It sucks. To get FNC, we'll have to have a digital TV (about $2000.00 up here), rent a digital cable box from our rip-off cable monopoly, AND THEN we'll have to pay through the nose for a bunch of other channels we don't want. Welcome to Canukistan...
$2000 ! Yikes ! Any chance you might move down this way ?
Where did you here that figure? My understanding is that for digital on cable it's ~$30 per month for the box plus a fee for each channel. With the satellite services you just pay a small fee for the channel (the service is already digital).
You probably aren't going to need an upgrade on the TV. Every digital cable box that I've seen also has standard A/V outputs for regular sets. If it's on ExpressVU, then you definitely won't need a new set. All of those receivers have standard video outputs as well.
Any television set can receive it and the picture will look the same except that it will be clearer.
I subscribe to Rogers Cable tv service and Rogers Cable internet.
I have just today ordered digital service. The converter box will be installed next wednesday. The monthly fee for the box is $10.30 including tax. The cost for the service worked out the same as I am now paying except that as I am subscribing to two of Rogers' there services (tv and internet, the other one is cell phone) and I have just put them on the same bill, the actual monthly bill came in less. (I had previously paid the internet service from a separate bank account).
The only down side is that I would need a converter box for each additional television set at $10.30/month, but without it the bedroom sets still get all the analog channels. If someone wants digital in his or her bedroom, he or she can pay the extra or buy a converter box for $199.00 plus tax (or wait until one is on sale).
Aggregate cost for the service, tv and internet, come to $91.67 per month in Canadian funds.of which $40.88 is for my cable internet service. This includes the digital converter and the cable modem.
As to $2,000.00 television sets, I can wait for the price of solid state sets to come down as they inevitably will once the industry standardizes fully on digital screens and stops making CRT sets and the cost benefit of scale kicks in.