Do you still have Rovi? I haven't seen those "Call to Subscribe" messages since replacing my Rovi box with Contour:
Get This Service Now
To Subscribe to This Channel
[Name of the Channel]
Call (866) 961-0904
You should only see Subscribe messages if you tune to a subscription channel to which you don't subscribe. However, the Subscribe messages will also occur on Rovi when the cable box momentarily syncs with the CATV headend at Cox. Syncing should be an unnoticeable process in the background but a software glitch in Rovi momentarily displays a Subscribe message for the current channel. At least for me in NoVA and a few contributors in locations unknown.
I only mention Rovi because it not only has the glitch during sync but also during Emergency Action Notifications (EAN). One contributor reported the cable box tunes to C-SPAN during an EAN. I also mention Rovi because the Subscribe messages are different between Rovi and Contour.
Contour doesn't instruct you to "call" Cox but instead informs you the channel "requires" a subscription:
Subscribe to
[Name of the Channel]
This Requires a Subscription
There is no instruction to call or even a telephone number with Contour. However, there may be call procedures after selecting the Subscribe button.
I know the weather in Florida is normally volatile but this "Call to Subscribe" glitch may have been a longtime problem. It just depends on how often you're coincidentally tuned to the Marion County channel during the 3 minutes of an EAN.
It's possible the frequency of the Emergency Alert System overlaps the frequency of the Marion County channel. If that's the case, the EAN may be momentarily disrupting your Subscription Table (if that's what it's called), and your cable box initially triggers the Subscribe message and then blocks the EAN. Yikes!
As I understand it, Cox, as a CATV provider, receives and inserts an EAN at their local/regional headends. For example, we all get superstation WGN in Chicago; however, WGN would not broadcast nationwide an EAN only affecting Chicago. Each Cox headend receives an EAN from a local radio station and if the EAN affects the region or city of the headend, the headend will relay the EAN to its local/regional viewers.
I'd hate to write it's a glitch at the headend in Marion County because State and Federal agencies routinely and randomly test this stuff...especially after the false missile alert in Hawaii.
Rovi? If so, stay tuned to WUFT and exchange after Dorian. Good luck!
