television | ARLnow.com

Comcast Going All-Digital In Arlington, Will Add HD Channels

Published February 9, 2011 at 2:22PM | Updated February 9, 2011 at 2:39PM

Comcast recently mailed informational material to customers regarding the changes, and earlier notified the county’s Cable Television Policy and Administration office of its plans.

Starting on or about March 3, Comcast will stop transmitting most basic cable channels in analog. Instead, anybody who currently watches cable TV without using a set-top box or a CableCARD device (like TiVo) will need to get a digital adapter to see the channels. Comcast is offering up to two digital adapters free of charge, with each additional adapter priced at $1.99 per month.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published February 9, 2011 at 8:39AM

Water Woes Continue in Ft. Myer Heights — Some Ft. Myer Heights residents were without water last night as crews worked to repair a persistent water main leak. Workers installed some temporary piping as they worked deep below the surface to repair the leak. [Ode Street Tribune]

Libraries Will Offer Self-Checkout — As part of a host of changes set to take place next week, Arlington Public Libraries will now be offering self-checkout at its Aurora Hills, Cherrydale, Columbia Pike and Glencarlyn branches. [Library Blog]

News

TV Discussion of HOT Lanes Gets Heated

By ARLnow.com

Published February 8, 2011 at 9:16AM

In case you missed it from Friday (we did), County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman was a guest on TBD’s NewsTalk with Bruce DePuyt program.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published February 1, 2011 at 5:21AM

Arlington Docs Take Money from Drug Companies –– Big pharmaceutical companies have paid tens of thousands of dollars to Arlington doctors over the past two years, raising questions about possible conflicts of interest, according to the Arlington Connection. One doctor who talked to the paper had received more than $63,000 from one drug company over the past two years.

Arlington Eateries on TV — Metro 29 Diner (4711 Lee Highway) was featured on the Food Network’s Diners, Drive-ins and Dives program last night, as Twitter user Joe L. pointed out. Meanwhile, MTV was seen filming a segment for the documentary “True Life: I’m Allergic to Everything” at Busboys and Poets in Shirlington last week, according to Shirlington Village Blogspot.

News

Moran Facing Criticism For Remarks to Arab TV Channel

By ARLnow.com

Published January 27, 2011 at 3:10PM

Moran told Alhurra, U.S. government-sponsored Arab TV network, that Democrats suffered in the 2010 elections because many Americans don’t want a black president.

“In this case a lot of people in this country, I believe, don’t want to be governed by an African American, particularly one who is inclusive, who is liberal, who wants to spend money on everyone and who wants to reach out to include everyone in our society,” Moran told an interviewer, as reported by the Washington Post.

Around Town

Verizon and Comcast Reps Respond to Poll

By ARLnow.com

Published January 6, 2011 at 4:29PM

In a poll we conducted yesterday, nearly three quarters of respondents rated their overall experience with Comcast “poor” or “very, very bad.” The comments section generally reflected the same sentiment.

In the article that accompanied the poll, we also mentioned Verizon’s FiOS service, saying that it helps protect consumers by giving them a viable alternative to cable.

Opinion

Morning Poll: Rate Your Experience With Comcast

By Scott Brodbeck

Published January 5, 2011 at 7:43AM

It’s not so much that the Comcast customer service agents themselves are that bad, it’s just that the customer service system in which they operate seems to be designed with the sole purpose of minimizing cost at the expense of producing meaningful solutions to customers’ problems and complaints.

Comcast has a partial monopoly in Arlington. Sure, Verizon FiOS and satellite TV are available to single family homes and certain apartment buildings and condos. But for many apartment and condo-dwellers, Comcast is the only game in town. The only option for those folks in the event of an unresolved grievance is to either grin and bear it, cancel service and forgo cable and/or internet altogether, or complain to the county’s cable administration office and hope for the best.

Around Town

Bachelor Contestant from Arlington Booted Off First Show

By ARLnow.com

Published January 4, 2011 at 12:12PM | Updated January 4, 2011 at 12:40PM

Well, at least that’s what the on-screen graphic said during last night’s premiere. We didn’t really get to know Lauren, the 26-year-old high school teacher, because we really didn’t hear much from her. The most screen time she got was at the end, when she failed to get a rose from bachelor Brad Womack.

“This was a leap of faith that I made that didn’t work out for me, and that pisses me off,” Lauren told the camera. “He missed out on a really great woman who’s going to be an amazing wife, an amazing mother, who has — I think — a fantastic personality. So it’s his loss, obviously.”

News

TBD & Politico Operations Expanding in Rosslyn

By ARLnow.com

Published December 6, 2010 at 3:59PM | Updated December 6, 2010 at 4:30PM

Allbritton’s landlord has applied for a site plan amendment to convert space that was originally intended to be a television studio into work space for the web divisions of its WJLA-TV and Politico properties. The nearly 6,000 square foot space is a former retail bay in the interior mall of the 1000/1100 Wilson Boulevard office complex.

Citing the “evolution of the broadcast television industry into a web-based online media,” Allbritton will take what the board initially approved in July 2008 to be a new TV studio for WJLA and convert it into cubicles and offices for web employees. County staff is recommending the board approve the change at its Saturday, Dec. 11 meeting.

Around Town

Arlington Church to be Featured on Dateline NBC

By ARLnow.com

Published December 2, 2010 at 3:15PM | Updated December 2, 2010 at 4:06PM

A delegation of parishioners and Remote Area Medical volunteers will be leaving for a two-week trip to Medor, Haiti on Sunday. Together, the group will conduct a medical clinic for the cholera-ravaged town of 40,000. They will also repair roads and build an airstrip to allow air ambulances to deliver critical supplies.

“Medor has no running water, no sewage or trash disposal, impassable roads and inadequate agriculture,” the church said in a press release. “Like the rest of Haiti, the village has been devastated by a succession of hurricanes, earthquakes and now the deadly cholera epidemic this year.”

News

Barcroft to ACFD: No More Made-For-TV House Burnings

By ARLnow.com

Published November 5, 2010 at 3:40PM

Neighbors aren’t too pleased with the made-for-TV house fire set by firefighters in Barcroft last month.

Last night the Barcroft School and Civic League passed the following resolution, asking Arlington County to rescind its policy of allowing the fire department to perform controlled burns in residential neighborhoods.

News

Foreign Visitors Flock to Arlington for Elections

By ARLnow.com

Published November 4, 2010 at 9:52AM

As it does nearly every election day, Arlington played host to foreign media outlets and to foreign officials interested in learning more about the American election process.

Television news crews from France, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, China, Australia and the UK all brought cameras to Arlington polling places throughout the course of the day.