My show's in jeopardy, baby
Mediacom technology switch is bad news for my TV habits
“Important information about your Mediacom service,” the subject line read. “We have exciting news,” said the large image at the top of the e-mail sent six months ago. My television needs are simple — record “Jeopardy!” and watch the news, live sports, and the occasional episode of “Star Trek” — but I was worried.
If something you have an account with sends a message about “important” information, it means that prices are going up, something is getting eliminated, or its customer database has been hacked. “Exciting” means things will be made worse and/or imposed on you whether you like it or not.
If it’s “important” AND “exciting,” the buzzword bingo board is about to explode.
Mediacom is launching a new supercharged technology platform in your neighborhood which will provide you access to symmetrical speeds, superior WiFi, advanced network security and proven reliability for today and tomorrow!
To prepare for these network enhancements, you will need a compatible cable TV box on each TV that you would like to continue receiving cable TV service.
[emphasis in original!]
If you like your cable service, you can keep your cable service.
… we promise that once you get rid of that old technology, you will love how easy and intuitive it is to find and watch your favorite shows.
Shields up, red alert.
Tubes, waves, and cables
When the Federal Communications Commission lifted its freeze on new TV stations in 1953, RCA had a method that broadcast a color picture but was receivable by existing black-and-white sets. It took another 12 years for color TV to really take off. A black-and-white TV bought in 1954, if well-kept, could have received an antenna signal until June 12, 2009. That’s when analog signals across the country shut down and the digital era began.
Until now, if the signal wasn’t encrypted, cable subscribers could connect their TVs directly to a coax port in the wall. Viewers could have multiple TVs hooked up in their residence with no additional costs and record programs for personal use with TiVo or a similar device.
(Well, no additional costs aside from the nearly-$30-per-month “local broadcast station surcharge” that’s tacked on to household cable bills as fees for retransmission of stations that are technically obtainable elsewhere for free, but I digress.)
I have a long history of watching television on the computer. The family Power Mac came with a built-in hookup and a program called Apple Video Player. In college, I added hardware to my tower. For 15 years, I’ve had the EyeTV 250 Plus. I can pause live TV and save video recordings. Most importantly, I converted 25 years’ worth of family videotapes into digital files, preserving them for decades to come (or until every hard drive they’ve been copied to fails).
The EyeTV 250 Plus is one of the best Macintosh peripherals of all time. It also stopped being manufactured in early 2015. Streaming was just starting to take off and hasn’t stopped since. Much of television history, and parts of its present, can be watched somewhere online. The thing about streaming, though, is it’s just that: a stream of digital data that isn’t designed to be recorded and saved. In addition, shows are scattered across providers and services.
“Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune” are in their own special level of streaming hell. They’re owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, distributed by CBS Media Ventures, and sold (syndicated) to one station in each TV market. In much of Iowa, they happen to be on NBC stations. However, the prime-time specials are exclusive to ABC, and since ABC is owned by Disney, those episodes are on Hulu. Syndicated episodes aren’t on any service. The only options are watch live or record from live, from antenna, a cable/satellite provider, or a streaming service that allows storage.
There have been reports that daily “Jeopardy!” could become available online later this year, but is there another way for me to record the show? It’s time to look into this “cord-cutting” thing I’ve heard so much about.
Rabbit ears rise again
The “supercharged technology platform” required every Mediacom TV customer to own a cable box by the end of January. The box is free for one TV; additional boxes cost $10 each, per month. The now-encrypted signal exits the box through an HDMI port. EyeTV’s hardware requires a coaxial cable.
To learn more, I went to the local office — Mediacom discontinued its online support communities Jan. 1. I was told Mediacom no longer offers any recording options, its new magic box requires both a television login and special channel changer, and if you don’t have Mediacom internet, you have to get a different magic box.
I have an antenna on hand, ironically from Mediacom itself. It was distributed in January 2007 during one of the many retransmission fee disputes with Sinclair Broadcasting. It still functions today when connected to a flat-screen TV.
Many broadcast stations on VHF channels 2-13 have switched to a frequency with a stronger signal. KCRG did this Aug. 20; digital television remaps it in a way that pressing “9” will still take an antenna user to Channel 9.1. KWWL and KIIN, PBS Channel 12 out of West Branch, are the only stations in eastern Iowa that haven’t done this, and their signals are too weak for that 2007 antenna.
I went to Best Buy and looked for the indoor antenna with the longest range possible. EyeTV’s scan with the new antenna found everything in the Cedar Rapids market, including a station called KFKZ-LD that has zero promotional presence. There are 50 channels in all, but seven are shopping or literally all infomercials all the time, five more are reality/true crime, and five more are duplicates.
Watching TV on the computer isn’t going to be easy. Channel 7’s signals remain iffy. Instead of fiddling with the rabbit ears, I have to position a thin plastic sheet of an antenna just right.
Mediacom’s cable “upgrade,” not to mention those incessant e-mails about phone service, caused it to lose a customer permanently. It’s all because I just wanted to [pause] record “Jeopardy!” [flicker] on —
My other work can be found on my website, Iowa Highway Ends, and its blog.
I am proud to be part of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. If you’re interested in commentary by some of Iowa’s best writers, please follow your choice of Collaborative members:
You should be able to watch Jeopardy! on YouTube, though it's usually just the latest episode available for 24 hours. There's an easy hack to record the program to your PC, though. https://www.notta.ai/en/blog/how-to-record-youtube-video#:~:text=Step%201%3A%20Open%20the%20YouTube,recorder%20starts%20the%20recording%20process.
Our march toward comprehensive enshitification moves ever forward. But that photo of your PowerMac running live television in 2025 warmed my cold, dead heart. I didn't know that was possible. And I think it's very very cool (the PowerMac, not my heart).