New D* ad advertising 130 HD channels by end of year!

**Jimbo** · 07-17-2008 02:09 PM

Originally Posted by teamlazyboy

This chart is the most comprehensive and fair listing of available HD channels by provider.

HDTV programming compared - HDTV World - CNET.com

For your particular area, try :
whereisHD.com

Jimbo

**skottey** · 07-17-2008 02:20 PM

Originally Posted by Curtis0620

The RSN's have other programming in HD other than games. Check YES for example. PPV's are national the last time I looked.

Again, I'll use the hypothetical example. If Verizon FIOS, who has the bandwidth, suddenly launched 400 HD PPV channels with start times of the same movies like every five minutes apart, would you then say Verizon FIOS has 435 HD Nationals? (the current count is probably higher than 35, but you get my point) No, you wouldn't. HD PPV channels should not count in a national HD count.

**DodgerKing** · 07-17-2008 04:30 PM

Originally Posted by atp1313

My point exactly. If I am willing to pay extra, can I get it? If so, then it counts as an available channel. Available should not be limited to "free" or "included in your local package only".

I am sorry. I didn't realize that the bolded portion was a quote from someone else. I thought those were your words.

**DodgerKing** · 07-17-2008 04:32 PM

Originally Posted by skottey

Again, I'll use the hypothetical example. If Verizon FIOS, who has the bandwidth, suddenly launched 400 HD PPV channels with start times of the same movies like every five minutes apart, would you then say Verizon FIOS has 435 HD Nationals? (the current count is probably higher than 35, but you get my point) No, you wouldn't. HD PPV channels should not count in a national HD count.

I don't care if they count them, even though I personally would not, but they do need to indicate somewhere which channels they are referring to, this way the costumer becomes more informed.

**atp1313** · 07-17-2008 06:07 PM

Originally Posted by DodgerKing

I am sorry. I didn't realize that the bolded portion was a quote from someone else. I thought those were your words.

No problem...was cutting and pasting from that linked page on CNET. Seems somewhat irresponsible to amke such a claim when 1 phone call would have clarified the situation.

FWIW, I actually regularly take advantage of the 3 hour delay of the west coast HBO (or the second showing on Discovery/TLC/Smithsonian/etc) so that I can record my preferred OTA network prime time shows and then catch the "prime time" from the west coast. It's a beautiful thing!

**skottey** · 07-17-2008 10:53 PM

Originally Posted by DodgerKing

I don't care if they count them, even though I personally would not, but they do need to indicate somewhere which channels they are referring to, this way the costumer becomes more informed.

Additionally... another key difference between a national cable channel and PPV is that the provider is paying for each national channel, regardless if anybody is watching the actual channel, where as, they are paying a portion of each PPV "rental" to the owners of the rights to that program, and not for carriage of the channel itself. It wouldn't matter if they had 2 PPV channels or 200, they are paying for a portion of the rentals. Having more channels just means a better chance of selling more rentals. All the customer gets is more choice, for a price.

Proudly announcing 60 HD channels should mean, "we the provider, are paying $X for each of these channels per subscriber, to present them to you the subscriber." More channels by a provider means a higher level of commitment on behalf of the provider.

PPV doesn't come at a higher cost financially, only bandwidth wise, to the provider.

**Jimbo** · 07-17-2008 11:05 PM

Originally Posted by skottey

Additionally... another key difference between a national cable channel and PPV is that the provider is paying for each national channel, regardless if anybody is watching the actual channel, where as, they are paying a portion of each PPV "rental" to the owners of the rights to that program, and not for carriage of the channel itself. It wouldn't matter if they had 2 PPV channels or 200, they are paying for a portion of the rentals. Having more channels just means a better chance of selling more rentals. All the customer gets is more choice, for a price.

Proudly announcing 60 HD channels should mean, "we the provider, are paying $X for each of these channels per subscriber, to present them to you the subscriber." More channels by a provider means a higher level of commitment on behalf of the provider.

PPV doesn't come at a higher cost financially, only bandwidth wise, to the provider.

So your saying that the PPV's for D* to have up there are FREE and they just pay for the movies ?
I guess that makes sense at least a little, your putting them on YOU OWN system, why would you charge yourself for them.

They do the same with every channel they have on thier system, they pay for teh channel, what goes on that channel is not D*'s call, but seeing it is on thier system they have to pay the provider for the use of it.
With PPV's they STILL have to pay for the use of what the provider puts on it, so in essence it's just like any other channel, just probably doesn't make the same type of money over the large scheme of things.

**rey_1178** · 07-18-2008 06:00 AM

Originally Posted by ChrisPC

I just saw a new D* ad on Fox tonight. It stated they'd have 130 HD channels by the end of 2008. I hadn't seen this one before; it has Robert Patrick playing the T-1000 in Terminator 2.

i've looked at this commercial 10 times already and nowhere does it say anything on an HD count.

**skottey** · 07-18-2008 09:14 AM

Originally Posted by Jimbo

With PPV's they STILL have to pay for the use of what the provider puts on it, so in essence it's just like any other channel, just probably doesn't make the same type of money over the large scheme of things.

I think it works like this... They (provider) make an agreement to carry a "new release" movie or other event. Let's say they charge $4.99 for a PPV movie in HD. Well, they turn around and pay the studios, or the one with the rights to the movie $3.00 (just my guess) and keep the $1.99 as their portion. So if they sell 100 viewings of "Superbad" (for example, going back a few months, I know), DirecTV would earn $199 on that particular showing, and pay the owner of the movie $300. DirecTV gets a cut of this because they are brining it to the table for the viewers they have. So, it makes sense for DirecTV to cram as many PPV channels as they can, for potential revenue. So, if they sell no rentals, they probably pay nothing to the content owner since nobody "rented" that viewing.

Move over to a national cable channel, HGTV for example. They have to pay, let's say, $.26/subscriber per month for the carriage of that channel. So adding new true national (SD or HD) channels does three things, 1- increases their cost because they are paying for another channel on a per subscriber basis, 2- give them new revenue for the ad blocks they get to sell on that channel (so many minutes per hour at set times) 3- viewers are made happy. They have to weigh new channels and find a balance between making money and keeping viewers happy.

The PPV doesn't cost them any more unless they are selling it and making money off the showings. It is a fail safe. The more they sell, the better for them. The less they sell, oh well, it only cost them bandwidth. Some providers like Dish (and probably DirecTV) use PPV HD channels as place holders. Why not? It is a chance for more revenue while sitting on otherwise unused bandwidth.

But having the PPV HD channel up shows they have the bandwidth to maybe replace one PPV HD and add one national HD channel like Fox News HD. They need to weigh the pros and cons.

My thing is that I don't think they should be counting these PPVs in the HD nationals count. It just isn't right.

I could be wrong about all this (the pricing and agreements I mean, not whether or not they should be added in the count.)

I'd like to hear from somdbody that actually works in this division of a cable or sat provider, setting up agreements and the pricing structure for PPV. You probably cannot tell us how much of the $4.99 for a movie DirecTV keeps, but I'll bet it is around $3.00.

**paulman182** · 07-18-2008 12:50 PM

I thought I clicked "Reply" and somehow I thanked skottey for his useful post.

Oh well, thanks, skottey.

Anyway, what I wanted to say was, you are probably right about how regular channels are paid for, as compared with PPVs being divided between the studio and DirecTV. The problem is, if everyone else counts PPVs as channels, DirecTV will also, in order to keep up.

I think the way some cable companies count "choices" is very much more misleading.