A Federal Communications Commission ruling in late 2012 allows cable providers to shut down unencrypted basic channels — major networks ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and PBS, and public access. Unencrypted analog signals were easily shared (or stolen) by wiring multiple televisions from a single cable feed using a splitter. The encrypted digital signals are unwatchable without a decoder box.
Cable companies, as part of the FCC ruling, must offer basic-cable customers who have no set-top boxes in the house — often the poor or elderly — either a set-top box or, where applicable, a CableCard free for two years. Medicaid recipients get a box at no cost for five years.