New York, NY - Verizon - Page 5

And, so far, none of 'em will be in HD on Fios in Northern NJ.

Just got this from SNY:

James,

We just called our contacts at Verizon again and the tentative date for
launching SNY in HD in New Jersey is May 1st. If you have any
additional concerns, we encourage you to contact Verizon directly.

Thanks,

SportsNet New York

Ok, so what happens first: Pedro comes back or we get SNY HD in NJ?

Just wondering when or if verizon fios wiould be available in queens,NY it sounds good can anyone give me a clear answer as to the difference in HD picture quality if any. Right now there extra HD channels amongst other things appeal to me right now.

I can't speak for the cable HD's but the local HD channels look as clean with FIOS as they did with iO.

The SD movie channels look 100% better on FIOS.
FIOS also offers the SD movie channel audio in DD 5.1 for programming recorded with it. iO does something to HBO so you no longer get DD 5.1 audio on programming offering it on the SD feed.

Also both the NJ and NYC area FIOS systems carry WNJN (PBS) and WNYC.

Any news when FIOSTV is coming to Staten Island, NY???

2008 or later.
Verizon has to go through the NYC franchising process.

I'm in Castleton Corners...

When I had FiOS internet installed at the end of March, the installer said that Verizon was trying to get the TV here as quickly as possible and rumor was that it could be as early as June.

They are trying to get permission from the city to start on the island first because it is almost entirely wired for fiber and not wait for the other four boroughs to be completely wired as well.

The City Council passed the needed legislation last year to allow for the negotiation of a franchise for Fios tv, but I can't find any updates on nyc.gov- the city website.

Three new HD channels lit up this morning on FIOS.

Details, what channels? I'm getting FiOS TV installed today.

Food HD, HGTV HD and Lifetime HD.

I can't wait for the day when I can post that FiOS TV has lit up period in New York City.... I so wish that VZ would at the least tell us what is going on with their efforts to get it going here.

Anybody else not getting ESPN-HD tonight in Westchester area? When I switch to channel 826. only a screenshot of the previous channel appears. I called VZ support and they got a report that it's an ESPN-HD issue.

That's easy. ESPN is showing the Yankee game. It's blacked out.

I just got VZ yesterday. Is that what happens everytime there's a blackout?
No blue screen with a message or something like that?

Yeah. Either that or the channel is temporarily removed from the guide.

Have these in my channel guide (literally just noticed) but the channels themselves are black. Are they actually working for you?

Be careful of what you wish for:
[Newsday 4/18/07]
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo yesterday blasted the quality of Verizon's repair service, especially on Long Island and in Queens, saying the telephone company should issue rebates for inadequate performance.

"We should not accept Verizon's empty promises for turning around its woefully inadequate repair service," Cuomo said in a statement///
He said competition hasn't eliminated the problem, noting that the worst regions for repair service are the areas where Verizon faces the most competition.

In December, the PSC identified areas where it considers Verizon service "habitually poor," including Queens, Nassau and Suffolk, except northern Suffolk.

This is a follow up to my post about 3 weeks ago. My installation in Lawrenceville using the Mercer County package was completed yesterday, the courteous technician was in and out in under 2 hours hooking up 2 DVRs and 3 STBs. To answer your specific questions: I receive all of the Philly and NY locals in HD. That includes Fox, ABC, CBS, NBC, CW and MY. I receive 2 HD PBS channels, WHYY out of Philly and WNJT out of NJ. WNET from NY is not included in the package in either SD or HD. YES HD shows all of the Yankee HD broadcasts, SportsNet NY HD shows all of the Mets HD broadcasts and Comcast Sportsnet Philly HD shows all of the Phillies HD broadcasts. One added bonus is that since I was considered in the NY DMA with DirecTV (I was using a North Jersey billing address) Yankee games on ESPN were blacked out if they were also on Yes. That is no longer the case, so if I want to, I can choose to watch the national ESPN broadcast. For blackout purposes Verizon appears to consider Mercer county in the Philadelphia DMA

Now for picture quality comparisons. I was a DirecTV HD Tivo user, my neighbors with HD I used for comparison use Comcast. Neither of my TV's support the 4:3 480i setting that is recommended for the best SD PQ, I have it set to off on both. The HD PQ is significantly improved over what I was getting with DirecTV and is about the same or just slightly better than Comcast. The SD PQ is vastly improved over DirecTV and Comcast. If I zoom in on a letterboxed movie in SD it looks as nearly as good as a 480p DVD looks on the same TV.

So after 6 years I called and cancelled with DirecTV. I'll miss the Sunday Ticket a little bit during football season.

Had one more conversation with Verizon today regarding SNY-HD in Northern NJ. I got what has sounded like the most authoritative answer so far. Basically, when they started in NJ, Verizon was operating under their New York franchise agreement for SNY, which is why they listed SNY-HD as being available in the early days. However, since turning things up in NJ; they now have 3 areas for which franchise agreements are required. North Jersey, South Jersey, and Mercer County. SJ and Mercer County are complete and can offer SNY-HD. Currently, the franchise agreement for North Jersey does not include SNY-HD, and there is no ETA. "Probably soon," was all I could get, but he made no promises and apologized for all the confusion.

So that's where it stands now. No agreement for SNY-HD in North Jersey and no info for when.

I'd switch back to Comcast to watch the Mets in HD, but then I'd have to give up Lifetime Movie Network HD .

Yup, they're broadcasting.

anybody know when VZ will be adding MSNBC in the NY area?

not in the near future.
10+ years ago when msnbc came on they signed exclusives with the local -cable- operators, and there are reportedly clauses in that contract which shut out telco tv. that's the situation on long island where cvc is the monopoly in question.

10+ years ago??? Jesus, what kind of contract is that? For how many years is it valid? Doesn't it have to be renegotiated every 5 or 10 years or less?

As I have said previously in this thread, Verizon is presently building FIOS in various portions of NYC. Unfortunately until a video agreement is reached with NYC, only voice and data will be available. If you are specifically asking about Manhattan, their are many offices where FIOS is available. Verizon is going building by building and trying to negotiate the rights to build the network in the multi-dwelling unit (MDU)environment. This is a tedious process since you often have to deal with landlords who dont care, or condo boards who don't necessarily understand why they need the service. As I have offered previously, if you live in Manhattan and would like to find out where your building stands send me a private message and I will see what I can find out for you. I have contacts in the company and may be able to help. I will not discuss specific buildings in the main forum.

Who knows, maybe Verizon has approached your landlord or coop board and they have not expressed an interest in giving permission. It could be that your voice may help Verizon get into your building.

Edit: Side note: If you think you may qualify for FIOS and would like some assistance verifying, send me a PM. I may be able to help there also.

Thanks for the reply and offer of help. Actually, I'm on Staten Island where most of the communities are wired and many people- including myself- already have FiOS internet and phone service.

I understand the problems of MDUs and other developments. Some of the townhouse/condo develops here have underground cabling. Some of the homeowners' associations have not been very cooperative in letting Verizon come in to put in fiber as it means tearing up parking areas, etc. This is the case where my mother lives. Verizon wants to do the work, but the homeowners' association and the managment agency don't want their just resurfaced parking lot torn up.

For me, I'm just waiting for the FiOS TV so I can dump Time Warner. Rumors here abound that it will happen rather soon- in a month or two, but there is simply no way to find out what is actually going on between VZ and the City.

Even those in the know aren't certain when an agreement will be reached. Things are very fluid and changing all the time. It will happen at some point, and my guess is it will be sudden and without warning.

You are correct that most of Staten Island is complete. Parts of Queens and the Bronx are also complete, and Brooklyn is being started this year. All 5 burroughs are in the process of being cabled.

As I said earlier, anyone who would like to find out if they are qualified or get some assistance with ordering feel free to PM me. I should probably post this in the main Verizon forum, but I can probably be most effective within NY.

Edit: My knowledge and support that can be provided will deal with the network buildout. I have absolutely no contacts who can assist me with programming information.....just so I dont get a bunch of questions about what channels are coming. I will be unavailable for a few days so please be patient if you send me an email and i do not respond.

I took up Antneye on his offer to find out more about my own building (in Chelsea), and I'd just like to say thanks for putting me in touch with the FIOS team.
Turns out my local Verizon office (on 18th street) is getting FIOS wired in July, and they're already in discussions with the management company of my building. (I lucked out a little here since I'm in a fairly large multi-unit building and they're a higher piority for Verizon).

Keeping my fingers crossed for FIOS availability later this year. Looks like they might start with data first before offering television.

Does anyone know what the status is of Verizon's television franchise negotiations with the city?

They finally started working for me last night - only about 2 weeks late.

So far I have not been real happy with Verizon. Constant hiccups/dropouts/other problems on a variety of HD channels (doesn't seem to affect SD), these blacked out new channels for 2 weeks, a DVR that's getting noticeably slower the longer I use it, and a monthly bill that's $30 a month higher than I was quoted over the phone (I guess because they don't include taxes) and $40 more than I was paying with Cablevision for actually fewer channels.

I'm about ready to dump FiOS, quite honestly.

It is believed that VZ has to do their buildout before tv is offered. The city wants to avoid the problems the outer boroughs had when cable franchises were offered in the 1980's, when wealthier sections of town got great service while parts of Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, and even parts of Manhattan like the lower east side and most of the island above 110th St had to wait for what seemed forever for rudimentary cable tv.
Plus, of course, they have to deal with the multiple dwelling issue. Lots of building managers and boards really don't want or don't have room for another course of wires in their buildings.

Doesn't that cable need replacement eventually? It's old cable that usually rats have chewed through or it not that great cable to begin with (RG-59 came in my old apartment).