shared channels
 

i noticed when i was at a friend's flat, that he had shared channels on some of his programs.

he has telewest broadband, so i presume his cable package is also with telewest.

for example, bbc parliament changes to paramount comedy, and history channel becomes challenge tv i think.. he also has programs like british eurosport and mtv, and sky one, but nothing better like paramount comedy 2 or mtv base or whatever...

does anybody know what package this is? is this just the standard telewest package?

also - this is just by plugging a coax cable into the tv from the wall.. there is no set-top box anywhere..
cheers

Re: shared channels
 

:welcome: to Cable Forum :D

If there is no STB being used, this is whatever historic unscrambled arrangement Telewest have in the local area, if indeed it is Telewest. It might be ntl, or somebody else.

Many of the Cable providers took over networks initially installed by local authorities or similar, especially in the new towns, so there were only a few communal aerials. As in those areas people wern't obliged to subscribe to cable, the cable co is obliged to pipe some free to air channels in addition to the subscriber services.

Re: shared channels
 

fair enough, so it's basically some bootleg free cable ;D

Re: shared channels
 

Free, but not bootleg if it's one of those areas where the cableco took over from a Community Aerial supplier like the local council as Rob described.

And in many areas where no such obligation exists, the cableco simply doesn't bother to disconnect a house at the street cabinet when a subscriber cancels the service, meaning that several unscrambled analogue channels continue to be available down the cable afterwards.

I got my analogue channels that way for a few years before eventually subscribing to NTL digital.

Re: shared channels
 

The Op mentioned that his freind has telewest BB that means he has a active coax at his house and he's just creaming off the FTA analogue channels like I used to do with ntl.

Re: shared channels
 

I used to get that with telewest analouge previously united artists , I have a ferguson tv which has cable tuning as well as the normal tuning frequency range - managed to get

Live tv , sky 1 , mtv , etc and best of all - the adult channel !!!!

Re: shared channels
 

ah, theyre analogue.. fair enough, that would make sense
that of course would explain the shared channels :p
but the quality is crystal, which made me think it was digital
but it's only from 1 aerial socket, which is odd

coz he gets nick german and german mtv too, but on really poor reception