Verizon taking channels out of the Extreme HD plan?

[qiantom]

I noticed that there is the new Ultimate HD plan now, and channels like the Tennis Channel are no longer included in the Extreme HD plan. Will I not be able to watch the Tennis Channel soon?

[Caps09]

From what I've seen at a relative's house, you will continue to get all the channels you currently get unless you change packages. She has one of the packages that came before the "Essentials", but she gets more HD than just the local channels just like what she signed up for a couple years ago.

[nuttyirishman]

So, am I to understand that if one has the current Extreme HD package, that the channels received will NOT change?  Because if you compare the new Ultimate HD with the current Extreme HD,  certain channels ie. GOL TV (313),  are now in Ultimate, not Extreme as they are now.

[ekem015]

As I understand it, your old plan is grandfathered in, so unless you change plans it won't change.

Isn't the Tennis Channel part of the old Sports Package, anyway? (Which was separate from Extreme HD). The Sports Package just became part of the extras offered with Ultimate HD. I don't believe there were any channels offered with Extreme HD, non-sports package, that have been pushed to Ultimate HD. Maybe just some of those obscure HD channels - MGM HD, es.tv, etc.

[film111]

MGM-HD is hardly an "obscure" channel...at least not as obscure as most of the specialty sports channels anyway.  (In fact, I know many people who have switched providers (or are hoping to), primarily to get MGM and the HDNet Movie channels. But the new ULTIMATE HD channel is primarily their way getting people to pay for the (justifiably) floundering EPIX channel.

[Caps09]

Yes, the sports channels in the 300's (HD and SD) were part of the Extreme HD package. As long as you don't change your package, you'll keep these channels. If you change it, you can never go back.

film11, I don't know if EPIX is floundering because you don't like it, but I suspect that this new package was all agreed upon before the channel was ever launched. If someone thinks one of your favorite channels is "obscure", it's okay. My favorite channels are NHL Network, MLB Network, and my regional sports networks. If someone prefers to watch movies, my favorites would probably seem obscure, and that's okay too.

Here's my big message to Verizon- I really like having all these channels available to me so I can decide whether or not to watch. I would much rather have a channel available to me instead of my video provider deciding that "no one wants to see XXX channel". I'll even pay a few cents extra every month to get the channels that I may not always watch!

[Greg26001]

Epix plays the same movies every day, Iron Man, Indiana Jones, James Bond, Untouchables, and a few others. 

[film111]

Yep, and those same movies have been running since October!

Caps, I say floundering, not just because I don't like the channel, but because I doubt many are signing up for it on its own.  It's all over the net on various AV forums  regarding their practice of cropping new films. And, going by the various postings I've read, no one wants to pay $10 for a channel that does that.  So I doubt their initial subscriber base would be very high (I have heard, unofficially, that it has been a disappointment. Only themselves to blame.) .  Plus, as already noted, almost no new releases anyway. It strikes me that adding it to an ULTIMATE package (whether decided far in advance or not) is a way of adding subs to the channel whether it's wanted or not.  And, of course, as another poster here has found, possibly LOSING a few more desirable channels in the process.

[Stevef3NJ]

For people in the NYC area...it is a great deal.  We had to pay extra for the sport channels....now we get them,  Epix and Red Zone for a few dollars more.  We also get HBO and Cinemax.  I am not sure how it is for the other areas, but it is a darn good deal for the NYC area.

[Caps09]

film, if that's the way you feel, you can switch to Comcast since they don't (and say they won't) carry the channel at all. They have decided that nobody wants to see it, end of story.

I don't get it. When EPIX launched, people freaked because it wasn't offered as part of a package. Now that it is offered in a package, you're still crying foul since you don't like the channel. And yes, it is a way to add subscribers for both EPIX and Red Zone. So what? Remember that my point is that I would much rather have a video provider that will give me access to more programming rather than deciding for me that I don't want it.