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Hound
join:2006-03-08
Princeton, NJ
| reply to scatt
Re: [TV] FIOS and CABLEVISION AGREE! FSN & MSG and MORE!
I bet Verizon passed on the HD channels because of the
per subscriber cost. Cablevision cannot withhold those channels. Big mistake by Verizon because the
HD Cablevision subscribers who are Knicks, Rangers, Devils and Islanders fans are not going to switch to Verizon.
When Verizon enters the marketplace, subscribers are going
to take a close look at triple play options. If Cablevision
or Comcast has a channel that is must have for a subscriber, such as regional sports networks in High Definition, MSG, FSNY, CSN, YES or SNY, the new Comcast
VERSUS/Golf HD, etc., that subscriber is going to probably
sign up for triple play with Comcast or Cablevision. Verizon will end up losing telephone customers. However, if
Verizon offers must have channels like MSG HD, FSNY HD, Verizon is going to sign up Comcast and Cablevision subscribers for TV, internet and phone. The channel lineup
is now going to be a source of more revenue than just cable television subscriptions. | |
Xidus
join:2002-03-05
| I don't know about big mistake, depends how many potential sports subscribers you're talking about. You'd also have to consider how they will pass on the costs. If it's only increasing the sports package monthly price then no problem, but if it increases non sports fans monthly bill then that would just end up driving other subscribers away. | |
UofMiamiGrad
Premium
join:2001-02-03
Great Neck, NY
| reply to Hound
said by Hound  :I bet Verizon passed on the HD channels because of the per subscriber cost. Cablevision cannot withhold those channels. Big mistake by Verizon because the HD Cablevision subscribers who are Knicks, Rangers, Devils and Islanders fans are not going to switch to Verizon. When Verizon enters the marketplace, subscribers are going to take a close look at triple play options. If Cablevision or Comcast has a channel that is must have for a subscriber, such as regional sports networks in High Definition, MSG, FSNY, CSN, YES or SNY, the new Comcast VERSUS/Golf HD, etc., that subscriber is going to probably sign up for triple play with Comcast or Cablevision. Verizon will end up losing telephone customers. However, if Verizon offers must have channels like MSG HD, FSNY HD, Verizon is going to sign up Comcast and Cablevision subscribers for TV, internet and phone. The channel lineup is now going to be a source of more revenue than just cable television subscriptions. Maybe you missed the blow up with Time Warner and Cablevision over MSG last year? »www.timewarnercable.com/Investor···rketID=0 Time Warner took MSG off its system, one reason being Cablevision wouldn't give Time Warner the HD feed of MSG. Finally they came to an agreement and the HD feed was given to Time Warner, which just recently finally put a full-time channel on its system for MSG-HD.
Cablevision withheld the HD feed on purpose, VZ did not balk at any cost, since there would be a set cost with what Time Warner has in their agreement. Cablevision doesn't want to risk not being able to say they have most HD channels in the area, once VZ got those HD feeds, it was game over and the HD buffs with their high average monthly cable bills are gone. Cablevision's big wigs know it.
FYI, CSN-HD is available on FIOS TV in the Philly area & SNY-HD is up on Channel 815 in the NY area, with YES-HD to follow. | |
robjlevin
join:2002-10-30
Millington, NJ
| They can't simply withhold those feeds. They have to negotiate the fees and they have to do it fairly. Once they started selling it to other cable companies they opened the door.
Right now I'm stuck with the only cable company in the NYC DMA without MSG and FSN HD-Patriot Media. I was really hoping that VZ would manage to get those feeds. I've got my FiOS internet install set for next week and I'm just hoping something happens with those channels soon.
If things stay the same, I'm dumping Patriot. If Patriot manages to add them and Verizon doesn't I'll stick with Patriot. | |
Hound
join:2006-03-08
Princeton, NJ
| reply to Xidus
I am sure that Cablevision would not allow the HD feed of a
regional sports network in the sports pack. Verizon would not win that argument at the FCC. The entire cost
of the MSG and FSNY HD feeds would have to be spread among all subscibers
that sign up for the basic TV package of $39.99 or $42.99 in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Spreading the cost into
the basic feed is not going to drive non sports customers
away per se. Verizon just has to price the basic package
and the set top box costs to be competitive with its
competition, Cablevision, Comcast, Time Warner, Patriot Media, Dish and Directv. Putting MSG and FSNY HD in its channel lineup will impact Verizon's margins. But it would also gain more subscribers. Verizon is claiming that they are cheaper than cable and driving prices down. My point is that by not providing what is a must have channel for some subscribers (regional sports network in HD), Verizon is going to lose out on internet and telephone, not just cable tv subscription. The smarter business decision is to gain the new TV and internet subscribers, hold on to its current telephone customers, make them happy and hold onto them. Verizon's entry into the TV and internet market is great. Competition is great. But subscribers for the first time ever are now realizing that they have a choice not only for cable TV and high speed internet, but telephone as well. The wrong channel lineup will end up costing Verizon telephone subscribers.
Like myself, I have Verizon for telephone and Patriot Media for high speed internet,
and cable. I also have Dish network. Where I live in central New Jersey, Patriot Media is the cable company.
Many people that I know left Patriot or its predecessor,
RCN for Directv or Dish because cable was not providing
Comcast Sportsnet Philadelphia. The only reason that Patriot Media is not providing CSN is because it would
affect its margins and it cannot figure out how to pass
the entire cost of CSN onto its subscribers that qualify.
Out town has the lowest cable tv penetration in the entire
Patriot Media system.
In Mercer County, central NJ, where I live, our county qualifies for all
five RSN's, CSN, MSG, SNY, YES and FSNY. And Comcast and
Cablevision provide all five RSNs. Patriot Media only provides four. Comcast provides a full
time feed of CSN HD and various feeds of the other four RSNs in HD. Cablevision does not provide CSN in HD but provides the other four RSNs in HD.
I am very excited that Verizon is offering CSN HD, SNY HD and YES HD. Those three channels are enough to get me to sign up for Fios for TV and internet, keep Verizon as a telephone company and drop Dish. But if Verizon were not
offering CSN HD in my area, I would most likely drop Verizon as my telephone carrier and go with triple play
with the cable company. | |
patriot simmons
@rcn.com | reply to robjlevin
patriot may be bought by comcast so if they do, you may get those feeds | |
robjlevin
join:2002-10-30
Millington, NJ | Nobody's buying Patriot for what the current asking price is. At least nobody with any business sense. | |
CRP
Comcast of Ocean County
join:2005-12-26
Brick, NJ
 ·Comcast
| Good to see that Verizon got a deal done with Rainbow Media, which was pretty much the last major programming provider that they didn't have a deal with. While it is sad to see, that Verizon won't have MSG-HD & FSNY-HD, I could honestly live without them, when considering how good the lineup is IMO on FIOS TV.
As long as they have YES-HD & SNY-HD on by the time it's available in my area (sometime in 2007), I'll be happy.
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Comcast of Ocean County (Brick) | |
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