Cablevision Does It Again!

[hiss srq]

Mario, what is Apple TV? I would love to do away with Cablevision.... If I could find a way to have just YES, the ESPN suite, the Fox channels and BBC I would be content.... If I ever watch TV those are really the only channels I watch... Maybe in a pinch if I need a sports fix I watch SNY but that is rare.

[Fighting_falcon_51]

http://www.apple.com/appletv/

It is a tiny box that runs iOS and you can hook it up to your TV and rent movies and tv shows, stream media from your computer, watch Youtube, and stream netflix. It isn't a bad creation but there are other options that I feel are better but they are more money. Also it only supports 720P so you wont be able to take advantage of 1080P if your TV supports it.

[puckstopper55]

I am surprised nobody has mentioned FiOS TV. It blows cablevision out of the water in terms of quality, channel selection, and the internet is insane. I have had both services, and can honestly say that FiOS beats cablevision in every single category. Cable is so scared of FiOS that they paid off the town of brookhaven to not allow Verizon to run the wires on the poles, and they are also holding local sports HD feeds hostage in spite of a FCC ruling prohibiting them from doing so.

As mentioned earlier, cable has been the only game in town for a long time, and half assed their way with everything. Now that they have competition they are running scared.

[moose135]

I had FIOS for about two years, and didn't notice any significant differences from Cablevision. Granted, I don't have a 72", Super High Def, Ultra TV, just an old 26" tube type, but the picture looks about the same, the channel lineup is the same - in fact, for the longest time, MS-NBC, which I do watch, wasn't available on FIOS, and the price wasn't all that different. Internet service wasn't any better, either. To me, both were very much the same.

[puckstopper55]

I had FIOS for about two years, and didn't notice any significant differences from Cablevision. Granted, I don't have a 72", Super High Def, Ultra TV, just an old 26" tube type, but the picture looks about the same, the channel lineup is the same - in fact, for the longest time, MS-NBC, which I do watch, wasn't available on FIOS, and the price wasn't all that different. Internet service wasn't any better, either. To me, both were very much the same.

I dont think you will notice a picture difference unless you are using a larger, HDTV. The phone, I will agree and are about the same. I notice the biggest difference in internet speed. Cable claimed to give me (at the time) 15 mbps down, and 2 up. I never even came close to getting that, even during off peak hours. During peak times, LOL, good luck. With FiOS, I am on a 25/25 plan, and have always been close to 25 down (sometimes 24, sometimes 26), and usually am about 23 on the up. The great thing about FiOS, is that even during peak times you have full bandwidth because they dont overload the fiber cables.

Cable has been using the same copper wire for years, and you can only multiplex (I believe that was the word used in EE 201) so many times before the signal is total crap.

[mirrodie]

I was against FIOS simply b/c as Cablevision and Time Warner have had similar problems, it can also happen to Verizon so I was really looking to break all ties.

I may look int oVerizon TV. Apple sounds good but the 720P limit kills that idea.


Honestly, all we would really want is an option to view just the broadcast channels in high def. 2 ,4, ,7, 9, 11, 13, 21

[T-Bird76]

Mario there is no option currently that will allow you to do what you want. The over the air channels will only give you ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, and FOX...and two others that I've never heard of. You should look into Dish Network, they have HD only packages that IMO are a decent value. I might look into them...I'll let you know what I find. Also again, check out Google TV, for my needs Sony just came out with a great solution, a combined Blueray player and Google TV in one for $399.

[NLovis]

You should look into Dish Network, they have HD only packages that IMO are a decent value. I might look into them...I'll let you know what I find.

The one MAJOR dropout to dish is when you have bad weather you cant watch anything. We used to have dish network over here before returning to cable. Whenever it rained bye bye signal feed. If you go with a dish company of any sort be ready to fight the weather year round.

[hiss srq]

Dish isnt a bad. Like Lovis said, when there is weather sometimes there are reception problems but thats what the internet is for! LOL... More so snow than rain though. When snow gets into the dish bowl it will screw the sweet spot up on the dish receiver because the signal bounces on weird angles. In rain as long as you dont have a near flat tilt on the dish though you shouldnt see an issue. It all depends on where exactly your house is, what obsticles are near the mount and how it's tilted. When I lived in Point Lookout growing up we had Direct TV and would have problems... They relocated the dish mount and we never had another problem.

[NLovis]

Dish isnt a bad. Like Lovis said, when there is weather sometimes there are reception problems but thats what the internet is for! LOL... More so snow than rain though. When snow gets into the dish bowl it will screw the sweet spot up on the dish receiver because the signal bounces on weird angles. In rain as long as you dont have a near flat tilt on the dish though you shouldnt see an issue. It all depends on where exactly your house is, what obsticles are near the mount and how it's tilted. When I lived in Point Lookout growing up we had Direct TV and would have problems... They relocated the dish mount and we never had another problem.

True but when it rains heavy enough you will have signal problems. No matter where the dish is. Scenario. Watching the superbowl when a storm moves in. Lose the signal. Now what? I went there

[moose135]

For those of you still blaming Cablevision on this, a couple of items that might interest you...

On October 1, Fox pulled the FX channel, National Geographic channel and 19 regional Fox Sports channels nationwide off Dish Network in a dispute over transmission fees. To date, that has not been resolved, as Dish claims Fox is looking for an increase of more than 50% in fees paid by Dish. In addition to that, the contract between Dish Network and Fox for transmission of the Fox broadcast network (Fox-5 in NYC, for example) expires on October 31, in the middle of the World Series, and from reports I've read, it doesn't look promising for an easy resolution.

[hiss srq]

Lovis, would you rather be jerked around by Dolan and his little Mafia constantly? That is what bars are for anyway....

[puckstopper55]

For those of you still blaming Cablevision on this, a couple of items that might interest you...

On October 1, Fox pulled the FX channel, National Geographic channel and 19 regional Fox Sports channels nationwide off Dish Network in a dispute over transmission fees. To date, that has not been resolved, as Dish claims Fox is looking for an increase of more than 50% in fees paid by Dish. In addition to that, the contract between Dish Network and Fox for transmission of the Fox broadcast network (Fox-5 in NYC, for example) expires on October 31, in the middle of the World Series, and from reports I've read, it doesn't look promising for an easy resolution.

I really see both sides to this. Fox spends millions making great tv, and spends even more for the rights to the sporting events they televise. Cable companies, then take this feed and sell it to "us", thereby making money off of Fox's investment. Fox is right to want to recoup some of their money, especially since advertising revenue is down.

On the flip side, fox transmits the signal "over the air" and anyone with a digital antenna and converter can get the feed for free. Cable companies feel "if others can get it for free, why should i pay you for it".

Really this is a simple business decision. Fox has a product to sell. If you want it, pay their asking price. If not, dont buy it. In order to buy it, if you have to charge customers more, then so be it. Customers should always have a choice .. however in this corrupt area, some consumers dont have a choice and are forced to have cablevision or have nothing.

If cablevision chooses not to buy Fox programming, then Fox could lose 3 million viewers, which would hurt their advertising power. So these 2 huge *******s should play fair, but in the end they are only ****ing the customer, who doesnt have a choice. If everyone had a second option (ie Fios) I have a feeling this would get resolved real quick once cable saw people jumping ship. Once they leave the **** of cable, they wont come back.

[moose135]

If everyone had a second option (ie Fios) I have a feeling this would get resolved real quick once cable saw people jumping ship. Once they leave the **** of cable, they wont come back.

I left Cablevision for Fios, and returned, Fios wasn't anything special. And given the way Fox has been operating of late, how long until they do the same with Fios?

[puckstopper55]

I left Cablevision for Fios, and returned, Fios wasn't anything special. And given the way Fox has been operating of late, how long until they do the same with Fios?

I think Fox wont be as big of an ass when it comes to Verizon for a few reasons. 1) FiOS has many more subs then cable, so the impact would be much greater to Fox, and 2) FiOS is a national service, not local, so they would really be hit hard with lost ad revenue.

As far as

I left Cablevision for Fios, and returned, Fios wasn't anything special. And given the way Fox has been operating of late, how long until they do the same with Fios?

I dont know what to say other then maybe you didnt notice it, werent looking for it, or happen to be one of the few people who are unaffected by cablevisions old copper lines.