HD package to be added to BHN Oct 6?

[dvdao]

I just read this post over at avs:

"I spoke with a BHN CSR last night and was told that in addition to the two in-demand channels, they were adding an NBA HD channel, Foxsports Atlantic HD. There was no mention of ESPN-HD. I was told it would be up and running on October 6th and it would be included with the "HD package."

Can anyone confirm or deny this?

[bdraw]

I will belive it when I see it. Maybe BHN is working on something big and that is why we dont hear much. I hope so.

[Hop]

I was all set to watch the new INHD channels on Sept. 15. They showed up in the listing but had the usual number to call to activate them. I called the number and the person on the phone had no idea what I was talking about. They knew nothing at all about the new HD channels!

The next day, I called the sales department at BHN to find out what the hell was going on. I finally got hold of sombody who at least was aware of the new INHD channels. They said they would be on-line October 7. I asked why they had been running a preview promotion that said they would be on Sept. 15 and she was unaware of that. I told her that if the channels were unavailable, they should be removed from the program schedule.

That night I saw they were still on the program schedule so I called the number again and asked to have them turned on. Apparently my earlier call had caused a stir since a new memo and been sent out that afternoon. They were now aware of the new channels but also said they wouldn't be on until Oct. 7.

This same person I talked with also said that NBC, CBS and ESPNHD would also be on soon.

[dvdao]

This may be a little redundant as it was posted over at avs a few days ago but thought it might be helpful to those who don't visit avs:
Here is a response from the BH marketing manager regarding the HD Tier:

Yes, what you heard is true. We do intend to launch an HDTV Tier and a
new Digital Sports Tier, 7 channels combined, in mid-October, and the
price is yet to be determined.

Initially, the HDTV Tier will contain inDemand HD 1 & 2, which offer
24/7 programming and includes college football, basketball, hockey,
movies, select Tampa Bay Lightning Games and Orlando Magic Games.

We will definitely get the word out to our communities, once we have
determined and exact date and monthly rate.

Thank you for taking the time to communicate with us.

Wanda Dunn
Marketing Manager
Bright House Networks
Pinellas County, FL

[racemanfl]

Here's the reply I got from BHN
Dear Mr. Cox: In response to you e:mail regarding the high def. channels, the two HD channels you were able to receive last week (640 & 641) were being tested. We were able to transmit the US Open during this time while testing the channels. However, beginning in October we will be adding several new channels to our HD line-up. Including two in-demand pay per view channels on 703 & 704. Also several sports channels ranging from 800 - 804. We are currently under contract negotiations with ESPN/HD, and should have this available soon. Also CBS is supposed to be available by the end of this year. That depends on our local affiliate. If you are having trouble with your reception, we need to schedule a trouble call so a tech can come out and correct the problem. Please call the customer service number to schedule this at your earliest convenience. Any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. We appreciate your business.

Thank you,
Kammi Hooper
Customer Service Lead

It seems like nobody knows what going on at BHN

[Zimmy]

It would be just like BHN to offer a HDTV tier without sewing up ESPN first. With ESPN I might grumble a little but I would be a sheep and instantly get it only for the weekly NFL/College game. If everyone signs up for their non-ESPN teir, what would be their incentive to get ESPNHD?

[gmclaughlin]

The "Official" Word from Bright House Networks regarding the HD Tier and INHD...


Bright House Networks to Launch Digital Sports Tier, Digital Hispanic Tier "Nuestros Canales") and an HDTV Tier

New Programming Choices Coming In October

Clearwater, FL – September 26, 2003: Officials at Bright House Networks announced today that the company would launch a new Digital Sports Tier, a Digital Hispanic Tier ("Nuestros Canales"), and a High Definition Tier to the programming line-up. The addition of these new service tiers underscores Bright House Networks commitment to providing the best possible array of diverse programming choices for customers in the Tampa Bay area. New channels to be added to the Digital Sports Tier include:

Fox Sports Digital Net Atlantic (Channel 800), Fox Sports Digital Net Central (Channel 801), Fox Sports Digital Net Pacific (Channel 802) and NBA TV (Channel 803), and the Tennis Channel (Channel 804). The price for this tier of service is $3.09/month. The tier will launch on October 14, 2003.

Channels to be included on "Nuestros Canales":

Bay News 9 en Espanol * (Channel 900), Canal Sur (Channel 901), CNN en Espanol (Channel902), Discovery en Espanol (Channel 903), Fox Sports World Espanol (Channel 904), MTV Espanol (Channel 905), Mun2 (Channel 906). "Nuestros Canales" will launch on October 14, 2003 at a price of $2.99/month.

* Note: Bay News 9 en Espanol will continue to be carried on Channel 139 in addition to its being added to "Nuestros Canales"

In addition, the company will launch a High Definition (HD) Tier:

(INHD on Channel 703 and INHD2 on Channel 704) on October 14, 2003. INHD will feature sports, exclusive movies, concerts, documentaries; travel programs and children’s programming and INHD2 will feature sports (baseball, college football), movies, original programming and events. The 2-channel tier will be offered at $6.00 per month.

Advance/Newhouse (Bright House Networks) manages over 2 million subscribers in cable television systems in and around Tampa Bay, Central Florida, Indianapolis, Birmingham, Bakersfield and Detroit along with several smaller systems in Alabama and panhandle Florida. Advance/Newhouse is a privately held company headquartered in Syracuse, New York. The Advance/Newhouse partners’ other interests include Condé Nast and Fairchild magazines, PARADE magazine, daily newspapers serving 26 cities, American City Business Journals, which publishes business journals in over 45 cities, Advance Internet and CondéNet, producers of online services, and significant interests in Discovery Communications, Inc. and Time Warner Telecom, Inc.


Maybe now the CSP's can comment on the tier...

[bdraw]

Who is going to buy this?

Not me.

Are they going to take away Discovery if we don't buy it?

We need to get the email address of the person in charge of marketing at BHN. Either local or National. We could get all BHN customer that we can get in contact with to send an email to that person and let them know that we have plenty of content on TV that we want in HD. But INHD doesn't have it. We want the NFL, Division 1A College football, New movies. We don't want alot of old movies, Division 2A College Football, old recyled HD.net programing, and more nature shows.

What I am scared of (as pointed out by a good friend) is that no one is going to buy this new teir, and BHN assumes that there is no current market for HD programing.

[CANDY76MAN]

I wonder why they wouldn't include discovery hd and the local hd channels in the hd tier?....two channels isn't enough for a "tier", in fact thats almost comical :roll:

[racemanfl]

They are testing CBS on test channel 804 in Spring Hill

[Hop]

WOW! WTSP (CBS) just showed up on 610!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bdraw]

I wonder why they wouldn't include discovery hd and the local hd channels in the hd tier?....two channels isn't enough for a "tier", in fact thats almost comical :roll:

FCC prohibits BHN from charging for DTV local channels. They can't scramble them either, so you can record with your HDTV/Qam recorders.

[MTAS]

Who is going to buy this?

Not me.



Ditto

[jaymer]

I'm kinda nature-programmed out after Discovery HD.
I'm not sure $6 is even worth it for the MyHD stuff - but we'll see.
Will have to investigate their movie selection...

Does this mean a 5-channel "tier" will cost $15?

[racemanfl]

Her'es the reply I got from BHN.
Mr. Cox, The new HD channels and packages are as follows:

Digital Sports Tier:
Fox Sports Digital Net Atlantic (channel 800)
Fox Sports Digital Net Central (channel 801)
Fox Sports Digital Net Pacific (channel 802)
NBA TV (channel 803)
The Tennis Channel (channel 804)
The price for this tier of service will be $3.09/month. Launch date is October 14, 2003

Digital Hispanic Tier (Nuestros Canales)
Bay News 9 en Espanol (channel 900)
Canal Sur (channel 901)
CNN en Espanol (channel 902)
Discovery en Espanol (channel 903)
Fox Sports World Espanol (channel 904)
MTV Espanol (channel 905)
Mun2 (channel 906)
The price of this tier of service will be $2.99/month. Launch date is October 14, 2003

In addition, there will also be a High Definition Tier, channels 703 & 704 (INHD & INHD2) INHD will feature sports, exclusive movies, concerts, documentaries; travel programs and children's programming; and INHD2 will feature sports, movies, original programming and events. The 2-channel tier will be offered at $6.00 a month.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely, Kammi Hooper, Customer Service Lead

[Max_Gator]

Well, I think we need to communicate to them that the two inhd channels do not a tier make.

However, I just can't imagine them only putting those two in the tier. They must have plans to move other channels to the tier/add other channels.

[dvdao]

What a complete letdown. I was expecting ESPNHD to added since they had mentioned that they would be charging for this new HD tier. At least add HDNet with the INHD & INHD2 channels for the additional 6/month. I'm not sure that I will sign up right away. Old movies and some sports for 6 dollars a month? :roll:

[JerryIII]

I am very excited about CBSHD. They can keep the INHD channels though. I see nothing there that is remotely interesting.

Jerry

[ronfl]

Just recieved an email from BHN, pasted it below:

Here's the schedule for channel launches for October.

October 14th:
1. INHD Channel 703
2. INHD2 Channel 704
This will be an 'HD Tier' package. Additional channels will be coming shortly. We are waiting for confirmation on the additional HD channels, NBC, ESPN, HD Net, and more. They may come swiftly. We're awaiting final contracts and/or signal tests in many instances.

October 14th:
Sports Tier Package - not High Definition
Fox Sports Atlantic, Fox Sports Central, Fox Sports Pacific, NBA TV, The Tennis Channel, channels 800 through 804 respectively.

We have additional channels coming to the Digital service tier scheduled for year end, such as Biography, History International and more.

If you wish, please feel free to contact me directly toward the end of October, or at any time, for an update. Whatever is the latest information, we'll be happy to share with you.

Regards,
Shelley
Marketing Pinellas Region
Bright House Networks

[Zimmy]

Hmmm, let me get my BHN glasses and re-read that letter:

Here's the schedule for channel launches for October.

October 14th:
No ESPNHD

October 14th:
No ESPNHD

We have additional channels coming to the Digital service tier scheduled for year end, such as Biography, History International and more.

Ohh, and another thing, No ESPNHD (at least until NFL is over)

If you wish, please feel free to contact me directly toward the end of October, or at any time, for an update. Whatever is the latest information, we'll be happy to share with you.

Regards,
Shelley
Marketing Pinellas Region
Bright House Networks

[dvdao]

I thought the reason why BHN could not come to an agreement with ESPNHD was because ESPN wanted too much money and BHN, being the self sacrificing corporation that they are, did not want to pass on the costs to their loyal customers. But if you really think about it, charging 6 dollars for the two INHD channels will only give them an excuse to charge 5-10 dollars just for ESPNHD and toss in some other crap channel to supplement the "ESPN tier". They are trying to spin this like D* but IMO are failing miserably. :roll:

[FTBoomerIII]

Is there really that much programming on ESPN-HD that doen't already show up on ABC-HD? Do you really need "Playmakers" in HD?

[Zimmy]

NFL Sunday Night Football, Playoff Baseball, NHL, NBA.

Yea, I would say there is some programming that isn't shown on ABC HD.

Zimmy

[LonghornXP]

Well on the DirecTV HD package which is 10.99/month this cost does leave a bit of room cost wise for other channels. ESPN HD is only 80 cents out of that 10.99/month. Yes that is quite a bit considering were paying about 2 bucks for the regular ESPN channels but that is a very good price to pay considering the cost of doing those games in HDTV. Also this cost does include next year which will have much more live HD events because of their new studio being built. They will have live events from most sports including NCAA Football, NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB. Also they might cover NCAA basketball as well as other events such as XGames and Golf and so forth but those aren't realy confirmed. And as far as what they are covering now they will cover a couple more games every week on NCAA Football for example. They won't cover anymore games for the NFL because there aren't any more games that they cover.

I say just wait until next year and things will be very different. Most of the studio shows such as sportscenter will be shot in HDTV in the studio where they are now being upconverted.

[teampozer]

ESPN-HD and HDnet are a great combo to have. Between the 2, the NHL should have quite a few games in HD and they both carry college football. In addition, ESPN also has the NBA and of course the NFL. The only major sport I see INHD has come to agreements with is MLB which is pretty much over for the season. ESPN-HD should be a top priority for BHN.

[bdraw]

ESPNHD is not the best deal out there. But it does offer 2 football games a week in HD. Not a bad price if you are big football fan.

Directv is the only way to go right now for football fans.
With directv you can get 3 HD games per week guaranteed. You will get one of these with CBS now, but not guaranteed.

The cost is much more, no doubt about it. But I guess it just depends on how much you like football. Honestly when football season is over I won't watch much ESPNHD.

HD.net is nice but what we all want is the content we already enjoy in a format we love. HD.net just adds more content in the format we love. I only watch HD.net when there is nothing on any of the other channels.

[Hop]

Well, it's October 7 and according to people I spoke with at BHN there should be some new HD channels online.

NOTHING.

[gmclaughlin]

Read the press release earlier in the thread. October 14th is the launch date.

Seems pretty clear...

[BC]

Fox Sports Digital Net Pacific (Channel 802 & 804) on BHN in Winter Haven area now.

[dvdao]

Nothing here in St Pete on Channel 802 and 804. I guess they are going to test them before the official release of the "digital tier" channels.

[passedpawn]

I agree with teampozer. ESPNHD and HDNET would make a digital tier worthwhile. ESPN is weak on content, but that will improve. I remember reading that they are building a new center for the HD programming.

I get all the locals over the air. I don't have a cable box, but I would if I could get the two channels above (I would really like Discovery, too).

The INHD schedule looked pretty lame. I won't pay extra for HD movies. They look great, but I can't live without the convenience of the PAUSE button that my DVD player offers. Plus, the aspect ratio is always "as intended" with the DVD.

[dvdao]

INHD lineup of movies from the 80s and college football games with great teams such as Hofstra don't really intrigue me even though its in HD. I'm going to hold off on all of the digital packages and the HD tier until they decide to add ESPNHD. BHNs bogus excuse of not wanting to pass the costs of ESPNHD on to the consumer. I guess they don't mind passing it along for INHD :roll:

[bubblehd647]

Ugh. Please BHN, get the ESPNHD and NBC deals wrapped up. It doesn't sound like going the D* and OTA route will be cheaper and I really don't want to drop more $$ to get a OTA receiver just to get one more local HD channel.
But that may change if more of the local channels go HD (WB, UPN for example).

[bdraw]

UPN is already doing HD, but only one movie per month.
WB will be by the end of the year, and so should a second PBS station 16.