maxman you could do what I did & check their website on a weekly basis for available FiOS services.

if you have Verizon service already just enter your phone #, otherwise enter your address.

I've been doing that. When I enter my phone number it says it's not available. But when I enter my zip code, now it shows a channel list.

I've been doing that. When I enter my phone number it says it's not available. But when I enter my zip code, now it shows a channel list.

You might try getting to the address entry option, it is more up to date than the phone number listing.

Thanks for the extensive reply. I just hope the fiber tech I spoke with was telling the truth about it being available to me in September. What piqued my interest was that they are showing a channel guide for my zip code and township for the first time on their website.

With all due respect, the fiber tech is not a spokesman for Verizon (nor am I). The fiber has to be put in and then tested by Verizon for a period of time. They then release the addresses that pass that testing into their database of addresses available for install. Only then can orders be placed with installation scheduled.

The fiber tech can tell you September based on past estimates, but in most cases it takes 3 or so months from the time the fiber is pulled and connected (and I do not mean the original conduit that it is installed in - which is longer than the time it takes from when the fiber is pulled through the conduit) to when they open up addresses for install.

does anyone here have a Voom box from the old Voom service?

I still use mine for OTA HD and doing A/B comparison with the verizon box on the same channels the Voom box gives me a slight but noticeably better picture -- sharper, with more pop. I noticed the same comparing the Voom box with a D* HD tivo using its OTA tuner. I did a blind test with other people and they picked out the Voom box as being better. This is on a CRT RPTV, through components, all inputs ISF calibrated identically (I've switched cables & inputs with same result).

This is odd b/c the Voom box is also made by Motorola and it's a few years older. Not sure what the difference is. I'd love to hear what old Voom customers think.

Barth, what you're seeing is the D/A conversion of the Voom box which appears to be better than your other boxes. However if you were hooking up via HDMI, I suspect you'd see no difference at all between the boxes. BTW, I had Voom until its demise, but no longer have the box.

Watching the Olympics on the several different channels NBC has put them on has put a new emphasis on key input akin to text messaging. I've been trying to go "touch" to jockey between UHD on 567, NBC (KGW in Portland) on 508, 581 and 582. Many times the past few days I have found the STB lag has kicked in and I get the "5" repeated or some other mis-key to a number not assigned to a channel and I get shunted off to Ch 1951, which is the Urge Radio comedy channel. I realize this is the last channel assigned numerically by Verizon in the current lineup and it appears this is a default by the software when it can't figure out what the channel command is. But couldn't they pick another default besides a MA-rated channel? There's quite a bit of offensive language there.

What happens to scheduled recordings with the channel change? We get the realignment here in MA Wednesday but I will be down the Cape from Tuesday to Friday. Will the DVR automatically adjust to record from the new channel?

Not much I am worrying about missing, the main thing is the US Soccer World Cup Qualifier Wednesday night since I am not sure if the place I am standing has cable or regular OTA TV.

What happens to scheduled recordings with the channel change? We get the realignment here in MA Wednesday but I will be down the Cape from Tuesday to Friday. Will the DVR automatically adjust to record from the new channel?

Not much I am worrying about missing, the main thing is the US Soccer World Cup Qualifier Wednesday night since I am not sure if the place I am standing has cable or regular OTA TV.

If you have a Tivo, it will automatically adjust for the new channels (that is, whenever Tivo decides to send the new channel list down to you, which based on markets so far, could be weeks later).

If you have a Tivo, it will automatically adjust for the new channels (that is, whenever Tivo decides to send the new channel list down to you, which based on markets so far, could be weeks later).


TiVo sends it when Tribune gets it. Tribune gets it when Verizon gives it to them.

TiVo sends it when Tribune gets it. Tribune gets it when Verizon gives it to them.

I pay Tivo for a service. The data has been available on Verizon's site for months, and certainly weeks before any individual market cutover.

The fact that Tivo "outsources" this to Tribune is not my problem, it's Tivo's. Otherwise we should stop paying Tivo and pay Tribune directly. Also, even when Tribune is correct, Tivo seems to be taking additional days/weeks to make it available to their customers.

I love Tivo, but they have really dropped the ball on this one. They are handling it terribly, resulting in days or weeks of effectively useless Tivo's for people in converted markets.

I think it's only over the last week that the first markets, from back in early July, are finally getting accurate guide data. Other markets have to resort to rediculous workarounds to get partial guides.

I just hope by the time they get to my area, that they finally have it figured out.

I pay Tivo for a service. The data has been available on Verizon's site for months, and certainly weeks before any individual market cutover.

The fact that Tivo "outsources" this to Tribune is not my problem, it's Tivo's. Otherwise we should stop paying Tivo and pay Tribune directly. Also, even when Tribune is correct, Tivo seems to be taking additional days/weeks to make it available to their customers.

I love Tivo, but they have really dropped the ball on this one. They are handling it terribly, resulting in days or weeks of effectively useless Tivo's for people in converted markets.

I think it's only over the last week that the first markets, from back in early July, are finally getting accurate guide data. Other markets have to resort to rediculous workarounds to get partial guides.

I just hope by the time they get to my area, that they finally have it figured out.

At least you are going through it now. Our area is due sometime in late September after the new Tv season starts. That could really cause me some problems if I don't stay on top of things.

At least you are going through it now. Our area is due sometime in late September after the new Tv season starts. That could really cause me some problems if I don't stay on top of things.

Sorry, I'm not going through it yet... I'm in MD/DC, so I don't get it until late September (or later, the date hasn't been posted yet).

And I'm not looking forward to the screw ups in the middle of the new season. I'd almost rather it wait until December if Tivo can't get things fixed within 24 hours.

For what it's worth, the Richmond folks appear to have received updates within about 48 hours of the cutover. So perhaps Tivo is getting better.

Sorry, I'm not going through it yet... I'm in MD/DC, so I don't get it until late September (or later, the date hasn't been posted yet).
Check channel 49. As of last night, there was a scrolling message here in northern VA that stated beginning on September 17 new channels will be coming and that some channels would be moved. There were other messages, so you may have to wait a minute or two to see it. Don't take the message as gospel because in the Philly market, the chan 49 message is saying August 25, but the web page has 4 different re-alignment dates from 9/4 to 9/15 for four subsets of the Philly market. But I take this as an indication that the Washington Metro and Baltimore markets should get the HD expansion in the last half of September.

Meanwhile as of this morning, close to a month after the July 21 start date, the analog channels were still live in Sterling, VA. Have not been switched to the red screen yet.

Check channel 49. As of last night, there was a scrolling message here in northern VA that stated beginning on September 17 new channels will be coming and that some channels would be moved. There were other messages, so you may have to wait a minute or two to see it. Don't take the message as gospel because in the Philly market, the chan 49 message is saying August 25, but the web page has 4 different re-alignment dates from 9/4 to 9/15 for four subsets of the Philly market. But I take this as an indication that the Washington Metro and Baltimore markets should get the HD expansion in the last half of September.

Meanwhile as of this morning, close to a month after the July 21 start date, the analog channels were still live in Sterling, VA. Have not been switched to the red screen yet.

The Verizon web site now has MD/DC/Metro as 9/22, and Anne Arundel/Howard as 9/18. So that's pretty official, as they've rarely missed those dates.

The initial update for HD isn't that impressive though... when will we all get the NYC HD lineup?

The Verizon web site now has MD/DC/Metro as 9/22, and Anne Arundel/Howard as 9/18. So that's pretty official, as they've rarely missed those dates.

The initial update for HD isn't that impressive though... when will we all get the NYC HD lineup?
Sometime before the end of 2008. But I will happy to get the new HD channels I also see that MOJO is not on the new line-ups. Since Verizon has not added to the markets that had it in the new line-up, they must have run into some difficulties in getting the channel - either technical or contractual.

To summarize the entire re-alignment and 1st round HD expansion schedule:

As of August 18 on Verizon website:
6/30 Fort Wayne IN
7/21 Portland OR
7/28 New York
7/31 Northern NJ
8/06 Pittsburgh (was delayed until 8/12)
8/13 Richmond VA
8/14 Hampton Roads VA
8/20 Massachusetts
8/21 Rhode Island
8/26 Central NJ Enhanced
8/27 Mercer County, NJ
9/02 Southern Delaware
9/04 Central Delaware
9/08 Southern New Jersey
9/11 Southeastern PA
9/15 Northern Delaware
9/18 Anne Arundel/Howard County MD
9/22 Washington Metro
10/1 Baltimore MD
Still TBA: Florida Gulf Coast, Southern CA, North TX.

Any one know where I can find a channel guide for the unencrypted channels for the Wash D.C. area?
Thanks in advance.

If you have a Tivo, it will automatically adjust for the new channels (that is, whenever Tivo decides to send the new channel list down to you, which based on markets so far, could be weeks later).It took TiVo only 2 days to bring in the new numbers and delete the old here in SE Virginia. The FiOS guide is still carrying both the old and new chanel listings which is very confusing. Score another victory for TiVo. :D

It took TiVo only 2 days to bring in the new numbers and delete the old here in SE Virginia. The FiOS guide is still carrying both the old and new chanel listings which is very confusing. Score another victory for TiVo. :D

After like 10 failures. Glad to see they're down to only 2 days of making the Tivo's nearly useless and losing all new programming in markets that convert.

Maybe I'll be lucky and it'll be down to 1 day of lost programming when my area converts (in a month).

(How you can call anything other than simultaneous guide updates a victory is beyond me, but whatever...)

Any one know where I can find a channel guide for the unencrypted channels for the Wash D.C. area?
There is no specific guide because what channels are in the clear are similar in all markets and so far in the same QAM channel range. You get the digital broadcast locals in the clear in the QAM 71 to 7x range, the SD locals and public channels, WGN SD, some info channels, and the music channels.

This may change for the channel re-alignment next month, but here are the clear QAM channels for Sterling, VA in the Washington Metro area:

55-100 WGN
63: SD locals
65: PEGs
66: 3 SD (info channels), 47 Music Choice channels
67: SD locals, PEGs
68: SD locals
71*: 2 local HD (WUSA CBS 9, WRC NBC 4, 2 SD subs)
72:* 2 local HD (WTTG Fox 5, WDCA MNT 20)
73:* 2 local HD (MPT PBS 67, WJLA ABC 7, 4 SD subs)
74:* 2 local HD (WDCW CW 50, WETA PBS 26, 4 SD)
75: 2 local stations: WNVC-DT MHz 56 and WNVT-DT MHz 30 stations (8 SD subs)
82:* WPXW-DT Ion 66 (4 SD sub-channels)
84: Urge music channels

* Mapped by newer/most QAM tuners to the broadcast channel numbers.

Meanwhile as of this morning, close to a month after the July 21 start date, the analog channels were still live in Sterling, VA. Have not been switched to the red screen yet.

I'm in Stone Ridge (near South Riding) and we've gone all the way from red screen to snow. Very annoying since my TV won't let me eliminate the analog tuner and I can't get any decent OTA reception here. Small price to pay for more channels, I guess.

I pay Tivo for a service. The data has been available on Verizon's site for months, and certainly weeks before any individual market cutover.

The fact that Tivo "outsources" this to Tribune is not my problem, it's Tivo's. Otherwise we should stop paying Tivo and pay Tribune directly. Also, even when Tribune is correct, Tivo seems to be taking additional days/weeks to make it available to their customers.

I love Tivo, but they have really dropped the ball on this one. They are handling it terribly, resulting in days or weeks of effectively useless Tivo's for people in converted markets.

I think it's only over the last week that the first markets, from back in early July, are finally getting accurate guide data. Other markets have to resort to rediculous workarounds to get partial guides.

I just hope by the time they get to my area, that they finally have it figured out.

Couldn't agree more!

I had Tivo with Directv, but with FIOS, I just have their DVR...so my question still stands...will shows set to record on current channels automatically record the show when it moves tomorrow to the the new channels?

Just jumped in and got FIOS and ditched Cablevision.

HDTV on my new 65" HDTV was becoming unwatchable on Cable,

So far so good, the pic is great.

I had Tivo with Directv, but with FIOS, I just have their DVR...so my question still stands...will shows set to record on current channels automatically record the show when it moves tomorrow to the the new channels?

Good question. I would assume that the old channel ( 827 for ESPN2 HD?) would route you to the new channel ( 574 for ESPN2 HD) automatically, if not, just set the DVR to record for two hours on the 574 channel.

I'm in Stone Ridge (near South Riding) and we've gone all the way from red screen to snow. Very annoying since my TV won't let me eliminate the analog tuner and I can't get any decent OTA reception here. Small price to pay for more channels, I guess.


Can't you delete individual channels? Just delete the ones with snow.

Can't you delete individual channels? Just delete the ones with snow.

They all have snow. I did an auto scan, but did not try deleting single channels.

Thanks, this is better than nothing.

There is no specific guide because what channels are in the clear are similar in all markets and so far in the same QAM channel range. You get the digital broadcast locals in the clear in the QAM 71 to 7x range, the SD locals and public channels, WGN SD, some info channels, and the music channels.

This may change for the channel re-alignment next month, but here are the clear QAM channels for Sterling, VA in the Washington Metro area:

55-100 WGN
63: SD locals
65: PEGs
66: 3 SD (info channels), 47 Music Choice channels
67: SD locals, PEGs
68: SD locals
71*: 2 local HD (WUSA CBS 9, WRC NBC 4, 2 SD subs)
72:* 2 local HD (WTTG Fox 5, WDCA MNT 20)
73:* 2 local HD (MPT PBS 67, WJLA ABC 7, 4 SD subs)
74:* 2 local HD (WDCW CW 50, WETA PBS 26, 4 SD)
75: 2 local stations: WNVC-DT MHz 56 and WNVT-DT MHz 30 stations (8 SD subs)
82:* WPXW-DT Ion 66 (4 SD sub-channels)
84: Urge music channels

* Mapped by newer/most QAM tuners to the broadcast channel numbers.

Thanks, this will help my wife out.

Verizon turned on all the new channels this morning, including many HBO and Cinemax that were not in the lineup they mailed out.

I noticed for the first time last night that we have HD starz on demand.

Got the new channels in this morning. Checked only a few of the new HD channels, they look as good as some existing. I also noticed the Olympic channels were moved to the 500's. Looks good so far, will look a bit more this evening.

I noticed for the first time last night that we have HD starz on demand.

Awesome!

I noticed for the first time last night that we have HD starz on demand.

I noticed that here, too.. forgot to mention it. I realized I missed a movie I wanted to see on Starz, and then I figured, whatever, I'll watch it on demand... then i saw the HD, then I found my movie. I did a little dance and watched some HD VOD content! YAY!

I don't think this was posted here, but according to the Verizon Policy Blog, the rest of the markets will roll up to 100 HD channels in increments.

http://policyblog.verizon.com/PolicyBlog/Blogs/policyblog/EricRabe9/518/More-HD-for-New-York-and-Other-Markets.aspx

Our other markets won’t see a one-time infusion of 100 HD channels, as we’re doing in New York, but they will see us add HD content over the remainder of this year.

They remain steadfast that all markets will have all the channels by the end of 2008, thankfully.

I noticed for the first time last night that we have HD starz on demand.

FINALLY!!!!!! Best news i've heard out of the fios camp. Better even than the new HD channels that just rolled here in MA today.

FINALLY!!!!!! Best news i've heard out of the fios camp. Better even than the new HD channels that just rolled here in MA today.
Yeah, I think I checked showtime and no HD OnDemand, I didn't check the others.

I looked tonight at the program guide listings for the HD Versus/Golf Channel and see no HD Golf Channel programming at all for weeks into the future. Is this an error in the program guide, or is this correct? Have those of you who've had this channel in HD for a while seen any actual GC programming, or is it all Versus?

I looked tonight at the program guide listings for the HD Versus/Golf Channel and see no HD Golf Channel programming at all for weeks into the future. Is this an error in the program guide, or is this correct? Have those of you who've had this channel in HD for a while seen any actual GC programming, or is it all Versus?

I saw golf on a day or two ago.

Don't know if this is new news or not but with the rollout in MA that took place today I count 4 starzHD, 8 shotimeHD, 4 TMCHD, 14 HBO HD, and 12 cinemax HD. Isnt this a lot more than was expected!!!!???? Either way... Im one happy man.

Don't know if this is new news or not but with the rollout in MA that took place today I count 4 starzHD, 8 shotimeHD, 4 TMCHD, 14 HBO HD, and 12 cinemax HD. Isnt this a lot more than was expected!!!!???? Either way... Im one happy man.

That sucks for those who had the earlier rollouts, we did not get any of the extra premiums except HBOWest and CinemaxWest.

I am very unhappy with the verizon on-screen guide. Compared to D* the guide is crowded and has much less information. For example, movies listing are very incomplete conserning date of release, stars, even synapse of the movie itself.

My question is whether or not the Tivo, using cablecards, is more in depth and informative as it was when they used to do Directv. In other words, is the Tivo fee plus the two cable card fees worth it in terms of a better guide with more information?

Thanks in advance,

Jay

Yeah, I think I checked showtime and no HD OnDemand, I didn't check the others.

you might want to check again. I found Starz! & Cinemax HD VOD-tho it does say trial.

not a lot of movies right now but IMHO 1 or 2 good ones(GLADIATOR for example).

I am very unhappy with the verizon on-screen guide. Compared to D* the guide is crowded and has much less information. For example, movies listing are very incomplete conserning date of release, stars, even synapse of the movie itself.

My question is whether or not the Tivo, using cablecards, is more in depth and informative as it was when they used to do Directv. In other words, is the Tivo fee plus the two cable card fees worth it in terms of a better guide with more information?

Thanks in advance,

Jay

TiVo Guide is WAY better. Navigation is much smoother and quicker. Navigation through shows, forward reverse, etc. is also much smoother and quicker. I was a D* TiVo guy and when I switched to FIOS I really hated their DVR.

I feel they're worth it. I own two. Went for lifetime sub on them.

Don't know if this is new news or not but with the rollout in MA that took place today I count 4 starzHD, 8 shotimeHD, 4 TMCHD, 14 HBO HD, and 12 cinemax HD. Isnt this a lot more than was expected!!!!???? Either way... Im one happy man.

Nope, you're seeing it right. I clicked through them and most had HD content on, the PQ was as good as ever. I checked the VOD and Cinemax and Starz have a test trial of VOD movies.

you might want to check again. I found Starz! & Cinemax HD VOD-tho it does say trial.
I think they have been adding the Starz HD Trial folder by market. I saw posts at dslreports several weeks ago that people had gotten the new folder, but I did not see it here in Northern VA. Then when I looked late last week the Starz HD Trial folder was there with a limited number of titles, although there are several HD movies that I don't think have aired on Starz yet. I don't subscribe to Cinemax, so have not looked. I don't see any HD folders for Showtime, but I don't recall any reports that there has been one yet.

If they could add a Sci-Fi HD folder and others for the more watched cable nets that many of us do not have in HD yet, that would be nice.

I looked tonight at the program guide listings for the HD Versus/Golf Channel and see no HD Golf Channel programming at all for weeks into the future. Is this an error in the program guide, or is this correct? Have those of you who've had this channel in HD for a while seen any actual GC programming, or is it all Versus?

Golf Channel programming kicks in when they cover early rounds of each week's PGA tournament. Today's coverage of the Barclay's will be on at 2 pm EDT. It may be preceded by coverage of the Nationwide tour event. In past weeks, the Versus/Golf channel keeps the Golf Channel programming through replays of earlier coverage of PGA, Champions Tour and LPGA Tour events, 19th Hole, etc. They typically stay away from all the infomercials and non-competitive event programming, e.g. Kaanapali, etc.

What does "trial" mean in the context of these HD-VOD folders?

I am very unhappy with the verizon on-screen guide. Compared to D* the guide is crowded and has much less information. For example, movies listing are very incomplete conserning date of release, stars, even synapse of the movie itself.

My question is whether or not the Tivo, using cablecards, is more in depth and informative as it was when they used to do Directv. In other words, is the Tivo fee plus the two cable card fees worth it in terms of a better guide with more information?

Thanks in advance,

Jay

Jay, I too am in Framingham and am also very unhappy with the guide. When I had D* I used both the guide and the monthly magazine, Satellite Direct. I sent Satellite Direct an e-mail suggesting that they publish a FIOS edition, but got no response. Perhaps that will be possible once the rollouts for 2008 are done.

Got the letter about the conversion in the mail today (NoVa). Says we have until 7/24 to order a free digital adaptor box (1-888-GO Digital) with the "transition to an all-digital service beginning in September. Shortly after this transition, you'll see even more great content from Verizon". The letter doesn't say what exactly that "great content" will be. I'm hoping that MASN-HD will be a part of that. :)

Got the letter again today with the revised dates. The new date to order the free adaptor in the DC metro area is 8/29 and the transition to all digital is 9/8.

I am very unhappy with the verizon on-screen guide. Compared to D* the guide is crowded and has much less information. For example, movies listing are very incomplete conserning date of release, stars, even synapse of the movie itself.

My question is whether or not the Tivo, using cablecards, is more in depth and informative as it was when they used to do Directv. In other words, is the Tivo fee plus the two cable card fees worth it in terms of a better guide with more information?

Thanks in advance,

Jay
I forgot to ask, can you get VOD using the Tivo and cablecards?

Thanks again,
Jay

I forgot to ask, can you get VOD using the Tivo and cablecards?

Thanks again,
Jay

nope.

Massachusetts got the new channel lineup on 8/20, but my TiVos didn't get the new lineup until this evening.

Got the new line up in RI, but noticed that my signal levels went up and had to use a 20db attenuator and a 2nd one to reduce the signal level so that I would not get breakup on my TivoHD. Now waiting for the lineup to reflect the new channels.

Golf Channel programming kicks in when they cover early rounds of each week's PGA tournament....

Thanks! I checked today and saw they were carrying the US Amateur and the Barclays'. I just wish the program guide reflected the actual programming. As I mentioned, paging ahead shows no TGC programming at all. Even during the events today the program guide said they were carrying Versus programming.

Are the new line ups included the extra HD premiums such as Starz HD West, etc? In Oregon, our original lineup (posted on Verizon's web site) included those, but the final lineup didn't. Just curious if others are seeing them.

Got the letter about the conversion in the mail today (NoVa). Says we have until 7/24 to order a free digital adaptor box (1-888-GO Digital) with the "transition to an all-digital service beginning in September. Shortly after this transition, you'll see even more great content from Verizon". The letter doesn't say what exactly that "great content" will be. I'm hoping that MASN-HD will be a part of that. :)

Tom, why in the world would you want MASN in HD? The Nats are hard enough to look at in SD, aren't they without fully destroying your sanity in full HD? Regards, Steve

Massachusetts got the new channel lineup on 8/20, but my TiVos didn't get the new lineup until this evening.

They're getting better. Took a week and 1/2 in New Jersey.

Got the new line up in RI, but noticed that my signal levels went up and had to use a 20db attenuator and a 2nd one to reduce the signal level so that I would not get breakup on my TivoHD. Now waiting for the lineup to reflect the new channels.

I have the same issue in NJ. I'm going to try the attenuator route.

Massachusetts got the new channel lineup on 8/20, but my TiVos didn't get the new lineup until this evening.

One day sounds pretty good.

I forgot to ask, can you get VOD using the Tivo and cablecards?

Thanks again,
Jay

No, that is a drawback of the Tivo / cablecard setup. The VOD is not delivered using the broadcast technology. It is delivered through your router as IPTV content. The FIOS DVR's / STB's know how to interpret and display the incoming IPTV data while the cable cards / Tivos don't.

Some people have mentioned using Amazon Unbox to get the equivalent. I suppose doing a Tivo:cable cards / FIOS STB for VOD is possible.

i am in mass and got all the new hd lineup on 8 20 also. the only thing that i notice is when i go to channel 502 pbs it is not in hd just sd. does anyone in mass know where pbs hd channel is. i had it before the new hd lineup.

What does "trial" mean in the context of these HD-VOD folders?

I forgot to ask, can you get VOD using the Tivo and cablecards?

Thanks again,
Jay


Trial in this case i believe is their way of managing expectations that the folders will always be there- ie it's in testing now for those who subscribe to the channel.

You can not get VOD through the Tivo.

Al

i am in mass and got all the new hd lineup on 8 20 also. the only thing that i notice is when i go to channel 502 pbs it is not in hd just sd. does anyone in mass know where pbs hd channel is. i had it before the new hd lineup.
Visit Boston OTA thread and you will find that WGBH doesn't have budget to buy equipments to time shift HD national feed. (But they do have money for the giant outdoor LED billboard which overheats and doesn't work during summer.) So it's showing SD almost all the time. Even letterboxing down-res HD shows in HD channel (black bars on all 4 sides!)

Or maybe Verizon just hooked up the wrong sub-channel? I got both SD (2.1) and HD (2.2) with my clear QAM tuner. But I quit watching them long ago.

I just wish the program guide reflected the actual programming [on Versus/TGC].

I don't usually reply to myself, but I thought I'd mention that the program guide today lists the Golf Channel programming, so apparently this problem has been corrected.

Tom, why in the world would you want MASN in HD? The Nats are hard enough to look at in SD, aren't they without fully destroying your sanity in full HD? Regards, Steve

Everything looks better in HD, even watching your favorite team get its head battered 2 out of every 3 nights. :eek:

I have the same issue in NJ. I'm going to try the attenuator route.I have had numerous visits from MANY FiOS techs and nothing works here WRT the TiVo/FiOS signal strength problem. I have attenuated so far down that the signal disappears with no fix. Luckily, it no longer bothers me after the new channel lineup. The ones that are affected the most are the ones I do not watch.

But the HD channels are still "clustered" together in the new channel line-ups. The cluster now runs from 500 to 9xx, that's all. When we have 100+ HD channels, can't cluster them that tightly anymore!

The PDF line-ups still have the weird bit of the VOD channel still at 900 with HBO-HD moved off to 899 or 851 while the HBO SD channels start at 400. Could there be a IMG software issue with moving VOD from 900 to something like 999? I almost never tune to 900 to get VOD menu, I just select it from the menu. Then sometimes read the newspaper or a magazine while waiting on the VOD menus. :D

I read War and Peace waiting for the VOD menu once:cool:

Everything looks better in HD, even watching your favorite team get its head battered 2 out of every 3 nights. :eek:
MASN-HD is a part time HD channel. It was only provided for the 80 Nats and Os games that were/are scheduled to be in HD this year. With only 40 games in HD per term, the Os and the Nats have the fewest HD games on their RSN of all the MLB teams, but we can thank Peter Angelos for that. Comcast places the MASN-HD games on Mojo, bumping the Mojo programming (Comcast co-owns Mojo). Verizon would had to add a HD channel which is dead most of the time or pre-empt another HD channel to provide MASN-HD which probably would have faced contract problems. At this late in the MLB season and with the Nats doing so badly and the Os below .500 (again), the odds are poor that Verizon will carry any remaining MASN-HD games this year. Maybe next year, MASN-HD will be a full time channel with at least 160+ HD games between the 2 teams with MASN2 still SD only. Would be no excuse for Verizon not to have MASN-HD then. But this is MASN and Peter Angelos we are talking about. Don't assume he will spend the money to build a proper HD RSN.

Maybe next year, MASN-HD will be a full time channel with at least 160+ HD games between the 2 teams with MASN2 still SD only. Would be no excuse for Verizon not to have MASN-HD then. But this is MASN and Peter Angelos we are talking about. Don't assume he will spend the money to build a proper HD RSN.

The less money that Angelos spends on MASN-HD will damage Angelos's investment financially. MASN must attract advertising in order to remain viable and a lack of HD will hurt MASN as advertisers look elsewhere for exposure. Baseball and sports on HD are clearly the wave of future DTV. SD is like last years melted snow. The Nationals have the lowest TV ratings by far in MLB probably due in part to their limited HD exposure. I hope that someday soon that the Nats can find a way to break away from MASN.

If you that terribly hurting to see the Nats you should watch them on WGN while they play the Cubs. I'm watching it in HD as I type.

The Nationals have the lowest TV ratings by far in MLB probably due in part to their limited HD exposure.

Evidence suggests you are probably wrong.

I have had numerous visits from MANY FiOS techs and nothing works here WRT the TiVo/FiOS signal strength problem. I have attenuated so far down that the signal disappears with no fix. Luckily, it no longer bothers me after the new channel lineup. The ones that are affected the most are the ones I do not watch.

I have the signal dead-nuts on 31db with the 20 db attenuator and the variable one from radio shack and have NO BREAKUPS at all, so it can be done.

The less money that Angelos spends on MASN-HD will damage Angelos's investment financially. MASN must attract advertising in order to remain viable and a lack of HD will hurt MASN as advertisers look elsewhere for exposure. Baseball and sports on HD are clearly the wave of future DTV. SD is like last years melted snow.

Angelos being hurt financially is a good thing if you're a Nats fan.

The Nationals have the lowest TV ratings by far in MLB probably due in part to their limited HD exposure. I hope that someday soon that the Nats can find a way to break away from MASN.

Following is my own little conspiracy theory.

The Lerner group is intentionally trying to drive down viewership on MASN by not offering any marketing support for the team at all. Their master plan is to de-value it to the point that Angelos is willing to sell/get out of the DC market.

If I were a Nats fan I would never watch a single game on MASN and write to any advertisers that they were losing a customer until Angelos sells majority interest if not 100% interest to the Lerner group.

The reason I'm buying this theory is I can't believe the Lerners are that awful at marketing a team with a brand new stadium in a brand new market that they have the lowest viewership in MLB and attendance well below what it could be.

Just my .02 :)

:eek:There is a baseball team in DC?:)

Washington D.C.: First in Peace, First in War, Last in the National League East.

Angelos being hurt financially is a good thing if you're a Nats fan.

Following is my own little conspiracy theory.

The Lerner group is intentionally trying to drive down viewership on MASN by not offering any marketing support for the team at all. Their master plan is to de-value it to the point that Angelos is willing to sell/get out of the DC market.

If I were a Nats fan I would never watch a single game on MASN and write to any advertisers that they were losing a customer until Angelos sells majority interest if not 100% interest to the Lerner group.

The reason I'm buying this theory is I can't believe the Lerners are that awful at marketing a team with a brand new stadium in a brand new market that they have the lowest viewership in MLB and attendance well below what it could be.

Just my .02 :)

Meanwhile, the Nationals collect, up front, between $25M to $28M per year that Angelos must pay them for their TV rights. Hmmm, maybe you are onto something with your conspiracy theory.

Anyone notice any audio issues since the new channels were added in MA. I was away until this morning and noticed that Monk and Psych that I recorded on USA and a show on HBO that I watched the audio was a few seconds ahead of the actors lips. It was definitely noticeable.

Anyone notice any audio issues since the new channels were added in MA. I was away until this morning and noticed that Monk and Psych that I recorded on USA and a show on HBO that I watched the audio was a few seconds ahead of the actors lips. It was definitely noticeable.

Thought I noticed it also:( hope it goes away soon

Anyone notice any audio issues since the new channels were added in MA. I was away until this morning and noticed that Monk and Psych that I recorded on USA and a show on HBO that I watched the audio was a few seconds ahead of the actors lips. It was definitely noticeable.

I haven't noticed that, but here in the DC area, where we have the new "stealth" HD channels (USA, CNBC, Olympics BBall & Soccer), on Friday evening there was a lot of pixelation & freezing.

We went away for the weekend, so I haven't checked since then.

BTW, at the hotel we had DirecTV HD. When there was any kind of motion, the artifacts were horrible. It sure confirmed my love for FiOS.

Doug

I haven't noticed that, but here in the DC area, where we have the new "stealth" HD channels (USA, CNBC, Olympics BBall & Soccer), on Friday evening there was a lot of pixelation & freezing.
All four of those channels had periods of bad pixelation on Saturday, but they are all stable this afternoon. The two temporary HD channels, 896 & 897, are displaying message screens this afternoon noting that they are ended with a reminder of the (tape delayed) closing ceremonies on NBC tonight.

The question for the markets that have not gotten the re-alignment and HD expansion yet, is whether Verizon will provide 2 useful HD channels in the place of the temporary channels or not. The re-alignment with 1st HD expansion round won't be completed until October. Would be nice to get Sci-Fi HD and either CNN-HD for the convention coverage or TBS-HD to be set for the MLB playoffs. We may find out on Monday, but I would not be surprised to see the two temp HD channels go dark and no HD channels put in their place.

10 minutes of joy, shock, disbelief, relief, then Joy once again.

I am buying a new home and discovered its in a Fios area - Joy!
I looked up the HD channel list. OMG - Shock
I looked one more time... thats it? - Disbelief
I found this thread and saw they are rolling out a "real" HD line up - Relief
I checked and my Tivo S3 will work with Fios - Joy!

I'm in Socal so it looks like the HD goodness is yet to come for us.

All four of those channels had periods of bad pixelation on Saturday, but they are all stable this afternoon. The two temporary HD channels, 896 & 897, are displaying message screens this afternoon noting that they are ended with a reminder of the (tape delayed) closing ceremonies on NBC tonight.

The question for the markets that have not gotten the re-alignment and HD expansion yet, is whether Verizon will provide 2 useful HD channels in the place of the temporary channels or not. The re-alignment with 1st HD expansion round won't be completed until October. Would be nice to get Sci-Fi HD and either CNN-HD for the convention coverage or TBS-HD to be set for the MLB playoffs. We may find out on Monday, but I would not be surprised to see the two temp HD channels go dark and no HD channels put in their place.

They ARE dark today - not even listed in the guide anymore here in OR. BTW, our "stealth" channels were 581 (basketball) and 582 (soccer).

10 minutes of joy, shock, disbelief, relief, then Joy once again.

I am buying a new home and discovered its in a Fios area - Joy!
I looked up the HD channel list. OMG - Shock
I looked one more time... thats it? - Disbelief
I found this thread and saw they are rolling out a "real" HD line up - Relief
I checked and my Tivo S3 will work with Fios - Joy!

I'm in Socal so it looks like the HD goodness is yet to come for us.

well yeah it's the classic good news/bad news thing.

but:

AFAIK no firm date for the HD upgrade in SoCal has been announced. however by 10/1 every market EXCECPT FL. & CA. should have at least the 1st HD rollout.

it's almost Sept. & I think by the time you're ready to move in(in what 2-3 mons.?) you may even have all the new FiOS HD chs.(i.e. the 100+ that are live in NY, NJ, MA, & RI) depending on how much work Vz puts into upgrading the VHO.

maybe Vz will provide a nice housewarming gift for you!!!

P.S. remember that for now a Tivo will provide no guide info from Vz & (I think) no VOD access. this may or may not change in the near future.

This is killing me. With the recent additions of the expanded hd lineup in rhode island, fios would blow away cox, the only non sat provider in south county rhode island. Its not even close. But its still not available here. April press release said by the end of the year (after press releases promised 2007 before that), but no updates since and the people on the phone are clueless when I call. Plus they keep sending advertisements in our local county newspaper section despite it not being available anywhere!

Anyone know any news about the Sports Packages (i.e Center Ice, Extra Innings) or Mojo?

The question for the markets that have not gotten the re-alignment and HD expansion yet, is whether Verizon will provide 2 useful HD channels in the place of the temporary channels or not. The re-alignment with 1st HD expansion round won't be completed until October. Would be nice to get Sci-Fi HD and either CNN-HD for the convention coverage or TBS-HD to be set for the MLB playoffs. We may find out on Monday, but I would not be surprised to see the two temp HD channels go dark and no HD channels put in their place.

Everyone will have TBS-HD before baseball playoffs start, so that seems like a waste. CNN-HD would seem like a worthy one. As for the second, Verizon has announced carriage of ESPNU, which starts with HD NCAA football on Thursday.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14519102#post14519102

That said, I am 99.9% certain that we'll get nothing prior to the realignment. I do wonder when ESPNU will light up though. If not soon, once NCAA football is through, it'll be largely useless.

Someone here doesn't watch College basketball then, huh?

Everyone will have TBS-HD before baseball playoffs start, so that seems like a waste. CNN-HD would seem like a worthy one.
The MLB playoffs start on October 1. Baltimore is currently slated to get the re-alignment and 1st round HD expansion with TBS-HD on that day. The re-alignment and HD expansion dates for FL, TX, and CA have not been released, but they are reportedly going to happen around October 7-9. The 1st round of the playoffs will be over by then. And the LA Angels and the Tampa Bay Rays will very likely be in the playoffs. So unless Verizon takes some action and adds TBS-HD, subscribers in CA and FL are not going see their teams in HD as TBS has exclusive rights with no local broadcast station coverage as backup. If a local paper or sports columnist picks up on that - or the local competing cable company uses that gap in marketing ads - Verizon could, and rightfully so, get some rather negative publicity for the situation.

With the Democratic convention this week and the Republicans next week,it would have been nice to have CNN-HD added for the HD coverage. The broadcast networks will reportedly be all in HD, but they will be presenting only 1 hour a night.

Didn't you watch the Olympics? None of the viewers outside of EDT matter. And everyone knows the Rays don't have any fans. :p

Someone here doesn't watch College basketball then, huh?

Unless ESPN is seriously ramping up its HD slate of basketball this season, I can't imagine anything much will be in HD on ESPNU. Plenty of it remains in SD on ESPN/2 as of last year.

Didn't they announce that only 300 or so events would be in HD during its first year? And some of those will be replays of football games in HD from other networks. Clearly the push for ESPNU is college football.

That said, the latest press release indicates:

Time Warner Cable, Verizon’s FiOS TV, RCN, Atlantic Broadband and Broadstripe will all carry ESPNU HD when it launches at 6 a.m. (ET) on Aug. 28, according to ESPN officials.

Obviously that's probably on select systems for TWC, RCN, Atlantic, and Broadstripe, but what about Verizon? We know they've got at least one open QAM slot in every territory.

This is killing me. With the recent additions of the expanded hd lineup in rhode island, fios would blow away cox, the only non sat provider in south county rhode island. Its not even close. But its still not available here. April press release said by the end of the year (after press releases promised 2007 before that), but no updates since and the people on the phone are clueless when I call. Plus they keep sending advertisements in our local county newspaper section despite it not being available anywhere!

It all depends on where you live in RI. FIOS TV is deployed in RI, just not fully. If you are in Service Areas 1 or 4 it probably wont be until next year that you will see service as they just got approved for TV in June. Following the other rollouts its usually 6mos 1 year from taht date that you see the TV service.

I know in my area it is available so I am thinking of making the switch.

Well I was talking about places like charlestown, naragansett, westerly, hopkinton etc. The closest it has gotten is south kingston. The april 30th press release says it should be in these areas by the end of this year, but I'm skeptical. They were approved to service these areas quite a long time ago. Haven't heard anyone talk about seeing verizon trucks working anywhere near me yet.

Looks like Mercer Co NJ HD expansion was delayed till 9/11 according to the guide. Used to say this channel is moving to " " on 8/27, now it says 9/11

Anyone know any news about the Sports Packages (i.e Center Ice, Extra Innings) or Mojo?

I haven't seen anything. :(

It is the only reason why I have not ditched my TWC here in SoCal.

I am experiencing an unnatural number of audio drops on the 12 new HD channels TWC rolled out here earlier this month.

Didn't you watch the Olympics? None of the viewers outside of EDT matter. And everyone knows the Rays don't have any fans. :p



Unless ESPN is seriously ramping up its HD slate of basketball this season, I can't imagine anything much will be in HD on ESPNU. Plenty of it remains in SD on ESPN/2 as of last year.

Didn't they announce that only 300 or so events would be in HD during its first year? And some of those will be replays of football games in HD from other networks. Clearly the push for ESPNU is college football.

That said, the latest press release indicates:



Obviously that's probably on select systems for TWC, RCN, Atlantic, and Broadstripe, but what about Verizon? We know they've got at least one open QAM slot in every territory.

On Sunday, I was curious to see what they'd do with the specialty Oly channels, so I tuned into the soccer channel and they were showing what looked like a college football game on ESPN, with the familiar ESPN sidebar for SD programs. I thought hmm why are they showing ESPN? Must be some kind of channel mapping goof. But looking closer I saw the logo said ESPN U HD. On the basketball channel, there was a card saying pls watch the closing ceremony.

I don't follow college sports, so I didn't think much of it. I thought I'd have preferred AMC HD or FX HD. But today, both specialty channels are gone.

I'm in SoCal.

Topic title change.

Got the "official" channel re-alignment letter today. Start date is 9/11/2008. Philly area.

To do:
Update all your favorite channels to the new numbers
Check your DVR's scheduled recordings to be sure it's not hosed.

Promises by year's end 2008:
More than 100 HD channels
1,000 HD VOD titles per month

According to the HD Movies listing, Starz, Showtime, and The Movie Channel are not premium channels.

I just installed a HD TiVo with Verizon. It was quite an experience and took two techs four hours. The techs were really cool and it turned out it was a bad port on a splitter that gave us headaches. Anyway, I'm up and running and the guide is accurate.

Can anyone with Setanta comment on picture quality. Im in california so I think i have to wait like two more months.

Is anyone else not getting USA-HD? I am in N NJ and recall getting it when it was in the 800s, but when I tuned in to 550 for the US Open, I get "Channel Unavailable"

Anyone else?

Is anyone else not getting USA-HD? I am in N NJ and recall getting it when it was in the 800s, but when I tuned in to 550 for the US Open, I get "Channel Unavailable"

Anyone else?
No, 550 alive and well here on L.I. US Open Tennis yesterday and today just great pq.

[QUOTE=GeekGirl;14528480]Got the "official" channel re-alignment letter today. Start date is 9/11/2008. Philly area.
GeekGirl:

To do:
Update all your favorite channels to the new numbers
Check your DVR's scheduled recordings to be sure it's not hosed.

When we were updated in MA, all my favorites were automatically re-mapped to the new #'s...a nice time-saving feature!!

[QUOTE=GeekGirl;14528480]Got the "official" channel re-alignment letter today. Start date is 9/11/2008. Philly area.
GeekGirl:

To do:
Update all your favorite channels to the new numbers
Check your DVR's scheduled recordings to be sure it's not hosed.

When we were updated in MA, all my favorites were automatically re-mapped to the new #'s...a nice time-saving feature!!

Are you in Walpole MA ?

I live in Narragansett and it is available. My install date is this Friday. Once they went over 80 HD channels it was a no brainer. Also, saving $70 a month off of what I am paying Cox does not hurt for the bundled package.

Did anyone else's boxes shut down at 5:55 this morning?

Both my DVR's shut down and did the little "dl" (download??) thing this morning. About 20 minutes later the box came back on showing 802 on the display, however, no picture. Just had my wife (home on maternity leave) check and still nothing.

I'm in Northern VA - Leesburg

Thanks - jeepmon

Did anyone else's boxes shut down at 5:55 this morning?

Both my DVR's shut down and did the little "dl" (download??) thing this morning. About 20 minutes later the box came back on showing 802 on the display, however, no picture. Just had my wife (home on maternity leave) check and still nothing.

I'm in Northern VA - Leesburg

Thanks - jeepmon

I lost some things about 1am that pissed me off - and I have evidence that it had to do with channel mapping - figuring they were putting ESPNU-HD in, but they did not, so I have no idea what it is was really about today.

I have noticed reboots about once a week overnight (sometimes not even overnight) and its beginning to irrate me though.

Mine has clearly NOT been new firmware as it appears yours was.

Did anyone else's boxes shut down at 5:55 this morning?
I'm in Northern VA - Leesburg
Verizon pushed the IMG update release 1.6.0 out to VA and MD this morning. My DVR appears to be ok with all recording and series preserved. if your box is still off-line, try a cold reboot by unplugging the STB or DVR for 30 seconds, the plug it in and turn it on.

We may get ESPNU HD tomorrow morning, but it is not clear if Verizon will be adding it to all markets or just the ones that have had the HD expansion. If I get ESPNU HD and no other HD channels such as a Sci-Fi HD in place of the two temporary Olympic channels, I will be disappointed because I have no interest in ESPNU and would put it way down the list of HD channels I want to see added.

Verizon pushed the IMG update release 1.6.0 out to VA and MD this morning. My DVR appears to be ok with all recording and series preserved. if your box is still off-line, try a cold reboot by unplugging the STB or DVR for 30 seconds, the plug it in and turn it on.

We may get ESPNU HD tomorrow morning, but it is not clear if Verizon will be adding it to all markets or just the ones that have had the HD expansion. If I get ESPNU HD and no other HD channels such as a Sci-Fi HD in place of the two temporary Olympic channels, I will be disappointed because I have no interest in ESPNU and would put it way down the list of HD channels I want to see added.

We got a guide upgrade here in Richmond overnight. My non-DVR STB seems to be running smoother. Haven't check out my DVR yet.

Verizon pushed the IMG update release 1.6.0 out to VA and MD this morning. My DVR appears to be ok with all recording and series preserved. if your box is still off-line, try a cold reboot by unplugging the STB or DVR for 30 seconds, the plug it in and turn it on.

We may get ESPNU HD tomorrow morning, but it is not clear if Verizon will be adding it to all markets or just the ones that have had the HD expansion. If I get ESPNU HD and no other HD channels such as a Sci-Fi HD in place of the two temporary Olympic channels, I will be disappointed because I have no interest in ESPNU and would put it way down the list of HD channels I want to see added.

Thanks for the replies!! I knew I could count on afiggatt!!

I did try the cold boot to no avail. The wife ended up calling VZ and they advised they've rcvd quite a few calls this morning, shot a signal to both the dvr's and they came back up instantly, doesn't appear we lost any recordings!!

I just wonder why VZ would push a IMG Update in the Washinton Metro area at a time when so many people are getting ready for work and watching (listening) to the news.

has there been any word on FX HD yet?

Did anyone else's boxes shut down at 5:55 this morning?

Both my DVR's shut down and did the little "dl" (download??) thing this morning. About 20 minutes later the box came back on showing 802 on the display, however, no picture. Just had my wife (home on maternity leave) check and still nothing.

I'm in Northern VA - Leesburg

Thanks - jeepmon

I'm in Leesburg, too.. Turned on the TV so my kids could watch Noggin before school and realized the cable box was turned off. When I turned it on, it wouldn't tune to Noggin (226) -- said that it was parental-locked!

I had to go into the menu, and activate a parental code (never done that before), then tell it that it was OK for my kids to watch Noggin, lol!

Seemed to work ok after that, but didn't try any other channels before we left the house.

[QUOTE=MarcWalpole;14532835]

Are you in Walpole MA ?

Yes....just got FIOS a couple of months ago...

I live in Narragansett and it is available. My install date is this Friday. Once they went over 80 HD channels it was a no brainer. Also, saving $70 a month off of what I am paying Cox does not hurt for the bundled package.

Thats good to know. Last I checked, south kingston was the closest it has gotten to me, naragansett borders on south kingston of course, but its a bit closer. I need it to come west though through charlestown first though, they don't have it yet.

[QUOTE=steverobertson;14532954]

Yes....just got FIOS a couple of months ago...

Where abouts in town are you? I am on Old Post Rd

How do you like the FIOS? Did you have D* before?

has there been any word on FX HD yet?

That is what I want to know. The Shield is starting soon. Woo Hoo.

[QUOTE=MarcWalpole;14534686]

Where abouts in town are you? I am on Old Post Rd

How do you like the FIOS? Did you have D* before?

Off of Fisher St, about 5 minutes from you...had D for 10-11 years...was an early adopter and can remember paying hundreds of $ for the original dish:(:(;trees precluded me from installing the new oval dish for HD, so I waited (im)patiently for FIOS...just wanted to see the Sox and Celts in HD as I get OTA for the networks.....haven't made much use of the DVR yet, as the Sox have taken up most tv watching...hoping release 1.6 fixes the slowness of the box response time to some commands among other items...

[QUOTE=steverobertson;14534792]

Off of Fisher St, about 5 minutes from you...had D for 10-11 years...was an early adopter and can remember paying hundreds of $ for the original dish:(:(;trees precluded me from installing the new oval dish for HD, so I waited (im)patiently for FIOS...just wanted to see the Sox and Celts in HD as I get OTA for the networks.....haven't made much use of the DVR yet, as the Sox have taken up most tv watching...hoping release 1.6 fixes the slowness of the box response time to some commands among other items...

I had a tree problem for years and actually had 3 dishes set up at one point but now I have the one mounted on a tree in my backyard that has a nice clear view so it is working out great so far. FIOS would have been my next choice if this solution didn't work out for me.

I'm in Leesburg, too.. Turned on the TV so my kids could watch Noggin before school and realized the cable box was turned off. When I turned it on, it wouldn't tune to Noggin (226) -- said that it was parental-locked!

I had to go into the menu, and activate a parental code (never done that before), then tell it that it was OK for my kids to watch Noggin, lol!

Seemed to work ok after that, but didn't try any other channels before we left the house.

I've noticed these odd glitches pop up whenever we get an IMG software upgrade.

seems the default function for parental controls is ON & any upgrade turns it on if it's left off-I haven't watched any TV today so I'll check the settings when I light my STB's later.

has there been any word on FX HD yet?

FX HD is live in the markets that got a "double" HD rollout(i.e. NY, NJ, MA, & RI so far).

for us CH it will come with the 2nd HD rollout which MAY reach Hampton Roads in late Oct. as was previously posted(no guarantee on this, alas).

for everybody else it'll be whenever the 2nd HD rollout reaches you.

I'm in Leesburg, too.. Turned on the TV so my kids could watch Noggin before school and realized the cable box was turned off. When I turned it on, it wouldn't tune to Noggin (226) -- said that it was parental-locked!

I had to go into the menu, and activate a parental code (never done that before), then tell it that it was OK for my kids to watch Noggin, lol!

Seemed to work ok after that, but didn't try any other channels before we left the house.

When you get a chance can you try some other channels please? Boomerang and Cartoon Network are locked on mine and I have to punch in the code every single time we change the channel to one of them.

When you get a chance can you try some other channels please? Boomerang and Cartoon Network are locked on mine and I have to punch in the code every single time we change the channel to one of them.

I just checked those two channels... I was able to tune into them no problem, no code required.

I may have turned off/deactivated the parental lock feature this morning though when I was mucking around in the menu options. I've never looked around at those settings before so not sure exactly what I did. I have not power-cycled the box either since turning it on this morning, if that matters.

I just checked those two channels... I was able to tune into them no problem, no code required.

I may have turned off/deactivated the parental lock feature this morning though when I was mucking around in the menu options. I've never looked around at those settings before so not sure exactly what I did. I have not power-cycled the box either since turning it on this morning, if that matters.

Thanks.

I'll try an on/off cycle and see what happens.

FX HD is live in the markets that got a "double" HD rollout(i.e. NY, NJ, MA, & RI so far).

for us CH it will come with the 2nd HD rollout which MAY reach Hampton Roads in late Oct. as was previously posted(no guarantee on this, alas).

for everybody else it'll be whenever the 2nd HD rollout reaches you.

NOT in MA.

FX HD is live in the markets that got a "double" HD rollout(i.e. NY, NJ, MA, & RI so far).

for us CH it will come with the 2nd HD rollout which MAY reach Hampton Roads in late Oct. as was previously posted(no guarantee on this, alas).

for everybody else it'll be whenever the 2nd HD rollout reaches you.Yeah, I'm in MA and I don't have it either.

NOT in MA.

As long as FX HD is there when Rescue Me comes on line.

As long as FX HD is there when Rescue Me comes on line.

When is that?

Just got it installed today in SI NY and I must say I'm not too impressed. The HD channels look just ok compared to Time Warner and the Standard Def channels look pretty DNR'd and blurry compared to what I was getting from TWC.

Was just watching Jay Leno in HD and noticed a lot of pixelation during the music performance, noticed this elsewhere on hd channels too. So far TWC had the better picture IMO. :confused:

Just got it installed today in SI NY and I must say I'm not too impressed. The HD channels look just ok compared to Time Warner and the Standard Def channels look pretty DNR'd and blurry compared to what I was getting from TWC.

Was just watching Jay Leno in HD and noticed a lot of pixelation during the music performance, noticed this elsewhere on hd channels too. So far TWC had the better picture IMO. :confused:

You going by memory or side by side.

I can tell you FiOS looks identical to the way it looks coming of C-Band Distribution - so DNR on the SD isn't even close to reality. FiOS looks superior on the SD as they do not compress or resize the SD channels as TWC does.

I have been told by FiOS techs - and its probably in this thread somewhere as well - that if you run the feed too hot you get pixelation with the Motorola boxes - which sounds like you might have that issue. They might need to come back out and attenuate the feed.

It appears to be on all the set-tops in the house. Just bad pixelation during fast movements, fading and transitions and sometimes when it's pure still. Guess I'll have to call up a tech. if this isn't the norm.

We may get ESPNU HD tomorrow morning, but it is not clear if Verizon will be adding it to all markets or just the ones that have had the HD expansion. If I get ESPNU HD and no other HD channels such as a Sci-Fi HD in place of the two temporary Olympic channels, I will be disappointed because I have no interest in ESPNU and would put it way down the list of HD channels I want to see added.I noticed ESPNU HD was added to the lineup, channel 848, here in North Texas at 4am this morning...sort of. I found ESPNU by scrolling forward through the HD channels using the Channel + button (Channel - did not work). ESPNU HD was not showing up in the in the Guide as of 5:30am when I left for work. Anyway, I am pleased to see this added in time for the College Football season.

I noticed ESPNU HD was added to the lineup, channel 848, here in North Texas at 4am this morning...sort of. I found ESPNU by scrolling forward through the HD channels using the Channel + button (Channel - did not work). ESPNU HD was not showing up in the in the Guide as of 5:30am when I left for work. Anyway, I am pleased to see this added in time for the College Football season.

I found it channel/up/down on cablecard as i assumed it would be in the 800s somewhere.

Makes no sense they put it on 848 - should have at least been in the 820s or 831.

On my STBs, it did NOT show up channel up/down. I had unplug/plug them in to get the new channel map.

P.S. remember that for now a Tivo will provide no guide info from Vz & (I think) no VOD access. this may or may not change in the near future.


What do you mean by no guide info from VZ to Tivo? Doesn't Tivo get its guide data from Tribune and from what I hear it is WAY better than the Verizion guide data?

No VOD I know about. Anything else to expect by getting a TIVO over Verizon DVR?

I noticed ESPNU HD was added to the lineup, channel 848, here in North Texas at 4am this morning...sort of. I found ESPNU by scrolling forward through the HD channels using the Channel + button (Channel - did not work). ESPNU HD was not showing up in the in the Guide as of 5:30am when I left for work.
Same here in Northern Virginia in the Washington Metro market. I accidentally found it by stepping up through the channels seeing if there was a new channel this morning. ESPNU-HD is at 848, but it is not in the channel guide. I expect it will be added to the guide later today or tomorrow when they send out an updated guide. Seen this happen before.

Channel 848 is at the same QAM 81 channel (567 MHz in the diagnostics display) as the two temporary HD Olympic channels. Since Verizon showed Sci-Fi HD here and in several other markets on the new HD channels before the Olympics, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Verizon will add that too very soon, so the rest of us don't have to wait until the re-alignment and HD expansion gets to our market.

When is that?

denis leary was on opie & anthony awhile back and I believe he said the next season won't be back on until next spring.

What do you mean by no guide info from VZ to Tivo? Doesn't Tivo get its guide data from Tribune and from what I hear it is WAY better than the Verizion guide data?

No VOD I know about. Anything else to expect by getting a TIVO over Verizon DVR?

Verizon has to talk to Tivo about channel changes - so Tivo can get the proper lineup and info from Tribune.

However, it seems Verizion and Tivo are on non-speaking terms - so it seems.

Same here in Northern Virginia in the Washington Metro market. I accidentally found it by stepping up through the channels seeing if there was a new channel this morning. ESPNU-HD is at 848, but it is not in the channel guide. I expect it will be added to the guide later today or tomorrow when they send out an updated guide. Seen this happen before.

Channel 848 is at the same QAM 81 channel (567 MHz in the diagnostics display) as the two temporary HD Olympic channels. Since Verizon showed Sci-Fi HD here and in several other markets on the new HD channels before the Olympics, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Verizon will add that too very soon, so the rest of us don't have to wait until the re-alignment and HD expansion gets to our market.

I had it in the guide out in Leesburg. I seem to be the only one. Here is the jist of the programming. 6am-10am College Football Live, 10am-Noon The Herd, Noon-7pm College Football Live, 7pm-11pm Vanderbilt vs Miami OH

I imagine they stuck it on 848 because it doesn't matter since everyone is being realigned soon anyway.

I had it in the guide out in Leesburg. I seem to be the only one. Here is the jist of the programming. 6am-10am College Football Live, 10am-Noon The Herd, Noon-7pm College Football Live, 7pm-11pm Vanderbilt vs Miami OH

I suspect a good reboot would get it - just like the channel mappings.

Just got it installed today in SI NY and I must say I'm not too impressed. The HD channels look just ok compared to Time Warner and the Standard Def channels look pretty DNR'd and blurry compared to what I was getting from TWC.

Was just watching Jay Leno in HD and noticed a lot of pixelation during the music performance, noticed this elsewhere on hd channels too. So far TWC had the better picture IMO. :confused:

Wow, not sure I've heard that one before. FIOS has the best PQ going and the best a cable company can hope for is to equal it. You can't do any better than taking the feed given to you and passing it unchanged.

As far as Leno goes, the feed comes out of NBC here in N.Y. and there IS pixellization. There is nothing that TWC could have done to get rid of that pixellization since it originates from the source, WNBC. You can thank the sub-channels for that pixellization.

Does anyone know if those two channels that were 'coming soon' came? I can't recall which ones they were, but I don't see anything indicating 'coming soon' anymore. I'm wondering if the two slots reserved for the Olympics were used for these channels.

I had it in the guide out in Leesburg. I seem to be the only one....
I imagine they stuck it on 848 because it doesn't matter since everyone is being realigned soon anyway.
I did a cold reboot as an experiment and it loaded the guide data for channel 848 with program listings. No need for people to do this unless they want the guide data right away as Verizon will probably push a guide update to all boxes later today. We've seen this before - a new HD (or SD channel) shows up, it is not in the guide or channel listing, but then shows up in the guide later in the day.

As for putting it on channel 848, that is a mostly logical place to put it in the national HD (old) line-up block from 821 to 849. The mystery is why CNBC-HD+ is at 879 and USA-HD at 884. I bet a lot of HD subscribers never knew they had USA-HD and the temporary Olympic channels for the Olympics. I never saw an announcement from Verizon in the message box or in a mailing about the new HD channels buried out in the SD locals plus block.

It is on in SE Pa also, channel 848.

We received in the mail today the notice for the new HD channels in the DC area along w/ a channel lineup sheet. They promise an effective date of 9/22/08.

I'm very happy with the realignment. The HD channels will now be the SD channel# + 500. My wife has complained that she won't watch HD because she can't remember the channel numbers. For example, Fox is now 5 or 801. After the change, it will be 5 and 505, etc.

Doug

We received in the mail today the notice for the new HD channels in the DC area along w/ a channel lineup sheet. They promise an effective date of 9/22/08.

I'm very happy with the realignment. The HD channels will now be the SD channel# + 500. My wife has complained that she won't watch HD because she can't remember the channel numbers. For example, Fox is now 5 or 801. After the change, it will be 5 and 505, etc.

Doug

Sweet! I've been waiting for a firm date on this for months. I'll be anxious to get home and check the mail now. :D

I'm running on a Samsung DLP, Component Cables, 4:3 Override is OFF. And I have Motorola Boxes, 2 DVRs, 2 regular. The SD channels look pretty awful. Should I try HDMI? Or should I just call up Verizon about the issue?

Yes.

Motorola has a new IRD which replaces the DSR4400MD which most MSOs now use for HD Feeds of Digicipher programming.

The DSR-6050 will receive MPEG4 signals and transcodes them to MPEG2 on the fly for distribution to the cable plant (see attached if really interested).

Directv and Dish can use the DSR4410MD which is capable of receiving MPEG4 but does not need transcoding to MPEG2 (as can others systems that want MPEG4 and distribute it in the future).

But you should also remember that the specs for FiOS next line of STBs include MPEG4.

When is the next gen HD STB/DVR for FIOS expected? Will they do a free swap of the older boxes at that time?

I'm running on a Samsung DLP, Component Cables, 4:3 Override is OFF. And I have Motorola Boxes, 2 DVRs, 2 regular. The SD channels look pretty awful. Should I try HDMI? Or should I just call up Verizon about the issue?
Try channing 4:3 Override to 480i. In the Motorola box, setting the 4:3 Override to OFF has the STB/DVR upconvert the SD channels to the 720p or 1080i setting. 480i means it passes through the SD signals and the TV does the re-scaling. For an explanation of the odd nomenclature of the Motorola setup menus: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Setup.

We received in the mail today the notice for the new HD channels in the DC area along w/ a channel lineup sheet. They promise an effective date of 9/22/08.

I forgot to mention: there are 54 HD channels in the new DC channel lineup.

Also, I just turned on the tube, and received a message about an IMG upgrade. When I went to the messages screen, it said something about interactive games, but I haven't searched around yet.

Doug

Verizon pushed the IMG update release 1.6.0 out to VA and MD this morning. My DVR appears to be ok with all recording and series preserved....
And had only 7 days of guide data after the upgrade. It had been 14 days. Up to 10 today.

Anyone know what happened to Ch 590 in the new lineup, VS Golf HD? The screen now says I am not subscribed and to view subscription options. But those options are currently not available, the next screen says.

To be fair, Versus/Golf was not included in our printed guide but Verizon has been delivering it since we got the new channels here in Oregon. But it does show up in the on line listing for our area. Subscription channels are not defined either.

So has 590 been forever taken out of the Premier lineup? :mad:

Anyone know what happened to Ch 590 in the new lineup, VS Golf HD? The screen now says I am not subscribed and to view subscription options. But those options are currently not available, the next screen says.

To be fair, Versus/Golf was not included in our printed guide but Verizon has been delivering it since we got the new channels here in Oregon. But it does show up in the on line listing for our area. Subscription channels are not defined either.

So has 590 been forever taken out of the Premier lineup? :mad:

You have to subscribe to the Sports package to get it....

Sorry to post a link from outside the forum, but this (http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r20961981-VersusGolf-HD-Not-Subscribed) will answer your questions.

New IMG features

Here's what I've noticed so far:
1) Games - include solitaire, chess, sudoku, & one or two others that I can't remember.
2) guide option now includes an option for HD channels, so you can browse HD channels on the fly.
3) from the info display, pressing > takes you to the display sorter (HD, favorites, etc.).
4) CC can now be controlled from the remote, by either the CC button or the input button! This is a big improvement. Previously, you had to navigate through the menu to get to the CC on/off. Now, either of those buttons cycles through CC1-4 and then back to off. Nice!
5) Aspect button now cycles through 4 stretch modes and then back to default. I don't believe this button worked before, either.

Doug

New IMG features

Here's what I've noticed so far:
1) Games - include solitaire, chess, sudoku, & one or two others that I can't remember.
2) guide option now includes an option for HD channels, so you can browse HD channels on the fly.
3) from the info display, pressing > takes you to the display sorter (HD, favorites, etc.).
4) CC can now be controlled from the remote, by either the CC button or the input button! This is a big improvement. Previously, you had to navigate through the menu to get to the CC on/off. Now, either of those buttons cycles through CC1-4 and then back to off. Nice!
5) Aspect button now cycles through 4 stretch modes and then back to default. I don't believe this button worked before, either.

Doug

Wow, that's great. I guess we have to program in a few more options to our universal remote.

I especially like option 4... maybe it's my old age talking (I am turning 32 soon)... but a lot of times I can't hear the whispers on some shows...

New IMG features

Here's what I've noticed so far:
1) Games - include solitaire, chess, sudoku, & one or two others that I can't remember.
2) guide option now includes an option for HD channels, so you can browse HD channels on the fly.
3) from the info display, pressing > takes you to the display sorter (HD, favorites, etc.).
4) CC can now be controlled from the remote, by either the CC button or the input button! This is a big improvement. Previously, you had to navigate through the menu to get to the CC on/off. Now, either of those buttons cycles through CC1-4 and then back to off. Nice!
5) Aspect button now cycles through 4 stretch modes and then back to default. I don't believe this button worked before, either.

Doug

Sorry, I forgot to mention: the newly functional remote buttons only work on my DVR connected to the TV via HDMI. They do not work on my standard box connected via composite out. I don't know if it's the box or the connection that is the difference; so I'm mentioning both.

Doug

I went on vacation for a week and I see ESPNU HD has been added. When did that come on?

I went on vacation for a week and I see ESPNU HD has been added. When did that come on?
Thursday morning. See the posts above. Question is whether Verizon will another national HD channel in the other available slot that was taken up by the two temporary HD Olympic channels to the markets that have not gotten the HD expansion yet.

You have to subscribe to the Sports package to get it....

Sorry to post a link from outside the forum, but this (http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r20961981-VersusGolf-HD-Not-Subscribed) will answer your questions.

Thanks for the link. I suspected as much but wanted to hear it from Verizon. So I called and got referred to tech support. The guy I spoke with didn't know what the answer was and did reboots and other stuff that messed up my channel selections that I had to call back later to correct. I left the house briefly and while I was gone he had called back (after he said earlier he wouldn't call me as his was only an inbound call facility) to say VS/Golf HD was truly a sports package option. Thanks. :rolleyes:

When Verizon lights up this channel in the channel remap process why don't they disclose that this channel is just there as a temporary teaser? It smacks of bait and switch to me. They could at the least put some message about it in their (totally unused) message center in the Menu. They'd probably be happier driving up their costs by having people call them.

Just got it installed today in SI NY and I must say I'm not too impressed. The HD channels look just ok compared to Time Warner and the Standard Def channels look pretty DNR'd and blurry compared to what I was getting from TWC.

Was just watching Jay Leno in HD and noticed a lot of pixelation during the music performance, noticed this elsewhere on hd channels too. So far TWC had the better picture IMO. :confused:
They sent a tech on here and the signal coming from the wire passed the test, so basically a lot of channels still look badly pixelated and noisy but no explanation still.

ESPNU HD confirmed on channel 848 in the Philly area. Not listed in the guide.

(Credit to JimHef in the Philly Verizon thread)

I have a question that I just can’t find a direct answer to. I currently have D* service with Sunday Ticket. I want to upgrade to HD service. I called Verizon Fios to get some estimates and told them the only thing holding me back is the Sunday Ticket. They told me that I can get NFL games on demand and the prices range from $3.99-$4.99 per game. Is that true? I can’t find anything about it on any website. I only care about watching my team (Jaguars) every week. I don’t need pay ~$250 to have access to all the games like I do for D* ST.

I have a question that I just can’t find a direct answer to. I currently have D* service with Sunday Ticket. I want to upgrade to HD service. I called Verizon Fios to get some estimates and told them the only thing holding me back is the Sunday Ticket. They told me that I can get NFL games on demand and the prices range from $3.99-$4.99 per game. Is that true? I can’t find anything about it on any website. I only care about watching my team (Jaguars) every week. I don’t need pay ~$250 to have access to all the games like I do for D* ST.

I haven't heard of that but I would be sold. GO SAINTS GO!

ESPNU HD confirmed on channel 848 in the Philly area. Not listed in the guide.

(Credit to JimHef in the Philly Verizon thread)

hmmm... i show it in the guide in southern nj...

i also haven't heard anything about ppv for nfl games... it would be nice, but i think that the d* lawyers would be all over them for it, given their st exclusive contract... although the nfl is dang smart, it's always possible there's some type of loophole in that contract...

Sorry, I forgot to mention: the newly functional remote buttons only work on my DVR connected to the TV via HDMI. They do not work on my standard box connected via composite out. I don't know if it's the box or the connection that is the difference; so I'm mentioning both.

Doug
They work on the DVR component out too.

So does anyone remember the two 'coming soon' channels and were they added? I just can't recall which ones they were.

When is the next gen HD STB/DVR for FIOS expected? Will they do a free swap of the older boxes at that time?

sorry, overlooked this somehow

its out now in many markets - see the DVR thread.

I had another STB die on me today and they came out to replace it. I also put in a request for the new DVR as they said they would switch it out as soon as they gave out of the old ones in my area - they still haven't gone through all the old ones in my area and the new ones are still sitting in a warehouse :mad:

I must have missed this, what new FIOS DVR??? Who's it made by and what features does it have over the old one? I"m assuming a bigger HDD?

I must have missed this, what new FIOS DVR??? Who's it made by and what features does it have over the old one? I"m assuming a bigger HDD?
No, it does not have a bigger hard drive - which astonishes me. Surely they could have changed to a 320 GB or 400 GB drive at a minimal cost impact. The new DVR is a modest upgrade, mainly deployed for the FCC cable card requirement.

Afiggatt, any idea what the differences are beyond the CC?

Afiggatt, any idea what the differences are beyond the CC?
Beyond Closed Captions? You have to be careful with the too short acronyms. :D

The QIP7216 does have 1 improvement which may come to play in the future as it support Mpeg-4 which the QIP 6416 does not. The 7216 also supports 7.1 digital audio, but I have never read about any cable nets planning to use that. The Motorola web page for the QIP7216 does not have a PDF spec sheet yet so the info is limited: http://www.motorola.com/Business/US-EN/Business+Product+and+Services/TV+Video+Distribution/Customer+Premises+Equipment+%28Set-tops%29/Hybrid+QAM-IP+Set-tops/QIP7216_US-EN.
Click on the QIP-IP Set top link at the top of the page to find the info on the 6416.

hmmm... i show it in the guide in southern nj... Sorry, forgot a word. ESPNU-HD is not in the printed guide. It's in the IMG.

ah, ok...

darn... i thought i was getting something "special"... :)

We got it on Tivo S3/HD in MD/DC a couple days ago. Guide data and all.

Sad they picked that over Sci-Fi HD or FX HD. You'd think the two other ESPN HD channels that barely show any HD was enough for now...

We got it on Tivo S3/HD in MD/DC a couple days ago. Guide data and all.

Sad they picked that over Sci-Fi HD or FX HD. You'd think the two other ESPN HD channels that barely show any HD was enough for now...

Sci-Fi HD is part of the realignment, and for you FX HD might be as well (we didn't get it initially, but I guess will during the second phase).

Vz was one of 3 or 4 providers to launch ESPNU-HD when it went live this week, that is why it was added and not the others.

You'd think the two other ESPN HD channels that barely show any HD was enough for now...

I understand that there are subscribers who would prefer Sci Fi to ESPN, but come on. Your statement here is just a completely dishonest criticism of ESPN and ESPN2. If only every cable network was as dedicated to offering HD programming as ESPN has been.

I assure you that, among all of Verizon's subscribers, exceedingly few are upset that Sci Fi isn't coming, for some, until early October, and exceedingly many are happy that Verizon added ESPNU to kick off the college football season. If anything, this development boasts well for the poster who was concerned that TBS HD won't be added in some markets in time for MLB playoffs. Perhaps those three remaining markets will see a TBS HD addition ahead of Oct. 1.

We got it on Tivo S3/HD in MD/DC a couple days ago. Guide data and all.

Sad they picked that over Sci-Fi HD or FX HD. You'd think the two other ESPN HD channels that barely show any HD was enough for now...

We got both ESPNU HD and Sci-Fi HD in Mass. I'm rooting for FX HD, but I am currently watching a college football game in glorious HD right now.

I assure you that, among all of Verizon's subscribers, exceedingly few are upset that Sci Fi isn't coming, for some, until early October, and exceedingly many are happy that Verizon added ESPNU to kick off the college football season.

That's about as solidly based as my comment. At least everyone I know would prefer SciFi HD. So there you go!

You guys really don't get how this works do you? When TNT-HD or ESPNU-HD shows up on systems all over on the first day, the reason is very simple.

The Channel Execs makes a deal with FiOS, D*, E*, Comcast, TWC or whoever that if they carry it from Day 1 its no charge for x amount of time if you carry the SD channel or at a reduced rate for a period of time. If Verizon knows they are planning to most all HD Channels in the next few months, its stupid if they DO NOT take the deal.

You guys really don't get how this works do you? When TNT-HD or ESPNU-HD shows up on systems all over on the first day, the reason is very simple.

The Channel Execs makes a deal with FiOS, D*, E*, Comcast, TWC or whoever that if they carry it from Day 1 its no charge for x amount of time if you carry the SD channel or at a reduced rate for a period of time. If Verizon knows they are planning to most all HD Channels in the next few months, its stupid if they DO NOT take the deal.

So you're saying I should expect ESPNU HD to go dark soon just as the VS/Golf HD channel has been ripped out from under us. I see it as a bait and switch.

I understand that there are subscribers who would prefer Sci Fi to ESPN, but come on. Your statement here is just a completely dishonest criticism of ESPN and ESPN2. If only every cable network was as dedicated to offering HD programming as ESPN has been.

I assure you that, among all of Verizon's subscribers, exceedingly few are upset that Sci Fi isn't coming, for some, until early October, and exceedingly many are happy that Verizon added ESPNU to kick off the college football season. If anything, this development boasts well for the poster who was concerned that TBS HD won't be added in some markets in time for MLB playoffs. Perhaps those three remaining markets will see a TBS HD addition ahead of Oct. 1.

I'll watch the Weather Channel HD several times more often than any of the ESPN channels.
And I'll watch SciFiHD serval times more often than the Weather Channel HD.

I'll watch the Weather Channel HD several times more often than any of the ESPN channels.
And I'll watch SciFiHD serval times more often than the Weather Channel HD.

:D

People that spend time on AVS tend to be the more intellectual type (substitute 4 letter word that begins with N or G). Thus the greater desire for more non sports related programming. :D

Weather Channel is most watched here after sports. I'm not happy that it's right in the middle of hurricane season and there's no HD available (I'd rather there be no hurricanes, of course).

I wonder who would have a four letter name that starts with G or N? :rolleyes: The difference is that 'N's get beat up a lot. 'G's don't have that problem. :D

So you're saying I should expect ESPNU HD to go dark soon just as the VS/Golf HD channel has been ripped out from under us. I see it as a bait and switch.No, thanks to ESPN's clout, ESPNU is not on the sports tier.

:D

People that spend time on AVS tend to be the more intellectual type (substitute 4 letter word that begins with N or G). Thus the greater desire for more non sports related programming. :DHeh, I'm fully aware that I'm making comments that are hostile to the leanings of most of the readership. As a politics junkie, I wish they'd add CNN HD and Fox News HD ASAP (and I'm hoping we get MSNBC HD the first second of availability, as with ESPNU), but I understand what the priority hierarchy is, and neither CNN, Fox News, or SciFi are at the top of that list.

I assure you that, among all of Verizon's subscribers, exceedingly few are upset that Sci Fi isn't coming, for some, until early October, and exceedingly many are happy that Verizon added ESPNU to kick off the college football season.
You may diss Sci-Fi, but it is a top 20 cable channel, sometimes a top 10 cable channel for average number of primetime viewers. ESPN is in the top 5, but I don't know if that is just ESPN or whether they combine the ESPN channels as 1 entry. Here are the top 20 cable networks for Aug 18-24, but this list is probably distorted somewhat by the Olympics: http://tvbythenumbers.com/2008/08/26/weekly-top-cable-networks-august-18-24/4783. USA is consistently is in the top 1 to 3 cable nets, so Verizon should have added the USA-HD channel much sooner than they did to draw HD subscribers.

Last October, I conducted a poll on dslreports for the top 4 or 5 HD national HD channels people most wanted Verizon to add, which is still a relevant list. Did it there because dslreports has a dedicated Fios TV forum. dslpreports is probably somewhat more geeky than avsforum, but many people here also post there. Discovery HD was the last HD add late last year, so Verizon did provide the then most wanted HD channel. The top vote getters with total votes:

Discovery HD - 26
Sci-Fi HD - 23
USA HD - 18
FX HD -17
Versus / Golf Channel HD -13
CNN HD - 12
Animal Planet HD - 11
History Channel HD - 8
Science Channel HD - 8
TBS HD -8
Cartoon Network HD - 7
Big Ten HD - 6

Versus HD was likely higher up than otherwise because it was the start of the NHL season and people were hoping Verizon would add it soon. It turned out it would/will be a LONG wait to get these channels. Just because you are a college sports fan, does not mean most people are. The Big Ten was well down the list. I understand why ESPNU-HD was added last week - start of the college football season.

Heh, I'm fully aware that I'm making comments that are hostile to the leanings of most of the readership. As a politics junkie, I wish they'd add CNN HD and Fox News HD ASAP (and I'm hoping we get MSNBC HD the first second of availability, as with ESPNU), but I understand what the priority hierarchy is, and neither CNN, Fox News, or SciFi are at the top of that list.

It's not about being hostile, you're just uninformed. While ESPNHD makes sense to add (generally high ratings), SciFi has FAR more viewers than ESPN-U. In terms of customers satisfaction and desire (i.e. ratings), SciFi HD makes a lot more sense to add than ESPN-U HD. In fact, there are dozens of HD channels that make a lot more sense to add than ESPN-U based on real user needs/wants.

This was a dumb move by Verizon, placating a very very small subscriber base.

Hello fellow FiOS subscriber! I just had FiOS TV installed this weekend, switched from Comcast, and am loving it so far. I'm in Washington State and installs for us started last Friday. Apparently, I was one of the first to get it. I started a local thread here. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1061867

We got the big HD rollout with the brand new 7216 DVR boxes.

Here is a list of Channels we get, 99 HD channels http://www.dslreports.com/r0/download/1342719~0247028f99dd4c9e5cc7c60220511984/Fios%20TV%20Channel%20Lineup%20Seattle.pdf

Also, not on the list on channel 744 is MGM-HD

I have all 4 ESPN-HD channels but having a problem with ESPNU-HD, when I go to this channel it says I'm not subscribed to it. Is this an error or do you have to pay extra for this channel? Also for some reason FSN-NW HD is missing from the lineup. Hopefully these issues will be resolved soon.

Other issues. I'm noticing that my guide info is not always correct. Is this common or something that will be ironed out? For example, on certain channels like FX-HD it will say Xmen is playing, but actually The Matrix will be playing etc... I've seen this on a lot of channels including some locals, but not all. Not sure if we are getting east coast time info or what.

No, thanks to ESPN's clout, ESPNU is not on the sports tier.

Heh, I'm fully aware that I'm making comments that are hostile to the leanings of most of the readership. As a politics junkie, I wish they'd add CNN HD and Fox News HD ASAP (and I'm hoping we get MSNBC HD the first second of availability, as with ESPNU), but I understand what the priority hierarchy is, and neither CNN, Fox News, or SciFi are at the top of that list.

You're OK until you start asking for CSPAN in HD. :D

Hello fellow FiOS subscriber! I just had FiOS TV installed this weekend, switched from Comcast, and am loving it so far. I'm in Washington State and installs for us started last Friday. Apparently, I was one of the first to get it. I started a local thread here. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1061867

We got the big HD rollout with the brand new 7216 DVR boxes.

Here is a list of Channels we get, 99 HD channels http://www.dslreports.com/r0/download/1342719~0247028f99dd4c9e5cc7c60220511984/Fios%20TV%20Channel%20Lineup%20Seattle.pdf

Also, not on the list on channel 744 is MGM-HD

I have all 4 ESPN-HD channels but having a problem with ESPNU-HD, when I go to this channel it says I'm not subscribed to it. Is this an error or do you have to pay extra for this channel? Also for some reason FSN-NW HD is missing from the lineup. Hopefully these issues will be resolved soon.

Other issues. I'm noticing that my guide info is not always correct. Is this common or something that will be ironed out? For example, on certain channels like FX-HD it will say Xmen is playing, but actually The Matrix will be playing etc... I've seen this on a lot of channels including some locals, but not all. Not sure if we are getting east coast time info or what.

I'm sure your missing channels will be added in good time, you have more than pretty much any area other than NY right now, so I would not worry too much. To put a comparison, Hampton Roads recently had stations added, but we are at 46 until the last week of October when we are supposed to receive the rest -- and several areas are still in the 25 range.

Welcome to the lovely FiOS guide. The guide provider, to put it bluntly, sucks. It is better than it used to be, but I doubt it will ever be perfect unless Vz will switch to a new provider.

It's not about being hostile, you're just uninformed. While ESPNHD makes sense to add (generally high ratings), SciFi has FAR more viewers than ESPN-U. In terms of customers satisfaction and desire (i.e. ratings), SciFi HD makes a lot more sense to add than ESPN-U HD. In fact, there are dozens of HD channels that make a lot more sense to add than ESPN-U based on real user needs/wants.

This was a dumb move by Verizon, placating a very very small subscriber base.

Well, now you're making a different argument. Previously you suggested that ESPN networks were useless because they offered very little HD. Now your claim is that Sci Fi is more important because it brings in better ratings.

It's likely true that Sci Fi has more viewers. It has a larger pool from which to draw viewers. It exists, I imagine, on the analog/basic tier of every television provider in the country. ESPNU, on the other hand, doesn't even have carriage with Comcast yet, the largest cable provider. Even when it obtains carriage, it'll be on the digital tier (or in the case of DBS, an elective subscription tier), as is the case with all other providers that offer the network. Customer interest in ESPNU, however, is probably not reflected in its ratings, since customers often don't have the option to tune into ESPNU or generally have to shell out more money to watch ESPNU than they would in Sci Fi's case.

Most importantly, you continue to ignore the significance of event programming, as I alluded to before (unless you were making the push for TBS HD earlier, but I think it was someone else). Given the likely backlash that Verizon experienced when it failed to add TBS HD in time for baseball playoffs last year, it's no surprise that they opted for ESPNU and the start of college football season over Sci Fi. Sci Fi has no event programming between now and October.

You might counter that they haven't added Big Ten Network HD in all markets. That might be a valid claim; I don't know how much of Verizon's viewership overlaps with Big Ten territory and whether the markets that do have received the new channel rollout yet. Generally speaking, however, BTN's appeal is largely regional.

At worst, it's a wash for Verizon. I fail to see how adding Sci Fi does any less than placate a tiny portion of the subscriber base.

At worst, it's a wash for Verizon. I fail to see how adding Sci Fi does any less than placate a tiny portion of the subscriber base.

You fail to see it? SciFi is often a top-10 cable network. Arguably that means it should be in the first 10 HD cable channels added. We're pushing 30 (for us crippled markets), and we still don't have about half of the top-10 cable nets in HD.

That's more than a "tiny portion" of the audience. It's everything they're doing related to adding HD content.

And yes, I'd argue that SciFi has more HD content than ESPN-U, but I'm open to some real data on that. Not sure that I care a ton, but I would bet a diet coke on it, given the limited HD on ESPN and ESPN2.

All these channels will be added by FIOS befor ethe end of the year. I'm looking at thet letter I received and it says they will have more than 100HD channels by the end of 2008 and also have Over 10K VOD titles per month and 1000 HD VOD titles per month. All by the end of the year. So the majoriy of HD channels will be available to FIOS TV subscribers by the end of the year.
Of course I'd rather have specific channels sooner rather than later. But I've been waiting for all this HD since I got my first HD set seven years ago. I can wait a little longer.

All these channels will be added by FIOS befor ethe end of the year. I'm looking at thet letter I received and it says they will have more than 100HD channels by the end of 2008 and also have Over 10K VOD titles per month and 1000 HD VOD titles per month. All by the end of the year. So the majoriy of HD channels will be available to FIOS TV subscribers by the end of the year.
Of course I'd rather have specific channels sooner rather than later. But I've been waiting for all this HD since I got my first HD set seven years ago. I can wait a little longer.

And let's hope they meet their deadline.

Although let's also not forget last year, where they swore the same thing by June of 2008. Sadly, that promise was left unfulfilled.

I have full confidence in the mini-HD rollout (which, frankly, is pretty lame), but the full 100HD rollout by end of year is seeming increasingly less likely. I'd be surprised if we get the 100HD channels here in MD/DC before summer of 2009.

Last October, I conducted a poll on dslreports for the top 4 or 5 HD national HD channels people most wanted Verizon to add, which is still a relevant list.

Oh yes, thats a truly scientific random poll :rolleyes:

Luckily, if Verizon wants research, they do it correctly.

You fail to see it? SciFi is often a top-10 cable network. Arguably that means it should be in the first 10 HD cable channels added. We're pushing 30 (for us crippled markets), and we still don't have about half of the top-10 cable nets in HD.

That's more than a "tiny portion" of the audience. It's everything they're doing related to adding HD content.

And yes, I'd argue that SciFi has more HD content than ESPN-U, but I'm open to some real data on that. Not sure that I care a ton, but I would bet a diet coke on it, given the limited HD on ESPN and ESPN2.

Trust me. As someone who's suffering through Comcast for the next nine months, Sci Fi HD doesn't have even a fraction of the HD that ESPN does. Aside from original series (but not the European imports), some blockbuster films (but almost none of the Sci Fi Originals), and Lost coming this fall, very little on Sci Fi is in HD. ECW is in HD, I think.

But even if Sci Fi is a top 10 cable network, it surely doesn't come close to outranking TBS. And TBS will have playoff baseball. If you want to go by ratings, then TBS is the most glaring omission from the FiOS lineup, not Sci Fi.

At worst, it's a wash for Verizon. I fail to see how adding Sci Fi does any less than placate a tiny portion of the subscriber base.

You fail to see it?

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh189/craig_wagner/Selling/UserFriendly/uf011825.gif
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh189/craig_wagner/Selling/UserFriendly/uf011826.gif

Oh yes, thats a truly scientific random poll :rolleyes:
Where did I make any claims that this was a scientific or random poll? :rolleyes:

All the poll is what 46 people voted on for the HD cable networks that were available last fall, but not on Verizon. I posted it to rebut in some measure URFloorMatt's claim that almost no one cares about getting Sci-Fi HD. Some want Sci-Fi HD, some would rather have ESPNU-HD, but I doubt that those who want ESPNU-HD outnumber those who want Sci-Fi HD instead. I agree that you can't pay much attention to ESPNU's cable ratings because it is a relatively new cable channel which is not as widely available. It will be a moot point in 6 weeks because by then we should all have Sci-Fi HD. But by then, Eureka's 3rd season on Sci-Fi will be over or close to it and Eureka does get pretty good ratings for a cable series.

I was the one who pointed out that Verizon needs to add TBS-HD in advance of the re-alignment to CA, FL, and TX or else people in those markets - especially CA with the Angels and FL with the Rays - will miss seeing the MLB divisional playoffs in HD for the 2nd year in a row. I follow pro sports to some extent, college sports not at all, so that is my bias. Make of it what you will.

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http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh189/craig_wagner/Selling/UserFriendly/uf011826.gif

Hahaha. This one is my personal favorite:

http://www.artfagcity.com/wordpress_core/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/someoneiswrongontheinternet.jpg

Trust me. As someone who's suffering through Comcast for the next nine months, Sci Fi HD doesn't have even a fraction of the HD that ESPN does. Aside from original series (but not the European imports), some blockbuster films (but almost none of the Sci Fi Originals), and Lost coming this fall, very little on Sci Fi is in HD. ECW is in HD, I think.

But even if Sci Fi is a top 10 cable network, it surely doesn't come close to outranking TBS. And TBS will have playoff baseball. If you want to go by ratings, then TBS is the most glaring omission from the FiOS lineup, not Sci Fi.

ESPN-U, we're talking ESPN-U here, no ESPN... In terms of a dearth of HD, for three HD channels in total, the ESPN nets are pretty slim for total HD content. Remove ESPN, and there's very little. ESPN-U is super slim.

And yes, there are many others that should come in front of SciFi, and way in front of ESPN-U, TBS being an obvious one. I totally agree with you.

And let's hope they meet their deadline.

Although let's also not forget last year, where they swore the same thing by June of 2008. Sadly, that promise was left unfulfilled.

I have full confidence in the mini-HD rollout (which, frankly, is pretty lame), but the full 100HD rollout by end of year is seeming increasingly less likely. I'd be surprised if we get the 100HD channels here in MD/DC before summer of 2009.

There is really no reason at all for them not to meet their deadline now. With the elimination of the analog channels they should have the space. And the new York FIOS Lineup proves that they can do it since they hit 102 HD channels last week.

Where did I make any claims that this was a scientific or random poll? :rolleyes:

All the poll is what 46 people voted on for the HD cable networks that were available last fall, but not on Verizon. I posted it to rebut in some measure URFloorMatt's claim that almost no one cares about getting Sci-Fi HD. Some want Sci-Fi HD, some would rather have ESPNU-HD, but I doubt that those who want ESPNU-HD outnumber those who want Sci-Fi HD instead. I agree that you can't pay much attention to ESPNU's cable ratings because it is a relatively new cable channel which is not as widely available. It will be a moot point in 6 weeks because by then we should all have Sci-Fi HD. But by then, Eureka's 3rd season on Sci-Fi will be over or close to it and Eureka does get pretty good ratings for a cable series.

I was the one who pointed out that Verizon needs to add TBS-HD in advance of the re-alignment to CA, FL, and TX or else people in those markets - especially CA with the Angels and FL with the Rays - will miss seeing the MLB divisional playoffs in HD for the 2nd year in a row. I follow pro sports to some extent, college sports not at all, so that is my bias. Make of it what you will.


Let's see 46 responses on DSL Reports want SCI-FI Network HD? Not exactly where J6P hangs out.

Makes you wonder if the same question was put on a site, like SportingNews.com, Sportsline.com or SI.com, what would the outcome look like :rolleyes:

I bet if I ran a poll on AVSForum.com, more shows about Electronics would win instead of Cooking Classes.

BTW, with 46 respondents, SCI-FIHD is in a statistical tie with all the other channels.

There is really no reason at all for them not to meet their deadline now. With the elimination of the analog channels they should have the space. And the new York FIOS Lineup proves that they can do it since they hit 102 HD channels last week.

Except it also involves upgrading most of the CO's. Analog only frees up enough for the first mini-wave. It's the upgrade to the CO's that's required for the 100+ HD lineup.

I hope you're right though!:o

Except it also involves upgrading most of the CO's. Analog only frees up enough for the first mini-wave. It's the upgrade to the CO's that's required for the 100+ HD lineup.



Can you explain your math to me? By my calculations, 50 analog channels opens up enough space for at least 100 HD channels.

Let's see 46 responses on DSL Reports want SCI-FI Network HD? Not exactly where J6P hangs out.

Makes you wonder if the same question was put on a site, like SportingNews.com, Sportsline.com or SI.com, what would the outcome look like :rolleyes:

I bet if I ran a poll on AVSForum.com, more shows about Electronics would win instead of Cooking Classes.

BTW, with 46 respondents, SCI-FIHD is in a statistical tie with all the other channels.

Forgive me for being a step behind here, but I'm in Mass. and we have BOTH SciFi HD and ESPN-U HD, so if you don't already have both I have to assume you will soon.

Am I missing something?

Forgive me for being a step behind here, but I'm in Mass. and we have BOTH SciFi HD and ESPN-U HD, so if you don't already have both I have to assume you will soon.

Am I missing something?

We all will have them soon.

Sorry to interrupt this tedious little flamewar we have going on here, but I just wanted to mention that we watched We Own the Night from HD VOD the other night. The PQ was excellent, and what an outstanding movie. At first, I thought Verizon was lowering the framerate because I saw trails (NOT a flashback from college!) during any movement or camera pans, but then I realized the movie was filmed on HD video.

Doug

Sorry to interrupt this tedious little flamewar we have going on here, but I just wanted to mention that we watched We Own the Night from HD VOD the other night. The PQ was excellent, and what an outstanding movie. At first, I thought Verizon was lowering the framerate because I saw trails (NOT a flashback from college!) during any movement or camera pans, but then I realized the movie was filmed on HD video.

Doug

Was the audio in DD 5.1? That's been my primary beef with HD-VOD in general. PQ is fine but no true 5.1.

Can you explain your math to me? By my calculations, 50 analog channels opens up enough space for at least 100 HD channels.

I don't think that there is 50 analog channels to turn off; perhaps 25-30..

Sorry to interrupt this tedious little flamewar we have going on here, but I just wanted to mention that we watched We Own the Night from HD VOD the other night. The PQ was excellent, and what an outstanding movie. At first, I thought Verizon was lowering the framerate because I saw trails (NOT a flashback from college!) during any movement or camera pans, but then I realized the movie was filmed on HD video.

Doug

We watched several films on HD VOD, including Penelope and Gladiator, the PQ was excellent as well. I had 5.1 (at least my stereo thought so), so what is untrue 5.1?

Was the audio in DD 5.1? That's been my primary beef with HD-VOD in general. PQ is fine but no true 5.1.

My AVR (Marantz) is in the shop getting a FW upgrade, so we're limited to stereo from the TV speakers.

Doug

does anyone here know how Vz rolls out their product across cities? I guess what I'm getting at is, I'm looking at a new house a couple of miles from where I am now, but FiOS' website says their service isn't available where I'm thinking of buying. For those of you in hampton roads, i live in the hilltop area and am looking at the london bridge area.

does anyone here know how Vz rolls out their product across cities? I guess what I'm getting at is, I'm looking at a new house a couple of miles from where I am now, but FiOS' website says their service isn't available where I'm thinking of buying. For those of you in hampton roads, i live in the hilltop area and am looking at the london bridge area.I would not count on them coming any time soon regardless of if they are a provider even a block away (I had this experience). The next block over they had FIOS, I didn't for almost almost 5 years. I tried desperately to get it, and only now are they wiring up my street.

The only thing I would suggest doing is going down to your local Verizon office and talking to a manager. Calling on the phone would do no good because you'ld only end up talking to CSR in India or Pananama reading off of a script.

does anyone here know how Vz rolls out their product across cities? I guess what I'm getting at is, I'm looking at a new house a couple of miles from where I am now, but FiOS' website says their service isn't available where I'm thinking of buying. For those of you in hampton roads, i live in the hilltop area and am looking at the london bridge area.

Here is a pdf of their construction sites for Aug/Sept in Virginia:
http://www22.verizon.com/about/community/va/files/VAFTTP_AugSep08.pdf

You can check the Verizon Virginia website for updated pdf's, but I'm not sure how long after the construction that the service becomes available.

thanks guys. the area in question isn't on that list, so who knows. i'm guessing they'll get there eventually. might have to go back to D* for a bit if the house thing happens. would i get hit with disconnection charges if i do move?

I had 5.1 (at least my stereo thought so), so what is untrue 5.1?

Only 2 channels are active.

Can you explain your math to me? By my calculations, 50 analog channels opens up enough space for at least 100 HD channels.

Not even close to 50 analog channels. I think there were generally 10-20 QAMs used for analog, which wouldn't allow anything close to enough for the 100HD channels.

They need to build out the older CO's (basically anything pre-Mass or NYC I think). That includes MD/DC.

Again, I hope they make their dates, but I doubt they'll build out all the CO's by the end of the year to get the full HD rollout by then.

I hope so, but doubt it.

At least SciFi is in the first wave. Sadly, FX is in the second wave.

Not even close to 50 analog channels. I think there were generally 10-20 QAMs used for analog, which wouldn't allow anything close to enough for the 100HD channels.

They need to build out the older CO's (basically anything pre-Mass or NYC I think). That includes MD/DC.

Again, I hope they make their dates, but I doubt they'll build out all the CO's by the end of the year to get the full HD rollout by then.

I hope so, but doubt it.

At least SciFi is in the first wave. Sadly, FX is in the second wave.

1 6Mhz Analog Channel = 1 6Mhz 256 QAM Channel which can carry 38.81 Megabits of data per second.

If only 10-20 QAMs were used for analog, then there were only 10-20 Analog Channels total.

Regardless, a 860Mhz system has 143 6 Mhz Channels available.

That should be plenty for 100 HD Channels and the rest in SD.

Unlike Cable, FiOS does not need to dedicate any of those Channel QAMs to Internet Service either, so cable has to use 2 256-QAMs to deliver the 50Mbps Download that FiOS can offer (and obiously you need more than 2 to keep all subscribers going).

1 6Mhz Analog Channel = 1 6Mhz 256 QAM Channel which can carry 38.81 Megabits of data per second.

If only 10-20 QAMs were used for analog, then there were only 10-20 Analog Channels total.

Regardless, a 860Mhz system has 143 6 Mhz Channels available.
Actually a 860 (864) MHz system has 134 six MHz channels available from channels 2 to 135. There is a frequency assignment for cable channel 1, but that uses non-standard frequencies (no longer matching OTA broadcast channels 2-12). The channel frequencies start at 54 MHz (same as broadcast channel 2). If you look at the typical specs for a TV tuner for "cable", they go up to channel 135. (some older ones stop at 125).

Here in northern VA, we have 35 analog channels that show up on a channel scan. (which are still there as of this morning, no red screen yet). A few of them are test patterns, but the rest are the local stations, the PEGs and info channels. The maximum number according to the info posted here long ago was 40 analog channels and 63 QAM channels in the later COs that were built out (for 103 channels total) before the decision to go all digital. Since some markets may have only 20 to 25 active analog channels, Verizon probably has fewer installed NTSC boards to replace. But it was stated that to go beyond 103 channels in total, that there was significant build-out required at many COs. To accommodate 100 HD channels and the new SD channels, it is a tight fit with 40 new QAM channels. My interpretation is that the markets with 100+ HD channels have had their COs and VHOs upgraded to accommodate 135 QAM channels. Which leaves room for up to around 150-160 national HD channels in the current QAM & mpeg-2 scheme and then bang, Verizon is out of room until they go IP for the additional live channels.

Only 2 channels are active.

Ah - like I said, my stereo sees a 5.1 source.

Actually a 860 (864) MHz system has 134 six MHz channels available from channels 2 to 135. There is a frequency assignment for cable channel 1, but that uses non-standard frequencies (no longer matching OTA broadcast channels 2-12). The channel frequencies start at 54 MHz (same as broadcast channel 2). If you look at the typical specs for a TV tuner for "cable", they go up to channel 135. (some older ones stop at 125).

Here in northern VA, we have 35 analog channels that show up on a channel scan. (which are still there as of this morning, no red screen yet). A few of them are test patterns, but the rest are the local stations, the PEGs and info channels. The maximum number according to the info posted here long ago was 40 analog channels and 63 QAM channels in the later COs that were built out (for 103 channels total) before the decision to go digital. Since some markets may have only 20 to 25 active analog channels, Verizon probably has fewer installed NTSC boards to replace. But it was stated that to go beyond 103 channels in total, that there was significant build-out required at many COs. To accommodate 100 HD channels and the new SD channels, it is a tight fit with 40 new QAM channels. My interpretation is that the markets with 100+ HD channels have had their COs and VHOs upgraded to accommodate 135 QAM channels. Which leaves room for up to around 150-160 national HD channels in the current QAM & mpeg-2 scheme and then bang, Verizon is out of room until they go IP for the additional live channels.

Since the new STB's / DVR's are MPEG-4 capable, what impact does that have on this calculation?

Not even close to 50 analog channels. I think there were generally 10-20 QAMs used for analog, which wouldn't allow anything close to enough for the 100HD channels.


While I never actually counted how many analog channels there was between 2 and 50, there were a lot more than 10, probably at least 35.

Yeah, 35 is right as I'm looking at the DC/MD/VA lineup. So that's 70 national HD channels right there. We already receive 24 national channels plus the local HDs, Comcast SportsNet MA, and the one empty channel we know is there thanks to the Olympics.

I think that just puts us inside the limit for 100 HD channels, depending on how many SD channels they're adding.

Actually a 860 (864) MHz system has 134 six MHz channels available from channels 2 to 135. There is a frequency assignment for cable channel 1, but that uses non-standard frequencies (no longer matching OTA broadcast channels 2-12). The channel frequencies start at 54 MHz (same as broadcast channel 2). If you look at the typical specs for a TV tuner for "cable", they go up to channel 135. (some older ones stop at 125).

Here in northern VA, we have 35 analog channels that show up on a channel scan. (which are still there as of this morning, no red screen yet). A few of them are test patterns, but the rest are the local stations, the PEGs and info channels. The maximum number according to the info posted here long ago was 40 analog channels and 63 QAM channels in the later COs that were built out (for 103 channels total) before the decision to go digital. Since some markets may have only 20 to 25 active analog channels, Verizon probably has fewer installed NTSC boards to replace. But it was stated that to go beyond 103 channels in total, that there was significant build-out required at many COs. To accommodate 100 HD channels and the new SD channels, it is a tight fit with 40 new QAM channels. My interpretation is that the markets with 100+ HD channels have had their COs and VHOs upgraded to accommodate 135 QAM channels. Which leaves room for up to around 150-160 national HD channels in the current QAM & mpeg-2 scheme and then bang, Verizon is out of room until they go IP for the additional live channels.

In my part of Northern VA(Woodbridge) the analog channels went dark weeks ago. Nothing is being broadcast in analog any more in Woodbridge.

Since the new STB's / DVR's are MPEG-4 capable, what impact does that have on this calculation?
Not much from a practical standpoint. Fios TV has > 1.25 million subscribers - don't recall what the last quarterly TV subscriber number was, so that means there may be 2.5 to 5? million installed MPEG-2 only STBs and DVRs. Verizon has to swap them out before they can implement MPEG-4 encoding. Now maybe if they only use MPEG-4 for national encrypted HD channels - which makes sense if they could do that - then Verizon would only have to swap out the HD STBs and 6416s DVRs. But how many of those have been distributed? Enough that it is not going to be something Verizon will do anytime soon. I said "national encrypted HD channels" because the locals need to stay at MPEG-2 for the clear QAM tuners.

Not much from a practical standpoint. Fios TV has > 1.25 million subscribers - don't recall what the last quarterly TV subscriber number was, so that means there may be 2.5 to 5? million installed MPEG-2 only STBs and DVRs. Verizon has to swap them out before they can implement MPEG-4 encoding. Now maybe if they only use MPEG-4 for national encrypted HD channels - which makes sense if they could do that - then Verizon would only have to swap out the HD STBs and 6416s DVRs. But how many of those have been distributed? Enough that it is not going to be something Verizon will do anytime soon. I said "national encrypted HD channels" because the locals need to stay at MPEG-2 for the clear QAM tuners.

I agree about the logistics of the change, but wouldn't you have to make a change if you were going to broadcast through IP? I know VOD is over IP now, would broadcasting through IP be a simple software change or would that require a new box.

Just curious about this, since if we reach the limit of 150-160 HD channels, I will be ecstatic.

Actually a 860 (864) MHz system has 134 six MHz channels available from channels 2 to 135. There is a frequency assignment for cable channel 1, but that uses non-standard frequencies (no longer matching OTA broadcast channels 2-12). The channel frequencies start at 54 MHz (same as broadcast channel 2). If you look at the typical specs for a TV tuner for "cable", they go up to channel 135. (some older ones stop at 125).

I am counting the 54Mhz of return that most systems use for internet. (9*6=54Mhz) for 143 total Channels.

I am counting the 54Mhz of return that most systems use for internet. (9*6=54Mhz) for 143 total Channels.
Verizon can't use those low frequencies. If you dig down to page 2 of the data sheets for the QIP 2500, QIP6200 STBs, QIP 6416 DVR at the Motorola web site (link below), the QAM tuners a maximum of 134 QAM channels available, not 143. See http://www.motorola.com/Business/US-EN/Business+Product+and+Services/TV+Video+Distribution/Customer+Premises+Equipment+%28Set-tops%29/Hybrid+QAM-IP+Set-tops.

twofer post: Verizon updated the channel line-up webpage today. We now have re-alignment and HD expansion dates for FL and TX.
10/2 - Florida Gulf Coast
10/8 - North Texas
Now only southern CA remains without a re-alignment date. Somebody has to come in last unfortunately.

I notice that both of those channel lineups list the full 100 HD channel lineup. Maybe being last isn't such a bad deal.

I notice that both of those channel lineups list the full 100 HD channel lineup. Maybe being last isn't such a bad deal.

FIOS has firmly committed to having 100HD channels by the end of the year.

I notice that both of those channel lineups list the full 100 HD channel lineup. Maybe being last isn't such a bad deal.

Yep, then we get to start the phase II dates to get everybody up to the same level.

Which leaves room for up to around 150-160 national HD channels in the current QAM & mpeg-2 scheme and then bang, Verizon is out of room until they go IP for the additional live channels.

oh god, how long will THAT take? no doubt CA will be last again :(

Ah - like I said, my stereo sees a 5.1 source.

The signal is encoded as DD5.1, but the other channels are silenced, your receiver doesn't know the difference when it receives a DD5.1 bitstream.

Verizon can't use those low frequencies. If you dig down to page 2 of the data sheets for the QIP 2500, QIP6200 STBs, QIP 6416 DVR at the Motorola web site (link below), the QAM tuners a maximum of 134 QAM channels available, not 143. See http://www.motorola.com/Business/US-EN/Business+Product+and+Services/TV+Video+Distribution/Customer+Premises+Equipment+%28Set-tops%29/Hybrid+QAM-IP+Set-tops.

twofer post: Verizon updated the channel line-up webpage today. We now have re-alignment and HD expansion dates for FL and TX.
10/2 - Florida Gulf Coast
10/8 - North Texas
Now only southern CA remains without a re-alignment date. Somebody has to come in last unfortunately.

I cannot find the data sheet on the QIP7216 on that page that is set to become their one and only box for everything.

The signal is encoded as DD5.1, but the other channels are silenced, your receiver doesn't know the difference when it receives a DD5.1 bitstream.

And that's why it ain't worth 7.99 for an HD movie over a plain old DVD (even a non-Blu-Ray).

I can't wait to see what impact the new Netflix appliances will have on cable providers On-Demand movie offerings. Once Netflix can provide HD movies via the streaming boxes (coming soon) for the same monthly fee it won't make sense to pay 7.99 for a 24 hour view window on a single movie.

I found a message in the IMG last night announcing that the channel shuffling will begin on 9/17 in the DC area. This gives them a few days to sort it out before the new channels are due on 9/22 (per a letter I received a week or so ago).

Doug

The signal is encoded as DD5.1, but the other channels are silenced, your receiver doesn't know the difference when it receives a DD5.1 bitstream.

Thanks Eric... bummer about that. You need to take extra steps to do this, why on earth would they zap the extra channels?

The Southeastern PA area was to have the channel shuffling on Sept 2 and 3 to prepare for the new channel lineup on Sept 11. So far, all channels are where they have been. I'll check later tonight, but there doesn't seem to be anything move yet.

I found a message in the IMG last night announcing that the channel shuffling will begin on 9/17 in the DC area. This gives them a few days to sort it out before the new channels are due on 9/22 (per a letter I received a week or so ago).
I think they sent the same message out to the entire VHO. Notice that the message says the channel re-alignment will START on 9/17-9/18. The Verizon channel line-up webpage still lists Anne Arundel/Howard County getting the re-alignment on Sept. 18, Washington Metro on Sept. 22, Baltimore on Oct. 1. Sept. 17/18 is the start date of the conversion process in our VHO. If you have the Washington Metro line-up, don't expect to see the re-alignment until Sept. 22.

FiOS TV Expands In Baltimore County

Service Now Available to More Than 700,000 Homes In Maryland

By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 9/3/2008 10:29:00 AM

Verizon Communications is offering FiOS TV to 22,500 additional consumers and small businesses in parts of northeastern Baltimore County—bringing more competition to Comcast in the area—expanding the service’s Maryland footprint to more than 700,000 homes passed.

The telco said FiOS TV now is available in parts of Carney, Cub Hill, Fullerton, Overlea, Parkville, Perry Hall, Rosedale and Towson. Elsewhere in Maryland, Verizon offers FiOS TV and Internet service to more than 700,000 other homes and businesses in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Howard, Montgomery and Prince George's counties.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6592504.html

Yesterday, I received a robotic phone call from Verizon reminding me about the channel realignment and the need to redo the DVR recording settings.

Doug

Here is a pdf of their construction sites for Aug/Sept in Virginia:
http://www22.verizon.com/about/community/va/files/VAFTTP_AugSep08.pdf

You can check the Verizon Virginia website for updated pdf's, but I'm not sure how long after the construction that the service becomes available.

Many thanks for the link! I asked this question in the local thread - got no leads. Doesn't look like Dunn Loring's (near Falls Church & Vienna) on their map whatsoever.

And that's why it ain't worth 7.99 for an HD movie over a plain old DVD (even a non-Blu-Ray).

I can't wait to see what impact the new Netflix appliances will have on cable providers On-Demand movie offerings. Once Netflix can provide HD movies via the streaming boxes (coming soon) for the same monthly fee it won't make sense to pay 7.99 for a 24 hour view window on a single movie.

looks like the cable cos are ready to put the kibosh on netflix-ish HD with bandwidth cap and metered service. will FIOS follow suit?

I remember Mark Cuban and others confidently predicting Bluray wouldn't have a long life b/c we were moving toward on demand downloads anyway. That may happen, but only if it's the cable cos that are providing the on demand movies themselves.

looks like the cable cos are ready to put the kibosh on netflix-ish HD with bandwidth cap and metered service. will FIOS follow suit?


You call a 250GB limit the "kibosh on netflix-ish HD?" I mean at ~7GB a movie, you could still watch an HD movie a day without hitting the limit. We may not like the limits, but the fact is they are very reasonable even if you want to use services like Vudu, Apple TV etc.

As for the FiOS position. They have been very vocal about not imposing similar limits, but who knows if they'll change their mind.

Many thanks for the link! I asked this question in the local thread - got no leads. Doesn't look like Dunn Loring's (near Falls Church & Vienna) on their map whatsoever.

I just checked back periodically for my street name, and eventually it showed up. It wasn't too long after that when I was able to sign up. Check back every month or two: http://www22.verizon.com/about/community/va/

And that's why it ain't worth 7.99 for an HD movie over a plain old DVD (even a non-Blu-Ray).

That's what they charge for an on-demand movie? For $8.99 a month you can get as many DVDs and streaming movies as you can watch from netflix. I'm also lucky because I have a Hollywood and Blockbuster less than a half mile from me, so I can run out and grab a movie any time I want.

Have we become that much of an instant gratification society that we'll spend whatever it takes to have something "right now?" Sad. No wonder there's a credit crisis in this country.

FIOS has firmly committed to having 100HD channels by the end of the year.

They have been widely quoted as saying they will have 150 HD channels by the end of this year.

That's what they charge for an on-demand movie? For $8.99 a month you can get as many DVDs and streaming movies as you can watch from netflix. I'm also lucky because I have a Hollywood and Blockbuster less than a half mile from me, so I can run out and grab a movie any time I want.

Have we become that much of an instant gratification society that we'll spend whatever it takes to have something "right now?" Sad. No wonder there's a credit crisis in this country.

Not sure what the point is. If you want to rent DVD's, then do it. Otherwise, the HD On Demand prices that I've seen run from $4.99 to $5.99.

In my house, on demand is continually being used, mostly for what is available for free. The subscription channels HBO, Starz, Cinemax, etc, have a large library of SD and are now starting to have a lot of HD available. Certainly shows like Showtime's "Weeds" and all of the HBO shows, as well as CBS shows are popular with us.

Every now and then, as in three, maybe four times a month, we watch a movie on demand. If an HD version is available, I campaign that we watch that, the rest of the family could care less and would watch the $2.99 to $3.99 SD version. I guess a paid on demand movie is an impulse buy, which we would probably not make if we needed to run out to rent it. Less immediate gratification than having to make too much preparation. If we're going to devote that much time to it, we'll just run out to the theater and watch a current movie.

On demand suits us, mostly because we are only going to watch a movie if the opportunity presents itself.

They have been widely quoted as saying they will have 150 HD channels by the end of this year.

100 would be great, 150 needless to say much better. Glad I switched to FIOS.

They have been widely quoted as saying they will have 150 HD channels by the end of this year.
Verizon last made that statement late last year in the wake of the DirecTV big HD expansion, AFAIK. In the one of the policy blogs postings several months ago, the exec admitted that the 150 HD channels was an over-reach. I think all of the "widely quoted" sayings since then about the 150 HD channels has been people echoing each other, not from Verizon.

y'know, reading and thinking about it...

i really don't need 150 hd channels... i mean, it would be nice to have and everything, but does anyone actually WATCH that many different channels? and is it really necessary for some of them to actually be hd? i'm not going to go dump my fios service if they somehow don't match that 150 channel number by a given date. 150 hd-lite channels (like from some other providers) isn't better than say 75 REAL hd channels (like from fios)... somehow, i think i can live without the weather channel (for example) being in hd...

i don't want to be seen as a luddite here, and like i said, it would be nice if we had 150 hd channels, but thinking about it, i only watch maybe 10 different channels regularly, and maybe another dozen infrequently...

sometimes i think we are like pigs at a trough... :p

Q&A: FiOS TV’s Terry Denson

By George Winslow -- Multichannel News, 7/1/2008 10:03:00 AM

With the recent announcement that Verizon is planning to add 25 HD channels to its FiOS TV lineup this July, the company will be offering some 60 HD channels. But as FiOS TV’s vice president of content and programming Terry Denson explains, that is only the beginning of the company’s expansion. While the FiOS announced plans earlier this year to have 150 HD channels by the end of 2008, Denson stresses that their goal is not to reach a specific number but to “be the clear categorical leader” in HD programming by “any measure.” An edited transcript follows:

Q: What are your plans for expanding your HD offering this year?

A: I don’t think there is a lot of strategic magic [about] what we are trying to do. We simply plan to be the leaders in HD, and we expect achieve that by the year end.

A lot has been made of actual channel counts but we don’t obsess over channel counts. We obsess over being the leader in HD and making sure that we are leaders in the category.

And, leadership in the category is more than just channels. It mean that you are serving a number of diverse demographics.

I think one of the earlier missteps -- why the early adoption of HD has been slower than expected -- was that the interesting parties -- the consumer electronics industry, the content providers and distributors -- targeted a narrow demographic.

Today, if you look at the content that is available, it is a far more diverse offering than there was a year ago. It is important not just that we have more content. It’s notable that the content is more diverse.

So leadership goes beyond channel counts. You have to have the deepest and most diverse content offering available and that is an important part of our content strategy.

But we expect to be the categorical leaders by any measure.

Q: In the past, Verizon executives have said FiOS would reach 150 HD channels by year-end. Is that still your target?

A: The important thing is that we expect to be the categorical leader. We are on our way. We haven’t arrived yet and we are still negotiating some agreements, which is why I want to shy away from mentioning specific channels. But we expect to have more than 1,000 HD VOD titles by the end of the year and in term of channels we will be the leaders by the end of year as well.

If you are satellite or cable, you have significant limits with respect to capacity. The beauty of fiber to the home is that capacity is not as much an issue for us as it is for satellite and cable provider.

Even so, channel counts are a little tricky. When DirecTV made an announcement about having capacity for 150 channels, everyone was scrambling to figure out what that means.

It doesn’t mean anything except that if there were 150 channels that DirecTV was willing to carry, then they would have the capacity to carry them. There are other issues, however, beyond capacity, to consider -- customer experience, the quality of the content, the nature of the business terms, etc. I don’t think that any distributor in the industry is going to offer HD content on unreasonable terms just so they can fill capacity.

Q: So you are saying that 150 HD channels isn’t a fixed target?

A: If 150 HD channels were a fixed target and DirecTV or Dish or Comcast offered 165, where do we sit? So, our beacon can’t be 150 channels. Our goal is categorical leadership and that is what we will achieve.

Q: Beyond the obvious categories -- movies, sports, etc. -- are there some other types of HD content that you’re particularly interested in?

A: Multicultural is one key point of acquisition for us. I think Dish has done a terrific job in the multicultural area and DirecTV has quietly has a done a great job of expanding their multicultural offering.

Because of bandwidth limitations, cable has not do as much. They are really forced to program based on the demographics of their market place. Time Warner has done very well in Southern California and Cox has done very well in Arizona targeted the Hispanic market. But other groups aren’t getting content they want.

Because of our delivery system and our content strategy, we look to program without regard to the demographics [of a particular area] to ensure the content is available for anyone.

So multicultural is important and we are talking to a number of content providers about multicultural HD content.

Q: Right now, there isn’t a lot of multicultural content available right now in HD. Do you currently offer any and if not, how soon do you hope to have some?

A: You’re right. There isn’t a lot available right now. It is very difficult right now for the niche provider, the multicultural provider to incur the cost of developing HD content and get a reasonable return on that investment in the near term.

We are hoping that our strategy will encourage the development of that content and I think that will help the whole market place. We don’t mind if others are fast followers because that will create a greater market of additional content and more diverse HD content, the kind of content that might be three or four rings outside of what people might identify as a bull's-eye for HD content.

We currently do not have multicultural content in HD but we expect to have some by the end of the year.

Q: On the competitive side, there have been a lot of claims about what various platforms are offering. Satellite has been talking about their 150 linear channels and Comcast has been emphasizing their plan to have 1,000 HD choices by year end. How difficult is it to get consumers to understand the relative merits of these competing marketing claims?

A: You nailed it. The challenge is speaking to the customer. DirecTV only said that they would have the capacity to offer 150 channels but in a short period of time, the capacity to offer 150 channel was translated by consumers and the media into the idea that they had a superior offering.

I think Comcast quickly tried to step into the space and redefine what how to quantify an HD offering and what makes the best HD offering.

I have to say their approach is far more difficult to convey but ultimately it is the right approach. As VOD becomes mainstream, consumers will be making a decision [on the value of different HD offerings] on basis of the HD linear content and the HD VOD content.

Satellite doesn’t want to engage in that sort of dialogue.

But it is a complicated message to effectively impart to a potential consumer. It is a lot easier for a consumer to say, "This provider has 150 channels and this one has 100 channels, so I’ll choose the one with 150 channels."

That’s an easier decision then the contemplative approach of choosing a provider with 100 HD channel and 500 HD programs available at any one time on demand. If you think about it, that means you have 100 linear choices and 500 on-demand choices, which adds up to 600 HD choices at any one time. So instead of choosing among 150 choices you are having to choose among 600.

It is a hard message to communicate. But ultimately there will be a time, as on-demand usage increases and it becomes a more mainstream experience, when this message will be easiest and most effective to communicate.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6575106.html

y'know, reading and thinking about it...

i really don't need 150 hd channels... i mean, it would be nice to have and everything, but does anyone actually WATCH that many different channels? and is it really necessary for some of them to actually be hd? i'm not going to go dump my fios service if they somehow don't match that 150 channel number by a given date. 150 hd-lite channels (like from some other providers) isn't better than say 75 REAL hd channels (like from fios)... somehow, i think i can live without the weather channel (for example) being in hd...

i don't want to be seen as a luddite here, and like i said, it would be nice if we had 150 hd channels, but thinking about it, i only watch maybe 10 different channels regularly, and maybe another dozen infrequently...

sometimes i think we are like pigs at a trough... :p

What you posted suits you, but it comes across like you only want the channels YOU watch to be in HD. It's 2008, HD is the future, let's get on with it. And for what it's worth, FIOS isn't available in my area and my Comcast system only has 25 HD channels with absolutely no more to come in the near future.

As you can see in the AVS thread on national HDTV channel lineups (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1058081), there is nowhere close to 150 available HD channels and only a handful more are expected before the end of the year. (Additionally, you can see that Verizon subscribers in the markets with the full channel rollup have the largest HD selection of any provider, including Dish and DirecTV.)

By my count, there are 108 national HD channels available today including the Voom package (and excluding Game HD and Team HD). If you add in ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, My Network TV, CW, and PBS, that's another seven, putting the total at 115. There are 10 more channels expected before the end of the year, according to announcements.

That's, at most, 125 possible HD networks available nationally. This obviously does not count regional sports networks, but most markets only have one or two anyway. And nobody presently carries Voom, accounting for 15 of the channels, except Cablevision. Given that Verizon is already at 102 in the NY market (including regional sports networks), I'd say they're doing fine.

As long as the rest of us are at 102 by the end of the year, I mean.

What you posted suits you, but it comes across like you only want the channels YOU watch to be in HD. It's 2008, HD is the future, let's get on with it. And for what it's worth, FIOS isn't available in my area and my Comcast system only has 25 HD channels with absolutely no more to come in the near future.

nah, that's not what i meant...

what i meant is, i'm not going to lose any sleep if certain channels don't show up in hd "by the end of the year"... again, if the weather channel (which i do watch) doesn't show up in hd by jan. 1, i'm not going to cry...

hd IS the future, no doubt... but i'm prepared to be realistic...

as far as comcast... this IS a fios thread... :)