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Save A Little On TV Bill Using CableCard

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By ROB PEGORARO, The Washington Post

Published: December 3, 2007

I have an HDTV with a CableCard slot. Can I use that with FiOS TV, or do I need to rent Verizon's tuner?

CableCards, small modules that plug into the back of a television or digital video recorder and eliminate the need for a separate receiver, are a bit of a secret with cable TV. But their use with Verizon's fiber-optic service may be even less known.

With either cable or FiOS, a CableCard can save you money if you can live without some interactive features.

Consider the costs with Verizon: A CableCard costs $2.99 a month, compared with $9.99 a month for a high-definition tuner and $12.99 a month for a high-def DVR.

The actual savings may be a little less in some cases. Because Verizon's CableCards can't transmit multiple channels, you'd need a second CableCard to watch one channel while recording another on a device such as the TiVo HD recorder.

A TV or DVR equipped with a CableCard will also be unable to display Verizon's interactive programming guide or provide on-demand programs. The TV or DVR should include its own program guide.

The CableCard approach can be appealing for two other reasons. For one, it gives you your choice of devices - if you would rather use TiVo instead of the DVR rented by Verizon, you can. It also means one less remote control on the coffee table.

If your TV or DVR doesn't include a CableCard slot, you may still be able to avoid renting a separate box. A more common digital TV feature, a QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) tuner, will let you watch the first 49 channels on FiOS. That selection includes local network affiliates as well as public, government and educational broadcasts.

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