March 23, 2010

Chicago stations go dark on Time-Warner


More Chicago stations are disappearing from Racine's Time-Warner lineup.

Or maybe it's just a glitch that suddenly, and without warning, brings up a blank screen tonight whenever I click over to:
WMAQ, NBC, Channel 5
WLS, ABC, Channel 7
WGN, Superstation, Channel 9
WFLD, Fox, Channel 13
Didn't notice this until emailed by an alert RacinePost reader, and it's now too late to get an answer from Time-Warner's customer service.

Wonder if it has anything to do with the "realignment" Time-Warner made in September and October of 2009, that cost us WTTW, Channel 11, the Chicago PBS station.

The missing network programs, of course, are still available on the Milwaukee stations remaining on our cable system. But anyone who wanted to keep up with Chicago and Illinois news, or the various syndicated shows those stations offered, is out of luck.

UPDATE: Mark Czerniec reports in the comments, below, that Time-Warner is blaming an outage, and says it's being repaired. You can follow the issue on Twitter.

I emailed Time-Warner Help, and got a quick, although ambiguous, response:
"Last I was told is that we are still working on the issue. I was unable to get an estimated time when the channels would be returned. Sorry for the inconvenience."
Wonder how much this will reduce our cable bill?

16 comments:

  1. A lot of us had problems with TWC today - the picture froze for nearly an hour and it was blinking back and forth for awhile. I kept trying to call them, but it was busy. Don't know if it had something to do with that.

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  2. I mentioned these cable problems today on Twitter and got a nearly instantaneous response from TWCableHelp, who assures us all that the changes are only temporary and our regular channel lineup should be restored soon.

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  3. Buy an antenna - You'll get more than 60 HD channels including Chicago's for FREE

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  4. We switched to AT&T U-Verse at the first of the year. With the similar package to what we had with TWC, it saves my household almost $90.00 per month.

    Includes Top Tier Internet, and the top package for HD.

    Being able to program the DVR over the internet from anywhere there is access is an incredibly cool feature too.

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  5. We don't have cable, antenna, or dish, so we don't have these life threatening problems (r expenses!).

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  6. I blame Dickert.

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  7. I blame Dickert, Becker, Hughes, Sheilds, Helding, Spangenberg, and most of all the Johnson family. Does that cover all the usual suspects?

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  8. Geez Pete. Don't have a cow, man. Just wait until Obama takes control of cable and satellite communications.

    Everything will be just perfect then, and it won't cost anyone anything. We'll all live to be 185, repect everyone as special and equal no matter how awful they are, and learn to love our close bond with the environment around us.

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  9. 8:20 - lame

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  10. Dickert is taking over TWC too! He must be stopped!

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  11. Last night, my Fox News lost the picture but had audio and my MSNBC lost both picture and audio.

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  12. May have been why Lost didn't record last night on channel 7.

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  13. They have had a number of road runner problems this year too. It seems they like to take that down once a month or so then blame your technology until they get it fixed. Calling the Time Warner road runner support is always a rewarding experience...NOT. Just once I would like the phone answered by someone who knows as much or more than I do about technology. My favorite is when I tell the TW "tech" that the lights on their modem aren't lit. Then I'm told by the "tech" it is a problem with my PC. Then they do more checking and come back to announce that they are having network problems in my area. I have had that three times this year. That builds such confidence in their company.

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  14. 2:46...My favorite is when the so-called techs tell you to reboot the DVR box or to reboot it by unplugging the modem from the wall to reset your ISP. When you tell them that you've already done it, I don't think they know what to do. You can hear them reading right off the script.

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  15. At least you can understand them, I get somebody in India or Afghanistan or something... But yep, I've experienced both! Also love the 10 transfers to different ppl or the shock when you ask if they are going to credit for loss of service!

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  16. Unfortunately, AT&T's U-verse is not yet available in my area. As soon as they are,I'm dumping TWC.

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