Countywide : Weather Outlook: Snow on Cable TV
Cable television viewers may suffer from a case of “sun spots” this afternoon. The condition is irritating, but it doesn’t itch and it will last only a few days.
Satellite programs will go cloudy then disappear from television screens for about 10 minutes each afternoon for the next three days due to solar interference, said Steven D. Rosenthal, a spokesman for Comcast Cablevision, which serves 90,000 homes in Orange County.
The condition occurs in the spring and fall, giving residents something to look forward to. Like allergies.
Invariably, viewers reach for their telephones to find out what went wrong, Rosenthal said.
The symptoms, scheduled to appear at 1:08 p.m. each day, start with flickers of “snow” on the television screen, Rosenthal said. Then, the television picture deteriorates “little by little, slowly and slowly until it’s actually blocked. At the maximum point, it’ll look pretty awful, lots of interference.”
Non-satellite channels will not be affected.
According to a statement released by Comcast on Friday, the interference occurs when the orbit of the satellite and the sun are in a single line. Both signals reach Earth, but the more powerful solar signal dominates, causing a temporary loss of cable service.
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