1/2 Off Movie Offer...Starz or Cinemax?

KAB

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Sep 20, 2005
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Just recently finished 1/2 Sho and HBO. Now, I'm experiencing major movie deficit disorder. Dish has Max and Starz $6.50 for six months. Looked over both's schedules. Max looks better from what I can see. Been a while since I've seen Max. When we had free Starz, I hardly ever watched it. Guess I just answered my own question. Opinions? No...not interested in Netflix. Like having things on the DVR.
 
At times SKINEMAX has a good lineup of movies. But I have found more value in Starz times I had it. That may be because I have HBO all the time and MAX will mostly eventually have what HBO does or the other way around.
 
I had Cinemax for a penny for 2 (or was it 3?) years, and never watched one movie. Got surprised on a few occasions with the soft porn. :eek: Go with Starz. Unless of course you're into soft porn.
 
If you like soft core porn go with Cinemax. If you like anything else go with Starz.
 
Well...being that you just came from hbo,I would recommend starz.Most of the movies you may have watched on hbo will now be popping up on max.I always considered max to be the redheaded stepchild of hbo.Same goes for tmc/showtime.Starz has a couple of good series playing now,and coming up soon.
 
For the last month or so...Max has no new premier movie. They are just repeating a lot of same movies. Hoping this changes soon....& Max can get some new movies to show....otherwise Banshee is the only new thing they have going right now. Cant say abt Starz....since I dont have them...but IMO their movies lineup is more thinner then Max
 
I generally keep HBO all the time because when Im in a series gap, I record stuff like Real Sports. Max, Starz and Showtime are cut on and off depending on if a series I like is on. I dont have the time to actually use them to watch movies, and we stay pretty current anyways. I gotta think these channels are seeing that and more and more original content is in the works for the future.

Lets face it, I personally dont have HBO to watch Battleship replayed 10 times a day, I have it for Game of Thrones, True Blood, Boardwalk, etc...
 
I generally keep HBO all the time because when Im in a series gap, I record stuff like Real Sports. Max, Starz and Showtime are cut on and off depending on if a series I like is on. I dont have the time to actually use them to watch movies, and we stay pretty current anyways. I gotta think these channels are seeing that and more and more original content is in the works for the future.

Lets face it, I personally dont have HBO to watch Battleship replayed 10 times a day, I have it for Game of Thrones, True Blood, Boardwalk, etc...

After the six months I had HBO, I would certainly never sub full time. I usually do in Fall/Winter, mostly for Boardwalk Empire. During that time, I use HBO Go to catch up on other shows...True Blood, etc. I think their movie offerings have been anemic in the last year or so (amount/quality/repetition)...maybe two or three I watched/recorded in the six months. Battleship is a perfect example. I'm not into sports OR Bill Mahar;) , so there's little else that interests me.
 
I'm currently on AEP as a new signup, but will most likely change that somewhat.

I usually keep SHO and HBO going since I like their series and the Boxing they both do, but all the rest depend on what series they have going at the time.

Cinemax has some interesting ones like StrikeBack and Banshee which makes it worthwhile when those are playing. Starz has Magic City that I like, but their other series leave me cold.

None of them have enough newer movies to make that much of a consideration these days, and I can and do get enough older movies from Netflix for a lot less money.
 
I've said this before, but if it's the movies that you are after (not the original programing), and you have AT 250, then Cinemax is what you should get. The Movie Channel and Encore are in AT 250. So, the Showtime and Starz movie collections are covered. Getting Cinemax would get you HBO's movie selection. You would get a more diverse selection.
 
The other option is sub to each for a month, record away and then stop subscribing to them. You'll save money that way by not paying half price for six months. The problem with premiums is that unless there is a series, the movies do repeat too often... but that'll happen with several channels. I was pretty ready to send Harry, Ron, Hermione with that damn stone down a meat shredder after my 6 months of HBO at half off. I'll miss Bill Maher, but not enough to pay for it.
 
The other option is sub to each for a month, record away and then stop subscribing to them. You'll save money that way by not paying half price for six months. The problem with premiums is that unless there is a series, the movies do repeat too often... but that'll happen with several channels. I was pretty ready to send Harry, Ron, Hermione with that damn stone down a meat shredder after my 6 months of HBO at half off. I'll miss Bill Maher, but not enough to pay for it.

I agree. I love Bill Maher, True Blood, Boardwalk Empire , but I simply can't see paying $18.00 a month to watch them. The HBO movies I can see on any premium channel eventually. The only reason why I even have it now , is it is half price for 3 months. I had it last summer for 1/2 price for 6 months and I had it for FREE for 3 months. This summer I will either downgrade to a lower programming pack and add it at full price for True Blood , or wait till September , add it for one month and watch all the episodes of True blood in one month on HBO Go and then drop it again. I really wonder how many people still sub to the premiums at full price ,since they are so high now? That has to be the reason why they are offering all the premiums at 1/2 price so often now. To try to get people interested enough to pay full price.
 
I think it is bizarre. At $16 I thought HBO was pricey, but attainable, but when it increased to $18, I was like, "Well, never going to be able to afford that." :confused:
 
I think it is bizarre. At $16 I thought HBO was pricey, but attainable, but when it increased to $18, I was like, "Well, never going to be able to afford that." :confused:

Try Comcast in my area. HBO is $20+, Cinemax is $20+, Starz is $20+, Showtime is $20+, and The Movie Channel is $20+. That pricing is all separate. It doesn't matter if it's 7 channels of HBO or 2 of The Movie Channel. Same price! Each plex is separate, meaning that you don't get The Movie Channel if you sub to Showtime, Cinemax if you sub to HBO, or Encore if you sub to Starz.

Now the only perk is that you get the Encore plex and Movieplex channels when you sub to digital cable. But, it's not all channels. When Indieplex and Retroplex were launched, Comcast took away WAM! and True Stories, now Encore Family and Encore Drama. Encore Family returned since being rebranded from Encore Wam. But Encore Drama still isn't there. By the way, the last I knew, no Encore channels were in HD.
 
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