What Would You Pay for an HDTV Package?

[gpflepsen]

Just thinking into the future here:

Let's say in four months Dish has its act together and is offering DiscoveryHD, ESPN HD, HDNET, HDNET Movies and HDNET Variety as a core HD programming package. What would you willingly pay for this package? They won't be doing it for free, you can count on that.

I'm looking at $9.99 to $13.99 as reasonable prices. I'd hate to see more than $14.00 as I'd have a hard time justifying the cost.

Did I leave any HD stations out?

[oblio98]

$9.99 per month, $100 per year would seem reasonable.

$12.99 per month, $125 per year would be getting up there.

:-jon

[Nick]

Similar to premium packages - $10-12 bucks for 8-10 HD channels. but no fluff, filler or crap.

[rowdymon]

When is ESPN-HD coming to E*? Is it going to be free (or included in one of the AT packages?)

[gpflepsen]

Originally posted by rowdymon
When is ESPN-HD coming to E*? Is it going to be free (or included in one of the AT packages?)

I don't know, but what would you pay?

I dropped AT150 for the 100, too many channels I never watch. If HD is made part of a high tier package I'll be disappointed. I don't need all those crap channels.

[DarrellP]

You guys are waaaay off. Discover HD by itself is already $7.99/month. You know what a mon$y mong$r $SPN is and I'll bet HDNET won't be free anymore either (rumor has it they are $5/channel wholesale). Add them up, I'll guess easily $25 at the least for the package.

[tampa8]

Originally posted by DarrellP
You guys are waaaay off. Discover HD by itself is already $7.99/month. You know what a mon$y mong$r $SPN is and I'll bet HDNET won't be free anymore either (rumor has it they are $5/channel wholesale). Add them up, I'll guess easily $25 at the least for the package.

Except, for the same reason there are packages of regular channels to make the cost less, the cost should be less for a package of HD channels also.

[gpflepsen]

Originally posted by DarrellP
You guys are waaaay off. Discover HD by itself is already $7.99/month. You know what a mon$y mong$r $SPN is and I'll bet HDNET won't be free anymore either (rumor has it they are $5/channel wholesale). Add them up, I'll guess easily $25 at the least for the package.

You have to start thinking the economics of scale here. DiscoveryHD is not supported by commercials and is only available to Dish subscribers. Open up their subscriber access and the demand/pricepoint would drive the cost down conciderably. DiscoveryHD needs more subscriptions at a lower price to make it.

ESPNHD will be advertiser supported, but don't know about HDNETs. $25.00 for 5 channels will be too much for the masses.

[gpflepsen]

I just had the thought, what if ESPN has a master plan to group all their channels into a premium service package?

ESPN
ESPN2
ESPN News
ESPN HD
ESPN Xtreme

Oh, the horror!

[jerryez]

I will not pay $5. per channel. I paid for a years subscription to Discovery HD and I will not renew it for $8. per month. Sooner or later most all channels should be HD. I do not see paying a premium for advertiser supported channels. You guys are crazy. What are you going to do when there are 25 or even 50 HD channels. Pay a premium for each one.

[sampatterson]

Depends on if it supported by commercials or not. Premium channels - no commercials, $2-$4 each, channels with commercials - nothing (or very little), max for me would be $20-25 for all (sho,dis,hbo,espn,hallmark,bravo,cinemax).

[rowdymon]

Also, will ESPN-HD require the new 8PSK module or can we still receive it if we don't have the module? I wouldn't be willing to pay anything to receive it, mostly because I don't watch much sports on ESPN anyway. The only thing I ever watch is NHL and I got the NHL CI to take care of that. But even if I did watch ESPN, I wouldn't want to pay extra for it.

[Ken_F]

I'm looking at $9.99 to $13.99 as reasonable prices. I'd hate to see more than $14.00 as I'd have a hard time justifying the cost.The real question isn't how much would you like to pay, or how much do you think you should pay, but how much are you willing to pay to receive quality HD content, having spent $1500-$5000 on a HDTV set, and another $800-$1200 on a HDTV PVR.

The simple reality is that a single HD channel consumes the same bandwidth as 6-8 standard channels. So a 10 channel HDTV package is the equivalent, in terms of the bandwidth cost to Dish (satellites cost hundreds of millions of dollars) of a 60 to 80 channel SD package. You should expect to pay accordingly.

You all must also remember that HDTV is still not the norm for programming, and should not really be compared to SD channels in terms of cost or accessibility. HDTV channels are seen by the content providers (like Discovery) as premium or special content channels worthy of commanding extra value. The standard Discovery Channel has a cost measured in CENTS, while the cost to Dish/DirecTV of Discovery Theater HDTV is measured in DOLLARS.

Eventually, HDTV viewers will grow in number and programming will become more pervasive. When that happens, HDTV will not be considered something that is "extraordinary," as it is now, but as something that is necessary to garner both viewers and advertising revenue. But until that happens, content providers will continue to charge Dish and DirecTV a premium for their hi-definition channels.

For a package of 10 quality HD channels, I would be willing to pay somewhere between $19.99 and $29.99. I think $2 to $3 per quality HDTV channel is completely reasonable. In terms of bandwidth, 10 HD channels equates to well over 50 standard channels. For 50 SD channels on dish, the price is $23/mo (TOP50). And let's be realistic about our viewing habits; we are going to spend a lot more time watching HDTV material (when we ultimately get ESPN HD, SciFi HD, History Channel HD, etc) then we are most SD channels.

For a la carte pricing, for those who do not want to subscribe to a HDTV package, I think $3.99 to $4.99 per channel is reasonable. We already know that Discovery HD costs around $3/mo per subscriber (DISH's current $7.99/mo charge is a bit much, imo), and ESPN HD will probably run about the same.

That said, I will not be lured into subscribing to a HD package with lots of "lesser" HD channels. I am not going to pay several dollars a month for a channel that only offers occasional HD, with the rest upconverted. Nor would I personally pay $3/mo for a single channel that features high-definition reruns of 1980's era sitcoms (HDnet Entertainment?). Nor am I willing to pay for the networks (which I just get fine with an antenna) as part of a package, although I definitely see demand for those as a separate Network HD package.

Also, will ESPN-HD require the new 8PSK module or can we still receive it if we don't have the module? All new Dish HDTV channels will require the 8PSK module (or a newer receiver like the forthcoming 921). Echostar reiterated as much at CES.

ESPNHD will be advertiser supported, but don't know about HDNETs. $25.00 for 5 channels will be too much for the masses.At my last check, ESPN had not yet determined how it was going to package or price its HDTV channel. So it is a bit early for either provider to make a formal announcement. But come March, we should know more.

But ESPN doesn't come cheap. The standard ESPN channel alone costs somewhere between $1.80 and $2.25 per customer, and ESPN has raised its rates an average of 20% per year over the past five years.

Cheers,
Ken

[DoyleS]

Until there is an HD PVR, I would not pay anything addtional. Currently in the Bay area there is a large selection of OTA HD material available at no charge and it can easily be recorded with MyHD or other HTPC cards, so it does not make a lot of sense to look at adding HD on a channel by channel basis without PVR capability.

..Doyle

[Nick]

DarrellP interjected..."You guys are waaaay off."

Darrell, the question was 'how much we would be willing to pay', not how much we think HD will cost.

[cse42]

Question: why would I want to pay for HD content? When the content itself hasn't improved. Unlike DVD technology, great addtional content that lead to popularity that begot cheaper equipment, HD equipment is still very expensive and still delivers the same so-so content just in a better looking package. And we should pay more for that content? I think I'll use my $$$ for more DVD's to put in my progressive scan player hooked to my HD monitor- it seems to be the best use of the technology at the moment. It's just an opinion... $0 for OTA HD.

[Ken_F]

cse,

Why should you pay more for a "better looking package?" Why should you have paid more for a DVD player when you had VHS? You can get old VHS tapes pretty cheap too. As new technologies are in their infancy, they tend to cost more...but for many, the benefits are worth it.

[xgrep]

At $25/mo, count me out. But Charlie probably doesn't care about my vote, nor a quarter million others like mine.

I've been following the HD scene very closely for quite a while, mainly waiting for a HD-capable display and 921-type device to be available for around $2K total. But all that depends on being able to get some amount of HD programming at reasonable cost.

We currently subscribe to one Int'l a la carte and our locals. Two receivers. We average one PPV/mo. No interest whatsoever in adding $25/mo to my bill. That is absolutely out of the question. You take $50/mo for DSL, $30/mo cell phone, $26/mo Dish, that's already near breaking the bank, sorry. I can't believe that some of you people are paying so much for television and I'm sure a lot of you folks have the DSL, cell phone, and other monthly fees on top of that.

If that turns out to be my only HD option, I'll skip the whole thing, including the 921. Might get an HDTV and try to get some locals OTA (and watch DVDs on the nice screen), but forget E* HD.

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