Time Warner, Comcast to switch Jan. 1

This summer, we heard about Comcast replacing Time Warner as our local cable company, and word back then was that the switch wouldn't happen until after the first of the year. Well, barely: The Chronicle reports that Comcast will take over Jan. 1, though we won't really see changes until later.

Comcast officials said they don't want to make any abrupt changes that might scare people away from cable and over to satellite TV — so the first change will be switching to the Comcast logo on customer bills, and even that won't happen until the spring. Later, Road Runner e-mail customers' addresses will switch to "@comcast.net" addresses, and changes in channel lineup and equipment could come later — though there aren't any specifics yet. "It's basically a name change," Time Warner spokesman Ray Purser said. "It's going to be very easy from a customer perspective. There's no change-out of equipment or anything."

Comcast said it would announce specific plans later in 2007, which may include more channels, faster Internet access and more on-demand movies, all of which sound pretty good to us. Purser said rates should stay about the same.