As of today, Thursday, Optimum cable customers in Darien and nine other southwest Fairfield County communities will need to punch in new channel numbers, far up the dial, in order to find their local government and school district channels.
You may want to put the new channels on a sticky note where you sit to watch TV.
— an announcement from the Area Nine Cable Council
Darien’s government channel, 79, has moved up the dial to Channel 1310.
Channel 78, from Darien Public Schools, is now on Channel 1305.
Darien’s government channel has already changed its name from Darien TV79 to DarienTV, with a new logo.
At least 10 community stations have just moved: the educational and government channels in Greenwich, Stamford, Darien, Norwalk, Westport, Easton, Redding, New Canaan, Weston and Wilton.
Image from DarienTV
Along with the new name, Darien government’s cable TV channel has this new name and this new logo.
“These hyper-local stations, locally produced, have covered what is happening in your schools and town government for decades,” said Hal Levy, chairman of the Area Nine Cable Council (A9CC), a state-created body that advocates for community cable TV.
“Now, after 20 years on the same familiar channels, they have been moved by Optimum cable to new channels,” Levy said. The cable company didn’t ask us for our input. They just did it and with very short notice. “This will prove to be a major inconvenience and expense to stations whose brand identity has, for decades, been tied to their channel number.”
Part of a map on BestNeighborhoods.com
Optimum has customers across the western (and some of the central) parts of Connecticut.
“The Cable Council has asked Altice for help in informing local cable subscribers of this bad news,” says A9CC Vice Chairman Jim Cameron, program director of Darien TV79, that town’s government channel. “This has meant a major re-branding for us on very short notice — and much confusion for our loyal viewers,” he said.
Darienite.com could find no announcement online from Optimum itself that details the channel changes in Connecticut beyond the 10 communities in southwest Fairfield County. Optimum has customers throughout western Connecticut, including Litchfield County in the northwest corner and as far east as the towns surrounding New Haven.
SEE ALSO: Optimum is Changing Cable TV Channels: DarienTV79 Soon Won’t Be on Channel 79; Channel 78 Also Moving (Aug. 12)