So, I've had Comcast basic cable for a while now, not connected to any TV, but because they're internet is cheaper if you bundle it with basic cable.

We always just used OTA for TV channels because I wanted the HD feeds. So last night our OTA adapter crapped out and I wanted to finish watching the Steelers game so I switched to the basic cable.

Turns out that Comcast is feeding the HD feeds of all the local network affiliates plus quite a bit of public television HD content into their basic cable now!

Who knew?

They've always done that, at least ever since they had HD.

I don't know about that. When I FIRST got our internet and basic cable installed I had it plugged in and was NOT receiving any HD channels. I called and asked them about it and they said I had to get their digital box and pay extra for HD even just to get the locals. Granted that was years ago.

When I first got an HDTV (with the HD tuner built in) - in Jan. 2005 (back when I had Comcrap), the local HDs were sent in the clear. No box needed - just plug in directly, do a channel scan, and play.

Never rely on what the CSRs tell you. They don't know shit.

Most cable providers carry local channels unencrypted. Depending on who you talk to, local channels fall under must carry laws for cable providers and are illegal to encrypt. It's kind of a gray area as far as I can tell, though.

in NYC Time Warner Cable has had HD as part of the regular cable package since at least 2003. all you had to do was go to the store and trade in your digital box and get an HD box. it's cheaper for them to broadcast HD than analog cable, and probably regular digital

Comcast has been broadcasting the local HDs for years and years now. 2003 sounds about right. I remember having an HD receiver to get the ota HD from my local channels and then ebaying it when Comcast started carrying them.

this isn't new. providers have done this for years.

It's called QAM. It's possible if you had an older HDTV there was not a built in tuner to support this.