Ditch SD already...
pdroth
Enthusiast - Level 1

Isn't it about time all of the cable companies ditch the confusing (to most people) system of having 2 sets of channel #'s - one for SD, other for HD?

Consumers haven't had the ability to buy a SD-only television in years.   It's about time we gain back the bandwidth wasted on SD by forcing everyone to either watch only HD or letterbox the signal for the minority of users still sticking with older sets.

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Re: Ditch SD already...
CRobGauth
Community Leader
Community Leader

There are still a significant number of people out there with either an SD STB or digital adapter.

And a fair number of the digital adapters are free.

So to replace all of those with HD boxes would be very expensive.

And for every 10 SD channels dropped, you only get 2-3 HD.

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Re: Ditch SD already...
pdroth
Enthusiast - Level 1

I can't tell you how confusing it is for so many people that there are 2 sets of channels.    I'm not one of them, but I do wish that the HD channels were the first set, and not the 500+ channel assignments.

Auto HD is not what it's cracked up to be either.    If you select 2, it jumps to 502, which is nice.   However, if you are on the real channel 2 in SD, and hit channel + or -, it does NOT jump to the HD channel.

Is summary, the system stinks, and is more suited for the convenience of the minority of viewers with SD sets and not the mainstream.

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Re: Ditch SD already...
gs0b
Community Leader
Community Leader

@pdroth wrote:

Is summary, the system stinks, and is more suited for the convenience of the minority of viewers with SD sets and not the mainstream.


FYI, you're talking to customers here.

Changing a system like this is non-trivial.  Not only does it involve real costs as CRobGouth noted, it requires changes in people's behavior.  There are lots of people who will complain about such a change.

For example, Verizon dropped TWC as most people use Internet devices to get weather info these days, yet there is quite a vocal minority complaining about this change.  I dare say that wholesale moving HD and SD channels around would upset way more paying customers than dropping TWC did.

Oh, and there still are a fair number of SD only channels.  All of the "local access" channels are SD only and I've even got some "normal" channels that are SD only.

Anyway, it's currently a bit of a mess, but we all know how to deal with it.  Changing it would create a new mess that would upset a lot of people, particularly those who don't want to change anything even if it makes it better.

Enjoy.

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Re: Ditch SD already...
ansky201
Contributor - Level 1

@gs0b wrote:

For example, Verizon dropped TWC as most people use Internet devices to get weather info these days, 


Do you honestly believe that was the reason they dropped TWC?  If so, why would they replace it with another weather channel?  The real reason is they did not want to pay TWC's fees.

I can get my news from the internet too, but we still have CNN and about 10 other news channels...

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Re: Ditch SD already...
gs0b
Community Leader
Community Leader

Do you honestly believe that was the reason they dropped TWC?  If so, why would they replace it with another weather channel?  The real reason is they did not want to pay TWC's fees.
I can get my news from theinternet too, but we still have CNN and about 10 other news channels...

Do you honestly believe that Verizon doesn't have a very good idea of how many people watch each channel?  Between Nielsen ratings and their ability to monitor data from their own set-top-boxes, you can be sure that the decision to drop TWC wasn't made without good data.

The bottom line is TWC has been loosing viewers for years for a variety of reasons including bad reality TV shows and easier access to weather info on Internet devices. Face it, weather is boring most of the time.  Why should Verizon continue to pay top-dollar for a product that very few of their viewers watched?

I hardly watch news channels anymore.  I get most of my news from the web throughout the day.  And I'm an "old fart."  Today's kids, young adults and not-so young adults are following similar patterns.  The availability of fast Internet everywhere is changing everything.

News channels have already dramatically changed their business models and the change will only accelerate.  Many so-called news networks are really video editorial pages most of the time.  Its possible we will see a reduction in cable news channels carried on cable networks if viewers switch to online sources.  They do have a more interesting product than "weather," so it will continue to be a much more complicated set of changes.

Enjoy.

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Re: Ditch SD already...
LawrenceC
Moderator Emeritus

Please keep the discussion in this thread related to SD.  For discussions of the Weather Channel, please post to the following topic:

http://forums.verizon.com/t5/FiOS-TV-Programming/The-Weather-Channel/td-p/780921

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