Yesterday I called and emailed Mediacom about upcoming Hd channels and the Big 10 Network. I told them that the other local cable companies, Dish Net and Directv are kicking their butts in HD programming. That it's time to get going. The CSR asked me what channels in HD would interest me. I told her any as long as it's more than 1 channel. The customer service person didn't have any news about it. Interestingly though, I received an email reply that reads this;
Mediacom Customer Service 2:17 am (5 hours ago)
We understand your concern and are presently working to provide more HD
channels to our channel line up. We at Mediacom continuously strive to
provide our customers with the highest and best digital products.
The next channels that are to be HD are TNT and Animal Planet. This will
I'm an Illini guy (U of Illinois) and had just today sent an email to local (Moline, IL) Mediacom executive assistant that has helped me with some issues over the past few years.
Basically I was asking about:
(1) The Big 10 Network grid lock and
(2) The lack of new HD channels in the last 2ish years.
Her response was:
(1) Mediacom wants the Big 10 Network in their "sports tier" so people already paying for "extra" sports programs would get it - this would remove the need for Mediacom charge $2 per "basic" subscriber to add it at the "basic" level. Big 10 Conference wants it in the "basic" tier so everyone can get it (read advertising sales potential) and assumes no extra charge by cable companies. I'm curious if anyone knows if the cost went up for "basic" with the cable (or satellite) providers who have in fact added it to "basic". No time line has been discussed, at least publicly, while we miss all the games we used to see on ESPN and other channels. Both Mediacom AND Big 10 Conference Tick me off!
Also, she had no idea if the Big 10 Network channel(s) to be added would be HD and/or standard def!
(2) The tale of woe for added HD channels was that of horsepower to complete the digital conversion by 2009 deadline AND also bandwidth. Once again, NO time table at all and no channel quantity qualifiers either. I had included the recent Dish HD addition list (about 15 I recall) to her in the email and suggested Mediacom at least pick out 1 2 or 3 to keep the customers "satisfied" short term by throwing us a bone, while we wait until 2009 to get any more.
I'd love to hear from more folks on the Mediacom lack of effort - including any Mediacom employees/executives that may read the AV forums.
Also, if this post needs to be moved to other forums to get the exposure it should get, please feel free to do so!
I responded to the other thread about this on DSLReports - I'm currently a Mediacom HD subscriber, and their offerings are pathetic. I'm switching to Dish, on the hope that I can get a good signal after I trim a few trees. (I've heard Dish's sats are a few degrees further West, which would help me get through neighbors trees).
I would go with DirecTV, but they've been promising more HD for years and haven't delivered, so I see no reason to assume this year will be any different - Dish has more available right now.
I am a frustrated Insight/Comcast customer in Cham-Bana, IL where the cable company has the same issues with the Big Ten Network as Comcast. If the Big Ten Network is not available by basketball season, I am switching to satellite.
So much for cable companies being an asset to the community. If Comcast and Mediacom really cared about the communities they serve, they would bite the bullet for the time being and just provide the Big Ten Network on the basic tier for now. I am not holding my breath that the Big Ten Network will ever be available on cable.
One of my customers told me over the weekend that Mediacom in Des Moines sent out a letter stating they were going to be removing the SD west coast feeds of the premiums to add more HD content within the next few weeks.
I went with direct because I liked thier HD package better. I also like thier business focus, sports programming, HD, DVRs.
I have the H20 (HD) and 2 HR20 (HD-DVR). I'm getting 2-SD-DVRs for the kids rooms tomorrow. I love the HR20, my first experience with a DVR. I couldn't imagine watching TV without them now.
Multiroom setups? I went with a box at each TV, in part because I have 3 HDTVs to feed.
Cost-wise: Its hard to compare right now, with all the special promotions. In the end, I plan on paying about the same or more as I did with MC. But I plan on getting alot more programming, boxes, etc. I wouldn't change just to get or expect lower costs. I would do it to get better programming and equipment options.
Other advice, take Dish's best offer to direct and say do better. Hopefully you can at least get a free HR20 out of them (usually $299) and some programming credits.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrChambers /forum/post/11845321
I responded to the other thread about this on DSLReports - I'm currently a Mediacom HD subscriber, and their offerings are pathetic. I'm switching to Dish, on the hope that I can get a good signal after I trim a few trees. (I've heard Dish's sats are a few degrees further West, which would help me get through neighbors trees).
I would go with DirecTV, but they've been promising more HD for years and haven't delivered, so I see no reason to assume this year will be any different - Dish has more available right now.
Huh? DirecTV has more HD than Dish right now. You know they added a bunch this month with more to come. Yes, Dish has Voom. I just don't see them adding too many more right now. It would be nice if they did.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrChambers /forum/post/11845321
I would go with DirecTV, but they've been promising more HD for years and haven't delivered, so I see no reason to assume this year will be any different - Dish has more available right now.
You're right. Maybe that's what he meant. At any rate, DirecTV now has the most HD and the quality is pretty darned good. I would love Verizon to add the extra channels or even Dishnetwork, but right now DirecTV has or will very soon have the channels I want in HD.
Just stumbled across online today. Hope they are serious about this..
Mediacom Eyes HD Expansion
NOVEMBER 06, 2007
Discuss > Share >
Mediacom Communications Corp. may have posted a disappointing quarter Tuesday, sending shares below a 52-week low, but the company is still pushing ahead with a plan to enhance its service portfolio, including a hefty expansion of high-definition television (HDTV) content in time for the 2007 holiday season.
Speaking Tuesday morning with reporters and analysts, EVP of operations John Pascarelli said Mediacom's "basic family cable" tier will offer between 30 to 40 hi-def channels for the added cost of the new set-top.
"We expect to announce the first phase of the new HD channels in the next 30 days," he said. With that being the first phase, I guess we can expect subsequent phases, which will be required to keep up with the beefy hi-def lineups DirecTV Group Inc. (NYSE: DTV - message board) and EchoStar Communications Corp. are flaunting.
In other strategy-related moves, Mediacom -- which has much more DSL than fiber-to-the-home competition to contend with since Qwest Communications International Inc. (NYSE: Q - message board) is its primary telco competitor -- also plans to offer its low-end cable modem service (likely its 512-kbit/s tier) across the board, and couple that with a "fixed, long-term pricing strategy."
Mediacom is also teeing up a commercial voice product slated to launch in the first half of 2008.
While Mediacom used its earnings call to outline some new strategies, quite the opposite happened during Insight Communications Co. Inc. 's later in the day.
Insight, which turned in a solid quarter, offered nothing new about its prospects for a sale (and no analysts even brought it up in the Q&A session), which all but confirms that the MSO is off the block for now... or at least until sometime after it wraps up its system deal with Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) later this year. (See Insight-ful Questions Expected Tuesday.)
I haven't went to the boxes yet. I"m waiting for them to get more channels before I'm committing to an extra 30 bucks a month for the HD channels and DVR. How do you like their DVR by the way?
it's ok. it's not as fancy as the D* HR20 but for your basic needs for recording, it's easy to use. the dual tuner feature is a little awkward to use though. better than a vcr. lol
well isn't announcing it the first phase? didn't you just do exactly that? their lack of HD programming is downright unacceptable. i signed up for HD right at the beginning of "Shark Week" on the discovery channel, only to find out its Discovery HD theater. can you imagine how disappointed I was (even though its my fault for not reading closely enough).
i live near Des Moines and it seems that ESPN and ESPN2 are always backwards lately. anyone else notice that? thats of course when ESPN actually comes in - there are times when its either laggy, theres no sound, or just no picture at all.
It truly is sad that Mediacom is not offering more channels in HD. I hope that the recent press junket is a sign of things to come.
As an aside, can I ask what everyone here is paying for their service?
I pay for Family Cable [expanded basic/broadcast basic], Digital Plus and HDTV Tier and high speed internet. I am now paying right around $120 for this. I got an six month introductory rate and am kind of appalled at how expensive this is now that the introductory rate ran out.
I don't even get the Digital Premium channels like Starz, Encore, HBO, Showtime, TMC or whatever. I can't imagine how expensive it'd be if I got them. They say knowledge is power so I'm asking what you're paying and what packages you get. Reason: collectively we might be able to bargain our bills down. I'm going to call them and see if I can get it lowered because we've been using Mediacom (internet) for the past six or seven years and we used cable for a years before switching to DirecTV and later Dish. I only came back because I wanted to use TiVo via my Series 3 and unfortunately the satellite operators don't support an industry-standard device like the Cable Cards.
I have Family Cable, Digital Two-Star pack (HBO & Starz), 1 HDTV box and 1 regular box, along with HSI. My bill is currently at $143, including taxes and fees.
Direct TV announced they will have locals in Hi-Def this year (mid 2008), and hopefully the SWM will be available by then. I'll probably keep Mediacom for basic cable and HSI, and go with Direct TV. It won't be any cheaper, but I'll have a lot more HD programing.
I have Family Cable w/ Starz, 1 HD box, and Internet - currently is running ~$75, but that's still at the introductory rate. I believe when I called to get this all set up, they told me the rate would increase to $90 per month for the both of them, then add the $10 brings it up to $100. I'll be considering a dish in May (when the promotion is up) because of Mediacom's lack of HD.
This just gets worse and worse. Just came back from visiting my local Mediacom office in Prairie Du Chien, Wi. I live in the NE Iowa/Sw Wis market. The gal working in the office said she hasn't heard anything about our market moving HD channels to the expanded basic lineup. She said her office feels like the red-headed step child because they're always the last to get anything. They don't even have the phone service yet! I don't see how they can take some of the markets and give them more HD channels and not others. I can't switch to dish either because I'm right on the Iowa/Wis border and to get the sports channels I need to watch my favorite teams I need cable. I'm so frustrated. Right now I have a whopping two HD channels I receive though QAM. CBS and NBC. Whoopee..
Oh and I pay nearly 60 bucks for expanded basic service. They want nearly 30 bucks more to upgrade to the HD tier with the DVR and 5 more HD channels. Right...
Thanks for all the replies. I was just curious as to how much my bill was compared to everyone else's. Looks like I'm not being too gouged. I would have thought that the satellite companies would have forced the cable companies to lower their costs, but apparently not. I guess you are getting a lot for what you're paying but still, it seems like it's a little high. I'd be more comfortable paying around $100 for what I get.
Another question (and pertinent to the HD topic). Has anyone got Mojo HD yet? It's listed as available in some areas on their site. All I get currently on the HD tier is HD theater, HDnet, HDnet Movies, Universal HD and the two ESPN HD channels. I also get locals in HD when available, of course.
Really wish Mediacom offered Current(.com). It's a really cool, interactive tv show that allows you, the viewer, to send in pods (think video podcasts) that they will air if they're good. Very Web 2.0-ish. Cool show. Get to watch it on Dish occasionally.
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