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MSG 2 HD Added

Verizon finally added msg hd and msg plus hd but there were no additions of msg 2 hd or msg plus 2 hd added but now that has changed with one of those channels as msg 2 in hd has been added. It is now available on channel 579 for those in the new york and new jersey area for people to watch only it appears on the guide as MSG HD 2 when it should be MSG 2 HD. Msg plus 2 hd has yet to be put up but my guess is that it is coming soon. There is no logo right now but that too should be corrected in the next few days. A big advantage that cablevision had and often bragged about in their commercials is now gone as verizon continues to add more content for those in the tri-state area. Now if only they can figure out what to do with channel 466 which was mega tv that was dropped by WRNN where it was revealed 8 months ago that it would become al jazeera english but that has not happened as the people who wanted al jazeera do not have it and the people who enjoyed mega tv do not have it to watch.

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ocean25

@mm1 wrote:
Verizon finally added msg hd and msg plus hd but there were no additions of msg 2 hd or msg plus 2 hd added but now that has changed with one of those channels as msg 2 in hd has been added. It is now available on channel 579 for those in the new york and new jersey area for people to watch only it appears on the guide as MSG HD 2 when it should be MSG 2 HD. Msg plus 2 hd has yet to be put up but my guess is that it is coming soon. There is no logo right now but that too should be corrected in the next few days. A big advantage that cablevision had and often bragged about in their commercials is now gone as verizon continues to add more content for those in the tri-state area. Now if only they can figure out what to do with channel 466 which was mega tv that was dropped by WRNN where it was revealed 8 months ago that it would become al jazeera english but that has not happened as the people who wanted al jazeera do not have it and the people who enjoyed mega tv do not have it to watch.

Interesting...we don't see either, but we see "messages" (New) and when clicked on "No new messages" ?

Caps09

I thought it was kind of odd that MSG 2 HD was added, but not MSG+ 2 HD. MSG+ is showing two games on Feb 7 and Feb 9, so you would think plus 2 HD would be active by then. On Feb 14, all four channels will have live games, so it would be rellay nice to have all four HD channels active then. I love the way Verizon has wasted no time getting these HD channels going since they didn't have access to them for so long. Nice way to stick it to the Dolans- have a carriage agreement that the government forced MSG to negotiate and enter into, then have every HD game on within a couple months.

prisaz

How about ESPN 10? Smiley Mad

Caps09

I'm watching the Islanders vs. Jets game tonight (from MSG+2) on the NHL Center Ice free preview, and I'm baffled by how this channel (really group of channels) is run. Every game is produced in HD and the graphics look like they would be terrific in HD. Unfortunately, MSG seems to take the approach of "haha you can't have it in HD". MSG will not let NHL Center Ice carry any of their HD feeds. They expect to be paid more than every other US regional sports network that all make their HD feeds available for center ice, so they simply won't let them have access.

This brings me to how MSG treats its viewers inside the NY region. MSG has to have the worst channel finder I've ever seen. Whatever zip code you enter, the guide many times doesn't show you where to find the channels in HD, and sometimes will omit them even if you choose Cablevision as your provider. If they are showing four games at one time like they did tonight, a lot of areas don't get the second overflow channel at all. Besides that, the channel lists for 2 and +2 don't show HD channels at all, no matter what provider it is. On TV, there seems to be no acknowledgement that the game is available in HD. No one ever mentions it, and the graphics never give a hint that your provider could carry the game in HD.

This is a huge difference from independent regional sports channels like NESN and MASN, who urge viewers to bug their provider to death to get their HD channels. In my region, MASN even has people working during the live games to answer feedback and signal problems reported through their website.

I guess I'll never understand the Dolan logic. I guess the more you keep something a secret, the more people will want it. Too bad for MSG that there are two other far superior channels now carrying the Yankees, Mets, and Nets.

mm112

I agree with those of you who are still baffled as to why MSG PLUS 2 HD was not added but it has become quite clear that jim dolan the{please keep your posts courteous}owner of cablevision and the knicks who has a terrible track record with his customers is doing everything that he can to try to prevent what will be the inevitable addition of the fourth MSG channel which is MSG PLUS 2 in HD that will put a huge dent into what he thought would be something that only he along with comcast could provide to their customers at the expense of verizon. Now if only verizon can take another look at the logos that exist for those MSG channels in SD and HD they will notice that there are issues with them. Channel 79 in SD has the MSG logo there but that channel is MSG 2 not MSG. Channel 81 which is MSG PLUS 2 has a logo listed wrongly as MSG PLUS. Channel 579 has the regular standard definiton logo for MSG 2 which should be on channel 79 not the MSG 2 HD logo. Then there is channel 580 MSG HD PLUS which has the wrong logo listed wrongly as MSG HD when it is MSG HD PLUS. Now i know that this may not meant much to most people but if you have these channels as part of your local sports package it can be confusing for people who pull up the guide who have vision issues who are trying to find the right game that they want to watch on one of the four SD channels or 3 HD channels. It is also not as simple as just checking out what is listed on the guide to tape it or try to watch it because the guide is often inaccurate with data that does not match what is actually playing. I agree with the person above me that it is very difficult to try to locate a game to watch when you can not find the channel and the logos for those channels do not match the channels that are on the guide. Cablevision has its critics but at least they know the difference between MSG, MSG 2, MSG PLUS, MSG PLUS 2.

Caps09

Yeah, sounds like there are a few issues Verizon needs to work out with the guide. The lack of MSG+2 HD could be because the full time HD feed simply is not ready to go yet from the programmer. Verizon obviously has an agreement in place to carry it, but as we have found out, Vz is the only provider needing a full time feed for the two part time channels. MSG 2 HD may have just been added as a test since there are less live games scheduled on it than +2. Once they get all the channels in place though, Verizon will be the only provider with all the MSG HD channels in one place and on full time feeds.

thewebcobbler

Are we Ever going to get MSG + 2 HD channel? Any updates on that issue would be appreciated.

Thanks

WebCobbler

Caps09

If there is a lockout in the NHL, they still need to be ready at anytime for a collective bargaining agreement to be reached and games to start. Because of this, MSG and Verizon need to be ready for the season to start at anytime, meaning MSG+2 HD needs to be ready to go. In January, there was a Verizon blog saying that the two HD overflows would be on FiOS "this year". With that said, I'll speculate that the +2 HD feed is probably ready to go, and knowing how long it takes for Verizon to groom a new channel into the lineup, the channel will probably appear in the MSG region in October even if there's no hockey right away.

I don't know if it was ever mentioned here, but MSG and Cablevision dropped their appeal of the FCC ruling earlier this year, so they and Verizon are now getting along. I thought this might happen after all the new fees MSG was collecting from Verizon.

Caps09

Apparently MSG +2 HD was never added yet, but now is the time for people in the NY region to watch out for it showing up on channel 581. The only reason the channel exists is because the Devils and Islanders share MSG+, and with the NHL starting up again, now there will be a reason to finally add the HD channel. Verizon has most likely had access to the feed for months, with no point in adding it since it has been identical to MSG+ on channel 580.

mm112

It appears that we have an answer as to why the msg plus 2 hd has not been added as of yet and it all has to do with the fact that the provider of that channel cablevision is set to get out of the cable tv business. Citigroup, deadline and the wall street journal are all reporting that cablevision will be no more as far as their cable tv/ internet/ phone operation is concerned where the move is set to occur within the next 18 months. Time warner is rumored to be taking it over but another provider like comcast could step up and add cablevision to their long list of things that they continue to acquire. That of course is good news and bad news for verizon. One a competitor of theirs in new jersey and new york will no longer exist but now another competitor will get those customers. For either time warner or comcast to continue to add more and more things to their ever expanding empires that is not a good sign for verizon or at&t where comcast is looking at trying to buy uverse if they continue to lose customers. In the near future it could be comcast vs time warner vs verizon with directv still a possibility but since most people need an internet connection they will want to have a triple play. The status of the addition of msg plus 2 hd will now remain in the air quite possibly until time warner takes over cablevision and then we will see if the channel will ever appear on the guide even though verizon has an agreement to get it added to their guide. This of course is a very interesting move by cablevision considering that they just filed an anti-trust lawsuit against viacom claiming that viacom and other companies are purposely driving up the cost of people's tv bills because tv providers have to agree to add on and pay for channels that those tv providers do not want. The arguement is that for a tv provider to carry comedy central, mtv and nickelodeon they have to pay for and carry an additional 14 channels that get very low ratings. If cablevision were to win that lawsuit before they were to get sold that would open up a pandora's box for other tv providers to also sue companies to not force them to add on channels that no one once those channels are added will be watching. In the meantime the addition of msg plus 2 hd which had been planned for a while may continue to remain in limbo unless verizon's lawyers can force cablevision to give it to them soon.

Caps09

If these rumors are true, it wouldn't have anything to do with MSG because it was spun off from Cablevision a couple years ago. The Dolans simply run MSG and its teams as a different company. Also, there is no reason for MSG to withhold MSG+2 now, because Verizon already has an agreement to distribute MSG+. It sounds more to me like +2 HD has not been added simply because of a lack of QAM space, which is about to be shaken up this month. We'll just have to wait and see.

Lets_Go_Mets

I haven't read this whole thread but it irks me that MSG and MSG2 show the same games. For example, the Rangers will be on both, the Devils will be on MSG+ and the Isles get relegated to non HD MSG+2. Why do the Rangers need to be on two HD channels while the Isles aren't one one. Too bad either the Isles or Devils can't jump to SNY or YES. F the Dolans!

Caps09

When MSG+2 HD is added, it will also show the same thing as MSG+ HD most of the time. It seems like a waste to have two overflow channels instead of one like Comcast and Cablevision, but Verizon does not want to have to switch feeds on one channel. I don't know if it has something to do with their current infrastructure, but they just won't do it.

The Islanders and Devils TV deals were locked up around ten years ago by MSG, before the other two networks entered the market. They go through 2021 and 2017, respectively. It was good for the teams to get long term deals at the time, but an even better way for MSG to keep other NY teams "in line" and not outshine the Rangers and Knicks. We'll have to see what happens when those deals are up since SNY has all winter to show at least one hockey team. The Devils could probably make the most of that since their deal expires first, but you never know.

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