Verizon to become next HD leader?

[Walter L.]

I found this interesting thread at AVSForum about Verizon plans for offering TV services. There is a lot of business announcement crap, but what called my attention was the proposed HD channel lineup for one of the 1st markets (Beaumont, CA). See page 52 ofthis doc. In summary:

800 Discovery HD
801 UniversalHD
802 HDNet
803 HDNet Movies
804 ESPN-HD
805 ABC-HD
806 NBC-HD
807 CBS-HD
808 FOX-HD
809 PBS-HD
810 In Demand 1 HD
811 In Demand 2 HD
812 TNT-HD
813 A&E HD
814 MTV-HD
815 Spike-HD
816 MSG-HD
817 NBATV-HD
818 NFL Network HD
819 Showtime-HD
820 TMC-HD
821 Starz!-HD
822 Encore-HD
823 HBO-HD
824 Cinemax-HD
825 Spice-HD

 

[vurbano]

Wowwwww

 

[BFG]

How are they carrying channels that dont exist? do they plan on assisting their launch, or do they already know they will launch?

 

[Walter L.]

How are they carrying channels that dont exist? do they plan on assisting their launch, or do they already know they will launch?

I don't know for sure. Perhaps, they know that those will be available by the time that the service is launched. Even if that's not the case, they still beat D*, E* and my cable company (Comcast).

 

[Bruce]

Scott from here left a post at AVS that says MTV-HD should be out by Summertime so that only leaves A&E HD and Spike-HD as channels not available from that list, but since MTV-HD is coming, maybe they do know something.

 

[BFG]

Well let's see they're still missing:

UPN-HD
WB-HD
ESPN2-HD
Wealth-TV
Outdoor Channel 2 HD
Lifestyle HD
The Window Channel
TCM-HD
FSNNY-HD
NESN-HD

 

[Bruce]

What the h*ll is The Window Channel.

 

[ComcastOgre]

I believe it is a rebranding of Voom's Lab HD, formerly MOOV.

 

[hbk409]

810 In Demand 1 HD
811 In Demand 2 HD


825 Spice-HD

how are they getting inhd? I think they are going to run into the same problem voom did saying they would have these channels then realizing they can't get them due to the fact they are not a cable company.

also isnt spice hd the same as playboy hd, considering playboy owns spice, and voom has a 2 year exclusivity contract with them for that channel

 

[ram1220]

Verizon is digging up my area here in Plano, Texas to install the same thing. I can't wait until it's finished. I'll be one of the first to sign up. They are applying for a cable TV franchise in my city and this is how they are able to get INHD1 and 2. It's all apparently going to be delivered by fiber and they also promise to triple my DSL speed. Not too bad.

Bob

 

[hbk409]

Verizon is digging up my area here in Plano, Texas to install the same thing. I can't wait until it's finished. I'll be one of the first to sign up. They are applying for a cable TV franchise in my city and this is how they are able to get INHD1 and 2. It's all apparently going to be delivered by fiber and they also promise to triple my DSL speed. Not too bad.

Bob

dont know if you saw this post it was in another forum
http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=46439

 

[boatman]

Well I already have Verizon Wireless with 3 lines, I will sigh up here in Houston in a heart beat.......

 

[SonicRob]

Veirizon

I would sign up in a Heart beat also but i doubt Verizon will service my area i have SBC DSL and i don't think Verizon is down here yet. I will stick to Voom and hope it last a long time if it goes dark i would stick to my Locals and get a Blockerbuster Pass all the DVD's you could rent for 20 dollars a month.

I think you could only check out 2 or 3 a week i need to call and find out.

 

[Walter L.]

What the h*ll is The Window Channel.

It's a new channel created by Bill Gates

 

[Walter L.]

Verizon to use Microsoft Software, Motorola STB & MPEG4

"Microsoft says it is building a custom solution for Verizon. The carrier's network, according to Graczyk, includes software that would be used in a Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) cable network and software that would fit in a pure IP network.

"Verizon has an IP infrastructure, but it will be delivering video on a Motorola-based QAM architecture down to the set-top box, using MPEG4 [video encoding]," says Ed Graczyk, director of marketing for Microsoft TV (see Verizon Says, 'Hello, Moto' )."

source: http://www.heavyreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=66871

 

[Alan Gordon]

Dmbatch on AVSForums posted the following:

News

Sad really, I was EXTREMELY interested should it ever get to me...

~Alan

 

[korsjs]

i hope they do become the leader. they will be available in my area later this year.

 

[LonghornXP]

Just so you know the proposed TV lineup I saw that would pretty much cover the entire Tampa Bay Area of Florida included both WB and UPN HD feeds. Also on the InHD issue I've been told that Verizon told the city if InDemand won't let Verizon have the InHD channels they will either a...force BHN to stop carrying these channels or b..if BHN still carries it than BHN franchise agreement would be null and void. To sum this up if BHN wants Verizon to play fair they have to play fair too. Also the city of Tampa has told InDemand they have to give Verizon their channels for a fair fee or they would revoke their agreement with BHN thus resulting in BHN loosing all sports PPV and movie PPV packages.

Also the other HD channels you see such as A&E and such I've been told is planned to be On Demand shows and the proposed lineup I saw included SciFi as an On Demand channel. It seems most networks would rather have their content On Demand in HDTV as part of HD Packages as that would gain them money while not having to spend money on keeping a 24/7 uplink going and everything else that goes along with it. I also won't waste bandwidth because only one on demand show can be played back in each room resulting in only requiring extra hard drive space at the headend.

 

[roachxp]

Don't forget Verizon's IPTV will be a-la-carte which you only pay for the stations you want.

 

[LonghornXP]

Don't forget Verizon's IPTV will be a-la-carte which you only pay for the stations you want.

The word is don't count on that right yet. I'm hearing they will be pushing bundled packages and not pushing a-la-carte packages.