New HDTV Channels for TWC

[borghe]

to clarify some things here, matt's math is a little off.

Satellite is $5/box AFTER the first one. With that in place...

Cable - boxes alone after 5 years is $1260 for three boxes
Satellite - boxes alone after 5 years is $1497

So satellite ends up being $237 more. But wait, we're not done yet. With a satellite box HD you can get rid of your locals on satellite. That saves you $2/month. Furthermore, to get every non-premium digital cable channel costs you $50/month as opposed to satellite which is $38/month (w/o locals which you get over HD). So adding in programming looks like this (for like packages):

60 months of all non-premium cable channels in 3 rooms:
cable = $4160
satellite = $3777

So with just standard cable channels you come out $483 ahead, or about $8.05/month, with satellite.

Now let's talk premiums. DirecTV is very straight forward. $12, $11, $10, and $8. For arguments sake here we'll leave out sports as cable doesn't even have anything comparable, hence we cut off at $8. Cable is a little more complicated. The first channel is $10 and the other three primary premium channels are $5/each after that. However Starz is $8.95 no matter what and Encore is $3/month no matter what also. So cable for all of the movie channels is $37, satellite is $41. Taking that into account:

cable = $6380
satellite = $6237

Finally, the whole enchilada. Cable's top package is $79.95. But, you have to get Starz and Encore ala carte for $12/month. DirecTV is $86/month with everything (including regional sports which you don't get on TWC and the spanish language channels that TWC charges $4/month for and the Tivo charge which TWC will charge you $5/month for). So $92 for cable vs. $86 for DirecTV. Looking at total cost for three rooms with HD boxes in each:

Cable = $6780
Satellite = $6657

So as you can see, even with buying your own satellite boxes for three rooms, you will save money on satellite. And even if I did toss local channels on satellite into the equation it would only add $120 to the total price of whichever tier you were looking at. Not to mention regional sports, Tivo, spanish language, etc..

It may look like I am ripping apart cable here, but I'm not. My brother asked me a month ago for detailed cost differences between the two. Cable has it's place and here is where it is:

If you aren't made of money and need/want cheaper upfront costs, cable is the answer.

If you can afford the upfront costs, you will save money with satellite in the long run. Also with satellite, remember that those costs stay the same if you move. Cable the costs may go up or down and services may vary depending on the new system you move to.

My brother chose cable. The upfront costs were too much for him. I don't agree with it, but I understand that for him it made the most sense right now.

Edit: I edited to correct my $8/cable box charge to the correct $7/box. However, I did not include a 5% franchise fee that is imposed on the bill (that would take cable to $7119, or $462 more than satellite).

[jlegge]

Hoo boy..... uh......carry the 2, divide by the angular trajectory of the sun, be sure to account for the angle of the dangle and multiply by the remainder......

Math sux.  

[The Law]

Try factoring in if you buy a cable box instead of renting......

[Tom Snyder]

And to think that when we were in school we said we'd never have real-life need for any of this math stuff.

[lespaul91]

I'm nowhere near an expert at any of this stuff, but....   With the way technology progresses I would imagine that the purchased boxes for D* would be pretty obsolete in 5 years.  I'm sure there is some complex formula for figuring out diminishing value.  

But, I'm no expert.  Just my 2 cents.

[Matt Heebner]

Good catch on my "new" math borghe...I did add in the first satellite box.....my mistake.
But.... try and find three HD D* boxes for $299 each. You might be able to find one at a clearence price, but three ? The cheapest I've found is the Hughes E86 at $399, and I am not sure if that requires a one year commitment to Total Choice at Directv or not.

I am not saying that either one is a better deal than the other programming wise...all I know is I carry JUST HBO, have 4 rooms hooked up, and my bill is over $70-freakin-dollars. Just doesn't seem right. And if I want to add a DirecTivo or another room,  I have to go out and purchase a new $100+ 5x8 multi-switch since my 4x4 is tapped out.

Oh, and I want to add that I could drop the locals over sat. to save some money and just go with the digital OTA broadcasts, but that means only the HDTV could get them, and not  any of the regular analog TV's (the wife would not allow that...she's a Leno-in-bed type of person ) and since my HD box and my TV lock on a 16:9 signal, every non-HD program on local would have the black side-bars. I can feel the burn-in starting.....


Matt

[jlegge]

Just a gee whiz Matt, split the antenna signal, one to the HD box, one to the TV's tuner.....

I suppose the argument is pointless anyhow, LMAO.....

[Shirow]

Yeah.. and saving a few hundred bucks over 5 years isn't something I'd get riled up about.. with the way inflation is going, I doubt it'd pay for a months bill at this rate..

[gparris]

Just to try a different time, I called the Kenosha TWC office about the HD package of HDNET and Discovery HD "coming soon"...according to some of our forum members.

I talked to a "Trish" that did not know ANYTHING about it and put me on hold to inquire for herself. Not only did she did not know anything about it, the office did not know anything about it and even who at TWC would have any information.

 NO one there knew ANYTHING:

"We haven't heard anything yet".

This was as  at 1:05 PM on Tuesday, June 10.

Maybe everyone at the forum with TWC service should "call-in" and pester these CSRs and bug the heck out of them so they find out something.:bang:

I will try to keep a log out of sheer frustration.

Anybody ELSE got any ideas?

How can TWC hire people who don't even KNOW what HDNET is?

[mhz40]

Originally posted by gparris
clip Maybe everyone at the forum with TWC service should "call-in" and pester these CSRs and bug the heck out of them so they find out something.:bang: /clip

IMO, once the HD set tops are readily available from the manufacturer's, more HD services will be added.

While is would be nice to add more channels for the early adopters of HD on TW, it doesn't make sound business sense to me to add more demand for HD than can be supported by hardware availability.  (My opinion is supported by reviewing several threads in other forums here with regard to the shortage of HD set tops.)

In terms of new HD services, there is nothing to find out about, so I just saved you a bunch of phone calls.

[gparris]

I do not know what is going on where YOU live, but my neighbors and I have had HD capable sets for 3 years and considering that HD on satellite has been available for LONGER than that, what is all this "early adopters" wording coming from?  

TWC in more technically-advanced cities like Houston have had HD on their systems for longer than that-HOW "early" do you think that is?

Are you initials "T.C." from the Journal?


"Early adopters, indeed"!




You saved me NO phone calls...you probably have the option of a dish and don't need cable for your HD service, so I will continue to battle it out of them, especially when forum members write in about information they receive that contradicts what I hear.

As far as "shortage of boxes" : WHERE?
I walked right into my Kenosha office and picked up 2 right away without incident...they told me they had plenty HD to spare!
Maybe things are different where you live....but not in Kenosha!

If you offer enough selection in HD-the demand builds up and the BOXES ARE THERE- NO SHORTAGE!

[Talos4]

Originally posted by lespaul91
I'm nowhere near an expert at any of this stuff, but....   With the way technology progresses I would imagine that the purchased boxes for D* would be pretty obsolete in 5 years.  I'm sure there is some complex formula for figuring out diminishing value.  

But, I'm no expert.  Just my 2 cents.

Well I'm no expert either because an expert is one who knows more and more about less and less.  But...

I have a Hughes reciever that was originally installed 7 years ago during the Primestar conversion.  I just recently retired it to get DD sound.

The box it self worked just fine. Actually never had one problem with it.  The menu system is not as fast as the new ones that I have now and not as many "Features".  

It will make a good box for the bedroom.

That's my nickels worth.

[borghe]

DirecTV boxes don't bercome obsolete, and for the most part "I believe" HDTV STBs will not become obsolete either. Sure better boxes have come out since, and sure better boxes will continue to come out, but many people out there are still using a first generation DirecTV box, and HDTV STBs will always be able to decode any non-copyprotected signal. My E86 won't become obsolete until the first DVI or Firewire only TVs come out without component inputs.

As for $299 boxes, yeah, it is tough, but ebay seems to have sold a bunch within the last few weeks. It's possible.

Like I said, I'm really not bashing cable, and like the case with gparris, there are instances were cable is a necessity. But every way I have put it together, if both are a viable option and you have money for the initial cost, satellite is cheaper in the long run. And considering multi-channel TV generally turns into a long term relationship (unlike cell phones :p ), the long term is almost always an eventuality.

[Gregg Lengling]

I see our friend TC finally put a note in the paper this morning about the upcoming HD channels on TWC...but he didn't make any mention about the coming channels on Directv.   I hate to think he's biased in his reporting.

[gparris]

Well- yes- biased by not completely telling-all with the HD offerings from more than one source. You would think that HE thinks he is advertising for the dish company when he mentions them by name.
We as a forum have always chided him for not completely covering the HD news with the satellite offerings and with good reason. Better reporting allows for all facets of a topic to come up in good story.
He probably thinks if he mentions DIRECTV or DISH, he is advertising for them so he omits it. TWC is probably mentioned because it something that is more like a "utility" rather than a defined company, and more people have access to it in the greater metro area the paper eminates from and cable is the dominant hookup,  city-side.

But these are just my observations as a former journalist.

To be fair to him, he IS reporting as best he can on the TWC side with the "several thousand" customers now mentioned - this is better than his past reporting.  I gained MORE information about the HD-TWC info from his ONE article than all the CSR calls I have placed recently what  with my moving to an apartment!

:eek: :eek: