Comcast forced everyone who has anything more than basic cable to digital cable back in June 2010. Now, they are converting all cable TV to digital. Cable ready TVs will no longer work.
Now everybody needs a cable box or DVR to receive cable TV as I am not aware of any TV with the proper tuner built-in. Comcast originally supplied Digital Transport Adapters so cable ready TVs could still get cable TV. It is basically a mini cable box. Comcast supplied these for free initially, but starting Jan 1st they are charging $1.99 a month. My parents only have basic cable for $12 a month so they have to pay at least $2 a month more. It won't break my parents, but it is just another money grab by Comcast.
There is no longer any way to receive cable TV without paying extra to Comcast to rent a cable box of some sort. Just one more reason why people hate Comcast. Comcast had sent me one of these Digital Transport Adapters about two weeks after I switched to digital cable TV. I already have a DVR from Comcast so I stuffed the thing in a closet. All of the sudden they started charging $1.99/month for it so I will take it to one of their service centers to give it back.