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goozak
join:2007-05-09
Montreal, QC

goozak

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[Eng] Analog cable on the way out - Woohoo !

»www.montrealgazette.com/ ··· ory.html
"Last Friday, Videotron Ltd. stopped offering analog cable television service to new customers. It's the first step in a process that will see Quebec's largest cable company end analog TV service entirely."
"For every analog cable channel removed from service, Videotron can add two HD channels or seven standard-definition ones, possibly more. With the western side of Montreal having about 55 analog cable channels, that could mean more than 100 new HD channels being added to the grid that currently only has 71, or it could mean adding bandwidth to increase Internet service speeds."
TH47
join:2005-10-29

TH47

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Forget Internet, we want the channels everyone else has!
Cleveland
join:2011-07-26
Laval

Cleveland to goozak

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to goozak
They should give out to everyone a cheap decoder, take away "les frais de réseau numérique et les frais de terminal supplémentaire(s)" and everyone would be good to go.
Then just take out the analog cable.
And then they could add all the HD channels missing, and really be able to compete with Fibe.
rainey
join:2012-05-14
Montreal, QC

rainey

Member

Videotron really needs to add more HD channels and if removing analog channels is the way to go then so be it. They need to compete with Fibe if they want to stay in the game. I have stayed with Videotron for their customer service (which has always been very good for me). But they are more expensive when you compare what you get with with Fibe so it may be worth it to get sub-par customer service with Fibe to get higher quality equipment and more HD stations.
InvalidError
join:2008-02-03

InvalidError

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said by rainey:

But they are more expensive when you compare what you get with with Fibe so it may be worth it to get sub-par customer service with Fibe to get higher quality equipment and more HD stations.

Unless Videotron starts matching Bell's offer for free PVR and terminals without bogus digital and HD fees, I will either switch to FibeTV, OTT or OTA if/when Videotron starts cutting the few analog channels I watch.
GuiGQc
join:2012-02-22
Gatineau, QC

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said by Cleveland:

take away "les frais de réseau numérique et les frais de terminal supplémentaire(s)" and everyone would be good to go.

I understand the take away "les frais de réseau numérique", but I don't see why some customers would have free additional PVR... Maybe the first one free, but all of them... really?

En Enfer
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join:2003-07-25
Montreal, QC

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quote:
Vidéotron has already made a transition to digital in the Gatineau region, helped in part by offers of free digital set-top boxes to existing analog clients and package deals that allowed clients to have the same channels for the same price. Dessureault wouldn’t say whether similar deals would be offered to clients in the Montreal area, explaining that the company subsidizes its set-top boxes and offering them for free would be a major expense.
So, Gatineau lost their Telemax package, not the entire analog lineup.

Vidéotron sells the PVR at regular price of 600$, but you can find it at Costco for 350$. Still, retail stores make a profit selling it for 400$, so Videotron make maybe 300$ in profits per PVR terminal.
The SD terminal is currently sold for 33$ at Best Buy, but can be found for 30$, brand new. It is currently sold for 100$ on Videotron's website (where'd the promotion go?). At least a 70$ profit per unit.

C'mon Isabelle, we know you'll want to make money by trying to sell your refurbish SD terminals. Major expenses? Yeah right...
GuiGQc
join:2012-02-22
Gatineau, QC

GuiGQc

Member

said by En Enfer:

Vidéotron sells the PVR at regular price of 600$, but you can find it at Costco for 350$. Still, retail stores make a profit selling it for 400$, so Videotron make maybe 300$ in profits per PVR terminal.

The 8642HD was 600$ when it was first released, but it was on "promotion" at 399$ for the last year.

Even the new Samsung is at 399 since Day 1.

Il font juste faire semblant qu'il set en rabais de 200$ pour que t'achète le meilleur en croyant que t'as fais un bon deal.

GCJ
@rogers.com

GCJ to En Enfer

Anon

to En Enfer
Videotron actually doesn't make money on the PVR they sell. Their cost is very high for those machine and the only reason they actually charge less than what they pay for because it is an investment for them as customer buying a PVR will likely stay with them for a while.
GuiGQc
join:2012-02-22
Gatineau, QC

GuiGQc

Member

said by GCJ :

Videotron actually doesn't make money on the PVR they sell. Their cost is very high for those machine and the only reason they actually charge less than what they pay for because it is an investment for them as customer buying a PVR will likely stay with them for a while.

That's the way it works with the cellphones They sell it cheap expecting you'll stay with them for a little while.

Although I'm pretty sure that at $600, they do make profit. And I wouldn't be surprised if it still wouldn't be below their cost, even at $400.
DraicKin
join:2011-05-19

DraicKin to goozak

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to goozak
There's definitely something going on, at least in my sector, Montreal-West.
Here's the "old" analog grid for the sector but right now this is still the one being used.
(well, minus the Télé-Achats ...)



But if you go to the Videotron website and checking the analog grid , here's what Videotron will pop you



Videotron needs to add more HD channels (mostly english HD channels) if they want to stay competitive but removing analog channels in Montreal-West don't free up space across Quebec, Videotron can always place some new english HD channels in SDV where it's available (and place some french channels in SDV for Montreal-West).
So maybe they will have new channels but only in some sectors.
Cleveland
join:2011-07-26
Laval

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»www.cartt.ca/news/14108/ ··· ble.html
Cleveland

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My link does not work. anyways this what the search result was on google, maybe someone can figure it out.

Videotron takes another step towards the end of analog ... - Cartt.cawww.cartt.ca/.../Videotron-takes-another-step-towards-the-end-of-an...CachedNot helpful? You can block www.cartt.ca results when you're signed in to search.www.cartt.ca
Block all www.cartt.ca results
You +1'd this publicly. Undo
1 day ago – (A source inside Videotron says Showcase, Food Network and HGTV will become available in HD at the end of the month.) Videotron's ...

En Enfer
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join:2003-07-25
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Les articles de cartt se bloquent et deviennent payants après 2 jours...

==================
Videotron takes another step towards the end of analog cable

August 16, 2012

By Steve Faguy

MONTREAL - Quebecor's Videotron is making its first step toward eliminating analog cable television service throughout its network.

Last Friday, the company issued a stop-sell order for new analog television subscriptions. The end goal is the transition of its approximately 412,000 remaining analog TV customers (many of which are hotel rooms or other business customers) to the company's illico digital service.

"We need more space in the network," said Videotron vice-president Isabelle Dessureault. In areas like western Montreal, where analog cable is still prevalent, Videotron devotes about 55 of its 135 6-MHz television channels to analog service. Ending analog service completely would allow the company to greatly expand its digital television and Internet service offering. Each of those 6 MHz channels could hold seven standard-definition digital channels or two high-definition channels, Dessureault said.

In fact, the numbers are even higher, according to Illicotech.com, an independent website that analyzes Videotron's digital television system. It shows some QAM digital blocks holding as many as 12 SD or 3 HD channels, though it notes a noticeable decrease in quality for highly-compressed digital channels. Simple math shows the elimination of 55 analog channels would allow Videotron to triple its number of HD channels (currently at 71), or add up to 600 new standard-definition channels. Dessureault said increasing Internet speeds, particularly for uploads, is also a priority.

No date has yet been set for the final termination of analog television, Dessureault said, but it would not be imminent. As a very rough ballpark figure, she suggested that the company would probably take all of 2013 to make the transition.

Videotron has already made a partial transition in the Gatineau region. There, it ended its Telemax analog cable tier, reducing its analog cable offering to 30 channels consisting of local channels, must-carry specialty services like CPAC and The Weather Network, and a couple of popular French-language specialty channels. Other cable providers like Shaw, Rogers and Cogeco have also made similar partial transitions in the year since the CRTC gave the green light for cable companies to end their analog services.

In Montreal, Videotron is facing strong pressure from Bell Canada, which is rolling out its all-digital Fibe TV service and claiming subscribers. While Videotron has just about every French-language HD channel that exists in Canada, its English-language offering lags behind Bell. Popular channels like Showcase, YTV, Food Network and MuchMusic are available in HD on Bell but not yet on Videotron. (A source inside Videotron says Showcase, Food Network and HGTV will become available in HD at the end of the month.)

Videotron's remaining analog service subscribers consist to a large extent of seniors, some of whom have been customers for decades, dating back to the former CF Cable TV, which was acquired by Videotron in 1997. Dessureault wouldn't get into details about what kind of promotions the company would offer to facilitate the process, but when it made the partial transition in Gatineau it offered free digital set-top boxes for analog customers and free 36-month rentals of STBs for people who had digital service with additional sets on analog.

Rogers, Shaw and Cogeco also offered free digital boxes or digital-to-analog adapters to customers making the switch.
En Enfer

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Steve Faguy a aussi publié un article sur son blog, en utilisant des screenshots du site de Kaphyr

»blog.fagstein.com/2012/0 ··· g-cable/
GuiGQc
join:2012-02-22
Gatineau, QC

GuiGQc

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It's nice that he linked to this topic
Cleveland
join:2011-07-26
Laval

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It's nice to see that Videotron is trying to do something to keep up with the competition. I guess their back is against the wall. They have no choice.
Also both articles state that HGTV/FOOD and Showcase HD, will be added by the end of this month.
rainey
join:2012-05-14
Montreal, QC

rainey

Member

spoke with videotron this morning and they will be added Aug. 29th. Now if they could just add AMC and a few more HD stations they may prove they are still in the game.
xcimo
Fibe 50-50
join:2007-11-21
Gatineau, QC

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Perso je suis pret a payer un peu pour convertir mes tv analogique si ca permet d'avoir un meilleur service internet (upload) et tv numerique.

Oxmus
@videotron.ca

Oxmus to goozak

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It's a good news bad news for me. I have the 30 channels package so that the rest of the house gets analog. I will be able to downgrade to 15 or 20.
On the other hand, my mother needs analog so she can record shows on a vcr (I showed her the setup with a box, but it's too many steps). As the article notes, senior citizens won't like it, as they are the ones who will be affected the most.

If the pvr wasn't so expensive, i'd get her one. Maybe a free rental (for a year, let's say) for the move to digital would be the solution.

En Enfer
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join:2003-07-25
Montreal, QC

En Enfer

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said by Oxmus :

It's a good news bad news for me. I have the 30 channels package so that the rest of the house gets analog. I will be able to downgrade to 15 or 20.

30 channels package = FULL analog
10-15-20-25 channels package = BASIC analog (2-22), filter blocks Telemax 23-39.

If you didn't need the analog Telemax (23-39), you didn't need to buy the Custom Package 30 and pay for channels you didn't even watch.

By the way, first thing to go will be the Telemax. It's very unlikely they'll pull the plug on the whole 45+ analog channels overnight.