Quote:
Originally Posted by JPL
Yeah, this stuff is confusing, and Verizon didn't do a great job in communicating it. From what I understand, ESPN News HD is not one of the channels available to grandfathered customers in the Premier package. Exactly what is granfathered in, I think, may vary by market. But I'm pretty sure that the last 15 HD channels (those that are rolling out in phase 2 of the HD rollout) will NOT be included in the Premier package for grandfathered customers.
There's a list of what those channels are, but overall it includes the Fox HD channels (FNC HD, Fox Business HD, and F/X HD), as well as the ABC family of HD channels (ABC Family, Disney, Toon Disney, ESPN News HD), and a handful of others (e.g. QVC HD, Bio HD, Travel HD, and a couple more). So, I think, at the very least, if you want any of those 15 channels you HAVE to upgrade to Extreme. Included in that are at least 2 SD channels - RFD and Current. Again, if you're a premier customer and you want those two channels, you need the Extreme pack - they're not even included in the Essentials pack.
As for the rest of the HD channels... well I'm not sure how long you get grandfathered in. I'm guessing until your contract runs out, but I'm not sure. At the end of the day, it's clear that Premier is gone, and only Essentials and Extreme will be available. If you want to see which channels are included with each pack, go to Verizon's website, under the Channel listings. Put in your zip code and you'll see the list - they recently upgraded their website, and the changes they made make it easy to see which package contains which channel.
Oh, and as another change - the Sports pack is history. Those channels are now also rolled into the Extreme pack.
As for pricing, I think they're offering nice bundles. I was paying $105/month with Premier and 10/2 internet service, and freedom essentials phone. I just rebundled with Extreme, and I'm not getting the HD Extreme TV pack (which includes all those HD channels plus the sports pack channels), 20/5 internet, and the same phone pack, for $110/month. I spend an extra $5/month, but I more than doubled my internet speed (checked the other night - 20.7M down!), and I got a bunch more channels.
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From what I have been told by calling Fios and getting different supervisers for the past few weeks is that it is like JPL said, your grandfather clause includes all the first round of HD channels. All of the following, premier grandfathered customers will get:
550- USA HD
551- TNT HD
552- TBS- Hd
553- FX (HD EXTREME ONLY)
567- UNIVERSAL
568- WGN SUPERSTATION (HD EXTREME ONLY)
569 - HDNET
570- ESPN HD
572- ESPN NEWS (HD EXTREME ONLY)
573- ESPN U
574- ESPN 2 HD
576-579 LOCAL SPORTS HD
583- SPEED HD (HD EXTREME ONLY)
585- BIG TEN NETWORK
588- NFL NETWORK
590- VS GOLF (HD EXTREME ONLY)
591- OUTDOOR CHANNEL (HD EXTREME ONLY)
592- TENNIS HD (HD EXTREME ONLY)
597- WFN (HD EXTREME ONLY)
598- MAV TV (HD EXTREME ONLY)
600- CNN HD
602 CNBC HD
617 FOX BUSINESS HD (HD EXTREME ONLY)
618- FOX NEWS (HD EXTREME ONLY)
619- WEATHER CHANNEL
620- DISCOVERY HD
621- NGEO HD
622- SCIENCE HD
625- SMITHSONIAN HD
628- HISTORY HD
629- BIO HD (EXTREME ONLY)
630- ANIMAL PLANET HD
631- HD THEATER
639- TLC HD
640- LIFETIME
641- LMN
650- QVC (EXTREME ONLY)
664 FOOD HD
665 HGTV HD
668 PLANET GREEN (EXTREME ONLY)
669 WEALTH
670 TRAVEL HD (EXTREME ONLY)
680 SCI- FI HD
681 A&E HD
685 BRAVO HD
699 ABC FAMILY (EXTREME ONLY)
711 PALLADIA
740 HALLMARK MOVIES (EXTREME ONLY)
744 MGM MOVIES (EXTREME ONLY)
746 HDNET
780 DISNEY (EXTREME ONLY)
781 TOON DISNEY (EXTREME ONLY)
Hopefully this clarifies it. I was the first to post on the other thread about this and I have contacted at least 8 reps and 3-4 supervisors. The idea I was told was to phase out the Premier and Sports package and to offer just two basic packages.
1) Essentials- Digital w/ Only local HD
2) Extreme - All channels accept subscriptions like HBO, CINEMAX, STARZ.
I am sure it is a way to get everyone in a 1 year contract so they can jack up the price next year. None of the Reps disagreed with this when I called them out. Hopefully my post was helpful. Because I was livid about the whole thing I talked to them repeatedly and these are the answers I got. Everyone who has premier should be able to upgrade to Extreme free of charge but they MUST ACCEPT a one year deal. You must go on line like you originally did and accept the terms when they E-mail you it. Make sure you respond to the E-mail I was told or your price WILL increase! They said this policy would be effective by late October in ALL markets. Is it fair? No, but in a way they got us.