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But can I lock the setting so only the favorite channels will work when he uses the channels up and down button or does he always have choose guide then favorites.  He has dementia and that is too complicated for him.  He needs just only the few channels he watches available to him.  Like on my box I could delete every channel but say 10 if I wanted and only those 10 will be in the guide and will be the only ones when you channel up and down.  The only way to get to other channels is to manually enter the numbers or undelete them from the guide.

You didn't say which Contour receiver you have so this may not apply to you.  But, if you have a Contour 1, you may select favorite channels and then go into settings and change the default guide view to "List Favorite Channels View".

Settings > Guide Options > Default Guide View > List Favorite Channels View

You can also skip channels you don't want to appear in the guide.  This will take a few minutes, but you would only need to do it once. You may access a skipped channel later by un-checking the skipped channel or by manually entering the channel number.

Settings > Channels > Set Skipped Channels

That sounds like it would work but I think he has the Contour 2.  Just got it in November.  It’s the same box as the X1 from what I’m told.  I’ll have to check.  I’m not up on the cable boxes as I haven’t used one for about 20 years

If it has a voice remote, it's a Contour 2.  That receiver has more options than a Contour 1.  It's the only choice if you want apps or a voice remote.  But, if all you want to do is watch live programming and record and playback recorded programming, a Contour 1 is probably the better choice.  I'm not familiar with all the features of a Contour 2, but Bruce described how to change the default guide view to favorites.  When you display the program guide, the only channels listed would be your selected favorites.

Contour 1 has a skip channels option.  If Contour 2 has this feature, you could skip all channels that you never want to see and it would allow you to retain the "Grid View" which is easier to use.  Pressing the up or down channel buttons would take you to the next channel that hasn't been skipped.  The channels not skipped would be the only channels your father would see.

If your father only watches live TV, he doesn't need apps or a DVR.  Unless he likes the voice remote, I would suggest exchanging the Contour 2 box for a more user-friendly Contour 1 (non-DVR version).  A Cox Social Media Support Specialist confirmed that Contour 1 boxes (DVR and non-DVR) are available in all markets.  I'm not familiar with the non-DVR version, but it probably has the same live TV features as the DVR version, just without the DVR functionality.  They might even use the same boxes with the only difference being non-DVR customers aren't subscribed to a DVR service.

In addition to the skip channels option, Contour 1 has other features that could make it easier for your father.  If he has one channel that he watches most of the time, you could set it as the "Power On Channel" to make it the current channel when the TV is turned on.  You can also configure the Cox remote to turn both the cable box and TV on and off together with one button push.

How to use Contour videos, eh?  I guess this is why "In general the box **."