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Matt Greek
@verizon.net

Matt Greek

Anon

New HD Channels

Thought that come this spring we were supposed to have several new HD channels. Whatever happened to this? The last new HD channel we got here (in So Cal on FiOS) was A&E HD and that was several months ago. Thought we were supposed to be keeping up w/ DirecTV. Remember reading the press release on Verizon's website about their commitment to add several new national HD channels by Spring. Spring is well on the way. We also still don't have any HD ondemand here (speed= 15down/2up). Thanks for any info anyone has. Have a good one.
KenAF
join:2006-01-23
Arlington, VA

1 edit

KenAF

Member

Some markets should get new channels in the next month.

Other markets such as DC, FL, and TX won't see them until this summer, if previous posts to this forum are accurate.

darcilicious
Cyber Librarian
Premium Member
join:2001-01-02
Forest Grove, OR
·Ziply Fiber

darcilicious to Matt Greek

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to Matt Greek
General thinking/discussion around has been that new hd channels will roll out market by market and only after a market has their analog channels (2-49) converted to digital.

I also think it's supposed be STARTING IN the spring, not completed by spring...

Other threads:
»New HD channels
»When will we get more HD???
»Verizon Signs Deal To Carry MGM HD
darcilicious

darcilicious to Matt Greek

Premium Member

to Matt Greek
See also: »Re: FIOS will be 100% Digital before FCC deadline which is tentative schedule for the conversion to digital.

Matt Greek
@verizon.net

Matt Greek to darcilicious

Anon

to darcilicious
said by darcilicious:

General thinking/discussion around has been that new hd channels will roll out market by market and only after a market has their analog channels (2-49) converted to digital.

I also think it's supposed be STARTING IN the spring, not completed by spring...

Other threads:
»New HD channels
»When will we get more HD???
»Verizon Signs Deal To Carry MGM HD
---Isn't that conversion supposed to happen in 2009? I really like FiOS TV and I hope that their announcement a few months back that they're committed to adding new HD to keep up w/ DirecTV wasn't just sabre-rattling.---

darcilicious
Cyber Librarian
Premium Member
join:2001-01-02
Forest Grove, OR
·Ziply Fiber

darcilicious

Premium Member

said by Matt Greek :

Isn't that conversion supposed to happen in 2009?
Verizon will complete it before the end of this year if all goes well. Original thread starts here:
»FIOS will be 100% Digital before FCC deadline

Generic
@riverside.ca.us

Generic to Matt Greek

Anon

to Matt Greek
The digital conversion in 2009 from analog to digital mandated by the FCC is for over-the-air tv signals and not cable television local channels. The reason Verizon is moving the local channels to digital is that Verizon needs more space and that is all. That is not a requirement by the FCC.

Matt Greek
@verizon.net

Matt Greek to darcilicious

Anon

to darcilicious
said by darcilicious:

said by Matt Greek :

Isn't that conversion supposed to happen in 2009?
Verizon will complete it before the end of this year if all goes well. Original thread starts here:
»FIOS will be 100% Digital before FCC deadline
Cool, thanks. Will continue to wait. Just wish that since some cities get certain ondemand in HD, that we could get it here. I never watch ondemand for that very reason, it looks like crap.

MeatChicken
join:2007-08-15
Paramus, NJ

1 edit

MeatChicken to Matt Greek

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to Matt Greek
Can anyone actually confirm that on or about the ch "2-49 date" is also when that market will actually get the next batch of new HD channels .. or will there be some longer delay between the market's 2-49 conversion, & the HD additions ..?
JPL
Premium Member
join:2007-04-04
Downingtown, PA

4 edits

JPL to Generic

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to Generic
said by Generic :

The digital conversion in 2009 from analog to digital mandated by the FCC is for over-the-air tv signals and not cable television local channels. The reason Verizon is moving the local channels to digital is that Verizon needs more space and that is all. That is not a requirement by the FCC.
That's only partly correct. Yes, the 2009 cutoff date is specifically for OTA. However, it's wrong to say that Verizon is only doing this for extra space. Verizon is required to eliminate analogs, by the FCC, as part of another agreement. In July 2007 a new FCC regulation went into effect governing cable boxes. Essentially the FCC is requiring that cable companies decouple the security of their cable boxes from the boxes themselves. The thinking being that you should be able to go buy the cable box of your choice, get a cable card from the cable company, and be good to go.

Some smaller cable companies (including Verizon) were granted a waiver by the FCC, exempting them from this requirement. However, it wasn't without its strings. The FCC required, as condition of granting the waiver, that these cable companies get rid of their analogs by Feb. 2009.

So, Verizon is required to get rid of their analogs as per an agreement with the FCC, but it's separate from the original analog OTA shut-off. The fact that both deadlines happen to be in Feb. 2009 just adds to the confusion. Verizon chose to expedite the elimination of analogs to make room for these new HD channels.

As an aside, I don't know if elimination of the analogs is really the precondition for getting ANY new HD channels. It seems that Verizon is following that plan - eliminate the channels, market by market, soon to be followed by new HD in those markets. But they can clear space in other ways. In fact, getting rid of the analogs alone isn't enough to meet the plans that Verizon spelled out - they won't be able to get to 150 HD channels by end of 2008 just by getting rid of analogs - that would get them to roughly 110 per market. To get the rest of the space, Verizon is, at the same time, expanding the QAMs used. They have the ability to get up to the full 135 QAMs. They'll need to do that to get to the 150 HD channels as well. As a result, it's possible that these markets get a slew of new HD channels before the analog shut-off in those markets.

But I don't know what their transition plans are - they're very tightlipped about it. I get the sense, however, that the first slate of new HD channels will come as a result of the elimination of the analogs and that the addition of new QAMs will happen later this year, but that's just a guess.

One final, final point - they're not moving the locals to digital. They already carry them in digital. They carry them both in analog and digital. If you have a set top box, you're getting your locals in digital already.
kes601
join:2007-04-14
Virginia Beach, VA

kes601 to MeatChicken

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to MeatChicken
said by MeatChicken:

Can anyone actually confirm that on or about the ch "2-49 date" is also when that market will actually get the next batch of new HD channels .. or will there be some longer delay between the market's 2-49 conversion, & the HD additions ..?

The letter says "shortly after this transition, you'll see even more great content from Verizon."
afiggatt
join:2007-07-12
Sterling, VA

afiggatt

Member

said by kes601:

The letter says "shortly after this transition, you'll see even more great content from Verizon."
Let us hope that "shortly after" is not as long in Verizon speak as "coming soon" for HD VOD. Back in early December, Verizon put out a press release that said about HD VOD: "It is coming soon to the FiOS systems in the Washington, D.C., metro area,..." See »newscenter.verizon.com/p ··· now.html.

It is now March, 2008 and we still don't have HD VOD in the Washington Metro market beyond a couple of programs that have shown up and then go away in a HDTV folder. What comes to mind is Don Adams as Maxwell Smart holding his thumb & forefinger close together saying "Missed it by THAT much". Then followed by putting his hands a lot further apart and saying "ok, how about Missed it by THAT much".

Verizon was late on the IMG roll-out. They have been delayed on adding HD VOD to most markets. Why should the shutdown of the analog channels and adding a bunch of HD channels be any different? Call me a little pessimistic at this time.
JTBurn
join:2003-11-08
Ellicott City, MD

JTBurn

Member

Would you believe....... (nice Get Smart reference)

troyh72
Premium Member
join:2003-12-12
Keller, TX

troyh72 to Matt Greek

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to Matt Greek
Cool, another "where are the HD channels" thread!! Lets hope there is another new one tomorrow!!

Matt Greek
@verizon.net

Matt Greek

Anon

said by troyh72:

Cool, another "where are the HD channels" thread!! Lets hope there is another new one tomorrow!!
You're very welcome. I suppose I could have gone and read through all the various posts on HD and Verizon on here but it was quicker and easier to just ask the question. Kinda like going to the library and spending hours looking through thousands of textbooks looking for something obscure rather than asking someone and getting the answer much quicker. But that's just me.
Baff
join:2007-12-05
Murrieta, CA

Baff

Member

Right, instead of spending 2 minutes using the search feature to find the answer to your question, you created a new thread thus forcing hundreds of people to read every post in it on the off chance there is some new tidbit of news. We understand, your time is far more important than ours.

Replier
@rr.com

Replier

Anon

said by Baff:

Right, instead of spending 2 minutes using the search feature to find the answer to your question, you created a new thread thus forcing hundreds of people to read every post in it on the off chance there is some new tidbit of news. We understand, your time is far more important than ours.
Well, nobody asked you to spend your 'precious' time in replying back to this thread...
Simple solution: Move on if you don't care
crankerchick
Premium Member
join:2007-11-26
Ellicott City, MD

crankerchick to Matt Greek

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to Matt Greek
Actually, more then just wasting people's time, all this is does is recreate the same scenario for the next person who has the same question. Starting a new thread just adds one more thread for the next person to say, "Its too many threads for me to read to find my answer, so I'll just ask the question."

FWIW, sometimes folks get tired of answering the same question over and over. This forum is actually pretty laid back when it comes to people taking the easy way out (by reposting) instead of searching/reading to find the answer on their own. On a lot of forums I participate in, repeat posts are usually just ignored, LOL.

troyh72
Premium Member
join:2003-12-12
Keller, TX

troyh72

Premium Member

It just gets old hearing the same question over and over. I dont think people realize that DirecTV has been around for 25 years, compared to Fios 3 years. I think they have done pretty darn good so far, and can only imagine what Fios TV will look like in 25 years. Give them some time, the product will mature.

meow
@verizon.net

meow

Anon

Directv is only 14 years old. 1994 was the year they started.
lets456
join:2008-01-21
Hainesport, NJ

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Member

to crankerchick
said by crankerchick:

Actually, more then just wasting people's time, all this is does is recreate the same scenario for the next person who has the same question. Starting a new thread just adds one more thread for the next person to say, "Its too many threads for me to read to find my answer, so I'll just ask the question."

FWIW, sometimes folks get tired of answering the same question over and over. This forum is actually pretty laid back when it comes to people taking the easy way out (by reposting) instead of searching/reading to find the answer on their own. On a lot of forums I participate in, repeat posts are usually just ignored, LOL.
Yes, but some of the threads are old and have not been replied to in a while. I also was wondering what was going on and this thread enlightened me to wait for 2-3 months. At least I now have an idea rather than sitting angrily in anticipation of when this will happen.I originally heard "spring, so I was thinking "April" now it looks like "June"...I ain't happy, but that's life.

I think the easiest thing to do on repeated threads is not respond and leave it to the mods to take care of it as they see fit.

troyh72
Premium Member
join:2003-12-12
Keller, TX

troyh72 to meow

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You are correct, my mistake.

Matt Greek
@verizon.net

Matt Greek to troyh72

Anon

to troyh72
said by troyh72:

It just gets old hearing the same question over and over. I dont think people realize that DirecTV has been around for 25 years, compared to Fios 3 years. I think they have done pretty darn good so far, and can only imagine what Fios TV will look like in 25 years. Give them some time, the product will mature.
As I said before, I really like FiOS, it's much cheaper and better quality than the Time Warner we had before, not to mention the much faster internet. But I remember several months ago when DirecTV started touting their many many new HD channels, about that time all the companies started saying they were going to add way more HD. Nothing new has been added to my FiOS in So Cal, so I figured I'd ask some of the more knowledgeable people here. I've quit trying to think about technology that very far in advance (I'm 24) and am amazed at how we've come so far, it'll be an interesting future. Altho I do hope that when they start adding lots of HD channels that they add bigger harddrive to their DVRs or at least let you hook up an external drive, 160gig isn't a lot of space for HD.
Matt Greek

Matt Greek to Replier

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to Replier
said by Replier :

said by Baff:

Right, instead of spending 2 minutes using the search feature to find the answer to your question, you created a new thread thus forcing hundreds of people to read every post in it on the off chance there is some new tidbit of news. We understand, your time is far more important than ours.
Well, nobody asked you to spend your 'precious' time in replying back to this thread...
Simple solution: Move on if you don't care
Agreed, no one requires you to read anything, if you get annoyed at having to answer the same questions over and over, then don't. Very simple. If no one had answered then I would have just forgotten about it and waited, rather than insulting someone for being 'ignorant' of the search feature (which displays a lot of irrelevant information on any given subject), how about you spend your time doing something else since it's not worth your time. It's called being patient, being nice and informative, try passing it on. Have a good day.