosa County side of the line, we're classified as part of the Mobile-Pensacola television market, and Directv has no problems with crossing state lines and giving us 3-4 different tv channels that originate in Alabama.

And there's a lot of overlap and crossing of state lines in normal boradcast television. We used to live in an area where the 'local' television market legitimately covered parts of four different states (Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee) and also dipped into a handful of counties in Arkansas and Indiana.

Which made for sheer hell during campaign season because we'd get ads from four different states (and I came to despise both Mitch McConnell and Margaret Kelly) during the run-up to the election, but that's another show.

I know. It sounded odd to me as well, but apparently it has something to do with a license...and since it was not really important to me, I did not pursue it...