Comcast is quietly moving HBO over to digital cable, irritating people who are stuck in the ’90s with totally un-hip non-digital cable. The move to digital adds as much as $4.95 (per cable box) to customer’s bills, without adding any channels. From the Philadelphia Inquirer:

“I guess the thing that bothers me is, the service is bad and rates keep increasing,” said Alan Letofsky, one of many customers who recently received a notice from Comcast saying they would need a digital-cable box to keep HBO, which telecasts The Sopranos. “We just don’t want to give any more money to Comcast.”

Letofsky, of Haverford, has a digital box on one of his sets, but analog service on the other two. To keep HBO on all three sets, he said, he would have to pay an extra $9.90 – $4.95 each for two boxes – per month. He already pays $83.05 for Comcast cable.

He said he would switch to another cable company if he could.

Face it, Comcast. You’re pissing off the old people and they’re all going to switch to Verizon FIOS. It’s their way of shaking their fiber-optic cane at you. Comcast’s HBO shift comes right as The Sopranos final season begins. —MEGHANN MARCO

HBO move riles some Comcast customers [Philadelphia Inquirer]

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