US Telco Support > Verizon > Verizon FIOS TV > October is here.. Are those dozen HD channels coming?!?!

reply to jodhak

Re: October is here.. Are those dozen HD channels coming?!?!

I would not hold my breath. They said that at the end of last year, we would get a lot of new channels and we got nothing. That is not to say that a new channel will pop up every now and then, but I am convinced that they will be few and far between. I would also add that FIOS does almost all the HBO, Showtime and Cinemax channels in HD, which none of the other providers have.

reply to Steve3

reply to Steve3

reply to Strommy

Some would argue that a bunch of multiplexes all showing the same things over and over again - things that are available OnDemand anyway - are just as bad as six channels no one watches.

reply to Strommy

Any requests for Nick 2 HD?

reply to skottey_

reply to knarf829

reply to skottey_

I really don't think that's it. I think their plan from the start was eventually to get to IP. And that QAM was a stop-gap until they got there. I don't doubt that they thought they planned adequately to get through that stop-gap and that IP would be rocking and rolling by now.

Others mentioned the migration to mpeg-4, which they can do, and I'm not trying to give Verizon a pass here, but if you look across providers, they're all pretty much in a holding pattern. I don't see massive HD adds by anyone. Oh, there were massive adds to get systems up to where they are now, and yeah, some of those systems have surpassed Verizon's HD channel total for now, but name for me any system which is going gangbusters to set the new standard for HD channels in their lineup. None of them are. In fact, you're more likely to see a system drop channels than add them at this point. I think the issue is cost.

I've heard different takes on whether adding an HD feed really does cost more. I don't know if it does, but I think it stands to reason that there are some not-insignificant costs associated with upping the bandwidth. for example, take mpeg-4. While they could pass it on for channels that they currently receive as mpeg-4, taking old channels and upgrading them to mpeg-4 would require a pretty significant swap out of equipment in the field. Imagine taking a chunk of channels that are fairly heavily viewed, and converting them to mpeg-4. How many STBs and DVRs would need to be swapped out to handle it? Couple that with the fact that there's been a shortage of DVRs... and you're not only creating a significant cost, but your supply probably can't keep up with that kind of switch-over at this point.

Again, I'm not trying to defend Verizon in this, but at a time when pay tv rates continue to climb, especially while the economy continues to barely tread water, these companies have to be careful not to push people over the edge in terms of cost. It's expensive enough for this stuff. I really think all of these providers are trying to manage that balance. Investment in all sorts of things, across the board, are on hold. Not just in this industry, but across most industries. Companies simply are not spending money. I think until the economy really turns around, I wouldn't expect massive changes from any of these providers. I think they're all in pretty much of a holding pattern at this point.

I think your argument is fair, although I still believe that Verizon's intention was to let people believe that FIOS meant virtually unlimited HD channel capacity, or at least more than the competition could provide. I mean, is Verizon the only provider who could implement IP? And others have already got MPEG-4.

Of course preferences differ, but the reason much of the competiton isn't making huge HD adds is because there aren't many new HD channels to add. They've already got most/virtually all of them. There are many HD channels FIOS doesn't have that others do, that's why some here are complaining. It's not the rate of addition of HD channels that is the bone of contention, it's the quantity of HD channels. Again, many may feel they don't need or want the HD channels FIOS doesn't have, but many do.

Oh, no argument from me on this point. Clearly they sell the concept of fiber as being THE thing that gives them an advantage over other providers.

I just don't think that they're intentionally withholding HD channels just because. I think there are cost drivers at play, and plans change. I'm sure if someone pulled up some charts of what FiOS would look like at this point, and those charts were made up at the time that FiOS was proposed, things would look VERY different from current reality.

I also disagree that the reason you're not seeing more HD adds by other providers is because they have virtually all of them. That's just not true. Look at DirecTV's line-up... or Dish's. Heck, even most of the cable companies that have alot of HD don't have all of those channels in every part of their footprint (Comcast in southern DE looks VERY different from Comcast around here, e.g.).

Architectural changes were made by all these providers to play catch-up with DirecTV. But now that they're all at this point... I really wouldn't expect massive HD adds by anyone.

One final point - on the fact that there are no new HD channels being created... first, that's not really true. There are. But more than that, as DirecTV showed, if you build it, they will come. Most of the HD channels that they added in their massive HD build up didn't even exist when they first proposed their expansion. They went to these providers and said 'create an HD feed for us.' These providers did because there was a system out there which hit millions of customers who was willing to make the investment to get their HD feeds into homes. There are still a number of SD only stations out there that I think would make the same leap if some large provider came forward with the same request. While it's true that the HD ramp-up has ebbed from 5 years ago, it hasn't stopped. In fact, I think the ebbing has as much to do with the service providers hitting their bandwidth limits as much as anything.

Well, I agree with you that Verizon isn't withholding channels "just because", they're withholding them because they don't have the capacity. Do you really think (you may, just asking) that if MPEG-4 all of a sudden was put in place Verizon wouldn't start adding HD? I think they're champing at the bit.

In the end, it's really an academic argument: no one is going to stay with a service because they feel sorry for them. If I feel that another provider offers a better package of TV/Internet/Phone or whatever, I'll switch. So would anyone else. I just have to have FIOS internet and I want to bundle. That may change in the future, we'll see.