Customers angry over Cablevision's digital plan

"This is not right," said Lorraine Spina, 54, of Huntington. "If you're going to take channels from the family package, reduce the price of family package."

Explaining the change

Chief operating officer Tom Rutledge explained the change yesterday at the annual shareholder meeting, saying the company is unique among its competitors because it still carries analog channels - more than 60. Cablevision is trying to "recapture the analog spectrum" for digital services, he said.

"We're trying to do this gently and slowly," Rutledge said. "It's not a perfect transition but one we're trying to manage."

Verizon, which has committed to transitioning entirely to digital services in 2009, has already phased out the small number of duplicate analog channels it offered New York customers on its very basic FiOS TV package.

Cablevision said its total digital customer base has grown to about 85 percent, or about 2.67 million customers. And it has nearly doubled the number of its high-definition channels from 23 to 45.

Despite the explanations, some customers said they view the change as an opportunity to squeeze money from them and eliminate lower-priced options.

Spina suggested Cablevision could offer discounts to low- or fixed-income analog customers. She believes she could persuade Cablevision chairman Charles Dolan or chief executive James Dolan if she were able to present her case in person, she said.

"I don't think he realizes the percentage of people we're talking about," Spina said of either Dolan. "It's not a lot of people. It's mostly seniors and low-income [people]. It's not going to cost him a lot of money, so just show he cares."

Bruce Maier, 54, of Shoreham, questions whether the recent channel elimination can be described as "technological improvements" - a phrase the company used in its notice alerting customers to the service change. He wrote to the Federal Communications Commission asking the agency to order Cablevision to "cease and desist from implementing this back-door rate increase."

"It's not so much an improvement as it is a change that costs more money," he said. "The improvement is to their bottom line."

In its statement, Cablevision said it offers "highly competitive rates" while providing far more than its competitors.

Confusion among customers

Some customers also said the company's service representatives misinformed them about the change, further fueling subscribers' aggravation. They said they were told the digital set-top boxes would be required to get any TV channels once the 2009 federal mandate to switch over-the-air television transmission to a digital format takes place. The mandate only applies to over-the-air broadcast stations.

"First, they make it sound like in order to get TV you have to get a box," said Deborah Berger, 55, of Setauket. "Then they take away channels and my rate stays the same, and they're telling me it's not a rate increase? How so?"

Cablevision said the conversion of broadcast TV stations will not affect its subscribers, regardless of whether they are digital or analog customers. The company said none of its customer service training links federally mandated digital transition and its decision to eliminate certain analog feeds.