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New subscriber... I hope that I am missing something...

I'm a new subscriber who switched from Directv to Fios TV. My wife and kids are REALLY unhappy and giving me lots of grief. I'm disappointed too.

Directv had tons of great movies for free on demand. FIOS gets a big, fat zero in this department. It seems that the freebees are very few and we are asked to pay for nearly every movie.

Most of the free views are TV series, sports events, news, etc. While this may be great for some folks... FIOS seems to be a wasteland for movie lovers.

I'm taking so much heat... I will probably have to cancel my contract.

Hey... FIOS has a great picture. That's about where it ends for our family. I really don't want to go back to satellite. Someone tell me that I am missing something here... Is there a huge "free viewing" movie on demand database that I am missing?

Comments

Maniac32

I should have added to my previous messge that FIOS is far superior in picture quality and audio (with our SONY home theatre system). Directv does not come close in these areas. The difference is amazing....!!

Briani

Sorry dude but you are not missing anything.

While it is true that Verizon has great picture and sound, they do not have a collection of free movies tucked away on demand. I moved from Comcast about a year ago and they had a decent library of movies too. I do miss the free movies and it bugs me when I look through on-demand and see some of the movies that were once free, now $2.99. Having said that, I pay only $30 for all the movie channels which does open up my on-demand options a bit.

No system is perfect I guess.

I get worn out of people talking about suppier picture and such because I believe only a very few folks honestly see the difference. Until Verizon offers picture and sound comparable to Blu-ray, I do not think it is much of a selling point to the average viewer but I could be wrong. 🙂

I have been much happier with the Verizon value. I have all movie channels and EVERY channel for $50 less a month than I was paying Comcast where I had the sports package and three movie channels. Plus Verizon had a much better HD line up although times are a changing when it comes to that selling point.

Justin46

I don't know if you are missing something or not, but do you subscribe to any of the premium channels, the movie package or HBO? If so, there are a large number of movies available there for free, both HD and SD. The way I get to them is:

VOD ==> Browse All ==> Premium Subscriptions ==> the channel I want to look through for a movie (any channel is a package I am subscribed to is free)

Even if you don't have any premium subscriptions, the Epix Free Preview has a lot of free movies in it, at least for now.

There may be better ways to do it, but the above works for me.....

__________________________________
Justin
Verizon FiOS TV, Internet, and phone
QIP6416, IMG 1.6.2, Build 08.58
Keller, TX 76248

LizJ

I hope that Verizon considers keeping Epix for free onDemand, because I think the lack of free movies is one of the few areas FIOS falls really short.

Maniac32

I've been looking around for a week or so and FIOS falls way short of the volume of movies for free that Directv offers. I guess that is ok for a reduction of approx $50 per month that I pay for FIOS vs Directv. I am bummed that I have to pay a fee for nearly every movie I would like to view. The family isn't pleased either...

FIOS is not a movie lovers dream... unless you are wiling to pay... even then the choices are somewhat limited... Verizon needs to work on this to be compettive or better than Directv.

bbrown3333

I too have been very frustrated with Verizon's programming. In particular, why would we want to pay $2 - 5 for a movie that is 10-20 years old that can be found for free on just about any channel. I can see paying for newer releases, but they are insulting us by asking us to pay for these ancient flicks that are nothing special. Comcast did not do that.

On the plus side, I was glad to see that Verizon has finally added Exercise TV - you can choose any type of exercise video - for free - and work out in your own home.,there are a wide variety of exercises. I really missed that when we first switched from Comcast.

We do pay for the premium movie channels, so do have a good selection on demand, but that option is not cheap. Get rid of all those old crummy movies that we have to pay for - all they are doing is making their customers angry.

film111

Liz wrote:

09-02-2009 04:52 PM

I hope that Verizon considers keeping Epix for free onDemand, because I think the lack of free movies is one of the few areas FIOS falls really short.

They'd better! After seeing how EPIX has cropped IRON MAN, INDY 4, and THE DUCHESS, eliminating picture information from those movies, there's no way I'll pay a premium for the channel.

Maniac32

After several weeks of FIOS subscription... I have determined that I am missing something... Directv.

I am disappointed and under constant harrassment from family who misses LOTS of free movies, interactive sports and the DTV guide.

Picture and audio is fantastic!. But, my family misses the movies and other features loaded into Directv service. I don't miss the occaisional outage and picture/audio synch issues.

When we compare the selection and number of movies we watched each month with Directv... the $50 savings with FIOS just does not compute in our favor... and turns out to be our major complaint. I subscribe to all the premium movie channels and am considering a sports package. We feel that we have been hijacked by FIOS...

At some point Verizon will recognize the need to do more than just catch up... The FIOS folks need to be more pro-active with programming and features... not just marketing blitz.

Weezknight

Honestly, the way things are right now, the best thing for movie lovers is to use NetFlix. Find the cheapest cable subscriber for the networks that you watch (FiOS, DirecTV, DISH, whatever), and then use NetFlix to supplement your movie watching. When push comes to shove, it ends up being the cheapest way to enjoy a lot of movies...especially with their streaming service, too.

Maybe it's because we subscribe to the movie channels, but we never feel at a loss for anything on demand.

stevelogan1028

Netflix is the way to go - especially if your family has an Xbox 360. While not all encompassing, the Netflix VOD service has a huge selection of movies that you can queue and stream to your 360 for your basic $8.95 per month subscription. Honestly, we've had a DVD unwatched from Netflix sitting there for about 6 months now because we've found plenty to watch with their VOD.

If you don't have a 360 or don't want one, you can get the Roku dedicated Netflix STB for $99, or either of the Tivo Series 3 units have Netflix built in now too (though you have to pay for Tivo and Netflix I believe).

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