How Far in the Future will HD be Free

[CCMoor]

Right now HD is a premium. When will it be standard and we no longer have to pay a fee for it. 9.95 for 5 channel and 5.00 for Vooms 10.

 

[chastulsa]

Right now HD is a premium. When will it be standard and we no longer have to pay a fee for it. 9.95 for 5 channel and 5.00 for Vooms 10.

My guess is sooner than most people think. Most cable companies are adding HD as part as their basic digital syervice. We will probally see it in about 2 years for satellite depending if MPEG4 works to their expectations.

 

[tonyp56]

It will IMHO be longer than two years. I mean think about it, every year our "basic" channels go higher and higher, why wouldn't it suprise you that HD is going to be something that we have to pay a premium on for sometime in the future. I'd say sometime after the digital transformation is complete, which is around 2009. (of course could change)

 

[korsjs]

my locals are free right now with my cable company.

 

[Cyclone]

Dish OTA HD locals are free (for now).

 

[new_to_hdtv]

When will it be standard and we no longer have to pay a fee for it

In my opinion never.... They may come up with a new "package" that includes HD but they'll hide the cost for it in there somewhere. I have no idea how many HD subscribers Dish currently has but at $15/month for the HD and Voom packs they're just not going to give away Millions in revenue. I don't see that happening.

 

[CCMoor]

I think if HD is going to be a standard you should not have to pay a premium price for it. Same for DVR. I dont pay a fee for VCR Standard. I remember when Cell Phone Text messaging was free now they charge you for that... How are People to pay for everything if they dont make anything now a days?

 

[new_to_hdtv]

How are People to pay for everything if they dont make anything now a days?

Do you really think that businesses should give things away Free because people can't afford it? Get Real.

 

[GaryPen]

The truth will ie in the middle. There will probably always be a fee until all programming is HD. However, they will undoubtadly add more and more channels to it. At some point quite soon, you'll probably see 20-30 channels for $10.

 

[Bradtothebone]

The truth will ie in the middle. There will probably always be a fee until all programming is HD. However, they will undoubtadly add more and more channels to it. At some point quite soon, you'll probably see 20-30 channels for $10.

I don't always have to agree with Gary, but I do (partially) this time. I think that someday, maybe 5-10 years down the road, there will be so much HD (and many, many more people will have HD TV's), that the SD versions of channels will simply go away, and the HD version will be part of whatever package you are subscribing to. There will probably always be "premium" HD channels or packages, however, that the MSO's will charge extra for.

Remember when we had to pay extra for "touch tone" phone service? I do. I predict that Caller ID and Call Waiting will be free someday, too. They already are with some phone companies that don't have "Bell" in their name.

Brad

 

[DarrellP]

My local HD is free....OTA. 7 channels.

 

[GaryPen]

You measure the number of OTA stations in your area with only a single digit? How cute. 18 OTA, Yeah Baby!

 

[DarrellP]

You measure the number of OTA stations in your area with only a single digit? How cute. 18 OTA, Yeah Baby!

OK, Gary, you got me on that one, I now have OTA envy.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

If all channels were HD, Dish would need more satellites/transponders to carry them, even with MPEG-4. So there would be a significant cost to deliver them to us. I doubt Dish would eat all of that cost. So while the SD option might go away, the cost for the basic AT60-120-180., locals, premium channels, etc., might all have to be increased - beyond what the normal increases would be for SD.

 

[Kevinw]

I think if HD is going to be a standard you should not have to pay a premium price for it. Same for DVR. I dont pay a fee for VCR Standard. I remember when Cell Phone Text messaging was free now they charge you for that... How are People to pay for everything if they dont make anything now a days?

HD is not a standard. Digital programming is. HD is a bonus and one that we will have to pay for a good long while.

 

[GaryPen]

HD is not a standard. Digital programming is. HD is a bonus and one that we will have to pay for a good long while.

It will become the de facto standard sooner than "a good long while".

 

[kavula]

Isn't the future, basic Mpeg4 receiver, the 401 or whatever, supposed to have HD capability built-in? That means presumably that after the transition period, every E* customer will have only HD boxes even if they don't have HDTVs. So, in two or three years after the transition, as many current SD channels as E* can find room for on their transponders can be transmitted in HD. The same channels would not have to be transmitted also in SD, saving a small amount of bandwidth, because all receivers could downconvert HD signals for customers without HDTVs. The HD channels could then be part of any basic package.
The problem is calculating the true cost of transmitting in HD. I don't think that the actual transmission costs that much, but having the satellite bandwidth and other facilities have certain, very high initial fixed costs. If HD strained E* bandwidth, new satellites would have to be built, and the costs of which would be a part of programming costs. How much more efficient at compression is Mpeg4 over Mpeg2? Also, how much more bandwidth does HD use compared with SD?

 

[Stargazer]

We will all pay in the long-run with higher programming costs. My prediction is at first HD will be a premium and after its out for a while you will see the package prices for HD to go up as more channels are added to it. Later they would end up offering an additonal HD package in addition to the one you have for more money or split the package up once they get enough HD channels. By the time we see the basic packages get transitioned to the norm our prices will be higher than what we paid before but you have to also consider inflation.

 

[jerryez]

When SD goes away, the HD costs will not go down. That will just be the new rate for the package. When pulse went away, the phone company did not lower the rate for tone dialing.

 

[Stargazer]

Perhaps they will combine some packages to make them cheaper if they decide to split the packages at first while the SD feeds of those channels are still around.