Are cable companies charging for HD access for every cc?

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gabrielcab

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Are cable companies charging for HD access for every cc?

#1

Post by gabrielcab » Tue May 07, 2013 9:57 pm

My cable company is charging me HD Access for each of my 3 cablecard $10 each ($30.00 just for access to HD channels) and a additional $15.00 for HD access. Is that the norm?

mdavej

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#2

Post by mdavej » Tue May 07, 2013 10:11 pm

Charter charges $2 for a cable card and $0 for HD access. I guess the HD fee is built into the programming package in my case. If my cable company charged as much as yours, I'd be better off with satellite and paying the DVR fees.

richard1980

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#3

Post by richard1980 » Tue May 07, 2013 10:23 pm

Cable company fees vary from company to company and region to region. Some companies/regions have an HD fee, while others don't. Honestly, the HD fee only exists because people continue to pay it. But unless you can prove that the cable company is singling you out because you are using your own tuner instead of their cable box (meaning you have to pay the fee, but someone with a cable box doesn't), then there isn't much you can do other than refuse to pay the fee.

There's an old saying: If you aren't part of the solution, you are part of the problem. It is certainly true in this case.

barnabas1969

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#4

Post by barnabas1969 » Tue May 07, 2013 10:45 pm

The real question is how much do you pay overall, and what services do you get for that price?

My cable bill is about $150/month (including taxes). I get 392 unique channels (I remove duplicates from my guide), including 47 music channels, about 25 standard-definition channels, and the remaining 300+ are all HD. The only premium channel I get is Showtime. That price includes internet service (20Mbps download with short bursts up to 30Mbps, and 2Mbps upload with no monthly caps). I have two cable cards and no cable boxes.

So... what service do you get, and how much does it cost?

erkotz

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#5

Post by erkotz » Tue May 07, 2013 10:56 pm

Time Warner doesn't charge for HD at all, so no in my case.
As far as your operator goes, do they charge this same fee for HD STBs? If not, it likely runs afoul of FCC regulations
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gabrielcab

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#6

Post by gabrielcab » Tue May 07, 2013 11:00 pm

I'm paying $200.4 for:

220 aprox SD channels
60 approx HD channels
HBO, Cmax
5MB internet
Local telephony

thats with 3 POS standard cheap SD RCA crap resolution cable box and 3 cablecards.

barnabas1969

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#7

Post by barnabas1969 » Tue May 07, 2013 11:38 pm

gabrielcab wrote:I'm paying $200.4 for:

220 aprox SD channels
60 approx HD channels
HBO, Cmax
5MB internet
Local telephony

thats with 3 POS standard cheap SD RCA crap resolution cable box and 3 cablecards.
OK, well if I had two premium channels like you, it would cost me an extra $15/month. Adding the telephone thing adds another $20-30/month. If I had three SD cable boxes, that would be another $15/month. I only have two cable cards, so a third one would cost me an extra $3/month. So, if you take my $150/month and add all that you get $210 or more.

erkotz

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#8

Post by erkotz » Wed May 08, 2013 6:21 am

I'm paying about $190 including taxes/fees for the normal "standard" SD/HD lineup, 15 CableCARDs, showtime, 30/5 Internet (one below the top) and phone (never actually used it, but it was cheaper to get). While I'd obviously like cheaper, I feel like it's fair - the biggest issue I have is I feel that the internet speed is "ok" at best - I'd really like to see something like 100/50 (50/5 is the fastest I can get at any price)
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slowbiscuit

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#9

Post by slowbiscuit » Wed May 08, 2013 11:59 am

gabrielcab wrote:My cable company is charging me HD Access for each of my 3 cablecard $10 each ($30.00 just for access to HD channels) and a additional $15.00 for HD access. Is that the norm?
Let me guess, you're on Comcast. Generally speaking the most expensive Cablecard provider there is if you're in one of the unfortunate areas that insists on charging a full $10 outlet fee for each extra card, plus the bogus HD Tech fee per account. You should be getting a $2.50 credit for each card for using a card instead of a box though, if you're not you'll have to call them.

You'll be happy to know that some Comcast areas don't charge anything for cards, and some are less than $2 per card. :sick:

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#10

Post by Shackleford » Wed May 08, 2013 1:35 pm

Comcast has a loophole Digital Access Additional Outlet fee of $9.95 they like to charge. So the first cable card or digital box is free but the second device third device and so on they charge the $9.95 "additional outlet" fee for each. So they don't actually charge for a Comcast provided box or cable card. This let's them around some of the FCC rules. So aside from the $2.50 customer owned equipment credit its only slightly cheaper to run your own device (the superiority of cable card tuners with wmc and extenders aside). Then they charge another fee for HD, in my case its a single $10.00 fee.

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#11

Post by foogama » Thu May 16, 2013 2:37 pm

Regarding the $10 a month "HD Fee" from Comcast, I recently signed up with Comcast and found this to be absolutely insane, and fought them tooth and nail about it. I subscribe to the "Blast! Plus" package which includes their Basic Cable Tier of channel lineups. In that lineup, are a few HD channels. For example, I get both Animal Planet, and Animal Planet HD. If you want Animal Planet HD in actual High Definition signal, however, you have to pay Comcast an additional $10 a month for an "HD Tech fee."

This makes very little sense for a few reasons. The most obvious reason is that you're paying for HD channels already, why should you have to pay again to see them in actual high definition? That's like advertising a hotel room with a scenic view, and then charging your hotel guests an additional $10 a night if they want to open their blinds. Insane. The second reason is that this fee is coincidentally the same amount they charge for an HD STB per month. If you have their HD STB, however, then they waive the "HD Tech fee." Suspicious, right?

I sent their executive customer relations department a complaint, and threw in some FCC regulations defending my position as a CableCARD user, and "as a courtesy," they added the HD signal code onto my account for a year at no charge. It's no surprise that Comcast continues to rank in as one of America's most hated companies, I just wish they had some widespread competition to prevent them from ham-stringing customers.

Now I get 30/10 internet, and about 35 channels worth watching (18 of which are in HD) for $49.95 a month. That price is only good for 6 months though, at which point a "new customer" will move in to my address and open a "new account" :shh:

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#12

Post by richard1980 » Thu May 16, 2013 9:55 pm

As I previously stated, the only reason the fee exists is because people pay it. If people are willing to pay the fee, why shouldn't Comcast ask for it? I know you don't agree with the fee, but don't blame Comcast. Blame the people that continue paying the fee.

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#13

Post by crawfish » Thu May 16, 2013 10:17 pm

foogama wrote:I sent their executive customer relations department a complaint, and threw in some FCC regulations defending my position as a CableCARD user, and "as a courtesy," they added the HD signal code onto my account for a year at no charge. It's no surprise that Comcast continues to rank in as one of America's most hated companies, I just wish they had some widespread competition to prevent them from ham-stringing customers.
Best of all, you get to go through the same miserable process all over again in a year when they jack your bill up.

Cox charges $1.99 for my one CableCard, but there is an additional "Advanced TV" fee of $1.99. I'm not sure what triggers it, as the bill is largely inscrutable. It starts off:

Cox Advanced TV
Includes:
Faith & Values Pak (can't delete it - why break it out?)
Cox TV Starter
Expanded Service
Advanced TV
$51.19
-
Advanced TV $1.99

I guess maybe one "Advanced TV" comes for free, and they add another one for each device? We also still have one DVR that is about $20, so with the CC, that makes two devices, and only one $1.99 "Advanced TV" fee.

I'm currently paying about $180/mo total with taxes/fees included for TV, phone service, and 25 Mbps Internet. It would be around $200 but I talked them down 10% in my latest haggling session, which are becoming less effective every year.

richard1980

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#14

Post by richard1980 » Thu May 16, 2013 10:22 pm

Advanced TV is stuff you don't have access to....the Cox EPG, the On-demand system, etc. You don't have access to it, but you still have to pay for it. Wonderful, huh? It used to be more expensive...much more expensive. But they shifted the fees a while back (I think maybe it was January this year, maybe last year).

barnabas1969

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#15

Post by barnabas1969 » Fri May 17, 2013 1:31 am

crawfish wrote:Faith & Values Pak (can't delete it - why break it out?)
Well, of course! You must have Faith & Values because you live in the USA. The Puritans founded this country, and we must continue to live by their standards... whether you want to or not!

blueiedgod

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#16

Post by blueiedgod » Fri May 17, 2013 2:24 pm

WOW! Some of you guys pay a lot!

We pay $65/month for Verizon FiOS tiple play, which includes Prime HD (234 channels, 65 in HD), Verizon Freedom Voice (free calls anywhere in the US, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico), and 20/5 Internet. Additionally we pay $3.99/month for the CableCard rental. Total with taxes comes out to under $75/month.

Out of all the cable channels we get, we regularly watch/record: History, H2, Science, TLC, Discovery, Disney, and Nick.
Out of the broadcast TV we regularly watch/record: CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX and PBS.

If we could only choose the channels we use and pay accordingly, we would.

We use Ceton with the CableCard for the Cable TV (4 tuners), and 2x SiliconDust HomeRun Duals (4 tuners) via Antenna for the broadcast channels. All merged in WMC guide for seamless use.

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#17

Post by crawfish » Fri May 17, 2013 5:59 pm

blueiedgod wrote:We pay $65/month for Verizon FiOS tiple play, which includes Prime HD (234 channels, 65 in HD), Verizon Freedom Voice (free calls anywhere in the US, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico), and 20/5 Internet. Additionally we pay $3.99/month for the CableCard rental. Total with taxes comes out to under $75/month.

Out of all the cable channels we get, we regularly watch/record: History, H2, Science, TLC, Discovery, Disney, and Nick.
Out of the broadcast TV we regularly watch/record: CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX and PBS.

If we could only choose the channels we use and pay accordingly, we would.
Enjoy your promotional rate while it lasts. :lol:

blueiedgod

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#18

Post by blueiedgod » Mon May 20, 2013 5:16 pm

crawfish wrote:
blueiedgod wrote:We pay $65/month for Verizon FiOS tiple play, which includes Prime HD (234 channels, 65 in HD), Verizon Freedom Voice (free calls anywhere in the US, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico), and 20/5 Internet. Additionally we pay $3.99/month for the CableCard rental. Total with taxes comes out to under $75/month.

Out of all the cable channels we get, we regularly watch/record: History, H2, Science, TLC, Discovery, Disney, and Nick.
Out of the broadcast TV we regularly watch/record: CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX and PBS.

If we could only choose the channels we use and pay accordingly, we would.
Enjoy your promotional rate while it lasts. :lol:
This was actually a "repeat customer rate" Our original promotional rate was higher. They don't call propromotional rate, they call 2 year price lock. I am fully aware how to play the game. Have been with FiOS since 2007. :mrgreen:

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#19

Post by crawfish » Mon May 20, 2013 6:07 pm

blueiedgod wrote:
crawfish wrote:This was actually a "repeat customer rate" Our original promotional rate was higher. They don't call propromotional rate, they call 2 year price lock. I am fully aware how to play the game. Have been with FiOS since 2007. :mrgreen:
That's an amazingly low price, especially for that length of time. What competition is in your area? Here, there's uVerse, but AT&T stopped building out literally down the street from me. So there's no competition for Internet, and just AT&T for phone and the satellites for TV. Long term, DirecTV is no cheaper than cable, and I'd probably lose the bundling discount if I switched. My threats to leave feel more hollow and depressing every time I have to issue them, which of course is what they want, to wear me down and make me their ****, until ultimately I bother them no more.

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#20

Post by dmagerl » Mon May 20, 2013 7:47 pm

I dont have cable, just OTA, but I have a question.

If you dont pay the HD fee, do you still get the local OTA channels in HD? or do you only get to see downgraded SD versions of them?

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