Are you a Turbo sub and mad about Fox News HD? Then don't read this...
So I had a few minutes at work to do some thinking (always a dangerous exercise for me...) and I began to wonder about the cost/value of Turbo HD packages. Basically, I wanted to look at them in terms of price per channel overall in each package, as well as the marginal price per channel. So I opened up a trusty excel spreadsheet and came up with this (click for full view on ImageShack):
Several things stood out to me about this. First, moving up in tiers costs $10 each time and going from bronze to silver gives you 9 more channels and going from silver to gold gives you another 9 channels. Second, there is no price per channel difference between silver and gold; I would have expected gold to have a lower price per channel, but the difference in the cost of the packages outweighs that. Finally, we all knew that the platinum package was a ripoff, but from the perspective of a Turbo subscriber, it isn't that bad; it costs $10 for 8 more channels instead of the usual 9.
Now, where things get truly terrifying for Turbo subscribers is when you look at the classic packages. I looked at all three plus the platinum addon and I included the $10 hd fee. So here is what you get:
Now remember, you are getting the exact same hd channels as the corresponding Turbo package (actually 2 more since I included the two Fox's), but you are also getting a whole slew of sd channels and to top it off, you are paying less per channel! So in bronze, you are paying 36% less per channel, in silver you are paying 50% less per channel, in gold you are paying 58% less per channel, and with platinum you are paying 54% less per channel. You should also note that the marginal cost per channel goes down as you go up from bronze to gold. This time, the ripoff of the platinum package is much more pronounced in comparison to what you pay for the standard packages.
Of course, there are "real" price differences between the two (classic bronze is $5 more than turbo hd bronze, etc.), but I am just looking at value. It appears that there is a heavy tax for having the privilege of just watching hd channels. Oh, and don't forget about the nifty music channels you get with the standard packages!
I know this is all stating the obvious, but it still hurts a little more when you break it out. Just food for thought... Oh, and sorry about the hyperbolic title; I just wanted to get someone to read this.
So I had a few minutes at work to do some thinking (always a dangerous exercise for me...) and I began to wonder about the cost/value of Turbo HD packages. Basically, I wanted to look at them in terms of price per channel overall in each package, as well as the marginal price per channel. So I opened up a trusty excel spreadsheet and came up with this (click for full view on ImageShack):
Several things stood out to me about this. First, moving up in tiers costs $10 each time and going from bronze to silver gives you 9 more channels and going from silver to gold gives you another 9 channels. Second, there is no price per channel difference between silver and gold; I would have expected gold to have a lower price per channel, but the difference in the cost of the packages outweighs that. Finally, we all knew that the platinum package was a ripoff, but from the perspective of a Turbo subscriber, it isn't that bad; it costs $10 for 8 more channels instead of the usual 9.
Now, where things get truly terrifying for Turbo subscribers is when you look at the classic packages. I looked at all three plus the platinum addon and I included the $10 hd fee. So here is what you get:
Now remember, you are getting the exact same hd channels as the corresponding Turbo package (actually 2 more since I included the two Fox's), but you are also getting a whole slew of sd channels and to top it off, you are paying less per channel! So in bronze, you are paying 36% less per channel, in silver you are paying 50% less per channel, in gold you are paying 58% less per channel, and with platinum you are paying 54% less per channel. You should also note that the marginal cost per channel goes down as you go up from bronze to gold. This time, the ripoff of the platinum package is much more pronounced in comparison to what you pay for the standard packages.
Of course, there are "real" price differences between the two (classic bronze is $5 more than turbo hd bronze, etc.), but I am just looking at value. It appears that there is a heavy tax for having the privilege of just watching hd channels. Oh, and don't forget about the nifty music channels you get with the standard packages!
I know this is all stating the obvious, but it still hurts a little more when you break it out. Just food for thought... Oh, and sorry about the hyperbolic title; I just wanted to get someone to read this.
