(SAN DIEGO) March 2, 2009 – It's that time of year again when we experience 'sun outages' on the many channels Cox receives via satellite. This phenomenon will occur between March 2 through March 11, 2009.

Sun outages occur each spring and fall when the sun, the satellites, and the earth fall in a line. The sun is constantly emitting broadband noise on all frequencies. When it is lined up directly behind a satellite, its noise signals overpower the satellite signals normally received at our earthbound satellite dishes.

The effect is anywhere from slight degradation to total outage, depending on the day. All multi-channel video providers are affected. It is not unique to Cox.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Why are my Cox video services experiencing outages?
Every spring and fall, the satellites that provide TV services to all video providers fall in line with the sun and earth. When this happens, noise from the sun overpowers the satellite signals that deliver TV programming to all multi-channel video providers, not just Cox.

How long will these outages last?
Customers should expect to see outages lasting no longer than 15 minutes on one or more channels. This phenomenon is generally worst between 10:00am to 2:00pm between now and March 11. All services will return to normal after March 11.

Is there anything I can do to improve my TV watching experience?
Unfortunately, sun outages are a naturally occurring phenomenon that happen every spring and fall. Signal problems should last no longer than 15 minutes at worst, and sun outages will end by March 11.