W.O.W. → Fuel TV and HD Net

Hi Guys,

Does anyone expect Fuel TV or HD Net to become available any time soon on WoW in Chicagoland? I am about to make the switch from Comcast and was wondering about these two channels.

I have HDNET on Dish. You're not missing anything.

Big MMA fan here, missing that for sure

WOW used to have HDnet and HDMovies but dropped them a year or two ago. Loved both of those channels.

I didn't see the note on the bill, and an hour before some Sengoku event I saw it was gone and replacing both HDNET and HDNET Movies was Universal HD. I freaked out, called WOW and yelled at some poor guy on the phone, and have been bitter about it ever since.

After investigation, Mark Cuban (owner of HDNET, MMA fan, and bajillionaire) emailed me back a few times stating that the HDNET carriage fee was being significantly reduced, but WOW decided to cut them anyway to cut costs, in favor of other channels that they get (essentially) for free. At the time, they were still broadcasting analog station and were literally out of space on the wire, so their decision to kill a station they're paying for (HDNET) to replace it with something that they can get for next to nothing was an easy decision. Fast-forward to today, and we're getting AWESOME new channels added in HD like news stations (because talking heads need to be in HD), C-SPAN, and History 2 (I had no idea there was more than one), while a station that actually has content unavailable elsewhere (Japanese MMA, kickboxing) continues to get the snub.

What kills me about it is that they had HDNET on their "HD Pack", which meant to actually watch it you'd pay an extra $9 or so per month, so even IF carriage fees went up (which Cuban claims they weren't), the only people paying were the ones who specifically wanted it. I'm not holding out any hope of WOW getting HDNET back, and to be honest, that's a big motivator for me to jump ship and hop to Comcast, who started carrying it mid 2011. I LOVE WOW's customer service and excellent up-time, but HDNET has content I want, and if WOW can't get it to me that's that.

You can request channels to be added to the lineup at their site, but to be perfectly honest I really doubt that there's much attention paid to it unless a TON of people bug them about the same station, and even then it'll be a slow process. Odds are that there will be enough demand to add Fuel to the lineup, but it probably won't happen for quite some time.

And incase you didn't notice, I'm still pretty bitter about having HDNET ripped away from me. I want my international combat sports, and I want my Sunday concerts back.

Seems like WOW does get rid of channels a lot easier than they add them (adding HD versions of existing channels doesn't count in my book).

I suppose if it's free to WOW they MAY add it. They added Antenna TV in Chicagoland a while ago which is an offshoot of WGN. Perhaps WGN made them take it or they would yank WGN. Can't recall any other new channels in the last few years unless of course you move up to a higher package.

We just lost a major local channel because WOW didn't want to pay. So where is the reduction in my bill or at least a replacment?

Personally I would rather see FEARnet added.

So they did have HDNet up until recently?

I miss HDNET and complained loudly when they dropped it. I used to spam the request for channels page but gave up. They had great concert series on every weekend and some great travel programs from around the world. They were great eye candy to show off your new HDTV.

Bingo. When they cut out HDNET and HDNET Movies and added Universal HD, the net loss was one channel, but the extra cash for the HD Pack didn't change. Again, I understand why they'd scrap the station, but if it costs sooooo much to carry, then why didn't we see a cost reduction for the three-channel HD Pack?WOW had HDNet and HDNet Movies until April of 2010, so it's been nearly two years with no sign of coming back.