I went to Charter this morning and returned their digital receiver.

[raccoon]

I also turned off my cable TV but kept Internet wireless connection.

My plan is to get a new TV and antenna and just watch local channels.

The women there told me, “Even with a new TV, you’ll still need the digital receiver. The channels are encrypted and the TV’s can’t decode them.”

I don’t believe that’s true, when you’re talking about LOCAL CHANNELS.

What say you, Du’ers?

[NYC_SKP]

1. All new TVs have built-in digital receivers. Have for years.

And depending upon where you live you might get a dozen stations, or more, many or most in HD.

I think my broadcast HD is clearer than my comcast HD of the same local station.

Good for you. Cable kind of sucks for programming anymore.

[boston bean]

2. Get a smart TV so you can subscribe to netflix, hulu and amazon..

since you are keeping your wireless internet it should be a really economical solution, especially if you are getting a new tv.

Sorry, can't answer about the digital box.

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

3. Comcast did the same thing.

They "scrambled" the local channels and sent me a box and an ugly remote I have to plug in to watch local tv.

I'm planning on returning it shortly. I'm pretty sure they're going to try to charge me a monthly rental fee for something they're forcing on me to watch local channels.