Herve
04-06-08, 12:36 PM
My wife and I started Starchoice service last summer after having had BEV for almost 10 years. BEV's starndard def PQ was going steadily downhill and their basic package cost had risen from $9/mo to almost $30/mo, with no HD included. Starchoice had a few HD channels with their basic package, so we switched.
At the time we signed up w starchoice, TSN HD was one of the HD channels included with the basic pack. A few weeks ago I noticed that when I selected TSN HD to view, I got a "you have to subscribe to view this channel" message. Because I'm not much of a sports fan I did not call Starchoice until yesterday to find out what was going on.
The rep told me that TSN HD had raised their price to Starchoice, so Starchoice had to make that station a subscription. I asked if other HD stations were going to become subscription and he said "maybe".
How nice.
This, along with an increase in their basic package charge, makes Starchoice look like less and less a good long-term choice as time goes on.
I told the guy that if another of our few "free" (his word) HD stations becomes subscription, we would cancel our Starchoice account and to please make note of that fact.
Now some OT ranting about TV and HDTV.
Practically all commercial HD channels have become so cluttered with advertisements, pop-ups and vairous objects surrounding the main event (even "between the commercials"), we now don't even watch the so-called major sporting events - Daytona, Indy, Masters, World Series, Wimbledon, etc. Too much pain for too little entertainment.
HDNet in Canada has at most two movies per week and their selection for the past couple of months has not coincided with our taste at all. Discovery seems to be a constant series of re-runs, so we haven't watched it in weeks, either.
Considering how poor satellite sd signals have become, and how little we now watch the few HD channels we do have, I think we may soon be shopping for the cheapest way to obtain the two or three sd channels that we do enjoy watching regularly - TVO, SCN, and sometimes Vision. Maybe they're available FTA.
For what is now being called "news" (charity-event, "public-service" infomercials, and unchallanged, uncorroborated, bald-faced government propaganda), we'll either go Peasantvision or just browse the internet.
At the time we signed up w starchoice, TSN HD was one of the HD channels included with the basic pack. A few weeks ago I noticed that when I selected TSN HD to view, I got a "you have to subscribe to view this channel" message. Because I'm not much of a sports fan I did not call Starchoice until yesterday to find out what was going on.
The rep told me that TSN HD had raised their price to Starchoice, so Starchoice had to make that station a subscription. I asked if other HD stations were going to become subscription and he said "maybe".
How nice.
This, along with an increase in their basic package charge, makes Starchoice look like less and less a good long-term choice as time goes on.
I told the guy that if another of our few "free" (his word) HD stations becomes subscription, we would cancel our Starchoice account and to please make note of that fact.
Now some OT ranting about TV and HDTV.
Practically all commercial HD channels have become so cluttered with advertisements, pop-ups and vairous objects surrounding the main event (even "between the commercials"), we now don't even watch the so-called major sporting events - Daytona, Indy, Masters, World Series, Wimbledon, etc. Too much pain for too little entertainment.
HDNet in Canada has at most two movies per week and their selection for the past couple of months has not coincided with our taste at all. Discovery seems to be a constant series of re-runs, so we haven't watched it in weeks, either.
Considering how poor satellite sd signals have become, and how little we now watch the few HD channels we do have, I think we may soon be shopping for the cheapest way to obtain the two or three sd channels that we do enjoy watching regularly - TVO, SCN, and sometimes Vision. Maybe they're available FTA.
For what is now being called "news" (charity-event, "public-service" infomercials, and unchallanged, uncorroborated, bald-faced government propaganda), we'll either go Peasantvision or just browse the internet.