The pinged subjects will be those of HDTV technology, satellite/cable HD, OTA (over the air with various roof top and indoor antennas) HD reception, HDDVD/Blu-ray, broadcast specials and any and all subjects relating to HD.
Lasvegasdave
Pinging the HDTV list.
I would like an ala Carte option. That would certainly be the end of Gore TV (Current TV).
O the Humanity.
That's the idea. Why not try keeping social activism out of Business?
Notice the statemment is ended with a threat of higher prices. A Free Market really terrifies them, huh?
The technology already exists that you can pay for what you watch, without subscribing. Bring it on.
The suit is overdue. The cable companies enjoy a government supported monopoly and feel that they can do whatever they want.
I think there’s a different aspect of cable co. misbehavior that no one talks about. You used to be able to get a “cable ready” TV. That is, you could get all of the unscrambled channels on your TV. The set-top box was needed as a decoder, but not as a tuner for unencoded channels.
With the advent of digital TV, a whole new set of channels has been created that you can’t pick up on an HDTV without a set-top box. You can’t even get the digital TV versions of the regular broadcast channels over cable without paying extra for “digital service.” I’m not talking about HBO or pay-per-view; I’m talking about ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX.
So, you have to pay extra for “digital service” and rent a box just to get the digital versions of the previously low end channels. You have to rent a set-top box for every TV, even if you are getting the baseline digital service.
Will this continue after 2009 when the analog channels finally go silent? In other words, will you need a set-top box in every room just for the regular stations? This is a new, hidden fee, and its pretty significant.
Well, I madw rgw swirch. I dumped DishNetwork and now have TimeWarner Cable. So far, so good! I like the “on-demmand” feature, and the HDTV access.
I miss Dish, and after four years of service with them, am still upset they would not make me a deal short of making me sign a contract.
Oh, well...
The problem with pushing for ala carte for ‘expanded basic’ is that it can probably only be offered via digital service. Many cable subscribers still receive analog service. The ala carte forces them to go digital, thus being charged more, because filtering dozens of analog channels per residence would be a cable company nightmare.
My cable changed their line up 3 years ago and made it mandatory for subscribers to accept at least 2 digital tiers of 4 offered. Each tier had 6-10 channels, but only 1 or 2 channels I would have ever watched, at an extra $10 per tier plus $5 for the cable box, plus $5 for the digital remote control. That was a hefty total cost of $30 to get maybe 3 or 4 watchables in the mandatory tiers.
I dropped back to expanded-basic analog. Recently, the cable co has been pushing digital telephone and digital cable that now requires only 1 tier* (still with only 1 or 2 watchable channels out of the 6-10 in the tier). That would again add $10 for the tier, plus $5 for the cable box, plus $5 for the digital remote control. Around $20 to get 1 or 2 watchable channels. Hardly a bargain.
If the digital did offer complete ala carte and I got to select 30 channels I wanted for a cost comparable to what I pay now or cost less since I would be getting fewer channels, it might be worth it. Right now, I get 70 analog and watch maybe 30, but I have to wade through the other 40.
I am all for ala carte, but I have a feeling it will end up costing consumers more dollars for less channels. I would bet the cable companies to charge more for the channels such as FX and TNT and USA, etc. — than they would for the Knitting Channel or the Watching Paint Dry Channel.
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* Cable co has been pushing digital. I am sure they are hoping to get us analog subscribers to switch. I would expect soon for them to discontinue ‘new’ analog connections and force digital on ‘new’ subscribers.
ping...
Spanish stations are more numerous than ever. Those are 4 channels I’d get rid of. There are 6-8 stations that get 99% of my viewing
Home shopping channels are like a lot of others. Rarely watched but if I see some sharp Dell or Gateways being sold I’m entranced by the pitch. Computers are always overpriced on these channels. It’s fun to see how they rope TV viewers into paying more
I would like to be able to go into my local Winn Dixie and not have to put up with the hundreds of items that I do not use and never will buy. It would lower the prices on those items that I do purchase. I think that I will sue.
This is the second bundling related post I've seen here in the last few weeks. Mathematically minded freepers might find the curiously timely Ponder This problem interesting. I found the solution unexpectedly thought provoking.
Total waste of time. The plaintiffs should just use the TVs and STBs to block channels, create preferred scan lists of favorite channels (to avoid the 60 channels of junk), and use DVRs to capture only the shows they want to watch. It will cost a fortune for the companies to build and operate the billing system to completely unbundle all channels — and guess who will pay for that in the end, anyway?
MY theory—somebody doesn’t like paying to receive the gay channel. I could exclude it, but don’t like having it part of the package I pay for.
I’ll be converting to HD (Pioneer Elite Pro 150FD) next month and I plan to stay with Dish Network. Not that it’s that great, but the alternatives (DirecTV and Comcast) are worse. Supposedly AT&T U-verse is coming to my area. Anybody here have experience with that system?