# Tivo Premiere and Comcast



## ValpoMan (Feb 22, 2002)

Fact upfront....I am a total NOOB when it comes to this stuff....

We will be going to Comcast in about a month. I am thinking about purchasing a Premiere for the living room as we have had a tivo there for about 7 years and I don't want the shock of using a Comcast DVR on our primary tv (we will use their dvr's in the other rooms). 

My question is if we want to watch Comcast on-demand we will then need a Comcast HD receiver in the living room too? Could we then use the premiere to tape shows from on-demand?

Final question, will the use of the Tivo Premiere with Comcast be as seemless as it is with our Directivo in the living room now? What problems could we face?

Sorry for all of the questions but I just want to make sure purchasing the Premiere is the way to go for us.

Thanks in advance!

ValpoMan


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

You would need a Comcast STB for VOD.
And you would need a VCR to tape a show from the Comcast box.

The TiVo doesn't have any inputs to digitally encode the output of another box.

Plus the TiVo can't tape anything


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## MichaelK (Jan 10, 2002)

it's as seamless as a directivo.

the big difference as aaronwt explained is no comcast vod. INstead you will have options from netflix (pay ~9 bucks a month forunlimited streaming of an older subset of movies and newer TV) or blockbuster and amazon (both ppv).

there's a possibility that some day comcast and tivo might work out comcast vod on the box but dont hold your breath on it.


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## SNJpage1 (May 25, 2006)

What would happen if you connected the tivo annt in to the comcast annt out and set the tivo for channel three? would it think the signal coming from the comcast box is OTA?


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## pdonoghu (Mar 6, 2003)

SNJpage1 said:


> What would happen if you connected the tivo annt in to the comcast annt out and set the tivo for channel three? would it think the signal coming from the comcast box is OTA?


Nothing. The Tivo Premier is looking for a digital ATSC sginal on the antenna in. The cable box transmits an analog NTSC channel 3 or 4 signal on the RF out. Not to mention it would be an SD quality picture, but it won't work.


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## ValpoMan (Feb 22, 2002)

Thanks for the replies...

So I could have a Tivo Premiere AND a comcast box on the same tv? I understand I won't beable to record on demand.

ValpoMan


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## pdonoghu (Mar 6, 2003)

ValpoMan said:


> Thanks for the replies...
> 
> So I could have a Tivo Premiere AND a comcast box on the same tv? I understand I won't beable to record on demand.
> 
> ValpoMan


Yes. But how much is a Comcast box going to cost you per month? You might be better off with a Netflix sub, or just rent movies on demand from Amazon and or Blockbuster.


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## CharlesH (Aug 29, 2002)

ValpoMan said:


> I understand I won't be able to record on demand.


Why would one want to record on-demand? Why not just just "demand" it again?


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## MichaelK (Jan 10, 2002)

CharlesH said:


> Why would one want to record on-demand? Why not just just "demand" it again?


I'd guess because it changes all the time- what's on "on-demand" might not be "on-demand" tomorrow.

But in general it would be impossible to ever record a digital copy of on-demand. You would have to go analog by a vcr or some other method to take in analog output from a digital cable box.


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## WhiskeyTango (Sep 20, 2006)

You could use a S2 to record On Demand shows, there is a bit of a trick to it though.


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## Bvadel (Dec 22, 2001)

so sorry for the naive question but if I was going to:
- buy a PREMIERE,
- utilize Comcast and wanted to record Howard TV/Howard Stern (which i believe is on demand)

I wouldn't be able to? My plan was to just switch to comcast and ask them for multistream card (no box) but it sounds like I wouldn't have the ability to either watch or record this type of programming unless I also got a Comcast box. 

Please confirm.


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## nrc (Nov 17, 1999)

Bvadel said:


> so sorry for the naive question but if I was going to:
> - buy a PREMIERE,
> - utilize Comcast and wanted to record Howard TV/Howard Stern (which i believe is on demand)
> 
> ...


Unfortunately TiVo cannot receive or record Comcast OnDemand. Cable company "On-demand" services use two-way communications with the cable system which TiVo has no way to provide. Even if you have a Comcast box the TiVo Permiere cannot record from it. The TiVo Premiere can only record directly from the cable or antenna source.

Even if TiVo were able to record On Demand Comcast would likely flag it for very limited retention.


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## Mike-Mike (Mar 2, 2010)

If Tivo's big announcement the other day was adding Howard TV, I would have ordered a box ASAP! we don't get Howard TV here, boooooooo Insight


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## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

pdonoghu said:


> Nothing. The Tivo Premier is looking for a digital ATSC sginal on the antenna in. The cable box transmits an analog NTSC channel 3 or 4 signal on the RF out. Not to mention it would be an SD quality picture, but it won't work.


AFAIK, the Premiere can still receive and record NTSC, just like the S3 and HD can. But yeah, it would suck.


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## pdonoghu (Mar 6, 2003)

wmcbrine said:


> AFAIK, the Premiere can still receive and record NTSC, just like the S3 and HD can. But yeah, it would suck.


Well, you could read the specs like I did before I responded. From Tivo's Premier product details:

Sources: Supports digital cable, antenna (ATSC) and Verizon FiOS® (Does not support satellite or AT&T U-verse)

No analog (NTSC) OTA, no reason to include it with only a handful of low power analog OTA stations left.


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## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

There's no reason to disable it. Supporting it isn't an extra effort. Analog cable is supported on the Premiere, according to TiVoStephen -- yes, even though it's not listed in what you're quoting -- and analog broadcast is just a subset of that. It would take more effort to disable it than to leave it in (the kind of effort they took with the 2DT, but that's another story).

I don't know for sure, of course. I just think you've leapt to an unwarranted conclusion. I'll be very surprised if analog OTA is disabled in the Premiere. But even if it is -- channels 3 and 4 are the same on OTA and cable.


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## nrc (Nov 17, 1999)

wmcbrine said:


> I don't know for sure, of course. I just think you've leapt to an unwarranted conclusion. I'll be very surprised if analog OTA is disabled in the Premiere.


Even if it's enabled, isn't it likely that Comcast applies analog copy protection to their On Demand content?


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## pdonoghu (Mar 6, 2003)

wmcbrine said:


> There's no reason to disable it. Supporting it isn't an extra effort. Analog cable is supported on the Premiere, according to TiVoStephen -- yes, even though it's not listed in what you're quoting -- and analog broadcast is just a subset of that. It would take more effort to disable it than to leave it in (the kind of effort they took with the 2DT, but that's another story).
> 
> I don't know for sure, of course. I just think you've leapt to an unwarranted conclusion. I'll be very surprised if analog OTA is disabled in the Premiere. But even if it is -- channels 3 and 4 are the same on OTA and cable.


I didn't say that it doesn't support analog cable.

I stated that is does not support analog OTA. From the spec, it does not support reception of analog OTA (NTSC) which is what the cable box would be outputting on an RF/coax output. There is an overlap of frequencies for the old VHF (analog NTSC) with analog cables lower channels, so it might work. But technically, it is not supported. There is a difference between OTA (NTSC/ATSC) and cable (analog/QAM) transmission standards.


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## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

Is this page your only source for the idea that it doesn't support NTSC? Because, again, it doesn't say that. All it says is "antenna (ATSC)". Just like it says "digital cable", even though the Premiere will still support analog cable.



nrc said:


> Even if it's enabled, isn't it likely that Comcast applies analog copy protection to their On Demand content?


Time to break out the old "video clarifier" then.


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## vonkodi (Sep 25, 2007)

So getting back to my original question, I wouldn't be able to _either _watch or record Howard Stern On Demand with Comcast with a PREMIERE TIVO box, correct?


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## MichaelK (Jan 10, 2002)

nrc said:


> Even if it's enabled, isn't it likely that Comcast applies analog copy protection to their On Demand content?


I've seen no one say it.

the CCI flags of 0x02 and 0x03 only stop analog things

there's other flags that stop digital AND analog. (I'd have to get at the chart of bits and sit down and convert binary to decimal - not my strong suit) But for sake of argument they might be 0x07 and 0x08.

Since I've seen no one say anything besides being flagged by 0x02 and 0x03 I dont think it's widespread.

If I were comcast I'd set every nasty flag on vod and ppv, but they dont seem to for whatever reason.


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## MichaelK (Jan 10, 2002)

vonkodi said:


> So getting back to my original question, I wouldn't be able to _either _watch or record Howard Stern On Demand with Comcast with a PREMIERE TIVO box, correct?


you can't watch or record stern (or any on demand) on the tivo premiere (or any cablecard device).

You likely can't record any on demand in any digital manner.

You can record on demand by getting a cable box from your cable company and then recording it with a vcr (or perhaps back into an S2 if you want to fight it and igore that all the recording names wil be wrong).

you might need a 'video- stabilizer' to record with the vcr or other analog device.


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## rdbauer111 (Mar 12, 2010)

I just got off the phone with Com-crapper and they told me they have no date that they will support the Series 4 DVR. The only support they have is for a series 3


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## MichaelK (Jan 10, 2002)

rdbauer111 said:


> I just got off the phone with Com-crapper and they told me they have no date that they will support the Series 4 DVR. The only support they have is for a series 3


they dont support a tivo box, tivo supports their boxes.

comcast (and any cable provider) merely has to give you a cablecard to stick in the S4. The exact same card they hand out for hte S3's work in the S4's becasue it's a standard. Comcast (along withthe other large cable companies) is required by regulation to give you one for any cablelabs approved device. Tivo, having already gotten the one box approved by cablelabs, is now allowed to self approve boxes if they follow all the rules. So the S4 will be approved just like the S3 is now.

You have nothing to worry about.

An S4 will work just fine on comcast.


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## gweempose (Mar 23, 2003)

MichaelK said:


> An S4 will work just fine on Comcast ...


Assuming you can find an employee that actually knows how to properly pair a cablecard.


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## MichaelK (Jan 10, 2002)

gweempose said:


> Assuming you can find an employee that actually knows how to properly pair a cablecard.


that's a whole 'nother thread


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## tomm1079 (May 10, 2005)

gweempose said:


> Assuming you can find an employee that actually knows how to properly pair a cablecard.


who says you need an employee to do it..i did both of mine and just had the "installer" sit their and learn how to do it.

Worked great....


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## gweempose (Mar 23, 2003)

tomm1079 said:


> Who says you need an employee to do it? I did both of mine and just had the "installer" sit their and learn how to do it ...


The real key is finding someone at the head-end office who knows how to properly configure the CableCARD on your account. If they don't know what they're doing, there's really not much you can do on your end but twiddle your thumbs.


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