We have a Metrocast provided digital terminal adapter (DTA) provided to us for an analog TV when they converted to all digital. The recent letter indicates that having a DTA hooked to a TV will allow reception of the encrypted channels.
So as a trial I hooked it up a DTA to a digital TV to see if there was an impact on appearance. As I expected, the output is a 4:3 aspect ratio for analog TVs not the standard digital TV 16:9. I can set the TV to convert the 4:3 to 16:9 with some distortion. Also with the TVs digital tuner I can select 9-1 or 9-2, for example, but not so with the DTA. It looks like using their DTA to solve the encryption issue will result in reduced quality as well as loss of sub-channel options.
ROKU options? you can use the Sling TV app on ROKU to get a good selection of live TV for $20/month.
https://www.sling.com/service
And with your phone and Google Cast you can stream live CH 9 news.