It depends per region, but my understanding is that most Charter/Spectrum locations DRM almost everything. So the only channels you can watch/record at the moment are the local stations.
I have Charter Spectrum and the only DRM channels are the ones traditionally referred to as premium channels, i.e. HBO, Showtime, etc, so I’m able to view/record all the other “regular” channels. I’m in Southeast Missouri.
Thank you for replying that is good information.
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I am in Southern California and have the same as @teladog01.
I believe that the differences are if the original location was Legacy TWC, Legacy Charter or Legacy Brighthouse (I was Legacy Charter).
- Legacy TWC: Most channels DRM except for Locals
- Legacy Charter: Most channels digital (protected/requiring CC but viewable with Channels), but only Premium and Special Tiers DRM
- Legacy BrightHouse: Not sure.
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I was Spectrum (legacy Brighthouse in Central Florida) and every channel but the premiums are recordable. I’ve since dropped them and gone OTA and streaming.
I had to reboot the tuning adapter about once every week or so. Also, had to do channel rescans as channels would disappear. Overall it was an okay setup.
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I have Spectrum (Legacy Brighthouse) with card, HDHR tuner, and Channels. I live in central Alabama. The only DRM channels are El Rey, Turner Classic Movies, CSPAN, and Fox Sports Southeast.
I got rid of the Spectrum DVR box about 6 months ago. I record and watch shows solely using Channels DVR running on a mac. Works flawlessly.
I also have the HDHomerun DVR software installed on a Windows laptop to view movies on those few DRMed channels (cannot view DRM channels on Mac version of HDHomerun DVR). But that is very rare.
I too have to reboot tuning adapter as some available channels don’t show as available in Channels DVR, but only every 3-4 months at most.
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So on August 1, Spectrum in Birmingham metro area just changed over to “full-digital.” Now 98% of all channels are DRMed. Ugh. I can’t believe my Channels app just became useless overnight – still amazing app, but I have no use for it now until it supports DRM.
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I’m in Birmingham too and on July 18 they switch all legacy Brighthouse customers over to all digital. All channels DRM now! So canceled, activated DirectTV NOW and only have Internet with Spectrum. Bought a HdHomerun Connect and using Channels to record all the OTA channels from my antenna. 
Jeez. Sorry to hear this @runithome. As a fellow Spectrum (formerly Charter) user, this really makes me nervous. I wonder if it is just a matter of time before Spectrum does this everywhere. Anybody have any inside information?
I'm in Wisconsin which has been a Charter market from the begining. I am able to record and view all channels that I subscribe to including premium channels such as HBO, Showtime, etc. I have a HDHomerun with the cable card and it works just fine with DVR for me. I don't know if this is relavent to DRM or not, but Clear QAM is not in my area, only QAM hence the cable card.
I found this link which explains DRM and QAM differences:
https://getchannels.com/faq/#what-is-the-difference-between-encrypted-channels-and-drm-channels
I have Charter Spectrum in DFW (Texas) and I’m receiving most channels DRM-free (for now at least). Notably BBC HD and CW are DRMed (but CW is available OTA). All premium channels are DRM of course.
A tuning adaptor is supposed to allow for DRM channels to come through but I haven’t had any luck getting it to work.
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I have Spectrum (formerly Oceanic Time Warner) in Honolulu, HI. I set up an HDHR Prime with a cable card and tuning adapter (graciously provided by Oceanic for free). All but twenty-some-odd channels are protected with DRM. The latest HDHR view app plays all channels, including DRM in Windows 10, and on the Xbox One. The HDHR DVR, however, still does not support DRM channels.
Spectrum took over Oceanic a few months ago. So far they have made no changes, but I have heard that they will no longer support the existing whole home DVR, and that they will introduce a completely new solution in 2018. I’m hoping that the new solution will involve less DRM…
Just wanted to provide a positive report from Bradenton, FL: Legacy Bright House (now Spectrum) working pretty well over here, at least shortly after initial scan. There are some common channels DRMed but all of them also have a secondary channel that isn't DRMed. For example, Headline News HD (HLNHD) is not DRMed at channel 20 but is DRMed at channel 500 something. I'd say less than 10% of channels are DRMed and of those, TV Everywhere has me covered already. (Just checked, i've got 535 channels, of which 61 are DRM.)
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5 months later and I am shocked how rock solid the CableCard setup has been. Haven't had to reset the tuning adapter once!
I currently have a Tivo Bolt hooked up to my Spectrum Cable Card and Tuning adapter. I'm trying out Channels Plus DVR and my setup is OTA antenna hooked up to SiliconDust Quattro hooked up to my Synology NAS. Everything is working good but the picture quality on both the OTA and TVE is subpar, seems to be 720P whereas my Tivo is doing (I believe) 1080i.
My question is this. I'm looking to pick up a SiliconDust Prime and add it to the mix. I'll move the cable card to the SD Prime and also use the Tuning Adapter. This will allow me to remove the Tivo entirely and kill the monthly guide fee. Will the picture quality improve to at least the same as the Tivo if the source is now coming through the cable card?
Most HD OTA content is 1080i, but a few networks broadcast in 720p. TVE is low– to mid–bitrate 720p or 1080p.
With the Prime, it's the same as OTA: HD channels in either 1080i or 720p. You may want to double check which channels have DRM, though. Channels does not support DRM cable channels, which TiVo has no problem displaying or recording.
Thank you, appreciate the info. When I input my Spectrum credentials into Channels for TVE I notice that most of them are unavailable to view, including locals. I was hoping that by using the Prime+Cable Card+Tuning adapter that the blanked out channels would be available. Is this not the case?
I only use TVE with Spectrum. You should only be missing some locals depending on the area. Mainly CBS, PBS AND CW. and sub channels ( I use an Antenna for those). I think most cable channels should be there except Nick. You might need to rescan individual channels.
Just because a channel is in your subscription package does not necessarily mean TVE access is included. While the channels that you cannot receive via TVE may be available through your CableCARD, they may also be flagged with DRM, making them unviewable in Channels.
I'm guessing there is no way to know if a channel blocked out by TVE would also be blocked out with HDHR Prime short of actually doing it? It's a serious PITA to have Spectrum remarry the cable card to a new device (and then possibly put it back in the Tivo). Wish it was simply plug 'n play....