Question about $30 HD Pack

[blanquitoman1984]

Does this mean that any new channels that are added in Hd will automatically be added to the $30 pack? Or will the ones with the $10 pack still receive them such as USA and Sci-fi.

Is the $10 price for 4 premium channels just a rumor, or is there any truth to that? I thought that you could only purchase the whole premium package and never individual channels. At least that's what I have heard on the Charlie Chat.

 

[Mdvalenz]

I think the 10$ for the HD premium is just a rumor, I think it would be worth it if it was 10$, but I don't see it happening.
I don't think anyone knows if they will add future HD channels to the 30$ pack. I would think USA and SCIFI would be included in the 10$ pack since it has all the HD channels that have an SD channel as well. I am looking at this choice closely since we watch mainly HD channels and the only ones we would want are USA, SciFi, and Comedy Central. If they add those I will just get the 30$ one.
Though I don't see how they could keep the 30$ choice for long since they plan on having 100 HD channels by the end of the year and that would seem like a lot but I hope they keep it for a long time.

 

[Chris Freeland]

I think the 10$ for the HD premium is just a rumor, I think it would be worth it if it was 10$, but I don't see it happening.
I don't think anyone knows if they will add future HD channels to the 30$ pack. I would think USA and SCIFI would be included in the 10$ pack since it has all the HD channels that have an SD channel as well. I am looking at this choice closely since we watch mainly HD channels and the only ones we would want are USA, SciFi, and Comedy Central. If they add those I will just get the 30$ one.
Though I don't see how they could keep the 30$ choice for long since they plan on having 100 HD channels by the end of the year and that would seem like a lot but I hope they keep it for a long time.

I agree, I suspect that the standalone HD pack will have a bigger then normal increase next year. I would not be suprised to see E* start having tiers of standalone HD packs in a year or two once more HD channels become available. Some day in the future these standalone HD packs will be the norm and replace the AT, DFamily and Latino packs.

I can not believe any one actually took these 4 HD premium pack rumors for $10 seriously, E* would lose money on these because too many current HD subs would down grade to the HD only pack and add this pack. This is also the reason that E* does not include your local rsn's and does not even offer it and out of market rsn's as add on's, this would make the pack too attractive to too many subs. E* would much rather those that want their rsn's get AT100 Plus or higher with HD Essentials or HD Ultimate. E* wants this pack to only be attractive to a small number of subs, after all they are in business to make money, you guys are lucky that E* is even making a basic HD only pack available at all.

 

[Allin4greeN]

...you guys are lucky that E* is even making a basic HD only pack available at all.

You lost me at this statement... Last time I checked, I'm the customer. If I'm not satisfied with the service E* provides, I can take my business elsewhere and would have no problem doing just that. I don't mean to say that I'm unhappy with E*, or that I want to take my business elsewhere at this point, just that I'm not going to be beholden or overly grateful to some corporation for providing me with services that I pay good money for...

I agree that HD-only tiers will probably become commonplace. Hopefully D* joins the club, and brings some more competition to this concept. With their current HD channel lineup, it wouldn't take me much to switch...

 

[Chris Freeland]

You lost me at this statement... Last time I checked, I'm the customer. If I'm not satisfied with the service E* provides, I can take my business elsewhere and would have no problem doing just that. I don't mean to say that I'm unhappy with E*, or that I want to take my business elsewhere at this point, just that I'm not going to be beholden or overly grateful to some corporation for providing me with services that I pay good money for...

I agree that HD-only tiers will probably become commonplace. Hopefully D* joins the club, and brings some more competition to this concept. With their current HD channel lineup, it wouldn't take me much to switch...

I do not disagree with you, anyone not happy with their service weather it be E*, D*, FIOS, U-Verse or cable can drop their service at any time, what I meant was that E* is taking a risk offering this HD only pack at this time, E* runs the risk that too many of their HD subs will downgrade to this package, which means they lose money.

 

[CDH]

I do not disagree with you, anyone not happy with their service weather it be E*, D*, FIOS, U-Verse or cable can drop their service at any time, what I meant was that E* is taking a risk offering this HD only pack at this time, E* runs the risk that too many of their HD subs will downgrade to this package, which means they lose money.

Well, I doubt they'd somehow offer this HD pack as a loss-leader. My guess is that the pack is probably quite profitable because there are tons of channels they don't have to include, meaning fewer per-sub fees that they would have to pay to content providers.

CDH.

 

[Allin4greeN]

I do not disagree with you, anyone not happy with their service weather it be E*, D*, FIOS, U-Verse or cable can drop their service at any time, what I meant was that E* is taking a risk offering this HD only pack at this time, E* runs the risk that too many of their HD subs will downgrade to this package, which means they lose money.

Well, I doubt they'd somehow offer this HD pack as a loss-leader. My guess is that the pack is probably quite profitable because there are tons of channels they don't have to include, meaning fewer per-sub fees that they would have to pay to content providers.

CDH.

These are interesting points... I had assumed, like Chris, that E* might be looking at a loss overall, if subs downgraded their programming, like I plan to. AEP->HD-only is going to be a significant savings for me so, I based my assumption on this.

However, maybe in addition to CDH's comments, E* could also be attracting new subs by offering this package. With more and more households getting HDTV's, and not all of them looking for "platinum" packages, it could be a big draw...?