Verizon is now officially advertising "Over 100 HD Channels Coming Soon" on their website: https://www22.verizon.com/Content/FiOSTV/.

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.


Comcast just announced an agreement to carry the HDNet channels.

Comcast is also going to be aggressively removing the analog channels to give them space to add more HD content. Comcast is not standing still. They have plans to add more HD content. They need to to try and keep up with FIOS and DirecTV.

Although currently when I compare my Comcast HD channels to my FIOS HD channels, there is usually a noticeable difference. THE Comcast channels look noticeably worse. So even if they add more channels they still need to do something about the quality which has really gone downhill in my area over the last 15 months.

...As long as the rest of us are at 102 by the end of the year, I mean.
Agreed! In our area, we're scheduled for about 60 channels with the new lineup coming next week. I would like to see lineup mimic New York's as soon as possible, and don't understand why there needs to be a difference. Is it a matter of state to state transmitting rules?

Agreed! In our area, we're scheduled for about 60 channels with the new lineup coming next week. I would like to see lineup mimic New York's as soon as possible, and don't understand why there needs to be a difference. Is it a matter of state to state transmitting rules?

I think, as noted in several other posts, it is because of:

- Infrastructure. Some areas, where FIOS went first, has older equipment at the distribution centers (my own words) so that they can support fewer HD or SD channels than areas where FIOS just went in, which have more up to date equipment, and can support the full suite of HD offerings. The older equipment is being upgraded, but it does take time.

- Staggered delivery, which contains the amount of troubleshooting to be done by a limited work force.

- Political / business considerations. Some areas may have local agreements which prevent or delay some channels being deployed. In other cases, ESPNU HD comes to mind, we get it early because that is probably the part of the terms of the agreement.

Just my opinion, gathered from previous posts. There are no doubt a lot of other reasons.

Although currently when I compare my Comcast HD channels to my FIOS HD channels, there is usually a noticeable difference. THE Comcast channels look noticeably worse. So even if they add more channels they still need to do something about the quality which has really gone downhill in my area over the last 15 months.

This is another reason I'm hoping FIOS becomes available to me this month (my zip code all of a sudden shows a channel guide and they told me to expect availability this month; whether or not to believe them is something else as Comcast has repeatedly lied to me so Verizon is probably no different).

I too am seeing poorer quality on some channels (HD Theater used to be absolutely pristine and eye popping - no longer; Comcast is obviously compressing it).

As much as I'd like to change to DirecTV for the extra channels like my friend just did I'm trying to hold out for FIOS for the better picture quality...

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

I think there quote was up to 150 HD channels by the end of the year...

In my area we were just realigned and went from 29 to 47, so I'll be glad to have the 100...

I'm sure this has been asked in this thread somewhere... With FIOS adding more HD how do they get around not having to compress everything like cable/sat? Will they not eventually have a bandwidth issue?

...Just my opinion, gathered from previous posts....
Thanks for that! Sounds reasonable.

I'm sure this has been asked in this thread somewhere... With FIOS adding more HD how do they get around not having to compress everything like cable/sat? Will they not eventually have a bandwidth issue?

FIOS has a lot of bandwidth currently, but even the current configuration is just the first step.

- The current configuration is based on BPON (broadband passive optical network). This uses three wavelengths to carry data. 1350nm for upstream data at 155Mbit/s, 1490 for downstream data at 622Mbits/s and 1550 for RF video with 870 MHz of bandwidth.

The download data channel is shared between internet services and Video on Demand (IPTV). So the VOD doesn't lean on the 1550 video delivery channel, but shares a huge, separate data pipe.

- Now being rolled out in new installations is newer GPON (Gigabit Passive Optical Network) which quadruples the bandwidth of BPON. This is already out in some installations AFAIK. The numbers for this is 1350 (upstream data) at 1.2 GBit/s, 1490 (downstream data) at 2.4 GBits/s.

- Future plans I've heard of talk of expanding the IPTV portion which is now used for VOD exclusively to encompass broadcast channels as well, increasing the bandwidth.

- Other technology is available which can mutiplex the wavelengths on the fiber, technology which is not available to cable or satellite.

So now, with the narrowest bandwidth available to the technology, FIOS is not compressing the signals. Very soon, the bandwidth will at least quadruple, so I expect that FIOS won't make a decision to compromise the signal because of bandwidth worries.

I think there quote was up to 150 HD channels by the end of the year...
Nope. 150 by the end of this year was the exact quote.

http://newscenter.verizon.com/press-releases/verizon/2007/verizon-plans-fivefold.html

Obviously since then, they have changed their tune, as noted by Terry Denson's recent comments above. Which by the way sounds mysteriously like what Comcast has been saying for years about On Demand. And when you combine that with Comcast's recent statements about having to keep up with the 'Jones's in the sky' (DirecTV & Dish Network) as far as linear HD channels, it all adds up to one heck of a competitive HD environment for consumers to take advantage of.

The bottom line is that FiOS has the capability to have more linear HD channels than anyone else, and as much or more On Demand as anyone else. The only question is, what will they actually deliver?

They've had to change their tune. If they offered every available national HD channel, including Voom, they couldn't hit 150 if they wanted to.

If Verizon had a capacity problem, I can't believe they'd add World Fishing Network HD when they've yet to acquire carriage of any Paramount channel (besides Palladia), any Rainbow Media channel, or Cartoon Network.

I'm sure this has been asked in this thread somewhere... With FIOS adding more HD how do they get around not having to compress everything like cable/sat? Will they not eventually have a bandwidth issue?
As posted, the IPTV path will offer a lot of bandwidth once or if they go that route for live TV channels. For the moment, Verizon is using QAM-256, but is expanding the system to provide a full set of up to 134 QAM RF channels (2 to 135 or 54-866 MHz). Remember, Verizon put VOD on the internet/IPTV path where cable TV uses a number of QAM channels for VOD. Before long, Verizon will be all digital, so no bandwidth hogging typical 60-70 legacy analog channels that the cable companies have to contend with.

The current QAM approach will give Verizon room for around 150+ full bandwidth HD channels with no extra compression with two 19.4 Mbps HD channels per QAM channel. Once Verizon gets somewhere beyond 150-160 HD channels, the QAM bandwidth will begin to get tight (depending on how much has to be aside for the local stations which is a fair amount because of the markets with two sets of HD locals or many digital local stations). But until then, there is no reason for Verizon to compress ala Comcast. By then, maybe Verizon can use IPTV for the lesser watched SD channels, if they don't have to swap out the STBs and DVRs to do that. The DCT700s, BTW, will not get any IPTV channels.

FIOS has a lot of bandwidth currently, but even the current configuration is just the first step.
So now, with the narrowest bandwidth available to the technology, FIOS is not compressing the signals. Very soon, the bandwidth will at least quadruple, so I expect that FIOS won't make a decision to compromise the signal because of bandwidth worries.


The current QAM approach will give Verizon room for around 150+ full bandwidth HD channels with no extra compression with two 19.4 Mbps HD channels per QAM channel. Once Verizon gets somewhere beyond 150-160 HD channels, the QAM bandwidth will begin to get tight (depending on how much has to be aside for the local stations which is a fair amount because of the markets with two sets of HD locals or many digital local stations). But until then, there is no reason for Verizon to compress ala Comcast. By then, maybe Verizon can use IPTV for the lesser watched SD channels, if they don't have to swap out the STBs and DVRs to do that. The DCT700s, BTW, will not get any IPTV channels.

Thank you both for the info. I can't say I follow it all but I understand it well enough. This definitely sounds like the way to go. I hope they become available in the next couple years. I just got D* so it'll be 2 years before I can switch anyway. Thanks again.

Verizon is running a free preview weekend from Sept. 5 to 9 for HBO and Cinemax in case anyone missed the notice. For the free previews, Verizon turns off the encryption for the premium channels which makes them available not only to the STBs & DVRs, but also to any TV with a clear QAM tuner hooked up.

For the Washington Metro market and, AFAIK, any market which has not gone through re-alignment, the HBO and Cinemax channels are at the following QAM channels:
HBO-HD: QAM 94-612
Cinemax-HD: 110-614
The SD HBO and Cinemax channels are scattered among scrambled sub-channels at QAM 92, 106, 108, 113, but they are in the clear.

Those in the markets that have gotten the HD expansion and the full set of HBO and Cinemax HD channels will have to figure out where the QAM channels are if they want to look (or post).

The future transition to IPTV for some of the broadcast channels is based on what those in the industry call the long tail effect. If you graph the channels on a typical XY axis with # of viewers on the Y axis and channels on the X axis you will see something like this.

X
XX
XXX
XXXX
XXXX
XXXXX
XXXXXX
XXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
---------------------------------------------------------------

The concept is to take the channels at the far right of the X axis and move them over to IPTV and free up your bandwidth on the RF spectrum for those channels with the most viewers.

Bsically you end up with World Fishing Network on IPTV and ESPN on RF.

Verizon is positioning themselves as the leader in picture quality and I am sure they will not compromise that by compressing their signal.

Now that I get a chance to view the HD movie channels with my PC's HD tuner card. I'm a little surprised at the amount of macroblocking some of the HBO and Cinemax HD channels have?

Is this simply cause HBO and Cinemax are now delivering more HD channels in the same bandwidth?

Verizon has now posted the re-alignment date for Southern CA on the website: October 9. With this, the re-alignment schedule has been officially posted for all markets (well, except for WA which started out with the new channel line-up). There is the Providence, FL market, but the PDF channel line-up for it has a reduced SD line-up with no HD channels, so it may be a special case market.

Here is the complete re-alignment schedule, provided the future dates don't slip. Save this for future reference so you can remember when someone asks when did you get the Great Fios Channel Re-Alignment and HD Expansion of the Summer and Fall of 2008? :D It has been a damn long wait!

Final Conversion list?
6/30 Fort Wayne IN
7/21 Portland OR
7/28 New York
7/31 Northern NJ
8/12 Pittsburgh (was originally scheduled for 8/06)
8/13 Richmond VA
8/14 Hampton Roads VA
8/20 Massachusetts
8/21 Rhode Island
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
10/2 Florida Gulf Coast
10/8 North Texas
10/9 Southern California

As expected, Southern California has the full 100+ HD channel lineup.

Verizon has now posted the re-alignment date for Southern CA on the website: October 9. With this, the re-alignment schedule has been officially posted for all markets (well, except for WA which started out with the new channel line-up). There is the Providence, FL market, but the PDF channel line-up for it has a reduced SD line-up with no HD channels, so it may be a special case market.


This is great news because that means the second phase for the areas that did not get the full roll-out the first time around should start not long after the 9th. Makes me think the last week of October date for Richmond/Hampton Roads I was given is do-able.

This is great news because that means the second phase for the areas that did not get the full roll-out the first time around should start not long after the 9th. Makes me think the last week of October date for Richmond/Hampton Roads I was given is do-able.

This all depends on hardware. This initial realignment was more about channel moving and getting rid of locals.

The big addition requires them to upgrade each CO.

I'm not aware of anything that said the upgrade occured in the first phase or the second phase. I'm guessing the second phase?

(Which means it could still be months before we see the big rollout...)

This all depends on hardware. This initial realignment was more about channel moving and getting rid of locals.

The big addition requires them to upgrade each CO.

I'm not aware of anything that said the upgrade occured in the first phase or the second phase. I'm guessing the second phase?

(Which means it could still be months before we see the big rollout...)

I would expect for some(if not all) areas to have everything within the next 3 or so months. I say this based on the accuracy of my source from before and because we are really starting to see Vz pushing the "over 100 hd stations coming soon" advertisements -- I'm seeing them on tv and when you go to the Fios website. Previously the only time they said this was in press releases.

Here is the complete re-alignment schedule
9/18 Anne Arundel/Howard County MD
9/22 Washington Metro

The FIOS Messages say that Prince Georges County MD will re-align on 9/18.

The FIOS Messages say that Prince Georges County MD will re-align on 9/18.

It says "Beginning On" I'm pretty sure. That's generic for this whole area. I got the same thing in MD, which definitely won't be until 9/22.

As expected, Southern California has the full 100+ HD channel lineup.

that's great! but how do we know this?

how do I find out what channels we'll get? googled fios lineup but when I put in my zip code I still get just the current lineup

Verizon is running a free preview weekend from Sept. 5 to 9 for HBO and Cinemax in case anyone missed the notice.

Notice? What notice?

We were saddened to discover that the free preview doesn't seem to extend to the HBO and Cinemax On-Demand programming. I tried both the HD and SD programs, and all of them popped up the "you must be a subscriber" box.

I'll certainly be watching Alan Ball's True Blood on Sunday night to see whether it's time to switch from Starz, et. al., to HBO. I only wish I could bundle the sports package with HBO like you can with the movie package so I can keep The Golf Channel. On the other hand, we're approaching the end of the golf season, and the most important remaining events like the Ryder Cup will be on other channels. I'll see what I can negotiate with customer service; they've been open to negotiation in the past.

that's great! but how do we know this?

how do I find out what channels we'll get? googled fios lineup but when I put in my zip code I still get just the current lineup

In the bottom right corner of this page (https://www22.verizon.com/content/fiostv/channel+lineup/channel+lineup.htm), you'll find this (http://www22.verizon.com/NROneRetail/NR/rdonlyres/C60C1E96-409B-4B0F-8B07-ECD2A282D7B5/0/SCAL_CLU_090308.pdf).

In the bottom right corner of this page (https://www22.verizon.com/content/fiostv/channel+lineup/channel+lineup.htm), you'll find this (http://www22.verizon.com/NROneRetail/NR/rdonlyres/C60C1E96-409B-4B0F-8B07-ECD2A282D7B5/0/SCAL_CLU_090308.pdf).

thanks.

hmm, what's extremehd?

looks like mgmhd is part of movie pkg. so it's not free with premiere?

thanks.

hmm, what's extremehd?

looks like mgmhd is part of movie pkg. so it's not free with premiere?

Premiere is going away, they are changing to "Fios Essentials" and "Fios Extreme HD." Dunno when we will actually be notified of this -- prices will go up too, which I think we could all expect with the number of additions they have made. I think Extreme is $57.99 and Essentials is $52.99.

Dunno what happens to people under contract, I assume we keep our current rate and get Essentials, but would have to pay the increase to get the Extreme package.

Actually, the only difference I see between the old lineup and the new lineup is that the "Sports" package has been renamed "Extreme HD."

Actually, the only difference I see between the old lineup and the new lineup is that the "Sports" package has been renamed "Extreme HD."

There is some info on the new packages over on DSLReports, not a lot, but some.

Some channels in Oregon suddenly stopped working and when the person inquired it is because they were moved to the Extreme package so they weren't subscribed to it.

Right, but presumably they weren't subscribed to the Sports package either. (I'd check, but unfortunately DSLReports has been down all day.) Look at the lineups: Sports and Extreme HD are identical.

As I recall, the channels that people lost were MavTV, Versus/Golf, Outdoor Channel, World Fishing Network -- these are all from the Sports tier.

Right, but presumably they weren't subscribed to the Sports package either. (I'd check, but unfortunately DSLReports has been down all day.) Look at the lineups: Sports and Extreme HD are identical.

As I recall, the channels that people lost were MavTV, Versus/Golf, Outdoor Channel, World Fishing Network -- these are all from the Sports tier.

There were a couple other -- rural living network and something else non-sports related.

Really, my point was to look for a change in the package lineups once everybody has the 100+ HDs and a price increase to go along with it. I'm hoping that he Sports package will now be part of the Extreme HD package, that would offset some of the rate increase since you would no longer have to pay $8 (or whatever it is) to get the channels.

The big addition requires them to upgrade each CO.


I still don't agree with this assessment. Pittsburgh is a brand new market - and they didn't receive the full rollout. I hardly believe they would've built this market with "old hardware".

I still don't agree with this assessment. Pittsburgh is a brand new market - and they didn't receive the full rollout. I hardly believe they would've built this market with "old hardware".

Yep, I agree. Everything I have heard (although only the date I have for Hampton Roads is from a very reliable source) is that the second phase is supposed to happy almost simultaneously in all markets -- end of October is what I am hearing.

I still don't agree with this assessment. Pittsburgh is a brand new market - and they didn't receive the full rollout. I hardly believe they would've built this market with "old hardware".

Right. Newer markets are fine, as they are already built out. But earlier markets (like DC/MD) are "older" and require a buildout.

For you, you'll get the full 100+ HD soon. For us in the older markets (which is more than half of them), we require a buildout of the COs in order to get the 100+ HD. This is well documented multiple times, especially in the other forum.

The question is whether they did the build out for all of those markets as part of phase one (not likely), or if they have to do it now (much more likely). For us, we likely won't see the full rollout for quite a while.

For you, you're fine and you'll see it by years end, no problem.

Make sense?

Notice? What notice?

.

I'll certainly be watching Alan Ball's True Blood on Sunday night to see whether it's time to switch from Starz, et. al., to HBO.

You might not want to drop STARZ. At least on cable, they have the greatest amount of HD OnDemand programming. HBO has none! They often (tho not 100% of the time) show movies in OAR. HBO crops all current films.

Premiere is going away, they are changing to "Fios Essentials" and "Fios Extreme HD."....
I hope they give us enough notice of this change. Our channel guide for the new alignment lists everything as "Premiere", and I don't want to go to another channel numbering change if possible if the new nomenclature makes a difference.

I hope they give us enough notice of this change. Our channel guide for the new alignment lists everything as "Premiere", and I don't want to go to another channel numbering change if possible if the new nomenclature makes a difference.

The new package names would not lead to a channel number change, that is being done with this initial rollout of channel changes/additions. Take a look at this link:

http://www22.verizon.com/NROneRetail/NR/rdonlyres/3746D294-5210-449E-9C83-F3289E465212/0/NY_PF2_72808.pdf

It is the NY channel lineup (who has every channel), it will show you what Essentials and Extreme are.

Nevermind, that is a bad example. They currently list the packages with the same channels. I guess they aren't publishing the difference in the lineups yet, my guess is they won't until everybody is at the 100+ HD level.

The new package names would not lead to a channel number change, that is being done with this initial rollout of channel changes/additions. Take a look at this link:

http://www22.verizon.com/NROneRetail/NR/rdonlyres/3746D294-5210-449E-9C83-F3289E465212/0/NY_PF2_72808.pdf

It is the NY channel lineup (who has every channel), it will show you what Essentials and Extreme are.

Nevermind, that is a bad example. They currently list the packages with the same channels. I guess they aren't publishing the difference in the lineups yet, my guess is they won't until everybody is at the 100+ HD level.

So will they automatically convert people, or will we lose channels?

I have Premier right now, and I want everything but the sports channels. All movies, regular channels, etc.

Is there a package for that, or will I be forced to buy the sports, too?

So will they automatically convert people, or will we lose channels?

I have Premier right now, and I want everything but the sports channels. All movies, regular channels, etc.

Is there a package for that, or will I be forced to buy the sports, too?

I really have no clue, but my best guess would be that current customers would be able to keep premiere, if they want the additional channels that are in extreme or essentials then you would need to switch. Again, I have no inside information on this, just a guess.

I really have no clue, but my best guess would be that current customers would be able to keep premiere, if they want the additional channels that are in extreme or essentials then you would need to switch. Again, I have no inside information on this, just a guess.

And what's in Extreme that's not in the current Premier? Is it just sport-type channels?

And any idea on the price difference? Is it like +$5, or more?

And what's in Extreme that's not in the current Premier? Is it just sport-type channels?

And any idea on the price difference? Is it like +$5, or more?

There are some posts over on DSLReports about it, I'm too lazy to look right now. Somebody had some channels that they were getting change to a "you are not subscribed" message, they inquired and were told it's because they were now part of Extreme.

You might not want to drop STARZ. At least on cable, they have the greatest amount of HD OnDemand programming. HBO has none! They often (tho not 100% of the time) show movies in OAR. HBO crops all current films.

Presentation formats are relevant only if you want to watch the content that's being presented. We've had the movie package for about eight months now, and my daughter and I both agree the vast majority of the movies offered are not ones we care about watching.

I did notice that Verizon offers a package with both sets of movie channels for $25/month, which isn't a lot more than the $18 I pay now for the Starz+/sports combo. If I can get customer service to toss in the sports package for a small add-on (like the $3 it costs when added to Starz+) I might consider going for whole kahuna.

Free HD on-demand programming is the one area where Verizon has been slow to compete. There have been a couple of "trial" offerings for some on-demand programming from the movie channels, but that's been a very recent development. Most of Verizon's on-demand HD programming is pay-per-view recent movies which we rarely find worth the money.

The problem is that we really only care to watch a very small fraction of mainstream Hollywood offerings. For me, one of the reasons to watch HBO is its original productions like Ball's Six Feet Under. Every week Verizon lists its top-five on-demand movies; I don't think we've ever watched any of them.

I am pleased with the additional channels here in Mass., but have a problem. As an example, on the Guide I see channels 866, 867, 868 and 869 (all SHO HD channels), and can select any for viewing. However, if I am viewing 866 and depress Channel Up, it goes to 869. This also occurs with my 700 box (but at the SD channels). Does anyone know a fix?

It sounds like you have 866 and 869 set up as favorites, but not 867 and 868. Then, if you have the DVR set to skip non-favorite channels, you would see that behavior.

(Also posted on DSL Reports)

Well, they apparently DID move up Northern DE to today (from 9/15)

Just got up - all channels are realigned. As was stated by Southern DE poster, here's the deal.

Here is what is on the PDF online (on verizon.com) but we DID NOT RECEIVE - Guide states "COMING SOON":

192 Current TV
247 RFD TV
552 TBS HD
590 Vs / Golf HD
842 - 847 (3 new Starz HD's)
866 Showtime West HD
869 Showtime 2 HD
886 TMC West HD

However - here is what is in the IMG stating "COMING SOON", but was NOT on the PDF

592 Tennis HD
597 WFN HD
598 MAV TV HD
866 - 870 (New Showtime HD's)
873 - 874 (More Showtime HD's)
886 - 888 (New Movie Channel HD's)
902 - 913 (New HBO HD's)
922 - 931 (New Cinemax HD's)

So, looks like this area has a lot of COMING SOON channels - but nothing in the guide regarding ESPN News HD, Travel Channel, or any of the "Extreme HD" ones that NY received. I was really hoping to see FX HD and Travel, but wasn't really expecting it.

So, almost a hybrid of the IN/OR lineup with a "coming soon" splash of MA/RI. How long they stay that way I have no idea - but really hope Vs/Golf and TBS are on by October for hockey and baseball.

All of the sample diagnostics scans I took placed these channels in the old analog frequencies (141 MHz, etc.) - so it definitely looks like the analog reclaim helped in that aspect. Looks like more of a rebuild has to happen here to accomodate the rest (I have no other explanation why).

Guess we need to wait and see when those roll along.
And holy crap - the XXX moved to XXX entries in the guide is overwhelming. Now i see what you all meant!

So, for Southern Jersey and PA - this is what you most likely will see this week.

I hope they move Northern VA up a week too!

...And holy crap - the XXX moved to XXX entries in the guide is overwhelming....
I'm looking forward to the added channels, but yes, the moving of all the familiar numbers is somewhat daunting! Thanks for the info!

I hope they move Northern VA up a week too!
The best we could hope for would be September 18 I would think. Maybe Verizon figured if they were going to re-align Southern NJ on the 8th, why not do Northern DE at the same time? The good news in Northern VA, is that we finally got switched to the Red Screen of Death on the analog channels here in Sterling, VA.

Looking the Fios channel line-up webpage, Northern DE is still listed for 9/15. May have missed them before, but they have added two new markets: Seattle in the main group and Buffalo - effective 9/15. Anyone know what are the VHO #s for these 2 markets?

It sounds like you have 866 and 869 set up as favorites, but not 867 and 868. Then, if you have the DVR set to skip non-favorite channels, you would see that behavior.

I thank Amadeus93 in my neighboring town (I'm in Framingham). I removed all Favorites from my HD receiver and the problem was solved. However, my 700 box has no Favorites feature; that got corrected by disconnecting/reconnecting the 700 box's power.

Well, we've had the realigned channels and new HD / SD channels for a bit now, I am very happy with them. I'm curious though if anyone knows when the second wave of channels are supposed to hit for those of us without the full ~100 channels that have been deployed in some areas. I understand the reasons for the delay, just wondering about the timing.

I'm not getting greedy, I'm happy with what we've got, but there are a few channels I'd like to have that are in the channel lineups I've seen: FX, Speed, ... so - are the dates available, or is it just the .. before the end of the year thing?

FiOS TV Hits Washington State With 98 HD Channels

Verizon Launches in Puget Sound Area, Taking on Comcast

By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 9/9/2008 1:04:00 PM

Verizon Communications has flipped on FiOS TV in the Evergreen State, where it’s bringing a lineup of 98 high-definition channels to compete with the area’s incumbent cable operator, Comcast.

The telco announced Tuesday that more than 80,000 households in Washington State can now order FiOS TV, as well as a triple-play bundle starting at $99.99 a month. The service is available in parts of Bothell, Brier, Everett, Edmonds, Kenmore, Lynnwood, Woodinville, Woodway and Snohomish counties.

Comcast offers 35 HD channels in the Puget Sound area, according to its Web site.

Verizon in the past few months has secured local franchise agreements with other local city and county councils—including Marysville, Mountlake Terrace, Mukilteo and Redmond—and said it is negotiating further agreements in the state.

Verizon offers its FiOS Internet service in parts of 16 states, and Washington becomes the 14th state to have FiOS TV. The telco last quarter reported having 1.4 million FiOS TV subscribers across its footprint.

Until Oct. 4, Verizon is offering new customers a sign-up incentive of their choice of a year’s free use of either an HD DVR or an HD Home Media DVR.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6594303.html

noticed that the new florida gulf coast (tampa) pdf channel guide up on verizon's site. it says it is effective 10/2/08

http://www22.verizon.com/NROneRetail/NR/rdonlyres/95214342-329B-49F5-96E2-31CCA4424840/0/FLGC_eff_100208.pdf

schedule for additional rollout of HD channels to those markets that just got the initial batch and not the full on (98+) channels? I can understand making a splash in the larger markets, but for the little guys...does anyone have any info? I'm in the Oregon market. Thanks.

Josh

Josh-
At this time, I don't know of any known "schedule" for the rest of the us to get the remaining HD channels that weren't included in the 1st "wave".

Right now in Northern DE - we have 40 HD channels listed as "coming soon" in the IMG - THEN, there is still the additional 15 or so that only the NY area has received so far (FX, Travel, MGM, etc.)

So at least in my area - we still have 2 additional rollouts to go through on top of the 1st one this past Monday.

In the SE PA area, we're to have the realignment tomorrow and the inclusion of the new channels. As of this morning, there was no message posted in the Menu regarding the changeover, so hopefully it still goes as promised in the Guide...as of 11 Sept. We are scheduled for about 55 channels, so we are also lacking the NY content, with no notice of when we will get the additional.

so how come So CAL gets 100 channels and the rest of us do not?

HI-DEFINITION BROADCAST 502 CBS — KCBS HD 504 NBC — KNBC HD 505 CW — KTLA HD 507 ABC — KABC HD 508 PBS — KOCE HD 509 KCAL HD 511 FOX — KTTV HD 513 My KCOP HD 528 PBS — KCET HD ENTERTAINMENT 550 USA HD 551 TNT HD 552 TBS HD 553 FX HD 567 Universal HD 568 WGN America HD 569 HD Net570 ESPN HD 572 ESPNews HD 574 ESPN2 HD 576 Fox Sports Net West HD 577 Fox Sports Net Prime Ticket HD 583 Speed Channel HD 585 Big Ten Network HD 588 NFL Network HD 590 Versus/Golf HD 591 Outdoor Channel 2 HD 597 World Fishing Network HD 598 MavTV HD NEWS 600 CNN HD 602 CNBC HD+ 617 Fox Business Network HD 618 Fox News HD 619 The Weather Channel HD INFO & EDUCATION 620 Discovery Channel HD 621 National Geographic
Channel HD 622 Science Channel HD 625 Smithsonian Channel HD 628 History Channel HD 629 Bio HD 630 Animal Planet HD 631 HD Theater 639 TLC HD WOMEN 640 Lifetime HD 641 Lifetime Movie Network HD MARKETPLACE 650 QVC HD HOME & LEISURE 664 Food Network HD 665 HGTV HD 668 Planet Green HD 669 Wealth TV HD 670 Travel Channel HD POP CULTURE 680 Sci-Fi Channel HD 681 A&E HD 685 Bravo HD 699 ABC Family HD MUSIC 711 MHD FAMILY 740 Hallmark Movie Channel HD KIDS 750 Disney Channel HD 751 Toon Disney HDMOVIE PACKAGE** 744 MGM Channel HD 746 HD Net 840 Starz HD 842 Starz Edge HD 845 Starz Kids & Family HD 847 Starz Comedy HD 865 Showtime HD 866 Showtime West HD 867 Showtime Showcase HD 868 Showtime Showcase West HD 869 Showtime 2 HD 870 Showtime 2 West HD 873 Showtime Extreme HD 874 Showtime Extreme West HD 885 The Movie Channel HD 886 The Movie Channel West HD 887 The Movie Channel Xtra HD 888 The Movie Channel Xtra West HD PREMIUMS** 899 HBO HD 901 HBO West HD 902 HBO 2 HD 903 HBO 2 West HD 904 HBO Signature HD 905 HBO Signature West HD 906 HBO Family HD 907 HBO Family West HD 908 HBO Comedy HD 909 HBO Comedy West HD 910 HBO Zone HD 911 HBO Zone West HD 912 HBO Latino HD 913 HBO Latino West HD 920 Cinemax HD 921 Cinemax West HD 922 More Max HD 923 More Max West HD 924 Action Max HD 925 Action Max West HD 926 Thriller Max HD 927 Thriller Max West HD 928 WMAX HD 929 At Max HD 930 Five Star Max HD 931 OuterMax HD

WNY (Buffalo) launches video service on the 15th. We will be getting full HD line up from the get go.

so how come So CAL gets 100 channels and the rest of us do not?

HI-DEFINITION BROADCAST 502 CBS — KCBS HD 504 NBC — KNBC HD 505 CW — KTLA HD 507 ABC — KABC HD 508 PBS — KOCE HD 509 KCAL HD 511 FOX — KTTV HD 513 My KCOP HD 528 PBS — KCET HD ENTERTAINMENT 550
.
.
a whole lot of good channels
.
.
HD 921 Cinemax West HD 922 More Max HD 923 More Max West HD 924 Action Max HD 925 Action Max West HD 926 Thriller Max HD 927 Thriller Max West HD 928 WMAX HD 929 At Max HD 930 Five Star Max HD 931 OuterMax HD

Some do, New York, Oregon, ??? (please correct if wrong), but (From an earlier post):

I think, as noted in several other posts, it is because of:

- Infrastructure. Some areas, where FIOS went first, has older equipment at the distribution centers (my own words) so that they can support fewer HD or SD channels than areas where FIOS just went in, which have more up to date equipment, and can support the full suite of HD offerings. The older equipment is being upgraded, but it does take time.

- Staggered delivery, which contains the amount of troubleshooting to be done by a limited work force.

- Political / business considerations. Some areas may have local agreements which prevent or delay some channels being deployed. In other cases, ESPNU HD comes to mind, we get it early because that is probably the part of the terms of the agreement.

Just my opinion, gathered from previous posts. There are no doubt a lot of other reasons.

so how come So CAL gets 100 channels and the rest of us do not?


hey come on, there's gotta be some compensation for being last!

I'm bummed that I have to buy showtime to get mgm-hd

Any Tivo users in South Jersey out there? As of this morning, still waiting on the Tivo programming to catch up with the channel realignment.

schedule for additional rollout of HD channels to those markets that just got the initial batch and not the full on (98+) channels? I can understand making a splash in the larger markets, but for the little guys...does anyone have any info? I'm in the Oregon market. Thanks.

Josh

Good point. Especially since Verizon's current TV ads in our market have the lure for new subscribers of 100 HD channels. They need to deliver soon!

If Verizon wants to play with the big boys they're going to have to offer MLB and Center Ice.

Anything in the near future?

hey come on, there's gotta be some compensation for being last!

I'm bummed that I have to buy showtime to get mgm-hd

A bit confused. Is MGM HD going to be in the movies package? In that case, then you do get showtime HD and its progeny (8 channels), Starz HD (4 channels), TMC (4 channels) and apparently MGM HD (how many channels?), along with 45 SD movie channels for ~$ 15 /month.

You don't get these a la carte, but I think it's a great deal for low money.

Got the new channels last night in Merco Co NJ. Did not get the 1.6 software. All most all of the announced channels are there, TBS is not working yet, and Bio is not there. Also only HBO West and Cmax West were added, and there's a ton of other HBO's/Cmax/Starz listed as coming soon.

If Verizon wants to play with the big boys they're going to have to offer MLB and Center Ice.



"If they want to play with the big boys?"...Don, they ARE the 'big boys'! :)

I dislike the menu enormously, very little information, format is difficult to navigate, doesn't even have the today's date, a typical example is the biography channel doesn't even mention the name of the person. A real disaster, the designer should be fired immediately. Having said that, I hear there are updates addressing this coming soon. Does anyone have information on when?

A bit confused. Is MGM HD going to be in the movies package? In that case, then you do get showtime HD and its progeny (8 channels), Starz HD (4 channels), TMC (4 channels) and apparently MGM HD (how many channels?), along with 45 SD movie channels for ~$ 15 /month.

You don't get these a la carte, but I think it's a great deal for low money.

HDNet Movies looks to have also moved into this territory.

Frankly, I think I would've preferred what D* did and set off a tier for HD only networks. That would've better preserved the SD+500 channel numbering. In other words, HDNet, HDNet Movies, MGM HD, MOJO, Palladia, Universal HD, and (ideally) the Voom suite should be in their own distinct tier.

Well, we've had the realigned channels and new HD / SD channels for a bit now, I am very happy with them. I'm curious though if anyone knows when the second wave of channels are supposed to hit for those of us without the full ~100 channels that have been deployed in some areas. I understand the reasons for the delay, just wondering about the timing.

I'm not getting greedy, I'm happy with what we've got, but there are a few channels I'd like to have that are in the channel lineups I've seen: FX, Speed, ... so - are the dates available, or is it just the .. before the end of the year thing?

I can tell you Hampton Roads is supposed to get the additional channels at the end of Oct, I believe all markets are supposed to get them at roughly the same time.

...Frankly, I think I would've preferred what D* did and set off a tier for HD only networks....
I'm hoping that tomorrow's reorganization does that as we have now...toggle the up/down channel button and you have all the HD channels in a line, regardless of the large space of numbering, but as now, skipping over the blanks that will be filled in later.

Some do, New York, Oregon, ??? (please correct if wrong), but (From an earlier post):.....


I don't think Oregon has the big lineup yet; however, here in certain areas of Washington state, Seattle Metro area, we got the Extreme HD lineup about 100 HD channels. I've had it hooked up for almost 2 weeks and love it... can't believe I was actally a bit hesitant at first to switch from Comcast, but now I'm sure glad I did and feel very lucky to live in a Fios area.

Thanks for the positive feedback re; Comcast Vs FIOS. We'll make the jump as soon as it's available. Odd thing is VZ did all of the work in our area back in June. One of the workers (driving a VZ truck) said it s/b available mid to late July. It's September and still no word from VZ about when we can connect. :confused:

Well, from posts this AM on DSL Reports, it looks like SE PA DID receive all of the "Coming Soon" channels we have in the IMG here in DE.

Another curveball. :D

Article from Bloomberg News on FIOS and Time Warner

Verizon Takes Cable Fight to Tishman Buildings With Chips, Goo

By Amy Thomson


Sept. 11 (Bloomberg) -- In a south Manhattan manhole last month, Verizon Communications Inc. workers coated an inch-wide fiber-optic line with goo to slide it past crowds of cable- television wires under the street.

If only it were so easy to slip past the competition.

Verizon, the phone company spending $23 billion to get into the U.S. TV market, is up against price discounts and advertising campaigns by rivals as it seeks a foothold in New York. The Verizon FiOS package of video, phone and Internet access debuted July 28 in the largest U.S. city, where the company is giving away HBO movies and throwing parties at apartment buildings to win customers.

``New York would be their biggest opportunity, so if that doesn't go well, it would be a bad sign,'' said Todd Rethemeier, a New York-based Soleil Securities analyst. He advises holding onto the stock and called success in fiber optics ``critical.''

The city of more than 8 million may be a bellwether for FiOS across the country, where the market for what's known as triple- play bundles may balloon 50 percent to more than $110 billion by 2012.

Time Warner Cable Inc. rules in Manhattan. Cablevision Systems Corp. dominates Brooklyn and the Bronx.

Verizon, the second-largest U.S. phone company after AT&T Inc., also is contending with an economic slowdown that is limiting consumer spending. That may stymie efforts to use service bundles to make up for its fixed-line business, which accounts for half of revenue and is shrinking amid cable competition.

Guinea Pig

FiOS offers Web-based TV that is streamed down fiber optic lines underground and into homes. The all-fiber system differs from what's offered by AT&T, which uses a mix of fiber and older copper wires.

The FiOS technology provides the fastest Internet speed in the U.S., Verizon says. Installation can take up to 6 hours.

``I feel a little guinea-pig-like,'' Jay Amato said as workers threaded wire from a hub on the floor below into a closet by the door of his 1,900-square-foot Tribeca apartment overlooking the Hudson River. After watching Internet TV for the first time, he said it was ``great.''

Verizon started FiOS in 2004 in Keller, Texas, outside Dallas, and is now breaking into cities, including St. Petersburg, Florida, and Providence, Rhode Island.

In New York, where the carrier is based, officials waited until suppliers such as Corning Inc. began selling fiber that can be bent around corners of buildings without losing signal or strength. Verizon then struck agreements to promote the service with landlords, including Tishman Speyer Properties LP, owner of the 11,232-unit Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village.

Fighting Cable

``In its own backyard, near the headquarters, it's extremely important to have its best product,'' said Wachovia Securities Inc. analyst Jennifer Fritzsche in Chicago, who advises investors to hold the shares and doesn't own any.

FiOS has 1.38 million TV subscribers, while Time Warner Cable has 13.3 million. By the end of 2010, FiOS will be available to 18 million U.S. households, according to Verizon. In New York's five boroughs, the company's plan is to install fiber optic lines to 3.1 million homes by 2014.

FiOS phone, Internet and TV costs $94.99 a month in Manhattan. For new customers, Time Warner Cable sells a three- year deal for its cheapest package, with slower Internet service, for $89.95 a month in the first year and $104.95 the next two.

About 70 percent of local FiOS subscribers switch from cable service, said Courtney Johnson, FiOS operations manager for Southern Manhattan.

Verizon fell 51 cents to $34.72 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock has lost 20 percent this year.

Sharp Message

Verizon marketers spend three or four nights a week in apartment lobbies wooing customers with chips, soda and one-on- one demonstrations. They sign up 20 to 30 people a night, account manager Debbie Roth said. In boroughs outside Manhattan, where there are more single family homes, they throw neighborhood barbeques.

To fight back, Time Warner Cable is running ads telling customers ``Don't be Ed,'' a man whose yard was destroyed during a FiOS installation. Cablevision spokesman Jim Maiella said its ads highlight ``unique'' features such as free wireless Internet access and a caller ID that appears on the TV screen.

``We've sharpened our message a little bit to call them out directly,'' Time Warner Cable spokesman Alex Dudley said.

Slowdown

Last quarter, Verizon TV subscriptions rose 15 percent from the quarter before. A year earlier, second-quarter subscriptions were up 48 percent.

Verizon spokeswoman Bobbi Henson attributed slowing growth to promotions a quarter earlier. FiOS TV's penetration rates, the percentage of the covered population that subscribes to the service, have risen every quarter, she said.

The slowdown is partly because cable providers' ads are proving effective and also is a response to the slump in the housing market, Rethemeier said. It's easier to get consumers to switch service when they move, and fewer people are moving now.

``The cable companies have gotten more on the ball with marketing, marketing their triple plays in order to retain customers,'' Rethemeier said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Amy Thomson in New York at athomson6@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 11, 2008 00:01 EDT

To all that might know...

I live in the Wash DC market and received notice via mail & messages through the guide stating re-alignment will begin 9/17...woohoo!...My question is...According to the mailed guide it only shows HBO/Cinemax channels as premium movie channels, does this mean that TMC, Starz,Showtime are now included in the basic package?..

I hope this is so...

Charlie

They are part of the movie package. I pay $12.99 a month for the movie package which is an excellent deal for the amount of content.

To all that might know...

I live in the Wash DC market and received notice via mail & messages through the guide stating re-alignment will begin 9/17...woohoo!...My question is...According to the mailed guide it only shows HBO/Cinemax channels as premium movie channels, does this mean that TMC, Starz,Showtime are now included in the basic package?..

I hope this is so...

Charlie

CJ-
HBO and Cinemax are "premiums". TMC, Starz, Showtime are in the "Movie Package". Still 2 different packages that you need to pay AND subscribe to. :)

I am ocnsidering Directv satellite HD, or FIOS HD or stickign to OTA HD

Directv HD - from what I heard too much compression so PQ is not so good.
OTA - HD gives great HD PQ but sometime reception is spotty
FIOS-HD - ??? I've heard their PQ is better than Directv , but how does it compare to OTA HD reception?


Also regarding the HD HM DVR - how is the PQ when streamed to other rooms?

Also regarding the HD HM DVR - how is the PQ when streamed to other rooms?

I haven't noticed much or any change in picture quality. But I think Verizon is still working on some bugs with it so it isn't widely available yet.

I am MOST interested in this part of the article:

Verizon started FiOS in 2004 in Keller, Texas, outside Dallas, and is now breaking into cities, including St. Petersburg, Florida, and Providence, Rhode Island.


Sadly though, I live 75 feet away from the border. But it would be nice to know if anyone has heard (in our area), that PROV is getting this?

Verizon CS still has no answer for me whenever I inquire. Of course I also realize it COULD go in 75 feet away from me and I could wait at least a year or more for it in my town. :D

I am ocnsidering Directv satellite HD, or FIOS HD or stickign to OTA HD

Directv HD - from what I heard too much compression so PQ is not so good.
OTA - HD gives great HD PQ but sometime reception is spotty
FIOS-HD - ??? I've heard their PQ is better than Directv , but how does it compare to OTA HD reception?


Also regarding the HD HM DVR - how is the PQ when streamed to other rooms?

FIOS PQ is the same as OTA, no extra compression is done.

thanks, I think that I'm sold on FIOS TV

How much hard drive space does the HM HD DVR have?
Also is it true that it can stream shows from the hard drive to 2 different rooms, while at the same time watching another in the room with the HM DVR?

thanks, I think that I'm sold on FIOS TV

How much hard drive space does the HM HD DVR have?
Also is it true that it can stream shows from the hard drive to 2 different rooms, while at the same time watching another in the room with the HM DVR?

I believe that is true. However, keep in mind that you can only stream to SD receivers, not to an HD receiver in another room.

thanks, I actually asked the CSR that specific question and she told me HD-
I knew she was lying as she was trying to watch her phrasing

thanks, I actually asked the CSR that specific question and she told me HD-
I knew she was lying as she was trying to watch her phrasing

She actually may be telling the truth if we wait a while. I believe that coming up shortly is an HD version of the HM DVR. I have the current (SD) version, and that works pretty well for my (admitedly simple) setup - a single STB in an exercise room.

I have two other regular HD DVR's as well, so I'm actually looking forward to the time when recorded HD can be flying around my house from DVR to DVR, I've heard that is within reach, but not sure of when it is coming. Does anyone know?

Within the next few weeks, ( now thru end of OCT), all Fios areas will be upgraded to IMG v 1.6, which will allow Hd DVR to HD box streaming. Some areas already have it (Portland) ....

So all those ads I see for FiOS with Kevin Garnett (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NieqrsTkRI) of the Boston Celtics are phony? In the ad, Garnett has FiOS installed with multi-room capability, and an HD picture appears to be displayed on all the (very large) receivers. They've been running that ad in the Boston market for months now, too.

The rollout of the new channel lineup for SE Pennsylvania was efficiently done here, and by my count, we have 87 high def channels including those of the subscription movie channels. We picked up 3 additional networks from the published list, and the others are additions to the Starz, HBO, and Cinemax networks. Very happy to see additions, and expect more later on.

Within the next few weeks, ( now thru end of OCT), all Fios areas will be upgraded to IMG v 1.6, which will allow Hd DVR to HD box streaming. Some areas already have it (Portland) ....

So how would this differ from the new HD DVR that does that?

So all those ads I see for FiOS with Kevin Garnett (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NieqrsTkRI) of the Boston Celtics are phony? In the ad, Garnett has FiOS installed with multi-room capability, and an HD picture appears to be displayed on all the (very large) receivers. They've been running that ad in the Boston market for months now, too.

As phony as the FIOS ad with the cable tech. the FIOS tech is using an Amazon Kindle to keep track of his customer appointments and the cable tech has a clipboard to keep track of the customer cancellations.

Within the next few weeks, ( now thru end of OCT), all Fios areas will be upgraded to IMG v 1.6, which will allow Hd DVR to HD box streaming. Some areas already have it (Portland) ....

We were given the new Motorola 7216 boxes here in the Seattle metro area when I got FiosTV installed. The tech said they can be used as a normal HD-DVR or you can activate the multi-room capabilities( for an additional fee ). With multi-room activated; however, you will need another HD STB to view HD content in HD from another room. The regular black STB's will only stream SD stuff the tech said.

Seattle's one of the markets that already has IMG 1.6.

Is Fios availabe in the Los Angeles area?

Depends on your definition of Los Angeles area! Many areas that Verizon is the telephone carrier, FIOS is available. Examples: Santa Monica, Huntington Beach

Within the next few weeks, ( now thru end of OCT), all Fios areas will be upgraded to IMG v 1.6, which will allow Hd DVR to HD box streaming. Some areas already have it (Portland) ....

My 6416 DVR has IMG v 1.6. Can I stream HD content between the two boxes? Or do I need the new HM DVR?

My 6416 DVR has IMG v 1.6. Can I stream HD content between the two boxes? Or do I need the new HM DVR?

That is the whole point of paying for the HM DVR. So you can stream content from box to box or PC to box. 1.6 only allows your HD box to be a part of that process.

So... Any news on when this "Over 100 HD Channels" is going to be added?

So... Any news on when this "Over 100 HD Channels" is going to be added?

it already has in certain areas of the country. ex. NYC. Check the channel lineups on the Verizon website with dates and listings.

Ah, okay. I found an article that says we should have the additional HD channels in North Texas by no later than years end.

Is there a higher premium for these HD channels (I'm not talking about HBO, etc), but channels like Sci-Fi, The Science Ch., History Ch., Fox News, etc.

Ah, okay. I found an article that says we should have the additional HD channels in North Texas by no later than years end.
If you look at the PDF channel line-up for North Texas for the tenative re-alignment of October 8, it shows the big HD channel set. Based on reports for other markets, don't expect all of those channels to show up on day of the re-alignment, but you should have 100+ HD channels well before the end of the year. See http://www22.verizon.com/content/fiostv/channel+lineup/channel+lineup.htm.

For locations that are not upgraded yet, and are in a 12-month free period for their DVR. Will verizon give a free upgrade to the HD version when it's avaiable.

Fios customer in North Jersey.
Has anyone been having intermittent skips on movies above the 900 channel range (HBO, SHO, STZ etc). The best I can describe it is a row of distorted pixles followed by a skip or loss of several frames of video then back to normal. This happens on both the Multi room HD DVR and the standard HD box. Cant say I saw it on the SD box as I hardly watch that set. VOD works flawlessly.
I have tried power cycling both boxes. Still the same.

My 6416 DVR has IMG v 1.6. Can I stream HD content between the two boxes? Or do I need the new HM DVR?

there is no HM box per se-the 6416 has that capability but you have to subscribe to it(extra $4-5/mo. I think).

if you have v. 1.6 IMG there is a menu option that says "GET HM DVR" or something like that. all it does is display the phone # to call to subscribe.

as for the Kevin Garnett ad being "phony"..in all fairness I don't recall that HD is ever mentioned-& frankly the PQ of the video displayed is pretty sad IMHO. the ad insert seems to be aired at a low SD resolution(I've never seen it on any the HD chs come to think of it.)

as for the Kevin Garnett ad being "phony"..in all fairness I don't recall that HD is ever mentioned-& frankly the PQ of the video displayed is pretty sad IMHO. the ad insert seems to be aired at a low SD resolution(I've never seen it on any the HD chs come to think of it.)

I've only seen the ad in SD as well. However the average person who sees a 16:9 movie being shown on a 60" or bigger television thinks they're looking at HD. I've seen reports (http://www.about-electronics.eu/2007/03/01/us-consumers-confused-over-hdtv-technology/) that half of all people with wide-screen TVs don't have any HD signal, and half of those think they're watching HD when they're not.

I actually know a lot more about this than many consumers (I'm here after all), and I thought the ad was touting multi-room HD capability. It's not like Garnett watches the movie on a big screen in the living room then goes to the bedroom and sees it on a 4:3 tube TV.

Countdown to SCI FI and FX HD .... T - 27 days and counting....

Does anybody know if verizon is going to get N.H.L.CENTER ICE this year or any other sport packs? Thank you for any info

Countdown to SCI FI and FX HD .... T - 27 days and counting....

uh..thanks.

:D5 to 10 days here

:D5 to 10 days here

Sure rub it in! :)

Hello,

I am in South Jersey and have the new HD channels now! With more premium HD channels to be added soon (of course Verizon said we would have 60 HD channels by spring but are just getting them now) so, when they soon, I figure by the end of the year lol

They seem to be committed to 100HD channels by the end of the year in all the areas it's available. They have been advertising it now so I expect there to be 100HD channels by the end of the year, just like there is already in the NY area.

Fios customer in North Jersey.
Has anyone been having intermittent skips on movies above the 900 channel range (HBO, SHO, STZ etc). The best I can describe it is a row of distorted pixles followed by a skip or loss of several frames of video then back to normal. This happens on both the Multi room HD DVR and the standard HD box. Cant say I saw it on the SD box as I hardly watch that set. VOD works flawlessly.
I have tried power cycling both boxes. Still the same.

I'm in North Jersey. Haven't seen what you describe exactly, but I am getting semi-frequent audio dropouts on certain HBO channels, lasting for about 3 seconds per. Rather than across the board all the time, the dropouts seem to zero in on one channel. Then, at other times, it might be a different channel.

But I tend to ignore it, focusing more on the usual infuriating problem of the DVR not recording a series when we expect it. Not sure if it is the DVR or the deficient guide not providing proper new/re-run info to the DVR.

Has anyone with 1.6 seen more stability, i.e. evidence of less missed recordings? We don't have that upgrade yet.

<snip> But I tend to ignore it, focusing more on the usual infuriating problem of the DVR not recording a series when we expect it. Not sure if it is the DVR or the deficient guide not providing proper new/re-run info to the DVR.

Has anyone with 1.6 seen more stability, i.e. evidence of less missed recordings? We don't have that upgrade yet.Pssst...one word, TiVo. There, I've gone and said it. :D

Their new HD Box does look look good.

Their new HD Box does look look good.

How do I go about getting that? I'm in Ft Wayne.

Pssst...one word, TiVo....
With the new channel lineup, many folks are reporting problems getting their TiVos aligned with the new channels. All sorts of tricks needed, and with the published lineup having errors and omissions, I'm not sure you'd be getting the right info.

With the new channel lineup, many folks are reporting problems getting their TiVos aligned with the new channels. All sorts of tricks needed, and with the published lineup having errors and omissions, I'm not sure you'd be getting the right info.


For the last few realignments, Tivo has been getting the new channels out within 24-48 hours. And Tivo does a superior job at ensuring all planned recordings and season passes and wishlists are updated to use the new channels with no issues.

Tivo rocks (even though they botched the first few realignments, at least they seem to be on the ball now).

With the new channel lineup, many folks are reporting problems getting their TiVos aligned with the new channels. All sorts of tricks needed, and with the published lineup having errors and omissions, I'm not sure you'd be getting the right info.

That'll be me. Couldn't they have screwed things up on a day other than college football Saturday? Some reports state could be weeks until fixed, but hopefully abfabmag is correct. Still not sure if it's a Tivo or Fios issue.

Anybody know why the VA Tech game on WVEC is not in HD?

Anybody know why the VA Tech game on WVEC is not in HD?

That doesn't sound like a Fios issue. Probably a local broadcast issue.

Anybody know why the VA Tech game on WVEC is not in HD?
Because the network was not providing the game in HD? This is NOT a Verizon issue.

Does anyone know why Texas and CA are receiving so many more new HD channels then the Washington, D.C. metro area? And when is the D.C. area going to get the rest? Thanks.

For the last few realignments, Tivo has been getting the new channels out within 24-48 hours. And Tivo does a superior job at ensuring all planned recordings and season passes and wishlists are updated to use the new channels with no issues.

Tivo rocks (even though they botched the first few realignments, at least they seem to be on the ball now).

yes they did work fast in fixing the line up, best DVR period.

Does anyone know why Texas and CA are receiving so many more new HD channels then the Washington, D.C. metro area? And when is the D.C. area going to get the rest? Thanks.

Because our CO is older, and they still need to build it out.

I fear we (DC/MD) won't see the full 100+ until well into 2009.

The only people so far who are getting the 100+ are the last half of the CO's that were created. Unfortunately, MD/DC was in the first half, before they started building out the CO's on the initial install.

Because our CO is older, and they still need to build it out.

I fear we (DC/MD) won't see the full 100+ until well into 2009.

The only people so far who are getting the 100+ are the last half of the CO's that were created. Unfortunately, MD/DC was in the first half, before they started building out the CO's on the initial install.
Thanks AbMagFab. That's a bummer!

Because our CO is older, and they still need to build it out.

I fear we (DC/MD) won't see the full 100+ until well into 2009.

The only people so far who are getting the 100+ are the last half of the CO's that were created. Unfortunately, MD/DC was in the first half, before they started building out the CO's on the initial install.
No, Texas was the first VHO and was the market to get Fios TV service. And they are getting the big HD line-up in October if the PDF line-up is correct. NY was VHO #5 and they got the 100+ HD channels in late July. Verizon is saying they will roll out 100 HD channels to all markets before the end of 2008 and I see no reason to think otherwise.

AbMagFab-
I have a feeling you'll be pleasantly surprised. You'll have ALL of your channels by the end of Oct / Nov. Don't put much faith into the PDF online at VZ.com

Southeast PA is already at 87 HD channels - my area in DE (47 now, 40 "Coming Soon" in the IMG) should be there this coming week. Our PDF's as well showed the "leaner" lineup.

And, your statement is off a bit. TX and FL were 2 of the 1st areas built for FIOS TV - and they're about to receive the full rollout.

No, Texas was the first VHO and was the market to get Fios TV service. And they are getting the big HD line-up in October if the PDF line-up is correct. NY was VHO #5 and they got the 100+ HD channels in late July. Verizon is saying they will roll out 100 HD channels to all markets before the end of 2008 and I see no reason to think otherwise.


Well, NYC is clearly a priority. They don't have to build out in the exact same order, but the older CO's require more of a build out than the newer CO's.

And the rest will likely be done in order. Texas was first, so Texas is early on in the buildout.

Again, I hope they get it all done by EOY. I'm just not holding out too much hope. They let me down last year when they said (more or less) by 1H08 we'd have 100HD!

And, your statement is off a bit. TX and FL were 2 of the 1st areas built for FIOS TV - and they're about to receive the full rollout.

Right, because aside from priorities (like NYC), they're likely building out in order. That meand DC/MD will be pretty low on the list.

I'm just not holding out hope, and will be pleasantly surprised if it hits.

No, if your analysis is right, DC Metro will definitely be the next VHO to get the full roll out.

VHO 01 - North TX - 10/8/08
VHO 02 - FL Gulf Coast - 10/7/08
VHO 03 - Southern CA - 10/9/08
VHO 04 - Washington Metro, Anne Arundel/Howard County MD, Baltimore MD - ???
VHO 05 - NY - Live July 2008
VHO 06 - MA, RI - Live August 2008
VHO 07 - Northern NJ - Live August 2008
VHO 08 - Mercer Co NJ, Central NJ, Southern NJ, DE(All?), SE PA, Pittsburgh PA(?) - ???
VHO 09 - Hampton Roads VA, Richmond VA - ???
VHO 10 - Fort Wayne IN - ???
VHO 11 - Portland OR - ???
VHO 12 - Seattle WA - Live September 2008

I'm totally guessing that Portland and Seattle are VHOs 11 and 12. Also, I wasn't sure if Northern, Central, and Southern Delaware were all on the same VHO since they seemed to have different roll-up dates. I'm also assuming Buffalo is just a new market within the NY VHO and Pittsburgh just a new market in the NJ/DE/PA VHO. Please correct any errors.

No, if your analysis is right, DC Metro will definitely be the next VHO to get the full roll out.

VHO 01 - North TX - 10/8/08
VHO 02 - FL Gulf Coast - 10/7/08
VHO 03 - Southern CA - 10/9/08
VHO 04 - Washington Metro, Anne Arundel/Howard County MD, Baltimore MD - ???
VHO 05 - NY - Live July 2008
VHO 06 - MA, RI - Live August 2008
VHO 07 - Northern NJ - Live August 2008
VHO 08 - Mercer Co NJ, Central NJ, Southern NJ, DE(All?), SE PA, Pittsburgh PA(?) - ???
VHO 09 - Hampton Roads VA, Richmond VA - ???
VHO 10 - Fort Wayne IN - ???
VHO 11 - Portland OR - ???
VHO 12 - Seattle WA - Live September 2008

I'm totally guessing that Portland and Seattle are VHOs 11 and 12. Also, I wasn't sure if Northern, Central, and Southern Delaware were all on the same VHO since they seemed to have different roll-up dates. I'm also assuming Buffalo is just a new market within the NY VHO and Pittsburgh just a new market in the NJ/DE/PA VHO. Please correct any errors.

Hampton Roads and Richmond are supposed to be the end of Oct and Portland is supposed to get something 9/19, but dunno if the Portland date is the full rollout or the extra premiums.

Am I correct in assuming that 35 to 40 0f these new channels will be subscription movie channels?

Yep. The full roll-up is primarily HBO, Cinemax, Starz, and Showtime networks.

Hampton Roads and Richmond are supposed to be the end of Oct and Portland is supposed to get something 9/19, but dunno if the Portland date is the full rollout or the extra premiums.To be honest, the full roll-up is only a handful of channels besides the premium ones.

Might it be IMG 1.6?

Yep. The full roll-up is primarily HBO, Cinemax, Starz, and Showtime networks.

To be honest, the full roll-up is only a handful of channels besides the premium ones.

Might it be IMG 1.6?

No, these are dates for the Phase II channels, not IMG 1.6. Sent you a PM with more info I don't want to post publicly.

Am I correct in assuming that 35 to 40 0f these new channels will be subscription movie channels?

Don't think it is that high. I would guess 20 maybe. Go here:

http://www.verizonfios.com/tv/ and click on Channel Lineup. Download the NY channel lineup, there you can count up the HD premiums.

Edit: Ok, I counted, so it is about 40 premium stations that are HD (if you count the Movie package as premium). So I guess for the 100 HD stations it is about 40 HDs, 6-10 local HDs(depending on market), and 50 or so regular HD channels.

Yeah, that's true. I guess the Movies package isn't "technically" premium. It's cheap as dirt through Verizon, but on any other provider you'd be paying much more for the Starz and Showtime packages, and they would be premium. (Well, maybe not Showtime after its Paramount/Viacom contract expires.)

I just switched a couple weeks ago from Comcast in the Seattle area and am now paying less for premiums/ movie package ( hbo/max free 1 month ) and paying much less overall and getting way more HD. We get the ExtremeHD lineup.

With Comcast I paid more for premiums and only got One HBO HD channel and One Max-HD channel. Now with Fios, I'm getting 26 HD HBO's and Max channels, and 16 Stars/Showtime/TMC HD channels all with improved PQ over Comcast, it's overwhelming.

So out of the 99 total HD channels we currently get, 42 are in the movie package.

I just switched a couple weeks ago from Comcast in the Seattle area and am now paying less for premiums/ movie package ( hbo/max free 1 month ) and paying much less overall and getting way more HD. We get the ExtremeHD lineup.

With Comcast I paid more for premiums and only got One HBO HD channel and One Max-HD channel. Now with Fios, I'm getting 26 HD HBO's and Max channels, and 16 Stars/Showtime/TMC HD channels all with improved PQ over Comcast, it's overwhelming.

So out of the 99 total HD channels we currently get, 42 are in the movie package.

If that is the case then we are probably only missing 10-15 non-premium HD stations, that is interesting. We are at 46 I think, with 7 of them being premiums, so if you add in 35 more premium that gets us to 81, so 15 or so to go.

No, if your analysis is right, DC Metro will definitely be the next VHO to get the full roll out.

VHO 01 - North TX - 10/8/08
VHO 02 - FL Gulf Coast - 10/7/08
VHO 03 - Southern CA - 10/9/08
VHO 04 - Washington Metro, Anne Arundel/Howard County MD, Baltimore MD - ???
VHO 05 - NY - Live July 2008
VHO 06 - MA, RI - Live August 2008
VHO 07 - Northern NJ - Live August 2008
VHO 08 - Mercer Co NJ, Central NJ, Southern NJ, DE(All?), SE PA, Pittsburgh PA(?) - ???
VHO 09 - Hampton Roads VA, Richmond VA - ???
VHO 10 - Fort Wayne IN - ???
VHO 11 - Portland OR - ???
VHO 12 - Seattle WA - Live September 2008

I'm totally guessing that Portland and Seattle are VHOs 11 and 12. Also, I wasn't sure if Northern, Central, and Southern Delaware were all on the same VHO since they seemed to have different roll-up dates. I'm also assuming Buffalo is just a new market within the NY VHO and Pittsburgh just a new market in the NJ/DE/PA VHO. Please correct any errors.

So what I mean is that the new CO's will get it first (with priorities like NYC), then they'll slowly build out the old ones. Just IMO.

So in the above list, lets assume VHO 06 is when they started building them properly. The next ones would begin at VHO 07 (done), then VHO 08 through VHO 12. Then they'll start back at VHO 01 and finish up the hard ones. So I'm not sure I buy the October dates up there for the early VHO's.

But hopefully I'm completely wrong, and we'll all be done in the next month or so!

And don't get me wrong, I love FiOS TV. I've just been screwed over so many times with HD rollouts from other providers that I don't want to get my hopes up for FiOS and then be disappointed.

The only thing I'm pretty sure about is the first wave is coming next Monday. Yay! If the next wave comes before XMas (and includes FX-HD), I'll be thrilled.

If that is the case then we are probably only missing 10-15 non-premium HD stations, that is interesting. We are at 46 I think, with 7 of them being premiums, so if you add in 35 more premium that gets us to 81, so 15 or so to go.

That sounds about right. I just went thru our guide and counted 58 HD channels, including locals, that didn't include the movie package/premium HD channels.
We are currently missing FSN NW-HD, but I was told they were working on getting that soon, so when they add it, that would bring us to 59.

I'll be satisfied as long as Travel Channel, MASN and MGM are included.

In Rhode Island we currently have the following -
86 total
7 local
42 premium
37 other
According to the company line at Verizon we are slated to add 15 additional HD channels (listed on the updated August 08 PDF) by the end of October (FX, WGN, ESPN News, Speed, Travel, Fox Bus, Fox News, Planet Green, Bio, QVC, Disney, Toon, MOJO, ABC Family, Hallmark).

Does Verizon have any plans to add MOJO HD or NHL Network HD anytime soon? I currently have COX Communications and frankly, I've grown tired of either getting channels at a much later time period or merely not getting them at all. I heard Verison Fios was about to drop 100 Hd channels in Southern California by the second week of October. With those two aforementioned Hd channels along with ESPN U HD, I think that would be enough for me to make the switch. My only concern is Verison's dvr in which the number of hours for HD programming aren't any different than that of COX's.

Correction on the number of channels I posted above earlier for Seattle area:

I went by the handout, which was wrong of course. I knew the numbers were not adding up correctly so I went thru the actual guide and counted. So the correct number we are currently getting in the Seattle Area market is 40 HD movie package/premium channels ( 24 HBO/MAX, 16 Stars/Show/TMC ) plus 58 ( soon to be 59 when FSN is added ) non-premium HD channels ( 8 of those are local HD's ) equalling 98 total HD's currently. I am very happy:)

In Rhode Island we currently have the following -
...
According to the company line at Verizon we are slated to add 15 additional HD channels (listed on the updated August 08 PDF) by the end of October (FX, WGN, ESPN News, Speed, Outdoor, Fox Bus, Fox News, Planet Green, Bio, QVC, Disney, Toon, MOJO, ABC Family, Hallmark).

Interestingly, we have all those here except for MOJO, wonder if they plan on adding that soon... that is the only HD channel that Comcast had that I currently don't have now.

In Rhode Island we currently have the following -
86 total
7 local
42 premium
37 other
According to the company line at Verizon we are slated to add 15 additional HD channels (listed on the updated August 08 PDF) by the end of October (FX, WGN, ESPN News, Speed, Outdoor, Fox Bus, Fox News, Planet Green, Bio, QVC, Disney, Toon, MOJO, ABC Family, Hallmark).

Thanks. I guess the PDF on their website for RI is incorrect (at least for the moment).

VHO 01 - North TX - 10/8/08
VHO 02 - FL Gulf Coast - 10/7/08
VHO 03 - Southern CA - 10/9/08
VHO 04 - Washington Metro, Anne Arundel/Howard County MD, Baltimore MD - ???
VHO 05 - NY - Live July 2008
VHO 06 - MA, RI - End of October?
VHO 07 - Northern NJ - Live August 2008
VHO 08 - Mercer Co NJ, Central NJ, Southern NJ, DE(All?), SE PA, Pittsburgh PA(?) - ???
VHO 09 - Hampton Roads VA, Richmond VA - End of October?
VHO 10 - Fort Wayne IN - ???
VHO 11 - Portland OR - September 19?
VHO 12 - Seattle WA - Live September 2008

I'm totally guessing that Portland and Seattle are VHOs 11 and 12. Also, I wasn't sure if Northern, Central, and Southern Delaware were all on the same VHO since they seemed to have different roll-up dates. I'm also assuming Buffalo is just a new market within the NY VHO and Pittsburgh just a new market in the NJ/DE/PA VHO. Please correct any errors.

In Rhode Island we currently have the following -
86 total
7 local
42 premium
37 other
According to the company line at Verizon we are slated to add 15 additional HD channels (listed on the updated August 08 PDF) by the end of October (FX, WGN, ESPN News, Speed, Travel, Fox Bus, Fox News, Planet Green, Bio, QVC, Disney, Toon, MOJO, ABC Family, Hallmark).

Yeah where are they?

Overnight here in Northern DE - the 40 "Coming Soon" HD channels have gone live - now putting us at 87 HD's (along with our brothers in PA).

VS/Golf, Tennis, TBS, MAV, and WFN - along with the 35 Starz, HBO, Cinemax, Showtime and TMC channels.

Guide data still does not exist - and they all still state "Coming Soon" - but you can now tune to every one of them. I'm assuming the guide data will load throughout today.

EDIT: Reboot of the box brought all new guide data in.

From a quick scan, they all look great. Frequencies are all throughout the analog range - 300 MHz, etc. Now I see why they wanted to ditch the analogs!

Now only the 15 remain (supposedly to come in October)

I can't say i've ever been part of a service that launched 54 HD channels over a 1 week time frame. WOOHOO! Thanks VZ

Alas, still no Fios in MY part of Northern Delaware!!

...I'm assuming the guide data will load throughout today....
Has anyone else noticed that the Guide no longer gives the actor's names when you choose "info". Is this something that may come back when the new one rolls out? Where can I get some information on this 1.6 update?

No, if your analysis is right, DC Metro will definitely be the next VHO to get the full roll out.

VHO 01 - North TX - 10/8/08
VHO 02 - FL Gulf Coast - 10/7/08
VHO 03 - Southern CA - 10/9/08
VHO 04 - Washington Metro, Anne Arundel/Howard County MD, Baltimore MD - ???
VHO 05 - NY - Live July 2008
VHO 06 - MA, RI - Live August 2008
VHO 07 - Northern NJ - Live August 2008
VHO 08 - Mercer Co NJ, Central NJ, Southern NJ, DE(All?), SE PA, Pittsburgh PA(?) - ???
VHO 09 - Hampton Roads VA, Richmond VA - ???
VHO 10 - Fort Wayne IN - ???
VHO 11 - Portland OR - ???
VHO 12 - Seattle WA - Live September 2008

I'm totally guessing that Portland and Seattle are VHOs 11 and 12. Also, I wasn't sure if Northern, Central, and Southern Delaware were all on the same VHO since they seemed to have different roll-up dates. I'm also assuming Buffalo is just a new market within the NY VHO and Pittsburgh just a new market in the NJ/DE/PA VHO. Please correct any errors.

Just one little correction Buffalo is a new VHO and not part of the NYC VHO. It was just completed at the end of August. The first installation are starting today. We are staring off with 100 HD's.

VHO 11 - Portland OR - ???
VHO 12 - Seattle WA - Live September 2008

I'm totally guessing that Portland and Seattle are VHOs 11 and 12.
We should correct this list. The last 2 VHOs in that set are:
VHO 11 - Pittsburgh, PA
VHO 12 - Portland, OR

Since we got the VHO numbering, Seattle WA has started up with TV service and Buffalo, NY starts up today. Both of these are almost certainly going to be new VHOs as they rather far from other existing VHOs. South-central PA which includes the Harrisburg-York-Lancaster DMA set of local stations is due to start up, but don't know if that would be covered by a new VHO or not. A guess would be Seattle as VHO 13 and Buffalo as VHO 14.

Has anyone else noticed that the Guide no longer gives the actor's names when you choose "info". Is this something that may come back when the new one rolls out? Where can I get some information on this 1.6 update?

That will be fixed once they drop the "x-" channels telling you where they moved to, at least that was the case here.

VHO 01 - North TX - 10/8/08
VHO 02 - FL Gulf Coast - 10/7/08
VHO 03 - Southern CA - 10/9/08
VHO 04 - Washington Metro, Anne Arundel/Howard County MD, Baltimore MD - ???
VHO 05 - NY - Live July 2008
VHO 06 - MA, RI - End of October?
VHO 07 - Northern NJ - Live August 2008
VHO 08 - Mercer Co NJ, Central NJ, Southern NJ, DE(All?), SE PA - ???
VHO 09 - Hampton Roads VA, Richmond VA - End of October?
VHO 10 - Fort Wayne IN - ???
VHO 11 - Pittsburgh PA - ???
VHO 12 - Portland OR - September 19?
VHO 13 - Seattle WA - Live September 2008
VHO 14 - Buffalo NY - Live September 2008

Still unsure about the numbering for VHOs 13-14. Also, I am not sure that I have VHO 08 correct. I basically organized PA, DE, and NJ based on who's channel lineup had the full 100 HD channels. But they all have separate roll-up dates, so I'm not confident that's a good metric. Please correct any errors.

Pittsburgh seems to cut against AbMagFab's theory that Verizon was planning for this transition with newer VHOs, as their channel lineup does not list the full 100 HD roll-up.

I am in Sterling, VA (DC Market) and have not yet received the IMG 1.6 update on either of my two HD DVRs. I am served by the same CO as my parents who have gotten the update and have had it for at least a couple weeks now. Do CO's roll out the updates in phases to their customers? Also, is the IMG 1.6 update in any way necessary before the channel realignment and addition of new HD?

Pittsburgh seems to cut against AbMagFab's theory that Verizon was planning for this transition with newer VHOs, as their channel lineup does not list the full 100 HD roll-up.

Why? I'm just saying the newer ones will get the full HD rollout before the older ones.

The newer ones don't necessarily get all 100 first.

I believe there were at least 2 types of CO's built:

1) The really old ones, with barely enough QAM support for the current lineup. Removing analogs, I believe, gives them enough for the first wave.

2) The newer ones (over the last year or so), that have another 6 or 12 QAMs (can't recall how many more). Not enough for the full HD rollout, but more than the old ones, and less costly to fully build out.

3) Newest ones, and post-build out ones, with the full set of QAMs (or at least enough to hold the 100+ HD channels). You'd hope they'll fully build out this time so they don't go through this again in a year.

Anyway, MD/DC is in #1, and I'm just saying the #1 CO's will be last with the full 100+ HD channels. People in #3 will be first, of course. And I'm suggesting that people in #2 will be before people in #1 due to the lower LOE for building out the CO's.

In any case, it doesn't really matter. We'll get them when we get them. I'm sure there are 100+ other variables that effect who they build out when and in what order.

I just know that MD/DC (and many of the older CO's) need a substantial build out, and I'm betting it won't be October when they're done, more like December or even as late as next summer. I hope it's sooner, but I want my expectations to be met or exceeded, rather than blown.

That will be fixed once they drop the "x-" channels telling you where they moved to, at least that was the case here.
Thank you. Right now the guide is worthless when surfing the many movie channels that we now have in HD. Giving us only the year the movie was made is not very helpful.

I made the plunge last night and ordered internet and HD Extreme for my new home, here is what the current offer was for Fort Wayne, IN:

20/5 Internet, HD Extreme, Free DVR for 12 months, Free first month of Internet and TV, 29.99 activation. 100.16/month for 12 months, 116 after that.

I plan to use the free DVR as an experiment to see if the box is as bad as everyone claims before I add a Tivo. I could not stand the Comcast boxes I had in the past which drove me to a custom media center. When the contract company called to confirm the apointment for the ground work and said the yard needs to be graded before they will lay fiber. I guess I get to wait for the grade to take place then re-do the line in the new yard, not a good start.

Also, know ahead of time that to receive any content, you need a STB on every TV in the house. That pricing will change for the number of boxes you need.

FIOS has committed to 100HD channels in their footprint by the end of this year.
This includes the DC area. I've already received three pieces of mail from FIOS specifically stating that my area will have 100HD channels by the end of 2008.

Why? I'm just saying the newer ones will get the full HD rollout before the older ones.

The newer ones don't necessarily get all 100 first.

I believe there were at least 2 types of CO's built:

1) The really old ones, with barely enough QAM support for the current lineup. Removing analogs, I believe, gives them enough for the first wave.

2) The newer ones (over the last year or so), that have another 6 or 12 QAMs (can't recall how many more). Not enough for the full HD rollout, but more than the old ones, and less costly to fully build out.

3) Newest ones, and post-build out ones, with the full set of QAMs (or at least enough to hold the 100+ HD channels). You'd hope they'll fully build out this time so they don't go through this again in a year.

Anyway, MD/DC is in #1, and I'm just saying the #1 CO's will be last with the full 100+ HD channels. People in #3 will be first, of course. And I'm suggesting that people in #2 will be before people in #1 due to the lower LOE for building out the CO's.

In any case, it doesn't really matter. We'll get them when we get them. I'm sure there are 100+ other variables that effect who they build out when and in what order.

I just know that MD/DC (and many of the older CO's) need a substantial build out, and I'm betting it won't be October when they're done, more like December or even as late as next summer. I hope it's sooner, but I want my expectations to be met or exceeded, rather than blown.

I'm in North Jersey. Haven't seen what you describe exactly, but I am getting semi-frequent audio dropouts on certain HBO channels, lasting for about 3 seconds per. Rather than across the board all the time, the dropouts seem to zero in on one channel. Then, at other times, it might be a different channel.

But I tend to ignore it, focusing more on the usual infuriating problem of the DVR not recording a series when we expect it. Not sure if it is the DVR or the deficient guide not providing proper new/re-run info to the DVR.

Has anyone with 1.6 seen more stability, i.e. evidence of less missed recordings? We don't have that upgrade yet.

One thing I noticed with my DVR is that a series setting for "duplicate episodes" or something like this needed to be changed. What was happening was the info on the episode that was scheduled had not been updated from the previous episode, so even though the show was listed as new, the DVR thought it had already recorded it. In other words, the DVR was viewing this as a "duplicate" and therefore skipping the recording. The option to record duplicate episodes was somewhere in the DVR settings menu.

Hope this helps.

Has anyone with 1.6 seen more stability, i.e. evidence of less missed recordings? We don't have that upgrade yet. Same question here. I'm a new subscriber with 1.5, and the box is buggy as hell. Missed recordings, loss of audio when changing channels, recordings freezing when trying to skip forward/back, rewind and fast-forward, and resuming play does not resume from the point the viewing was last stopped. I have to unplug the unit every day or two to fix some of the problems, but it's only temporary.

I love the content and PQ, but this player's issues are starting to become a deal-breaker.

Also, know ahead of time that to receive any content, you need a STB on every TV in the house. That pricing will change for the number of boxes you need.
Not necessarily. If the TV has a QAM tuner, you can get the HD and SD locals, the local public channels, the Music Choice & Urge Radio music channels, some info channels and two national SD channels of note: WGN and The Weather Channel. Almost all of the other national HD and SD channels are encrypted so you need a STB/DVR or cable card setup to view them. However for a kitchen or bedroom TV where some might mainly only watch the broadcast networks and don't need to watch the national cable channels, you can save some money by using the QAM tuner that most newer HD TVs now have.

Same question here. I'm a new subscriber with 1.5, and the box is buggy as hell. Missed recordings, loss of audio when changing channels, recordings freezing when trying to skip forward/back, rewind and fast-forward, and resuming play does not resume from the point the viewing was last stopped. I have to unplug the unit every day or two to fix some of the problems, but it's only temporary.
Those problems were not common with IMG release 1.5 nor have I seen them with 1.6. If your DVR is acting that badly (and you have the setup menu configured correctly), I suggest you have Verizon swap it for a new unit.

This Is FiOS and This Is Big! Really Big! Verizon FiOS TV Makes Its Western New York Debut

Posted : Mon, 15 Sep 2008 17:01:38 GMT
Author : Verizon
Category : Press Release

Sept. 15 NY-Verizon-FiOS-TV

With up to 100 HD Channels Available, Verizon Ushers in New Age of Television
Entertainment and Value

FiOS TV Goes on Sale in First Six Buffalo-Area Communities, Bringing New Era of Choice and Competition to Consumers


BUFFALO, N.Y., Sept. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- There's finally a
home-entertainment choice that's big enough for Buffalo-area consumers as
Verizon begins offering FiOS TV service in numerous Erie County communities
Monday (Sept. 15).

"Consumers in these communities at long last have a better choice for TV," said Denny Strigl, Verizon's president and chief operating officer. "We've had great success in cities and towns from California to Texas, from Florida to Massachusetts. Now it's time to bring Verizon FiOS TV to Western New York in a really big way and provide consumers in the region with the opportunity to be liberated from their old-fashioned cable TV company."

As part of this launch, Verizon will offer up to 100 high-definition (HD)
channels to consumers in the Western New York market.

"Our advanced fiber-optic network was built for HD, and we're offering
more HD channels than Time Warner," said Strigl. "With all-fiber connections running straight to their homes and apartments, viewers get both standard- and high-definition TV that is eye-popping and jaw-dropping."

Verizon is initially offering FiOS TV to more than 60,000 households in
the Buffalo area. Among the first communities to get the service are parts of Amherst; the town and village of Hamburg; the town and village of Orchard Park; and Tonawanda. The service will be available to several additional communities in the region within the next few weeks.

FiOS TV provides an unparalleled viewing experience that comes with
unmatched, red-carpet customer service. FiOS TV also comes with Verizon's FiOS Freedom bundle of FiOS TV, the nation's best Internet service and Verizon's dependable, telephone service -- all starting at $99.99 a month.

To make the offer even sweeter, new customers who subscribe to FiOS TV by Oct. 4 will receive their choice of a year's free use of either an HD digital video recorder (DVR) or an HD Home Media DVR. Verizon is also offering new FiOS TV customers, or existing customers who upgrade to a bundled package, one free month of HBO and Cinemax, which includes the latest hit movies, documentaries and original programming from more than 25 premium channels and
access to hundreds of titles on video-on-demand (VOD). New customers who take advantage of this offer will save between $200 and $260 the first year, depending upon the DVR customers choose.

Nationally, FiOS Internet is available in parts of 16 states, and FiOS TV is offered in parts of 14 states.

Over the past several weeks, Verizon started direct marketing and local advertising in the initial launch neighborhoods to enable consumers to pre-order the FiOS TV service.

"The response from consumers, so far, has been nothing short of amazing," said Andres Irlando, Verizon senior vice president of the New York region. "These advance orders soared well above our expectations." Verizon will start installing FiOS TV in customers' homes starting today.

While Verizon does not yet have a video franchise agreement with Buffalo, the company has started wiring parts of the city with its FiOS network. FiOS Internet service is now available in these areas, offering consumers incredible Internet speeds and the dependability of fiber-optic communications all the way to their homes and businesses, for both Internet and voice service.

In addition, the company placed its state-of-the-art video hub office in downtown Buffalo.

Irlando added: "We hear time and time again that Buffalo-area residents love Verizon, with more than 1,800 Buffalo-area residents employed by the company at more than a dozen work centers, garages, switching centers and call centers throughout the region. Verizon is intrinsically tied to the region, and we're proud to bring our breath-taking, new and cutting-edge services to Buffalo-area consumers."

FiOS TV Service Highlights

Verizon, the nation's fastest-growing television provider, delivers FiOS
TV over the nation's most advanced fiber-optic network straight to consumers' homes and businesses. FiOS TV offers stunning picture-and-sound quality, more high-definition (HD) and video-on-demand (VOD) choices than Time Warner and interactive features that create the ultimate home-entertainment experience. With FiOS TV, subscribers enjoy a broad spectrum of content diversity and
exciting interactive features that set it apart from cable offerings.

Service highlights include:

-- More than 400 all-digital channels grouped by genres such as
entertainment, sports, news, shopping, movies and family, making it easy for audiences to find their favorite programming.

-- Availability of 100 high-definition channels in the Buffalo region,
with extraordinary clarity and theater-quality sound.

-- A library of more than 11,000 VOD titles each month, 70 percent of which are free. The VOD library also includes an increasing number of HD titles. By year-end, Verizon plans to offer 1,000 HD VOD titles each month.

-- An innovative interactive media guide (IMG) that helps customers
quickly and easily find and enjoy content from TV listings, video-on-demand catalogs and the digital video recorder (DVR) as well as personal music andphotos from a home network. Features of the IMG include:

* Multi-Room DVR -- Verizon's Home Media DVR allows customers to stream recorded HD and standard-definition (SD) programs to up to six other TV sets throughout the home. This includes the ability to watch three separately recorded shows on three TV sets at the same time, plus pause recorded programming in one room and continue watching in another.

* Widgets -- Customers have one-touch, on-demand access to widgets that provide local traffic and weather reports, daily local and national news headlines, daily national sports headlines, community news, and daily horoscopes shown on TV screens.

* Free casual games -- With the remote control and an HD set-top box, customers can access chess, solitaire and wordplay.

* "What's Hot on FiOS TV" -- Features information on the most popular programs currently being broadcast in the region and the most popular VOD titles.

* "Wait for Me" -- Customers can pause live programming, change
channels, and then return to the paused program and pick up where they left off.

* Channel sorting options -- Customers can create two separate lists of favorite channels for family members. They also can filter channels in the guide by genre, for instances where a customer may only want to see HD content, international channels or kids programming, among others.

Consumers can visit www.verizon.com/fiostv or call 1-888-438-3467 to find
out if FiOS TV is available at their residence.

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/this-is-fios-and-this,540982.shtml

Not necessarily. If the TV has a QAM tuner, you can get the HD and SD locals, the local public channels, the Music Choice & Urge Radio music channels, some info channels and two national SD channels of note: WGN and The Weather Channel. Almost all of the other national HD and SD channels are encrypted so you need a STB/DVR or cable card setup to view them. However for a kitchen or bedroom TV where some might mainly only watch the broadcast networks and don't need to watch the national cable channels, you can save some money by using the QAM tuner that most newer HD TVs now have.

I do find it somewhat strange that they have all the basic cable channels encrypted (except for those you noted).

Unlike typical cable, one needs an ONT on the side of the house to get these from fiber to RG6. Its not like someone can splice into the fiber to steal the signal (and as the ONT would be shut down once the service was terminated, that is of little use as well).

Thus it seems they would allow the basic core level channels to be unencrypted and available - but obviously they do not.

Anyone have any GOOD explanation why?

I do find it somewhat strange that they have all the basic cable channels encrypted (except for those you noted).

Unlike typical cable, one needs an ONT on the side of the house to get these from fiber to RG6. Its not like someone can splice into the fiber to steal the signal (and as the ONT would be shut down once the service was terminated, that is of little use as well).

Thus it seems they would allow the basic core level channels to be unencrypted and available - but obviously they do not.

Anyone have any GOOD explanation why?

$5 to $15 per month, per TV. Pretty straight forward.

I do find it somewhat strange that they have all the basic cable channels encrypted (except for those you noted).

Unlike typical cable, one needs an ONT on the side of the house to get these from fiber to RG6. Its not like someone can splice into the fiber to steal the signal (and as the ONT would be shut down once the service was terminated, that is of little use as well).
Well, you could share the unencrypted channels with your neighbors by splitting off extra co-axial cables after the ONT. I live in a row of townhouses; I could easily run a co-axial at the splitters to my neighbors on either side of me. One of the reasons to go all-digital for cable companies is to cut way down on cable theft which has been a long term problem for analog cable TV. Not much of an issue for a new technology service such as Verizon of course.

Second, my understanding is that the encryption is also usually contractually required by the cable network. They don't want to see income eroded by cable theft or non-paying customers due to sloppy cable companies. So they automatically require it for the digital versions of their channel(s).

Don't expect to see ESPN-HD, the sports channels or the premium movie channels to be sent in the clear (except for a free preview weekend sort of thing). But Verizon could probably arrange for Discovery HD Theater and several national educational/news HD channels to be sent in the clear. I think I recall finding one of the SD shopping channels in the clear somewhere, but didn't care about that. Verizon is providing the SD version of the Weather Channel in the clear here on QAM 66-103. Are they doing the same for the HD version for the markets that have gotten the HD Weather Channel?

It amazes me that Verizon is one of the sponsers for the N.H.L. , but they don't offer the N.H.L. Network , or N.H.L. center Ice. This this seem Odd or what?

Well, you could share the unencrypted channels with your neighbors by splitting off extra co-axial cables after the ONT. I live in a row of townhouses; I could easily run a co-axial at the splitters to my neighbors on either side of me. One of the reasons to go all-digital for cable companies is to cut way down on cable theft which has been a long term problem for analog cable TV. Not much of an issue for a new technology service such as Verizon of course.

Second, my understanding is that the encryption is also usually contractually required by the cable network. They don't want to see income eroded by cable theft or non-paying customers due to sloppy cable companies. So they automatically require it for the digital versions of their channel(s).

Don't expect to see ESPN-HD, the sports channels or the premium movie channels to be sent in the clear (except for a free preview weekend sort of thing). But Verizon could probably arrange for Discovery HD Theater and several national educational/news HD channels to be sent in the clear. I think I recall finding one of the SD shopping channels in the clear somewhere, but didn't care about that. Verizon is providing the SD version of the Weather Channel in the clear here on QAM 66-103. Are they doing the same for the HD version for the markets that have gotten the HD Weather Channel?


I hear you and I understand why you might believe that, but given the realities of things, I don't buy it.

I could just as easy run a drop in a townhome past the ONT and just pay you $5 for the additional STB - or even get as many STBs as I wanted and split the price with you if that was the issue. The very few that steal cable will always find a way.

Old cable practices made it easy to connect the cable back once service was terminated. That just isnt the case fiber.

I also am of many providers contracts and what you outline isnt there.

There just has to be more to why they do not leave the QAMs unencrypted for the basic TV service.

I don't think there's much more to it at all. As afiggatt said, the cable networks often require encryption, and I suspect their contracts with the program producers require it as well. This is, after all, an industry which invested millions of dollars to make it extremely difficult to do anything with an HD signal via HDCP (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDCP) technologies, not to mention the amount they spent on the now-already-broken AACS (http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/?cat=40) protections for HD optical media.

Even though I have a ATSC/QAM add-in board sitting next to the PC attached to our television, I've never bothered to install it and get it working with something like MythTV. Other than the occasional sports telecast, we never watch network or syndicated programs, so the unencrypted channels have nothing I care to record. Those that have programming we might want to record are all encrypted.

All the FIOS basic cable channels are unencrypted. The basic cable channels on FIOS are all the local channels and I can receive those on every QAM tuner I have without any cable cards.

Having all the other channels encrypted is much better. There used to be to much theft going on because people were too cheap to pay a few extra dollars. Now they don't have a choice. I have no problem with it. I just wish they would have prosecuted all the people they caught stealing service in the past.

I do find it somewhat strange that they have all the basic cable channels encrypted (except for those you noted).

Unlike typical cable, one needs an ONT on the side of the house to get these from fiber to RG6. Its not like someone can splice into the fiber to steal the signal (and as the ONT would be shut down once the service was terminated, that is of little use as well).

Thus it seems they would allow the basic core level channels to be unencrypted and available - but obviously they do not.

Anyone have any GOOD explanation why?

All the FIOS basic cable channels are unencrypted. The basic cable channels on FIOS are all the local channels and I can receive those on every QAM tuner I have without any cable cards.

"Basic Cable" typically means non-premium cable, so things like USA, FX, etc. That's not what you mean, and they are encrypted on FiOS.

You mean the locals, and only the locals, are unencrypted, which is what everyone has been saying so far.

"Basic Cable" typically means non-premium cable, so things like USA, FX, etc. That's not what you mean, and they are encrypted on FiOS.

You mean the locals, and only the locals, are unencrypted, which is what everyone has been saying so far.

If it means non-premium then that would be every channel except for the channels like HBO, Starz ext.

Basic to me are the local channels. That's bare bones and very basic. Although either way you have to pay for them to get them through a cable.

Anyway I see no point in sending anything except local channels unencypted. Everything should be encrypted except for the local channels.
This isn't 1980, or the 20th century. It's 2008 and it's the 21st century.

is there a chance that fios till have nbatv and nba league pass this season. im not going to drop fios if they dont get it but i want to be able to watch games everyday preferably in hd like directv and dish networks league pass hd

Would someone post the link and/or phone number to get in touch with Verizon to get the "free" STB they were offering for the digital conversion?


Never mind... found it...

1-888-463-4448

Apparently the offer is still good for 1 free adapter per household. I just called & they are sending it out. ETA - 5 to 7 days.

* "Wait for Me" -- Customers can pause live programming, change
channels, and then return to the paused program and pick up where they left off.



I knew about all the other features but this one. After I read about this in this post yesterday, I tried it last night and it works great, pretty neat.

If it means non-premium then that would be every channel except for the channels like HBO, Starz ext.

Basic to me are the local channels. That's bare bones and very basic. Although either way you have to pay for them to get them through a cable.

Anyway I see no point in sending anything except local channels unencypted. Everything should be encrypted except for the local channels.
This isn't 1980, or the 20th century. It's 2008 and it's the 21st century.

The generally accepted terminology is:

Locals = Locals

Basic Cable = The channels you get without paying extra, generally the basic tier, includes things like Discovery, Spike, FX, ESPN, etc. There is usually one basic tier.

Premium - Anything you pay extra for, including HBO, extra sports tiers, etc. There can be multiple premium tiers.

So when the lowest tier only has locals then that is considered basic?

To be clear, some people distinguish Basic from Extended Basic, in which case Basic would be what Verizon used to provide on its analog tier plus C-Span and the like. Extended Basic would be what most cable companies provide without the purchase of a STB.

Many cable franchises still require a "lifeline" service to be available. This is generally the OTA stations in a market and any public access/educational/municipal channels on the system. Few cable companies openly advertise it but you can usually get it for $10-$15 a month. Fios may technically have to offer this service. So in theory, someone could subscribe to the lifeline service and get all those other channels for free if they weren't scrambled.

So when the lowest tier only has locals then that is considered basic?

No, that's usually called "Lifeline" or something like that.

The first tier beyond just locals is generally called "Basic".

They just put in the new cable/Fiber Optic boxes on my street today( Perris, So Cal). In talking with one of the guys Verizon is running the new fiber optic behind them:D. I have seen them around the last week and was hoping that FIOS would be coming soon. I can't wait to ditch D* after 3+ yrs and the crap they give you as a HD DVR!
I get ALL of their (D*) channels/ HD and pay $135.00 a month. What should I expect to pay for Fios? I have one HD tv and two standard TV's and I will want the HD DVR.
I saw Fios at a local Furniture store and the HD PQ looks so much better than D*. Is there any problems with the SQ as sometimes the sound pops in and out of my current provider?
Any other info you think I should be aware of before I switch would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Mark

They just put in the new cable/Fiber Optic boxes on my street today( Perris, So Cal). In talking with one of the guys Verizon is running the new fiber optic behind them:D. I have seen them around the last week and was hoping that FIOS would be coming soon. I can't wait to ditch D* after 3+ yrs and the crap they give you as a HD DVR!
I get ALL of their (D*) channels/ HD and pay $135.00 a month. What should I expect to pay for Fios? I have one HD tv and two standard TV's and I will want the HD DVR.
I saw Fios at a local Furniture store and the HD PQ looks so much better than D*. Is there any problems with the SQ as sometimes the sound pops in and out of my current provider?
Any other info you think I should be aware of before I switch would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Mark

FIOS everything + 20/5 Internet + Phone = ~$165. Add in some for boxes and/or cable cards.

FIOS everything + 20/5 Internet + Phone = ~$165. Add in some for boxes and/or cable cards.


I have FIOS TV with everything except HBO, 20/5 internet, and phone (Freedom Essentials). I have one Home Media DVR, one HD DVR, one HD receiver, and one SD receiver. My bill runs about $220/month.

They just put in the new cable/Fiber Optic boxes on my street today( Perris, So Cal). In talking with one of the guys Verizon is running the new fiber optic behind them:D. I have seen them around the last week and was hoping that FIOS would be coming soon. I can't wait to ditch D* after 3+ yrs and the crap they give you as a HD DVR!
I get ALL of their (D*) channels/ HD and pay $135.00 a month. What should I expect to pay for Fios? I have one HD tv and two standard TV's and I will want the HD DVR.
I saw Fios at a local Furniture store and the HD PQ looks so much better than D*. Is there any problems with the SQ as sometimes the sound pops in and out of my current provider?
Any other info you think I should be aware of before I switch would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Mark

FIOS TV charge:

FiOS TV Premier $42.99
Movies and Sports $15.99
HBO/Cinemax $21.99
Standard STB Rental $4.99
Home Media DVR - High Definition $19.99
HD DVR Rental 2 at 12.99 $25.98
-------
Total:$131.94

Of course, the total for one HD DVR with the above is $93.96.

Add about $120 for 20/20 internet and phone service, so for a household of 5 avid television/internet/HDVOD users, it's about $250/month for everything that FIOS offers (will soon add Setanta, so add $15 for that).

When I left D*, I was paying $145 for non HD service, only HBO as a premier service. I am paying ~$15 less per month for everything in FIOS. I was also a Comcast internet customer, paying $76/mo for 6Mb/s down, 1 Mup service.

Needless to say, I'm happy with this service despite the growing pains which seem to be mostly over. Now if we can get that eSATA port going....

I can't wait to ditch D* after 3+ yrs and the crap they give you as a HD DVR!

Warning you right now - you will be disappointed with the DVR. The D* unit is miles ahead of the FiOS HD DVR.

Plan on getting a Series 3 TiVO if you think the D* HR-2x series is bad.

Get FiOS for the PQ - not the DVR.

No Parental Controls on Recorded Programs?
I noticed something odd yesterday. I started to watch the DVR'ed premiere of True Blood, and wasn't prompted for a password. It's rated TV-MA. I verified that this rating is blocked in my parental controls. I know the parental controls work for live programming, but has this glitch always existed for recorded content? I'm concerned that our daughter can choose anything to watch when we're not in the room. The first few minutes of True Blood had a lot of adult content...but I wasn't interested enough to watch the rest, so it might have gotten even worse.;)

Doug

HI.... I just signed up for the FIOS triple play package here in Oxnard, CA so I can FINALLY dump TWC and their lackluster HD channels, plus I just discovered that FIOS will be adding 100+ HD channels in October :)

I just have some questions about the installation and what it involves, first of all I live in an apartment and I believe that it's already wired for FIOS because there is a small Verizon outlet box in my closet and it has what I believe to be a Fiber optic cord in it, I also have Verizon DSL installed

Because I have that Verizon outlet box and existing DSL will there not be as much installation needed or is that box something totally different ???

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Anne Arundel County (and presumably Howard) in MD got rearranged last night... now counting 41 HDs (plus locals.) The message center says changes on the 17th and 18th so maybe more changes tonight? My CO was the first in the county so I'm not holding my breath for the full 100.

HI.... I just signed up for the FIOS triple play package here in Oxnard, CA so I can FINALLY dump TWC and their lackluster HD channels, plus I just discovered that FIOS will be adding 100+ HD channels in October :)

I just have some questions about the installation and what it involves, first of all I live in an apartment and I believe that it's already wired for FIOS because there is a small Verizon outlet box in my closet and it has what I believe to be a Fiber optic cord in it, I also have Verizon DSL installed

Because I have that Verizon outlet box and existing DSL will there not be as much installation needed or is that box something totally different ???

Any help would be greatly appreciated

If that actually is fiber, the installation may be easier... assuming the apt. has coax throughout, terminating at or near the Verizon box. How long has it been there? From what we've heard, Vz only recently started wiring MDUs in the last few months (and new buildings for a year or so.) Post a photo!
The existing DSL helps only in the sense that you already have Cat-5 going to where you want it.
They're not adding 100 channels... but will have a total of 100 by the end of the year. (Well if you don't have FiOS I guess they would be adding 100!) :)

In Rhode Island we currently have the following -
86 total
7 local
42 premium
37 other
According to the company line at Verizon we are slated to add 15 additional HD channels (listed on the updated August 08 PDF) by the end of October (FX, WGN, ESPN News, Speed, Travel, Fox Bus, Fox News, Planet Green, Bio, QVC, Disney, Toon, MOJO, ABC Family, Hallmark).

Does anyone know the "criteria" Verizon uses to determine where they are going to "run" FIOS TV next? Of course I am jealous, but I see a fellow Rhode Islander has it and he resides in Narragansett. Not quite a mecca of population down there :D. I live in Pawtucket and literally 75 feet from the Providence line - the capital city. As far as I know, even Providence does not have it yet.

So is it more costly for them to run in the populated areas as opposed to rural areas?

Does anyone know the "criteria" Verizon uses to determine where they are going to "run" FIOS TV next? Of course I am jealous, but I see a fellow Rhode Islander has it and he resides in Narragansett. Not quite a mecca of population down there :D. I live in Pawtucket and literally 75 feet from the Providence line - the capital city. As far as I know, even Providence does not have it yet.

So is it more costly for them to run in the populated areas as opposed to rural areas?
No.

It's more costly to run it to areas where the customers won't be willing to spend the bucks for the service. Lets face it, they're aiming for the money areas first unless they happen to need to pass through other areas on their way to the high ticket ones.

No.

It's more costly to run it to areas where the customers won't be willing to spend the bucks for the service. Lets face it, they're aiming for the money areas first unless they happen to need to pass through other areas on their way to the high ticket ones.


They've committed to wiring our entire county in 5 years. Four more left. This includes all areas rich and poor, but the franchise agreement requires them to wire the entire county.

In general I agree with NetworkTV that Verizon's rollouts so far represent "cherry-picking" with the additional caveat that wiring older cities where they have to pull cable through conduits is more costly than wiring suburbs where the cable can be hung on poles. Boston doesn't have FiOS either, though nearly all the surrounding suburbs do. I know more modern suburbs have underground cabling, but I'd bet that's still easier to install than mucking around under cities as old as Providence.

There is also the issue of dealing with municipal franchising agencies. I noticed recently that the Cable Commission for the City of Boston doesn't even mention a petition from Verizon on its web page. Franchising can be a highly political and expensive endeavor, especially in cities where there are many competing interests. Dealing with smaller towns and cities, especially affluent suburbs, is probably a much easier task.

One other difference between states like RI and MA and states like VA is that counties play a much diminished role in New England. Massachusetts has 351 individual cities and towns, and each of them has jurisdiction over cable franchising in its community. I think RI is more like us than like northern VA.

They've committed to wiring our entire county in 5 years. Four more left. This includes all areas rich and poor, but the franchise agreement requires them to wire the entire county.

You state the entire country, but I thought it was their entire coverage. Is that what you mean, or do you mean to say that they will be everywhere in five years including AT&T areas etc?

As for cherry picking. Here in Tampa, the city wouldn't give them a carriage agreement unless they were willing to provide service to every single houshold in the city.

You state the entire country, but I thought it was their entire coverage.

I misread aaronwt's posting the same way you did. He said "county" not "country." There is no such thing as national franchising.

I suspect it's that "all-or-nothing" feature that you mentioned for Tampa that impedes wiring large cities. You could imagine a franchising model that would let the operators expand coverage throughout the city over time. I can understand if city governments don't allow this, though, since it's likely the poorer and less attractive areas would always be scheduled to get service "sometime soon."

I knew about all the other features but this one. After I read about this in this post yesterday, I tried it last night and it works great, pretty neat.


What buttons do you hit to do this?

Does anyone know the "criteria" Verizon uses to determine where they are going to "run" FIOS TV next? Of course I am jealous, but I see a fellow Rhode Islander has it and he resides in Narragansett. Not quite a mecca of population down there :D. I live in Pawtucket and literally 75 feet from the Providence line - the capital city. As far as I know, even Providence does not have it yet.

So is it more costly for them to run in the populated areas as opposed to rural areas?

They've committed to wiring our entire county in 5 years. Four more left. This includes all areas rich and poor, but the franchise agreement requires them to wire the entire county.

There is also the issue of dealing with municipal franchising agencies. I noticed recently that the Cable Commission for the City of Boston doesn't even mention a petition from Verizon on its web page. Franchising can be a highly political and expensive endeavor, especially in cities where there are many competing interests. Dealing with smaller towns and cities, especially affluent suburbs, is probably a much easier task.

One other difference between states like RI and MA and states like VA is that counties play a much diminished role in New England. Massachusetts has 351 individual cities and towns, and each of them has jurisdiction over cable franchising in its community. I think RI is more like us than like northern VA.

As for cherry picking. Here in Tampa, the city wouldn't give them a carriage agreement unless they were willing to provide service to every single houshold in the city.

All the above point to the reason that for the last 18+ months, Verizon has focused their rollout in areas that have Statewide Regulation instead of negotations at the local level (unless they were pretty far along in their negotiations for local agreements 18+ months ago and without burdening cost/regulations added on at the local level).

In our area, the various townships where the franchising control lies, 37 of them, went together to form a coalition to speed things along with an overall agreement. Verizon had to break the "one supplier" franchising that existed prior to them coming in, and the coalition wrote the new ordinances that allowed this. Of course, the bottleneck still existed after the agreement was reached because each local government had to officially adopt that ordinance. Not the best way to run an airline!!! :(

Since the QIP7216 is rolling out... I have started a new thread for that.

You can find it here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1067803

In our area, the various townships where the franchising control lies, 37 of them, went together to form a coalition to speed things along with an overall agreement. Verizon had to break the "one supplier" franchising that existed prior to them coming in, and the coalition wrote the new ordinances that allowed this. Of course, the bottleneck still existed after the agreement was reached because each local government had to officially adopt that ordinance. Not the best way to run an airline!!! :(

Verizon did the same thing here in Delaware County, PA. Something like 50+ communities got together to simplify the process. Thank God they did because Media can be a pain in the rear with that stuff.

I absolutely love Verizon. Comcast was terrible and Verizon saved me from them.

What buttons do you hit to do this?

I just hit the pause button on whatever channel I'm on, then either hit the "last" button to go to a previous channel or surf the channel guide to go to another channel. Once I'm on an another channel, hit the "last" button, to take you back to the paused channel. Hit play to continue from where you left off.

Note: We just got FiosTV service like 2 weeks ago or so with 100 HD channels and the latest guide software that takes advantage of this. I'm pretty sure this is a new feature everyone will get soon if you don't have it already in your area.

3 more days until the realignment and new HD channels in the Washington Metro market!!! :D

I just hit the pause button on whatever channel I'm on, then either hit the "last" button to go to a previous channel or surf the channel guide to go to another channel. Once I'm on an another channel, hit the "last" button, to take you back to the paused channel. Hit play to continue from where you left off.

Note: We just got FiosTV service like 2 weeks ago or so with 100 HD channels and the latest guide software that takes advantage of this. I'm pretty sure this is a new feature everyone will get soon if you don't have it already in your area.

Thanks. I have the newst image 1.6 or whatever it is on my DVR, so I should be able to do it. I will try it tonight.

Thanks. I have the newst image 1.6 or whatever it is on my DVR, so I should be able to do it. I will try it tonight.

Just tried and yes, it works. Both channels can be paused. One minor glitch... as you jump in & out of each frozen picture, a few frames are played out of sequence...not really a problem, just not as clean as it could be.

Good news, Verizon has updated the channel lineup page to include the first markets for the second roll-up!

Central New Jersey: 10/8 (http://www22.verizon.com/NROneRetail/NR/rdonlyres/9B0ED113-F9A7-4091-B7E0-3FFC3AEE3D15/0/CNJ_PFN.pdf)
Central Delaware: 10/9 (http://www22.verizon.com/NROneRetail/NR/rdonlyres/9A5452DA-FFA7-4843-9C09-05D6AA330E76/0/CDEL_PFN.pdf)

Both are missing MGM HD, presumably in error. They've also shifted HDNet Movies to a separate, non-premium Movies heading.

Interestingly, neither PDF uses the "FiOS Extreme HD" branding.

Full 100 HD Known Roll-up Schedule

VHO 01 - North TX - 10/8/08
VHO 02 - FL Gulf Coast - 10/7/08
VHO 03 - Southern CA - 10/9/08
VHO 04 - Washington Metro, Anne Arundel/Howard County MD, Baltimore MD - ???
VHO 05 - NY - Live July 2008
VHO 06 - MA, RI - End of October?
VHO 07 - Northern NJ - Live August 2008
VHO 08 - Central NJ - 10/8/08, Central DE - 10/9/08; Mercer Co. NJ, Southern NJ, Northern/Southern DE, SE PA - ???
VHO 09 - Hampton Roads VA, Richmond VA - End of October?
VHO 10 - Fort Wayne IN - ???
VHO 11 - Pittsburgh PA - ???
VHO 12 - Portland OR - September 19?
VHO 13 - Seattle WA - Live September 2008
VHO 14 - Buffalo NY - Live September 2008

Still unsure about the numbering for VHOs 13-14. Also, I am not sure that I have VHO 08 correct. I basically organized PA, DE, and NJ based on who's channel lineup had the full 100 HD channels. But they all have separate roll-up dates, so I'm not confident that's a good metric. Please correct any errors.

In SE PA, we have the latest channel alignment, with, by my count, about 87 channels, and MGM is not one of them. A new channel lineup PDF has been listed for us on that page, and also does not use the Extreme wording.

Did anyone have problems getting the new premium channels activated after the realignment? My friend over in Howard County said it took Tivo about 3 days to get the new lineup, but the new premium HD's (HBO, MAX, TMC, etc.) aren't working at all - no signal on any of them.

My realignment is Monday, so I'm hoping to learn all the tricks to get things working again before my time hits...

In SE PA, we have the latest channel alignment, with, by my count, about 87 channels, and MGM is not one of them. A new channel lineup PDF has been listed for us on that page, and also does not use the Extreme wording.

It looks like you don't have the full roll-up yet. According to the PDF, you're also missing Disney Channel, Toon Disney, WGN, ESPNEWS, Fox News, Fox Business, QVC, Speed, and maybe others.

Actually, it looks like I was mistaken and these second waves do not include the full 100 HD. Central NJ and Central DE are rolling up to the lineup they have in SE PA.

I was going to make a big fuss about it and make a thread, but I guess I'll ask here before that.
I've checked the headers of ALL the new channels and almost all of them have 18.000 Mbps headers, with 25.000 Mbps headers on a few.

I'm worried that the new channels might be shaped. All of the old channels have the correct, untouched headers. For example, HDNet Movies would have 17.59 or 65.00 Mbps headers. The header is correct if it's the actual bitrate, or near the actual avg bitrate of the channel. Then some have remuxed headers like 80.00 Mbps for DiscoveryHD, or 65.00 Mbps for NatGeo.

Some of the new channels have 25.00 Mbps headers like CNN. What worries me is that some providers that do bitrate shaping like Comcast, have 25.00 Mbps headers for those compressed channels. NONE of the new channels have the correct headers. All are either 18.00 or 25.00. Here are my findings: http://pastebin.com/m618b7dd9

Can anyone comment on the cause for these incorrect headers?

Yes, we are missing all of those channels, and there hasn't been any indication as to when we will get them.

Many people have written about the problem getting a TiVO synced to the new lineup. Seems there's a communication problem with Verizon getting the proper info to whomever takes on that new lineup. Have your friend try different area zip codes to see if that works there...it did in the Philadelphia area.

I'm worried that the new channels might be shaped. All of the old channels have the correct, untouched headers. For example, HDNet Movies would have 17.59 or 65.00 Mbps headers. The header is correct if it's the actual bitrate, or near the actual avg bitrate of the channel. Then some have remuxed headers like 80.00 Mbps for DiscoveryHD, or 65.00 Mbps for NatGeo.

Some of the new channels have 25.00 Mbps headers like CNN. What worries me is that some providers that do bitrate shaping like Comcast, have 25.00 Mbps headers for those compressed channels. NONE of the new channels have the correct headers. All are either 18.00 or 25.00. Here are my findings: http://pastebin.com/m618b7dd9

60--80 mbps? Recall a Discovery rep posting a while back they were going with that. But since that's roughly double many Blu-ray MPEG-2 peak rates, it's hard to grasp they're really delivery 1080i, for one channel, to Verizon and they're passing that on. Those rates aren't for multiple channels being read as one rate? -- John

60--80 mbps? Recall a Discovery rep posting a while back they were going with that. But since that's roughly double many Blu-ray MPEG-2 peak rates, it's hard to grasp they're really delivery 1080i, for one channel, to Verizon and they're passing that on. Those rates aren't for multiple channels being read as one rate? -- John

MPEG2 transport stream HEADER bitrate. Not actual bitrate.

I'm here to report that FIOS has arrived in Southern California !!!!

I live in Oxnard, CA and I signed up for their triple play bundle and will have it installed on Sep 26th !!

... and if that didn't sell me enough they told me that in just 13 days after my install date (10/9) that they will be adding more HD channels for a total of 100 :)

I feel blessed

I was going to make a big fuss about it and make a thread, but I guess I'll ask here before that.
I've checked the headers of ALL the new channels and almost all of them have 18.000 Mbps headers, with 25.000 Mbps headers on a few.

I'm worried that the new channels might be shaped. All of the old channels have the correct, untouched headers. For example, HDNet Movies would have 17.59 or 65.00 Mbps headers. The header is correct if it's the actual bitrate, or near the actual avg bitrate of the channel. Then some have remuxed headers like 80.00 Mbps for DiscoveryHD, or 65.00 Mbps for NatGeo.

Some of the new channels have 25.00 Mbps headers like CNN. What worries me is that some providers that do bitrate shaping like Comcast, have 25.00 Mbps headers for those compressed channels. NONE of the new channels have the correct headers. All are either 18.00 or 25.00. Here are my findings: http://pastebin.com/m618b7dd9

Can anyone comment on the cause for these incorrect headers?

Well, according to your list, HBO-HD West is 18.00 Mbps header - when its 13.10Mbps off C-Band.

Second, while FiOS is pretty much a clone of the distribution feed, there has always been slight differences, as Repeated adaptation/non-payload packets and PCR intervals are not the same.

Headers just give the max to the equipment - not sure that I really care if the header is incorrect as long as its higher than what is being distributed (such as in the HBO-HD West example above).

Third, the channels that are being distributed in MPEG4 will have to be re-encoded.

I was going to make a big fuss about it and make a thread, but I guess I'll ask here before that.
I've checked the headers of ALL the new channels and almost all of them have 18.000 Mbps headers, with 25.000 Mbps headers on a few.

I'm worried that the new channels might be shaped. All of the old channels have the correct, untouched headers. For example, HDNet Movies would have 17.59 or 65.00 Mbps headers. The header is correct if it's the actual bitrate, or near the actual avg bitrate of the channel. Then some have remuxed headers like 80.00 Mbps for DiscoveryHD, or 65.00 Mbps for NatGeo.

Some of the new channels have 25.00 Mbps headers like CNN. What worries me is that some providers that do bitrate shaping like Comcast, have 25.00 Mbps headers for those compressed channels. NONE of the new channels have the correct headers. All are either 18.00 or 25.00. Here are my findings: http://pastebin.com/m618b7dd9

Can anyone comment on the cause for these incorrect headers?
If vbv_delay = 0xffff, then the bitrate header doesn't matter. It should be set to a value higher than the peak bitrate, but decoders don't really look for that. The only real criteria is that all the bits for a picture arrive at the decoder before the DTS (Decoding Time Stamp).

Ron

Well, according to your list, HBO-HD West is 18.00 Mbps header - when its 13.10Mbps off C-Band.Is HBO/MAX sending out MPEG4 streams yet?

Is HBO/MAX sending out MPEG4 streams yet?


That's what I was wondering. I thought HBO had switched all their feeds to MPEG4 and FIOS only sends out MPEG2 so there has to be some transcoding from FIOS.

That's what I was wondering. I thought HBO had switched all their feeds to MPEG4 and FIOS only sends out MPEG2 so there has to be some transcoding from FIOS.This is the rumored hold up to why DirecTV is not carrying the entire suite in HD yet. DirecTV is waiting for MPEG4 delivery of the HBO/MAX streams...

I'm here to report that FIOS has arrived in Southern California !!!!

I live in Oxnard, CA and I signed up for their triple play bundle and will have it installed on Sep 26th !!

... and if that didn't sell me enough they told me that in just 13 days after my install date (10/9) that they will be adding more HD channels for a total of 100 :)

I feel blessed

Welcome you will enjoy...BTW FiOS Arrived in So Cal over a Year ago in HB but what the heck we can celebrate with you. I am patiently waiting for 10/9 !!!

This is the rumored hold up to why DirecTV is not carrying the entire suite in HD yet. DirecTV is waiting for MPEG4 delivery of the HBO/MAX streams...

Those are already available. While HBO HD East and West (and Cinemax HD East and West) is available on C Band off 127W, the entire suite in HD is only available on 125W in MPEG4. Note also there are 8-10 channels per transponder.

http://www.lyngsat.com/galaxy14.html

If vbv_delay = 0xffff, then the bitrate header doesn't matter. It should be set to a value higher than the peak bitrate, but decoders don't really look for that. The only real criteria is that all the bits for a picture arrive at the decoder before the DTS (Decoding Time Stamp).

Where can I check this setting? Can TSReader or Videoredo do it?

That's what I was wondering. I thought HBO had switched all their feeds to MPEG4 and FIOS only sends out MPEG2 so there has to be some transcoding from FIOS.

Well all the new HBOs and Cmax have the same bitrate of the original HBO1/CMAX1, 10-14 Mbps VBR. Same for the new Starz (~12-14). However, I noticed that the new Showtimes and TMCs have bitrate around 15 Mbps. While the original channels have bitrates around 10 Mbps. These channels could be reencoded from MPEG4.

Well, according to your list, HBO-HD West is 18.00 Mbps header - when its 13.10Mbps off C-Band.
Yeah, that's one of the things that initially set me off. I know people with HBO and Cmax west and they said it should be 13.1.

Headers just give the max to the equipment - not sure that I really care if the header is incorrect as long as its higher than what is being distributed (such as in the HBO-HD West example above).

Seems like most providers that shape their content use 38.81 Mbps headers for everything.

Third, the channels that are being distributed in MPEG4 will have to be re-encoded.
Maybe for new HBOs and Cmax etc, but it's strange that EVERY new channel has this 18 Mbps header, (or 25).

Here's something I've been working on today while watching football:

Verizon Channel Realignment & HD Expansion

Completed expansions in plain text.
Upcoming expansions in italics.
Full 100HD expansion in bold.

VHO 01
10/08/08 – North Texas (Realign; ~100HD)

VHO 02
10/07/08 -- Florida Gulf Coast (Realign; ~100HD) (delayed from 10/02/08)

VHO 03
10/09/08 – Southern California (Realign; ~100HD)

VHO 04
09/18/08 – Anne Arundel/Howard County MD (Realign; ~50HD)
09/22/08 – Washington Metro (Realign; ~50HD)
09/30/08 – Baltimore MD (Realign; ~50HD)

VHO 05
07/28/08 – New York (Launch; ~100HD)

VHO 06
08/20/08 – Massachusetts (Realign; ~50HD**)
08/21/08 – Rhode Island (Realign; ~50HD**)

VHO 07
07/31/08 -- Northern NJ (Realign; ~100HD)

VHO 08
08/29/08 – Central NJ (Realign; ~50HD) >>> 10/08/08 (~80HD***)
09/02/08 – Southern DE (Realign; ~80HD)
09/04/08 – Central DE (Realign; ~50HD) >>> 10/09/08 (~80HD***)
09/08/08 – Southern NJ (Realign; ~80HD)
09/08/08 – Northern DE (Realign; ~80HD) (moved up from 09/15/08)
09/10/08 – Mercer Co. NJ (Realign; ~80HD) (delayed from 08/27/08)
09/11/08 – Southeastern PA (Realign; ~80HD)

VHO 09
08/13/08 – Richmond VA (Realign; ~50HD)
08/14/08 – Hampton Roads VA (Realign; ~50HD)

VHO 10
06/30/08 – Fort Wayne IN (Realign; ~50HD)

VHO 11
08/12/08 – Pittsburgh PA (Realign; ~50HD) (delayed from 08/06/08)

VHO 12
07/21/08 – Portland OR (Realign; ~40HD*)

VHO 13
08/23/08 – Seattle WA (Launch; ~100HD)

VHO 14
09/15/08 – Buffalo NY (Launch; ~100HD)

*Portland PDF lists a severely reduced Movie Package in HD. Accurate?
**Massachusetts and Rhode Island list the full 100 HD. Not accurate, so what do they have, ~50 or ~80?
***Why didn’t Central DE and Central NJ roll up to ~80 initially, especially since Southern DE did?

It's a little cleaner and easier to read than the other thing I threw together. Corrections, answers, and updates are welcome.

So I guess we should start watching this page https://www22.verizon.com/content/fiostv/channel+lineup/channel+lineup.htm again to find out when the markets that got the smaller rollout initially will be getting the next expansion? I noticed that Central Delaware and Central NJ are listed at the bottom with the dates that correspond with the above post.

I have a tentative date of last week of October for Hampton Roads and Richmond, but will be looking forward to seeing a definite date.

Well all the new HBOs and Cmax have the same bitrate of the original HBO1/CMAX1, 10-14 Mbps VBR. Same for the new Starz (~12-14). However, I noticed that the new Showtimes and TMCs have bitrate around 15 Mbps. While the original channels have bitrates around 10 Mbps. These channels could be reencoded from MPEG4.


I have not seen any signs that Showtime and TMC have converted their MPEG2 HD feed to MPEG4, have you?


Seems like most providers that shape their content use 38.81 Mbps headers for everything.

Why does what another company does matter in putting in an arbitrary number :confused:

After wanting to switch to FIOS for a long time I finally got it installed yesterday. The experience has been a mixed bag leaning towards negative.

1. First of all, I specifically asked online if it was possible to watch a show recorded on a DVR from another room using an HD box, they said yes. Now they tell me I have to have an SD box. Really, who switches to FIOS to watch SD? After some research, the internet consensus seems to be that this feature will work when a 1.6 software release is installed. Has this actually worked for anyone here? I'd love to hear that.

Verizon is being quite deceptive in their advertising of the multi-room feature when they conveniently forget to mention it only works on SD boxes, which to me it means it does not work at all.

2. Tech support is terrible. It quickly reminds you that Verizon is a good old fashion PHONE COMPANY. The poor agents know nothing about the boxes or features, yesterday one agent argued that the box I had in my hand had a hard drive and could be activated as a DVR, when I was looking at it and saw it did't. They don't know the boxes, the features, the upgrades that are going on across the country, nothing. Oh and it takes several submenus and no less than 10-35 minutes to even get to one of them.

3. The DVR is actually slower than Time Warner Cable's, and it looks older. TMC's was sleek looking. The Fios channel guide is better though.

4. Programming. Fios has only 30 HD channels INCLUDING 8 local broadcast. They don't even have CNN HD, which TMC did. Pretty lousy for what was supposed to be the top of the line TV service.

The only real positive so far is the picture quality, which is slightly better than cable's. There is still occasionally some pixelation is some channels but it's probably 85% gone. Is this worth the extra price of Fios? I would say no. I'm seriously considering a switch back to TMC.

Hopefully the channel realignment and IMG 1.6 software upgrade will make it better but who know when/if this will be available in north texas.

Franke46

Doesn't TWC use the SA 8300? You think that's "sleek" looking compared to the Moto box? I think you're definitely in the minority on that one.

As for number of HD channels, what market are you in? Look for my last post to see where you stand on getting more channels.

Don't remember the model, it was a Moto box, except it had a minimalist look with a big black glass covering probably 90% of the front pannel. You can see it to the rigth of the center channel on this picture. There is a dvd player on top of it.

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm129/gaqugaqu/My%20HT/IMG_3852.jpg

Ah. Verizon uses the QIP line of STBs presumably because they support QAM and IP.

http://broadband.motorola.com/consumers/home_entertainment.asp

Hopefully the channel realignment and IMG 1.6 software upgrade will make it better but who know when/if this will be available in north texas.
The channel re-alignment for Texas is scheduled for October 8 and you should get close to 100 HD channel set if the PDF channel line-up files are correct for TX. See the PDF list next to the effective date for North TX at http://www22.verizon.com/content/fiostv/channel+lineup/channel+lineup.htm. The IMG release 1.6 roll-out has been delayed because of problems, Verizon is reportedly working on what could be called 1.6.1; no idea when Verizon will resume the roll-out of the IMG 1.6 upgrade.

MA has 80+ HD channels.
When do we go up to 100 and when do we get 1.6?

After wanting to switch to FIOS for a long time I finally got it installed yesterday. The experience has been a mixed bag leaning towards negative.

1. First of all, I specifically asked online if it was possible to watch a show recorded on a DVR from another room using an HD box, they said yes. Now they tell me I have to have an SD box. Really, who switches to FIOS to watch SD? After some research, the internet consensus seems to be that this feature will work when a 1.6 software release is installed. Has this actually worked for anyone here? I'd love to hear that.



I can confirm that after the IMG 1.6 update, I can watch recorded DVR shows on my HD box. Couldn't do this prior to the update.

I can confirm that after the IMG 1.6 update, I can watch recorded DVR shows on my HD box. Couldn't do this prior to the update.

Sweet! I look forward to this update then.

Franke46

Ah. Verizon uses the QIP line of STBs presumably because they support QAM and IP.

http://broadband.motorola.com/consumers/home_entertainment.asp



The problem with the new boxes, I have the QIP 7216, is that they still only have a 160GB drive... this fills up quickly when you have 100 HD channels to choose from.

I was using the 3416 two years ago with Comcast and it had a 160GB drive, but we only had like 12 HD channels back then. I really wish they would have put a 250GB drive in the 7216 at the very least. Is there some technical reason they haven't upgraded the drive by now, and can we look forward to more capacity in upcoming versions?

In the DC area, the realignment and new HD channels were completed overnight. I just did a quick check, and everything seems to be there, as advertised. Of course, at 7:00am the new HD channels, such as Sci-Fi, are running informercials, but the channels are there. CNN-HD looks brilliant.

Doug

PS I tried the pause one channel, select another, pause it, return to the first channel feature. It works like a charm.

In the DC area, the realignment and new HD channels were completed overnight. I just did a quick check, and everything seems to be there, as advertised. Of course, at 7:00am the new HD channels, such as Sci-Fi, are running informercials, but the channels are there. CNN-HD looks brilliant.

Doug

PS I tried the pause one channel, select another, pause it, return to the first channel feature. It works like a charm.

The additional movie channels (not premium) found on the pdf are not available.

I'm in the DC Metro area and not in front of my TV to check the line up, but the Verizon page is not updated with the new channel line up.

Have they not updated it yet? I've heard here that they have indeed added the new line up, but just wanted to check the channel listing at their site.

In the DC area, the realignment and new HD channels were completed overnight. I just did a quick check, and everything seems to be there, as advertised. Of course, at 7:00am the new HD channels, such as Sci-Fi, are running informercials, but the channels are there. CNN-HD looks brilliant.

Doug

PS I tried the pause one channel, select another, pause it, return to the first channel feature. It works like a charm.

Did DC get the full 100 rollout or the ~50 rollout like Richmond and Hampton Roads?

Did DC get the full 100 rollout or the ~50 rollout like Richmond and Hampton Roads?
The lesser set. We got 16 new HD channels as of this morning with no sign of the 6 new Starz, Showtime, TMC HD channels shown in the PDF channel list for the Washington Metro market.

I'm in the DC Metro area and not in front of my TV to check the line up, but the Verizon page is not updated with the new channel line up.

Have they not updated it yet? I've heard here that they have indeed added the new line up, but just wanted to check the channel listing at their site.

Keep going down. It is there. I pulled it up this morning.

I can confirm that after the IMG 1.6 update, I can watch recorded DVR shows on my HD box. Couldn't do this prior to the update.

Can you watch a HD recording on your remote HD box or still just SD programs?

The lesser set. We got 16 new HD channels as of this morning with no sign of the 6 new Starz, Showtime, TMC HD channels shown in the PDF channel list for the Washington Metro market.

Ok, that is the same we got. They still show us as having the extra movie channels but we did not get them back in August either.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/09/22/entertainment-studios-to-launch-six-hd-networks-on-verizons-fio/

6 New Channels, albeit mostly garbage, I imagine. A pity we couldn't get Cartoon Network HD, Comedy Central HD (does it exist yet) and a couple others? There are only a few channels left in the SD spectrum I watch, it'd be nice we got their HD superiors sometime in the near future.

Is there some technical reason they haven't upgraded the drive by now, and can we look forward to more capacity in upcoming versions?

I'd guess it's primarily a cost-saving decision, though I can imagine that the content producers and the networks don't want large drives in these boxes either. Hollywood doesn't want you building up large archives of its programs, and networks and advertisers don't want you to have lots of material with skippable commercial breaks.

Given the price of magnetic storage these days, a 500 GB hard drive costs about the same as a 160 GB did a year or two ago. I've heard it suggested that these larger drives, with much more demanding tolerances, may have higher failure rates as well. I'm sure VZ doesn't want to be sending out techs to fix/replace DVRs with failed drives.

Any idea how fast Tribune media (I think they provide guide data to Tivo/ReplayTV) will get the new FIOS DC metro lineup? Also TVGuide On Screen (which I assume would be slower?) TIA.

Can you watch a HD recording on your remote HD box or still just SD programs?


Not sure. My DVR set as the Home Media DVR is a SD DVR.

And what do you mean by "still just SD programs"? From what I understand, prior to the 1.6 IMG update, you could not watch a SD program recorded on a SD Home Media DVR on anything but a SD receiver. Now, you can watch those shows on HD receivers as well.

Not sure. My DVR set as the Home Media DVR is a SD DVR.

And what do you mean by "still just SD programs"? From what I understand, prior to the 1.6 IMG update, you could not watch a SD program recorded on a SD Home Media DVR on anything but a SD receiver. Now, you can watch those shows on HD receivers as well.

Right, but I was wondering if you had a HD DVR as your Home Media DVR could you watch a HD recording on another HD receiver? I didn't realize you could get the Home Media DVR in SD only.

Does anyone else have who has HD Home Media DVR answer this?

Right, but I was wondering if you had a HD DVR as your Home Media DVR could you watch a HD recording on another HD receiver? I didn't realize you could get the Home Media DVR in SD only.

Does anyone else have who has HD Home Media DVR answer this?

If you have version 1.6 of the IMG you can watch HD/SD recordings on a HD receiver. You cannot watch HD recordings on the SD boxes. Only SD recordings. There is not a version of the Home Media DVR using the SD box.

If you have version 1.6 of the IMG you can watch HD/SD recordings on a HD receiver. You cannot watch HD recordings on the SD boxes. Only SD recordings. There is not a version of the Home Media DVR using the SD box.

Just be clear on my question, you may have answer it but I want to be sure as I may make a change to my setup.

I have a HD Home Media DVR, I know you cannot watch a HD recorded program on a remote SD receiver.

I only have the single HD box so I have never attempted to watch and HD recording on another HD receiver. It was my understanding that you could not.

So my question is: if you have a HD Home Media DVR can you watch and HD recording (recorded on the HD Home Media DVR) on a remote HD receiver (non-DVR)? Will it be in HD?