It's the choice thousands of Cablevision customers on the North Fork face this week now that Long Island's video service giant no longer uses an analog signal to transmit 16 of its most popular channels.
The move effectively cuts stations such as MTV, the History Channel and MSNBC from the homes of customers who do not rent an Optimum digital converter box from Cablevision and instead plug their cable wire directly into the back of their television.
Televisions connected to the cable boxes continue to receive the channels through a digital signal.
But as of May 1, customers without digital cable boxes were greeted with the message "This channel is now available with a digital cable box or CableCARD" when they tuned into the 16 channels. The channels were even encrypted to prevent customers with digital televisions from receiving the digital signal, a Cablevision spokesman said.
Cablevision charges $6.75 a month to rent its cable box and remote and $2 a month for a cable card that can be slid into newer, digital-compatible televisions. The charges can get pricey for customers with three or more televisions in their homes.
But Cablevision insists they are doing what is necessary to compete against other video providers, such as Verizon and DirecTV, by making more digital and high-definition services available to its 3.1 million customers.
"We're moving to digital in order to offer all of the benefits that it provides," Cablevision spokesman, Patrick McElroy said. "HD-TV is only available digitally, video on demand can only be done with a digital reception.
"Our customers will continue to get 45 channels, but to get the same level of service, they will need a set-top [cable] box on every TV outlet -- which is the same as what our competitors require," McElroy added.
Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell said that charging rent for a cable box in order to give the same level of service is "tantamount to a rate increase."
"They're using this technological upgrade as a Trojan Horse to get a rate increase," Mr. Russell said. "They need to go to the public service commission for a rate increase."
Mr. McElroy insisted that the latest swath of channels removed from analog service -- eight other channels were similarly nixed last year -- does not constitute a rate increase.
"We are the only video service provider that will allow a customer to plug the cable into the back of their television and get a signal," he said. "Ninety-one percent of our customers are digital and this migration impacts a level of service that impacts approximately 5 percent of our customers."
That 5 percent -- which represents analog-only customers who do not rent a digital cable box -- received a letter last month from Cablevision alerting them of the switch to digital transmission.
The company is offering such customers a free digital cable box for a year, after which they would need to pay the rental fee in order to use the box. The offer expires June 29, according to the letter.
Customers with one cable box but more than one television in their home cannot participate in the offer, Mr. McElroy said.
"Cablevision's move away from analog expanded basic for new customers is the next logical step in an evolution that will deliver clear benefits," John Trierweiler, Cablevision's senior vice president of product management, said in a March announcement.
Cablevision was already in conflict with Southold and other East End towns over the company's move to no longer offer its public access channels on an analog signal. Mr. Russell and Riverhead Town Supervisor Phil Cardinale said the switch is a breach of Cablevision's franchise agreement with the towns.
Riverhead is suing the company, demanding that it provide each analog customer with a digital cable box so that they can access Channel 22 from any television in their home. Mr. Russell said Southold is "weighing its legal options" and may file a lawsuit.
"The recommendation from the FCC to a federal judge hearing an identical case out West appears to be going in our direction," Mr. Cardinale said. "But we are getting impatient because people are not getting the access to Channel 22 that they are supposed to under our franchise agreement.
"By the time this thing gets resolved, everybody will have already [paid for the digital box]."
bharmon@newsreview.com
Cablevision customers now need a digital cable box in order to continue to receive the following 16 channels:
ABC Family
AMC
History
Lifetime
MTV
MTV2
Spike TV
TV Land
VH1
CNN Headline News
MSNBC
WE tv
BET
CSPAN
fuse
Galavision