HDNet to Become AXS TV - Page 3

I would at least have AXSTV SD letterboxed.

Because those Smallville reruns at 7 AM certainly are ratings draws for HDNet.

RCN also had them on a special HD tier ($8.99 extra a month)...I don't know who's really at fault in terms of the cable companies being greedy or Mark Cuban...but the fact that several cable companies have dropped them in recent years (even with the extra cost of special HD tiers) does not paint Cuban in a good light

I highly doubt AXS will produce a separate SD feed. They'll most likely just be allowing providers to downconvert (and hopefully letterbox) the HD feed.

The providers that dropped them will probably pick them up again, but they'll only pick up the SD feed, lol.

I think having an SD feed has to do with this:


For a while, DirecTV tried to put both channels on their "HD Pack" that costs an extra $5 a month because there was no SD version of the channels. Mark fought to have HDNet put in the regular HD package, but HDNet Movies is still on the extra tier.

By having an SD version, it gives him more leverage to not be considered a limited access channel that only those that want HD service can get.

He basically made the same mistake as Voom: providing only HD at a time when few others were and few people were able to view it. Voom added SD channels later, but it was too late and came at a time when most channels were pushing to make the transition to HD.

Two thinks Mark should have done from the beginning:

1) Call the channel something else. Anything else. He would have been better off calling it something like "The Home Theater Channel", which would still be relevant now that nearly every channel is HD, but also emphasize quality presentation.

2) Provide a downconverted, OAR SD feed to garner interest among those who had not upgraded to HD at the time. Then run promos that tell you what you need to do to view the HD version.

The problem is, Mark went from cutting edge with few viewers to well behind the times with few viewers. It's disappointing to me mainly because I relly love HDNet movies. I keep my DVR tuned to it all the time when it's not recording with both tuners.

I am pretty sure he is going to ignore your advice. Maybe when you own an NBA franchise someone will.

Personally, I have no interest in more concerts because I don't watch music on my television.

Maybe this unique business strategy means HDNet Movies is moving to XM/Sirius.

It's really too late to take it.

Even if it weren't, it still might not matter. He doesn't have the juice of a media conglomerate behind him, so he's never going to get the respect of the MSO's.

Without the respect of the MSO's, he can't get the carriage or the fees he needs to obtain or create programming that gets a lot of viewer attention.

If Oprah can't create a station that people want to watch, I'm not certain Seacrest is going to help things much, either. His money might help keep things afloat, but the power likely won't in the long term without making the channel into yet another general purpose station showing reality fare.

He talked about this on Opie and Anthony on Friday. Not for HDNet Movies and not on XM/Sirius but for AXS. He also mentioned they see it as a real-time TMZ rather than giving the news a day late. Kind of like a Sportscenter for entertainment news.

one word; "E!"

Sounds terrible.

I think this is a great idea! Glad to hear that there are going to be more concerts to see and get rid of the T&A shows, which were very un-classy. Hope that they continue on with my favorite show, World Report! Have watched that show forever and hope to keep on... Way to go Mark Cuban! And of course I love the HDNet Movie channel - that's not going away is it...?

The real fight in 2009 was Mark Cuban's assistance that HDNet be moved to Digital Basic with HDNet Movies staying on the HD Pak Tier.

TWC/BHN did not want this so they were dropped. Other cable companies soon followed.

Apparently, with the re-branding, the two sides are talking again and if an agreement for AXS TV can be made, HDNet Movies would likely return on the HD Pak or Movie Pass. I would prefer the later because I have it and would like to see what all the hype is about HDNet Movies' great picture.

We should know more this summer but I know a lot of TWC/BHN people miss HDNet Movies.

Well, you're not going to get great picture from HDNet Movies on TWC/BHN. I'll tell you that right now.

Every market has a 3 HD per QAM or 2 HD 4 SD per QAM scheme, resulting in no HD channel getting bitrates higher than 12 or 14 Mbps.

It's FiOS users who rave about HDNet Movies' quality, because they get the full untouched 17.5 Mbps bitrate feed of the channel.

Obviously, there's a World Report fan club that's been told to post support messages here. Note to fan club: Message received. I may prune some of them just to keep the thread readable.

Scorpion,

That is true.

On 'Inside MMA' last night they announced the network name change, and confirmed that their show would be retained and MMA was still a part of the new programming. Hopefully that means some of the other content we are used to will still be there when the dust has settled.

He could revisit many of the same countries. They're large and he isn’t able to visit the majority of the cities, countryside, out of the way places that some aren’t aware of, etc., etc. As an example, he could do a month worth of shows on Switzerland. Or pick any country. They don't have be shown back to back, just have them filmed for future use.

I'm another who really enjoys the concerts they air. I have a Blondie, Santana and Crosby & Nash concert saved, so I hope more are broadcast. If for no other reason than to screen them for possible future purchase. The PQ and AQ is usually good, and in the case of the "Santana: Universal Warrior" concert, exceptional.

Unnecessary posts removed.

To that end, please USE REPORT POST and don't spend 10 or 15 MORE posts complaining. It doubled the work time it took me to clean the thread.

Note. New users coming in simply to post World Report support will be deleted without notice.

what a bummer. i watch mainly for the MMA programming, but also watch the super, and the "unrated stuff" at night sometimes. there are already enough "entertainment" channels, i liked the different programming that HDNet offered.

It is SiriusXM.

http://www.siriusxm.com/channellineup

I've noticed the past few weeks prior to the announcement that it seemed like half the ads on HDNet was pushing whatever concerts they are airing on the network. Therefore the shift to concerts doesn't surprise me at all.

Anything SD is a step backwards.

Not for those who don't watch HD, and the HD channel isn't going anywhere.

As long as the SD channel is letterboxed, it makes zero difference.

And I thought I hated reality shows!

Very well made point(s).