Verizon rolls out price increase with Extreme HD rollout

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Oct 6th 2008 at 3:27PM

You didn't think that Verizon was just going to over double the FiOS TV HD lineup -- and become one of the only wired providers in the country with 100 HD channels -- and keep the price at $48 a month did you? Because if you did, you were being a little naive, as the way we see it, a $10 a month increase for all that HD isn't too bad. Verizon definitely gets points for creativeness on this one though, instead of just raising the rates for everyone, the HD channels we all have grown to love have been moved to the Extreme HD tier, along with all the new ones, which goes for $10 a month -- interestingly there are a couple of SD channels on the Extreme HD tier, which makes no sense to us. But if you think this is bad, just be glad it isn't like DirecTV's HD policy which requires you to pay $10 a month to access the HD version of any channel you already pay for, like the NFL Sunday Ticket or HBO.

Filed under: Industry, Fiber

Tags: Extreme HD, ExtremeHd, FiOS, FiOS TV Extreme HD, FiosTvExtremeHd

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

Money Mike @ Oct 6th 2008 3:42PM

I read the story you linked to, but I'm still confused. When is my service going to cost more? I just got this month's bill and it's still the same. Is my next month's bill going to be higher or is this only for customers signing up for new service?

Or maybe I'm looking at this the wrong way. Are most of my HD channels going to suddenly stop working one day?

Neutral

Ben @ Oct 6th 2008 3:43PM

You're right MIke, it is unclear. The best guess I've read is when the full 100 HD channels are available in your area then you'll see the increase, but that is not official.

Neutral

Money Mike @ Oct 6th 2008 6:38PM

Living in North Jersey, I already have the 100 HD channels. Did you mean when the full 100 HD channels are available in all areas?

I realize we're just speculating here, but I'm pretty confused.

Neutral

RazorD @ Oct 6th 2008 3:49PM

Well, so long as i can watch 3-2-1 Penguins!, i'll be happy.

Neutral

Nik Simpson @ Oct 6th 2008 4:36PM

No points for creativeness, DirecTV already beat them to that punch. When they first launched HD, channels like HDnet were part of the basic HD package. As part of the MPEG4 rollout they took some of those basic HD channels out and them in a new/extra package that included Smithsonian HD.

Highly Ranked

Alex @ Oct 6th 2008 4:03PM

true competition for TV service can't get here soon enough

Neutral

Varment @ Oct 6th 2008 4:07PM

Sunday Ticket HD Package on Directv is $100 extra (called SuperFan), not $10 a month

Neutral

Ben @ Oct 6th 2008 4:08PM

Right, you have to pay $99 for Super Fan and $10 for the HD access. If you don't pay the $10, then you only get the other Super Fan extras.

Neutral

Killersaurus @ Oct 6th 2008 4:19PM

Is right now the best time to be raising prices? Sure, I want more channels, but my most likely course of action will be to downsize my subscription or even eliminate it.

Neutral

justme @ Oct 6th 2008 4:37PM

I think there's a very good chance that existing customers will get most of the new HDs as part of their current contract (e.g. if you're not on month-to-month) under their current price. Some channels may be limited to the official Extreme HD package but current folks should get most of the new HDs without a price increase.

Neutral

mnemonicj @ Oct 6th 2008 7:52PM

UVerse is $10 extra for any HD channels even if you already have the channels in SD.

Neutral

betosbooks @ Oct 7th 2008 10:18AM

I live in Texas and we're getting the HD channel increase right now. They have already started adding some new ones and I can also see new ones in the channel listings like FX HD that say "coming soon." I also got a letter back in Feb. saying prices we're going up but if I kept my current packages I would get all of the new channels for my packages at my current rate.

Neutral

chris @ Oct 7th 2008 5:30AM

i im also very confused.. i live in sarasota florida and we jsu got awhole bunch of new hd channels as of 3:00am here 10/7/08 and i no its close to the 100 but not since it still has some that say coming soon, i also jsut read the letter they sent out and it said there moving alot of channels around right now because there adding and changing things, as of now i have every channel without having to call up and add any kind of package the 10 dollar one. i have every channel you can get other then the college football since i work no point n getting it, so will i lose most the channels then when there all done with the update till i add the 10? i went on the site and see nothing like it yet? if anyone knows let me no thanks

Neutral

Denny @ Oct 18th 2008 12:47PM

you won't be able to watch the channels that say 'coming soon' this already happened here in north texas, we got our channel lineup revamped and a week later the channels that said 'coming soon' now told me i was not subscribed to them. when you call verizon about it they tell you that you will have to upgrade to extreme hd to watch them. they are not going to cut off any hd channels you already are able to watch but they will make you upgrade if you want the new ones, it was a good deal for me because i had the triple bundle and i ended up paying the same price for the extreme hd package and it also doubled my internet speed at no additional cost.

Neutral

UnnDunn @ Oct 7th 2008 12:32PM

Cable loves to tout that "HD is FREE!!!", meaning that you can swap your SD box for an HD box, get a whole bunch of HD channels you didn't have access to before, and see no increase in monthly fees.

Of course, that's just because they were overcharging for SD in the first place.

Still, Verizon FiOS is looking to be pretty durned expensive nowadays.

Neutral

Jay @ Oct 8th 2008 12:41PM

I am looking at my current bill online right now, and I do not see any "Extreme HD" charges or anything out of the ordinary.

I am under a two year contract since July of last year. Seeing as though I just recently added the HBO/Cinemax movie package recently to go along with my Showtime/Starz/TMC/ movie package, I saw over 60 movie channels that now have HD versions.

And they do look very good, for the most part. I would like to have one of those AVS people take a look to see if they are compressing the video somewhat.

Another issue that popped up was that there is a synchronization problem with the audio. I started to notice it a bit while watching Transformers, and then I definitely noticed it when watching I AM Legend on another HBO channel.

Neutral

chris @ Oct 9th 2008 3:32AM

i just got alot of high def channels afew days ago and i have just started too see the picture quality not as good as it was before, but the main thing i have to say and i hope they fix very soon is that i have noticed the audio is very bad, and i mean bad as not sound but there willbe sound and it will not match up to the mouths moving its ahead of the mouth moving.

Neutral

J&B @ Oct 18th 2008 11:42AM

$10 bucks ?!?! We got a $100 dollar increase in our bill.

We'll be cancelling now.

Neutral

prisaz @ Oct 19th 2008 11:21AM

Email to all of FIOS Media Relations Regarding HD Extreme

I hope we all get some straight answers.
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: HD Extreme
Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2008 10:18:47 -0400

You really should release a media announcement regarding the package change to HD Extreme, and what will happen to HD, and existing customers. If not in the news at least in the mail. The forums and blogs are full of questions and assumptions. They seem to vary by market. When I received my channel realignment notice for September it showed various HD additions, that after the realignment showed up as coming soon. The realignment advertisement in the mail with the new line up did not say coming soon. Now the new October guide shows as coming soon and part of the HD Extreme package. Like many customers I have had to agree twice to the same two year Triple Freedom package. My original package agreement was Oct 2007, when in May 2008 the discounts vanished. I was told something had changed on my account and needed to sign up for a new two year agreement. I was told by a service manager that my internet went month to month, I asked how if it was part of a two year agreement. I agreed to agree again. I have never had a problem with my bill payment, but many problems with billing. As many others have said, your agreement is one way. There have been awful stories about customers HD content being turned off and them being forced into a new one year only grandfathered HD Extreme package. Others have said they had to pay up.
Please, one of you should be able to clear this up, and reduce the negative PR this is causing in the following forums. And perhaps make an announcement there. I know it would do wonders for your company.

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