mrtrance
join:2006-01-28
Murrieta, CA
| New HD Channels???
When is FIOS going to add more HD channels. I hear that Dish is going to add FOODTV HD and INHD very soon (maybe as early as this weekend). I believe they have already have HGTVHD as well. I thought FIOS was suppose to be the leader in HD channels, but seem to be falling behind a bit now. They should have added Food and HGTV HD channels by now since they had signed agreements since last year. I thought they would be much faster when it came to HD channels than this. I hope they start noticing that Dish is seems to have the most HD now and they seem to be adding a good pace now. What's wrong with Verizon? |
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KenAF
join:2006-01-23
Arlington, VA | Expect Food HD in the near future. |
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FiosUserinKeller
@verizon.net | They definately have been slow to add bells and whistles to their service. It's the only disappointment I've had. It sure is making me look hard at my options again. Fios is supposed to be the benchmark and it's falling behind fast. |
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mjwedeking
join:2006-02-26
Murrieta, CA
| said by FiosUserinKeller :
They definately have been slow to add bells and whistles to their service. It's the only disappointment I've had. It sure is making me look hard at my options again. Fios is supposed to be the benchmark and it's falling behind fast.
I agree. I wish I could check out other options but Verizon has me locked into a 1 year contract. |
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KenAF
join:2006-01-23
Arlington, VA
3 edits | reply to mrtrance
Next year will be a very big year for HD.
Some 40-60 cable channels plan to launch HD versions in the next 18 months.
With its planned GPON upgrade, FiOS looks like it will be in a good position to deliver HD channels as they become available next year. Hopefully, FiOS has a roadmap in place that prioritizes quality over quantity.
With availability of HD content still being somewhat limited, some some customers want whatever they can get. However, I don't think most customers want HD channels added just because they are HD, but rather because they offer content that is compelling. Some providers will lose sight of the big picture, consuming their capacity with channels that are not particularly compelling, and then have no space available for the compelling content when it is introduced in 2007 and 2008. Most of the top20 cable channels -- even the news channels -- plan to have HD versions up by the end of 2007. |
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Jmartz
join:2000-07-20
Tenafly, NJ
| said by KenAF  :Most of the top20 cable channels -- even the news channels -- plan to have HD versions up by the end of 2007. It will be longer than that for the news channels. Two of three of them are still mostly analog shops. So it's going to take a lot of work to get them up and running in HD. CNN and CNBC are probably the only two news and information channels that may launch HD channels by the end of 2007 as they are in the most modern facilities.. but I wouldn't expect it to happen. The demand isn't there yet.
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majortom1981
join:2004-08-26
Lindenhurst, NY
| reply to mrtrance
I wouldnt worry too much.
Most hd channels dont offer true hd programs . Most of them are standard analog programs . They dont even bother to make them widescreen.
There are only a few channels that are worth it. THe inhd and INHD 2 channels are.
Those imax movies are awesome. 1080i and 5.1 surround. Better surround then any regualr movie that I have seen  |
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patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY
| reply to KenAF
said by KenAF :With its planned GPON upgrade, FiOS looks like it will be in a good position to deliver HD channels as they become available next year. Hopefully, FiOS has a roadmap in place that prioritizes quality over quantity. GPON has nothing to do with FIOS TV except for the IPTV VOD. FIOS TV operates in another color on the fiber and is basically HFC standard wise. |
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KenAF
join:2006-01-23
Arlington, VA
3 edits | patcat,
quote:
GPON has nothing to do with FIOS TV except for the IPTV VOD. FIOS TV operates in another color on the fiber and is basically HFC standard wise.
BPON (and GPON) *currently* has nothing to do with the FiOS TV lineup.
IPTV is still an infant technology and has a lot of maturing to do, which is part of the reason why FiOS doesn't use it for anything but VOD or PPV. However, that can change in time.
The QIP series is Motorola's line of IPTV capable boxes. Although FiOS currently has no need to use IPTV for channels, afaik, there is nothing stopping them from updating the software on the QIP boxes and doing it in the future.
When I asked one Verizon engineer about GPON, I was told that it would bring faster broadband and HDTV VOD next year, and would make possible new video services in the future. |
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shocked and awed
@verizon.com | reply to FiosUserinKeller
hmm show me how they are falling behind fast. they still have 2 times as many HD channels as my cable provider and because they didnt get one particular channel before someone else, i'd hardly call that falling behind fast. |
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mrtrance
join:2006-01-28
Murrieta, CA
| Well that least by now they should have had HGTV HD and FOOD Net HD since they were one of first to sign contracts with them last year. How is that Dish beat them to it since FIOS is suppose to have so much more bandwith to play with then Dish? If they want to be the premiere provider and then they should start at least adding HD channels at least within a month after launch (at least for those they have contracts already in place). I don't know what's the holdup on their end. |
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Jmartz
join:2000-07-20
Tenafly, NJ
1 edit | said by mrtrance :Well that least by now they should have had HGTV HD and FOOD Net HD since they were one of first to sign contracts with them last year. How is that Dish beat them to it since FIOS is suppose to have so much more bandwith to play with then Dish? If they want to be the premiere provider and then they should start at least adding HD channels at least within a month after launch (at least for those they have contracts already in place). I don't know what's the holdup on their end. Dish has VOOM... that makes up a good portion of their HD lineup... if Cablevision wised up and pulled those channels from DISH, then they'd have some more HD, but they wouldn't be "that" far ahead of the rest.
But as a Cablevision customer who can't even get VOOM through Cablevision's HD lineup, I fully expect Verizon to sign a deal with VOOM-HD channels before we get them here on Cablevision. The only reason DISH has an advantage right now is because of CABLEVISION, their arch rival.. or so we thought. Someone try to figure out what kind of crack the person who inked that deal was smoking... So I guess my point will be... Don't count on Cablevision to with hold the VOOM channels from Verizon, especially considering they are already giving them to a direct competitor while at the same time, not allowing their own customers to receive any of the programming. |
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robjlevin
join:2002-10-30
Millington, NJ | Verizon has already filed a formal complaint against Cablevision with the FCC over the Rainbow channels. I wouldn't expect to hear anything about VZ/CVC deals until that's settled. |
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Jmartz
join:2000-07-20
Tenafly, NJ
| said by robjlevin :Verizon has already filed a formal complaint against Cablevision with the FCC over the Rainbow channels. I wouldn't expect to hear anything about VZ/CVC deals until that's settled. I think the complaint was only for MSG-HD and FSNY-HD in New York? I didn't think it was for VOOM as well...
If Verizon wanted VOOM, I'd bet a lot of money that Cablevision/Rainbow would give it to them with very little problems. Rainbow is already selling thousands of hours of programming to the BBC-HD and also SkyHD in Japan... but their own customers can't get the channels! They don't even make select VOOM programming available on their HD VOD channel that has like 5 movies on it.
Very bad... I can't wait for FIOS Internet and TV to get here... |
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robjlevin
join:2002-10-30
Millington, NJ | It's for the entire Rainbow lineup. They're going to have real problems in NY/NJ/CT without MSG and FSN and I'm seriously hoping that they when the dust settles they wind up with the HD feeds as well. I'm sick of standard def hockey on cable. |
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Jmartz
join:2000-07-20
Tenafly, NJ
| said by robjlevin :It's for the entire Rainbow lineup. They're going to have real problems in NY/NJ/CT without MSG and FSN and I'm seriously hoping that they when the dust settles they wind up with the HD feeds as well. I'm sick of standard def hockey on cable. Well, I'm sure they will make a deal eventually. I personally don't think FIOS is going to have any problems selling their services to Cablevision customers. There are a lot of very pissed off people. And it's only going to get worse... Cablevision is rumored to be removing more analog channels for digital. As it is already, they just forced all analog customers who subscribe to premium channels to fork over another 10 bucks a month for digital cable. People don't forget so easily...
Cablevision is in scramble mode now... they've finally got most of their systems doing 100% digital simulcast... they finally added a new HD channel. They finally added some new VOD content, etc. This all happened while the bill was sitting on Corzine's desk allowing them a state franchise. Now that it's signed, we are getting even more channels next week and in the coming months.
They're also removing analog channels like crazy (all public access channels, QVC, ShopNBC, etc.) in the coming months to do "bandwidth reclamation"... so there's a lot of speculation that Cablevision is making room for their VOOM-HD channels.
A couple months ago, you'd think Cablevision was in no rush.. but now that Verizon is breathing down their throat... they're like a totally different company... Isn't competition GREAT?! |
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robjlevin
join:2002-10-30
Millington, NJ | The competition is fabulous. It's forcing everyone to keep up and it's the consumer that wins. |
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Sammer
join:2005-12-22
Canonsburg, PA | reply to Jmartz
Echostar (Dish) got the rights to the Voom programming for a certain period of time when they bought the satellite. Rainbow had to cut the losses from the Voom satellite service so Dish did get a very good deal. |
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