Bright House to add 50 Hd channels in 18months

[LonghornXP]

Interesting. I haven't had a separate billing for premiums on Demand on my bill in months. They threw it in at no additional charge a long time ago. I get HBO/Cinemax with on demands from BHN for $10/month (great deal, I know). I also get Showtime for $12/month. I don't get TMC. I carry my Starz subscription with Dish but would gladly move it to BHN if they carried HD versions and the On Demand.

I thought everybody had On Demand free with their related Premium channels already. At least I do here in the Tampa market. I remember when it started it was an extra $6.99 but I haven't paid that in a long time.

At first it was 6.99 per month for Premiums On Demand. A couple years later they changed it and only charged you 6.99 per month if you ordered "only" one of the four premium channels below.

HBO
Cinemax
Showtime
TMC

So say if you ordered Starz and HBO you would still need to pay 6.99 for Premiums On Demand as you only got "one" of the four above.

For the last few years as long as you got two of the four or more listed above you wouldn't have to pay the Premiums On Demand fee.

The upcoming change will just get rid of the Premiums On Demand charge for good. So you could just order the Digital Movie Pak and get Encore On Demand for free. Or you could just order Starz and get Starz On Demand and Starz HD On Demand for free.

People would be amazed at some of the stupid things that keep specific channels off our lineup. I bet tons of people would think I was full of it if I told them the reason we don't have Starz HD is because Starz wouldn't give Starz HD because BHN wouldn't provide Starz On Demand for free to "all" Starz customers.

 

[skottey]

People would be amazed at some of the stupid things that keep specific channels off our lineup. I bet tons of people would think I was full of it if I told them the reason we don't have Starz HD is because Starz wouldn't give Starz HD because BHN wouldn't provide Starz On Demand for free to "all" Starz customers.

I can believe it. BHN makes a lot of money off me and they will make more when they carry more HD. I only carry my Starz subscription with Dish because they have Starz HD and a few more multichannels than BHN. When BHN adds Starz HD, on demand, and some or all of the Starz multichannels in HD, I'll certainly subscribe via them.

If BHN does everything you say they are going to do, I will cancel my Dish service and get all premiums via BHN. I had previously dropped my HD pack with BHN and the movie pack because I get everything except Mojo on Dish. Obviously if I ditched Dish I'd add those back.

 

[LonghornXP]

I have got some new information so I'm just letting you all know. First BHN in most markets within the next year will get a very nice selection of free HD On Demand "movies". The downside is that all of these movies will be listed under "one" channel "and" this channel will count towards the 50 new HD channels.

I'm sure without a doubt that they won't count each movie as a single channel though. Also the second downside is that to get the free HD movies On Demand you must subscribe to the HD Pak. Encore HD On Demand and Starz HD On Demand will also count as two total HD channels of the fifty. Simply put here are the specific On Demand "channels" that will count towards the fifty total HD channels.

HBO HD On Demand
Cinemax HD On Demand
Showtime HD On Demand
Starz HD On Demand
Encore HD On Demand
Free HD Movies On Demand

Again Free HD Movies On Demand will require the HD Pak.

All the premium channels listed above will have free HD access as long as you subscribe to the premium channel "and" have an HDTV box.

 

[skottey]

I have got some new information so I'm just letting you all know. First BHN in most markets within the next year will get a very nice selection of free HD On Demand "movies". The downside is that all of these movies will be listed under "one" channel "and" this channel will count towards the 50 new HD channels.

I'm sure without a doubt that they won't count each movie as a single channel though. Also the second downside is that to get the free HD movies On Demand you must subscribe to the HD Pak. Encore HD On Demand and Starz HD On Demand will also count as two total HD channels of the fifty. Simply put here are the specific On Demand "channels" that will count towards the fifty total HD channels.

HBO HD On Demand
Cinemax HD On Demand
Showtime HD On Demand
Starz HD On Demand
Encore HD On Demand
Free HD Movies On Demand

Again Free HD Movies On Demand will require the HD Pak.

All the premium channels listed above will have free HD access as long as you subscribe to the premium channel "and" have an HDTV box.

This sure sweetens the pot of consideration for movie channels. I wonder if each premium on demand will have as many hd movies as they do on their standard on demand channels.

Is BHN going to keep carrying all those premium multichannels that they have an HD of in both SD and HD? In other words, are they going to carry Thillermax and Thillermax HD? I would like to see them remove all the SDs of channels they have in HD in order to free up bandwidth. I guess that may take a few years though.

As things stand now I pay over $200 a month for BHN and Dish, not including my RR virtual office account through my business. I would love to drop Dish and would be more than happy to give that entire $200 a month to BHN in exchange for all the stuff you are talking about. Now I see talk of SciFi and USA HDs coming to Dish. Hopefully BHN will get all those HD channels except Voom that Dish has.

 

[LonghornXP]

This sure sweetens the pot of consideration for movie channels. I wonder if each premium on demand will have as many hd movies as they do on their standard on demand channels.

Is BHN going to keep carrying all those premium multichannels that they have an HD of in both SD and HD? In other words, are they going to carry Thillermax and Thillermax HD? I would like to see them remove all the SDs of channels they have in HD in order to free up bandwidth. I guess that may take a few years though.

As things stand now I pay over $200 a month for BHN and Dish, not including my RR virtual office account through my business. I would love to drop Dish and would be more than happy to give that entire $200 a month to BHN in exchange for all the stuff you are talking about. Now I see talk of SciFi and USA HDs coming to Dish. Hopefully BHN will get all those HD channels except Voom that Dish has.

SD channels take up very little bandwidth when looking at the big picture so I doubt they would be removed. I also doubt they will carry only the HD feeds as it could be a ton of work and problems downconverting everything to SD. I'm also hearing rumors that soon BHN will only be giving out HD DVR boxes. So if you want just a digital box all DVR and HD features will be disabled. If you want just HD but no DVR service HD will be enabled and DVR service will be disabled etc.

So if this was done I could see at some point only offering HD feeds but the biggest issue I'm hearing is about programming not shown in HD will have pillar boxes and customers just don't like that. So with that said I highly doubt we will see SD channels going away anytime within the next ten years.

 

[skottey]

So with that said I highly doubt we will see SD channels going away anytime within the next ten years.

Ten years is a long time in the cable industry. Ten years ago I was beta testing Roadrunner in Temple Terrace, Florida, while it was new and not widely available.

Ten years ago was pre-digital. I remember in 98 when they first launched the digital box with like 20 digital channels 100-120 or so and a handful of multichannel premiums.

That was 10 years ago.... look at it now. Ten years from now will surely bring a lot more changes from BHN.

 

[LonghornXP]

Ten years is a long time in the cable industry. Ten years ago I was beta testing Roadrunner in Temple Terrace, Florida, while it was new and not widely available.

Ten years ago was pre-digital. I remember in 98 when they first launched the digital box with like 20 digital channels 100-120 or so and a handful of multichannel premiums.

That was 10 years ago.... look at it now. Ten years from now will surely bring a lot more changes from BHN.

I expect digital to be around for ten years as analog has lasted for decades upon decades. How it may be delivered in ten years most likely will change but we will always have lower res SD type channels. Now if the networks themselves gets rid of those digital channels that is a different story but while those are still being broadcast I doubt even within ten years these will be removed. Some may be removed but most will remain in the long term.

 

[jcarrera]

Remove SD channels? Not so nice for those of us who have digital, but don't have HDTV!

 

[skottey]

Remove SD channels? Not so nice for those of us who have digital, but don't have HDTV!

I think down converting the HD signal to SD TVs via the next gen of HD box is the way to go. All boxes should be HD for any type of TV.

I have a Dish 622 box which connects to two TVs, an HDTV and an SD TV. The HD content looks good on the SD TV, far better than the SD channels. Obviously there are black bars to fit the 16x9 HD content in the 4:3 screen, but it looks good. There is no point wasting bandwidth on channels that have an SD and HD version of the same thing.

 

[stevenl]

The boxs BHN has now you can watch the HD feeds on a STD tv without much problems. Both the SA 8300 dvr and the 4250s

 

[skottey]

The boxs BHN has now you can watch the HD feeds on a STD tv without much problems. Both the SA 8300 dvr and the 4250s

As soon as they get everybody on these boxes they can get rid of SD versions of the HD channels then. So when we have Actionmax and @max in HD, they can get rid of the duplication of the SD and just down convert. Same with channels like Science Channel and Discovery that are just simulcasts. Other channels like HGTV HD and Food HD are different than their HGTV (SD) and Food (SD) counterparts. So they'd have to keep both. But really, you guys say that SD doesn't use a lot of bandwidth but 13 HBOs and 13 Cinemax's are 26 channels that are going to be duplicated with their HD versions. They add up. They just just ditch the SD and down convert.

 

[jcarrera]

"As soon as they get everybody on these boxes..."

So you are going to force people who are not as financially fortunate as you to have to pay for a box? Nobody can buy minimal service and just hook the coax to TV?

 

[LonghornXP]

"As soon as they get everybody on these boxes..."

So you are going to force people who are not as financially fortunate as you to have to pay for a box? Nobody can buy minimal service and just hook the coax to TV?

At least the most watched 40 analog channels will remain analog even after 2009 for those who don't want a box. But anything beyond those 40 or so channels will require renting a digital box. Most packages now and all in the future will include a free digital box. We are more talking about getting all older digital boxes onto these new boxes in the future. I'm sure that quite a few analog channels will stay around for quite some time.

 

[jcarrera]

My point was directed at the post indicating EVERYBODY should be on boxes so they can eliminate the SD channels. And I was trying to say that some people would be severely hurt by such a move to eliminate analog AND SD channels--thus requiring them to rent a box.

 

[stevenl]

I wish everyone was on digital 74 QAMS freed up instantly in Orlando... Thats ALOT of bandwidth

 

[jcarrera]

Yep, but I do hope we don't just ditch the people who struggle and must buy only the basic service--just so we can have more bandwidth. Arrange for them to have the same number of channels as now, at the same cost--including a box--then I'd say it would be a great way to go. But if it means casting them aside, well, that would just be a measure of our greed for what we want no matter who it hurts, as well as a measure of our lack of honor, integrity, and compassion.

 

[stevenl]

Well eventually they will have set top boxes that are only "tuners" basically and are so cheap we could put them in peoples home for free, then everything can be digital. That would be nice

 

[skottey]

"As soon as they get everybody on these boxes..."

So you are going to force people who are not as financially fortunate as you to have to pay for a box? Nobody can buy minimal service and just hook the coax to TV?

You need a box for all premium channels. Many of the channels like Science Channel are on digital too. So if they got rid of those SD versions it wouldn't make a bit of difference to those that don't have a digital box.

 

[skottey]

My point was directed at the post indicating EVERYBODY should be on boxes so they can eliminate the SD channels. And I was trying to say that some people would be severely hurt by such a move to eliminate analog AND SD channels--thus requiring them to rent a box.

I was talking about everybody that has a box already getting on one of the HD boxes that can down-convert to SD so they can get rid of the SD versions digital SD channels that are simulcast in HD.

But as far as getting rid of analog, that is a good idea too. BHN is moving all the government channels in the Tampa Bay area to the 600 vicinity of the digital realm. In turn they are offering for a few dollars a month a device that can allow non-digital subscribers to see the government channels. So the technology is obviously there to serve up any digital channel to an analog TV with a cheap device.

Getting rid of analog has many benefits.

 

[dukandhide]

BHN will have lost most of the HD owners by 18months. BHN would rather give you phone service then give you HD content. Just a quick update, my service has been good so far and I have nothing to complain about. Big thunderstorm came through here last week and my service was fine. All the NFL games in Hd was worth the switch and Magic games. My biggest problem is having so many HD channels, I find myself not being able to make up my mind on what to watch. I did order the fight this past weekend in HD, what a joke that fight turned out to be