I’m a pretty ritualistic guy and, as a creature of habit, I woke up the other day, flipped on the TV, and clicked through the channels just like always. Only this morning something was different. Sixteen channels were missing, including MSNBC, AMC, MTV, VH1, Lifetime, Spike, ABC Family, BET, WE, History Channel, CNN Headline News, Fuse, C-Span, and others. Instead of watching a classic episode of Bonanza or the Beverly Hillbillies on TV Land, all I got was a blue screen with white lettering that announced “this channel is now available with a digital cable box or cable card.”

Annoyed, I logged onto the cable company’s Web site for an explanation, but couldn’t readily find a press release or announcement. So I phoned Cablevision, the company that receives a $115 monthly check from me for bundled TV and Internet service, to complain. 

What gives, I asked? It sounds like a classic case of paying more for less. Not so, the customer service rep assured me. He said that Cablevision is eliminating the analog feed for the channels this month and from now on I’d need a separate cable box or cableCARD (which can be used in some newer HD television sets) to continue to receive the programs in digital format. That’s a separate box for every TV in the house. I already pay $6.75 a month for one such set-top box and remote control, but I have three other smaller sets, too, and I’ll be darned if I’m going to shell out another $20.25 a month in this economy. It’s bad enough that I continue to pay around $30 a month for a landline telephone that I barely use.

The rep tried to convince me to add cable boxes to my other sets, saying that I’d benefit from clearer sound, a better picture, and extras like commercial-free digital music channels, built-in parental controls, and access to on-demand programming and the interactive channel guide. I already have those niceties on my one box-equipped set, and barely use any of them. I suppose those extras appeal to many people, but don’t count me among them.

According to New York Newsday, which picked up on the story, I’m not alone in my outrage. The Cablevision change has prompted complaints from some subscribers who didn't realize they'd have to rent extra digital equipment to keep service they now have on all their TVs, according to the newspaper. 

About 150,000 or 5 percent, of the company's 3.1 million customers throughout the New York metropolitan area subscribe to the family package, or expanded basic service, in analog - with cables connected directly to TVs - and will not be able to watch those channels without digital equipment, Newsday reported. 

On its Web site, Cablevision says that the company has been transmitting most of its programming in digital format since launching iO TV eight years ago. Since then, Cablevision has been providing some channels in a duplicate analog format as well. By removing the duplicate analog feeds, Cablevision says, it will be able to offer customers additional programming, including new HD offerings. 

For more information about the digital television transition, check out what my electronics colleagues had to saying by clicking here.

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting tired of these costly and constant technology “upgrades.” What about you? What so-called upgrades to your cable or satellite television service have you been asked to pay for lately?