At Cox, We Look for new and innovative ways to frustrate you...
So I had my TiVo season passed to pick up episodes of "Call for Help" (with Leo but from Canada) - and noticed my cable box wasn't tuning G4; no channel was present and I was getting the general "unauthorized" message - yet all other digital channels were in tact. There's a possibility my cable box may be having minor issues, but I'm going to jump to the conclusion that Cox didn't want to pay some new licensing fee to Comcast (which owns G4). G4 is probably demanding new premiums (having replayed-to-death leftovers of Star Trek: TNG from SpikeTV now in their arsenal).
Don't get me wrong. G4 is a miserable shadow of what TechTV/ZDTV used to be. I don't know why anyone would think it was a good idea to use the lesser-known of the two brands for the identity when G4 bought TechTV. (SBC is calling themselves AT&T now, for example.) But whatever Cox's logic is for yanking the channel is probably the worst of ideas.
Another thing Cox did to piss me off: I was an early adopter of their "Premiere" Internet service, paying an extra $15 a month for an extra 5 Mbps. I don't know why, there was no need for me to do so really. I guess I just wanted a bigger number. Now, they've upgraded the "Preferred" service to 6 Mbps, meaning I'm still paying $15 a more for a mere 3 Mbps more now. In other words, if there was any incentive for me to keep paying the Premium - I don't really know what it is now.
Way to run off customers, Cox.
Syndication