NatGeo in Hd
- Thread starter TVfreak
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I would like to think that the upcoming increase in the HD package price has a lot of "cushion" built in. The extra money up front will help pay for putting up the new birds, buying Rainbow-1, MPEG-4 upgrades, ect. But hopefully down the line, they will have the ability to pump the package up to 40-50 HD channels.
One thing...there is some argument as to whether or not a separate HD package will be available in the future. If it does remain available, I would expect it to inflate in price faster than the bundled HD/SD packages. Why? Well, in the case of channels like ESPN or TNT, the programming is exactly the same as the SD versions. There is no reason to charge anything more than a few cents extra IF the HD versions are bundled with the SD versions. The premium channels charge NOTHING extra.
When you purchase the current HD pack, they have to build in the price of programming for EVERY channel. In the case of ESPN, that's a substantial amount. Presumably, most of us HD customers are paying TWICE for ESPN.
As more and more HD channels become available, many of them will be HD versions of existing channels. This is presumably the reason for the new bundled packages. For example (this is totally hypothetical!), Food-HD and HGTV-HD may have been offered to DISH for 50 cents per subscriber each, or 10 cents if bundled with the SD versions.
Each HD channel will have different circumstances. HDNET and VOOM should be the same price with or without bundling, because there is no SD version. ESPN-HD and TNT-HD, in MY opinion, should be nearly free if bundled with an SD package. Food-HD, National Geographic- HD, and HGTV-HD will fall somewhere in between, like Discovery-HD, because while much of the programming will overlap, the schedules will be different, and production costs will increase. MHD will be different still...they have built a completely separate studio in the mountains and will likely have a lot of exclusive content, but some series will overlap with MTV.
In any case, expect LOTS of new HD over the next couple years. And if HD Pack continues to exist, expect the price to go up quicker than it does with the new bundled packages.
One thing...there is some argument as to whether or not a separate HD package will be available in the future. If it does remain available, I would expect it to inflate in price faster than the bundled HD/SD packages. Why? Well, in the case of channels like ESPN or TNT, the programming is exactly the same as the SD versions. There is no reason to charge anything more than a few cents extra IF the HD versions are bundled with the SD versions. The premium channels charge NOTHING extra.
When you purchase the current HD pack, they have to build in the price of programming for EVERY channel. In the case of ESPN, that's a substantial amount. Presumably, most of us HD customers are paying TWICE for ESPN.
As more and more HD channels become available, many of them will be HD versions of existing channels. This is presumably the reason for the new bundled packages. For example (this is totally hypothetical!), Food-HD and HGTV-HD may have been offered to DISH for 50 cents per subscriber each, or 10 cents if bundled with the SD versions.
Each HD channel will have different circumstances. HDNET and VOOM should be the same price with or without bundling, because there is no SD version. ESPN-HD and TNT-HD, in MY opinion, should be nearly free if bundled with an SD package. Food-HD, National Geographic- HD, and HGTV-HD will fall somewhere in between, like Discovery-HD, because while much of the programming will overlap, the schedules will be different, and production costs will increase. MHD will be different still...they have built a completely separate studio in the mountains and will likely have a lot of exclusive content, but some series will overlap with MTV.
In any case, expect LOTS of new HD over the next couple years. And if HD Pack continues to exist, expect the price to go up quicker than it does with the new bundled packages.
