I just saw this article posted 1/3/13 in HomeMedia magazine. Don't know if it has already been posted here. It sounds like Directv has acquired the rights to air Epix.
"Effective Feb. 7 DirecTV will raise subscription rates by an average of 4.5%, pointing to higher programming costs for the increases.
In 2013, the programming fees we pay to the owners of these television channels will increase about 8%, but DirecTV is adjusting the prices our customers pay on average about 4.5%,” the pay-TV operator said in a statement. “By holding firm in programming negotiations, we have been able to keep price increases below our cable competitors.”
During July 2012 Viacom channels went dark for 10 days on DirecTV during a dispute over carriage fees, where Viacom had been seeking a 30% increase in fees. The agreement gave DirecTV the option to add the Epix pay-TV channel, which is co-owned by Paramount, MGM and Lionsgate, and gave DirecTV users access to Viacom channels via tablets, laptops and other devices."
Services like Netflix, Amazon and VuDu may well be the death of the premium channels as we know them today. If you take the money it costs to subcribe to a couple of premiums services today, over the period of a year, and how many movies you actually watch on them, and compare that to what it would cost you to watch the same movies via an online service, I think you'd be surprised at the results.
With services like VuDu delivering 1080p and multichannel audio (assuming you have the bandwidth available) the premium channel multiplexes are a lot less compelling.
As Hoosier notes, this is why they are doing original programming - it is the only way to maintain their value.
Clearly, Epix has SOME value - to movie fans, nearly any movie channel has value. But when negotiating carriage on a service, the service provider (i.e. DirecTV) has to calculate if their investment (in bandwidth, head-end and uplink resources, billing, customer support) and the direct costs for the channel can be recouped with dividends from viewers. That calculation is just a whole lot less compelling for Epix than for some of the competeing channels on DirecTV's plate.
The primary draw towards these types of premiums is no longer their movies, but their original content. Epix has none. All of their efforts to produce any have been abandoned. Their VP of original programming even resigned.
May be so, but Epix is the blockbuster movie channel. They have a lot of the really big movies and that is a draw. Not as much as they think it is (and evidently DirecTV thinks it is not as much as Viacom thinks it is or it would be on) but there is a draw.
It started out pretty weakly but has grown and I am glad I have access to it. I would prefer DirecTV to have it (as it would probably cost me less).
I couldn't care less about movies. I have HBO and Showtime for the live boxing, something not available legally (or at high quality) anywhere on any internet service. I want EPIX for the boxing.
HBO, Showtime and Starz survive now simply off their original programming not so much movies anymore. Cinemax is getting a bigger push for original programming.
The primary draw towards these types of premiums is no longer their movies, but their original content. Epix has none. All of their efforts to produce any have been abandoned. Their VP of original programming even resigned.
Services like Netflix, Amazon and VuDu may well be the death of the premium channels as we know them today. If you take the money it costs to subcribe to a couple of premiums services today, over the period of a year, and how many movies you actually watch on them, and compare that to what it would cost you to watch the same movies via an online service, I think you'd be surprised at the results.
With services like VuDu delivering 1080p and multichannel audio (assuming you have the bandwidth available) the premium channel multiplexes are a lot less compelling.
As Hoosier notes, this is why they are doing original programming - it is the only way to maintain their value.
Clearly, Epix has SOME value - to movie fans, nearly any movie channel has value. But when negotiating carriage on a service, the service provider (i.e. DirecTV) has to calculate if their investment (in bandwidth, head-end and uplink resources, billing, customer support) and the direct costs for the channel can be recouped with dividends from viewers. That calculation is just a whole lot less compelling for Epix than for some of the competeing channels on DirecTV's plate.
Then there's the caps that the ISP's are putting on your ability to download movies, especially HD, over the internet. The internet services also stream the movies, so if you want to watch it a second time, you have to download it again rather than just pull it up off your DVR.
Then there's the caps that the ISP's are putting on your ability to download movies, especially HD, over the internet. The internet services also stream the movies, so if you want to watch it a second time, you have to download it again rather than just pull it up off your DVR.
Streaming is still not a panacea. I do have Netflix, but for example I tried to watch Fringe and its unavailable. Then I tried Haven and its unavailable.
Then there's the caps that the ISP's are putting on your ability to download movies, especially HD, over the internet. The internet services also stream the movies, so if you want to watch it a second time, you have to download it again rather than just pull it up off your DVR.
Sure, depends on where you live. Here in suburban NJ we live in the first town in the state that Verizon cabled for FiOS. We recently upgraded to FiOS Quantum with 75Mbps downloads and no caps. I realize that in many places, streaming is not as attractive an option.
But the fact remains that DirecTV looks at the bigger picture. If they have room for 12 new channels (to pick a number out of thin air), does it make sense to use a third of that capacity for Epix? Will that get them more new subscribers than, say, TWC SportsNet?
pablo said:
Streaming is still not a panacea. I do have Netflix, but for example I tried to watch Fringe and its unavailable. Then I tried Haven and its unavailable.
Well, I was talking about movies, not TV shows. A lot of that is based on the content provider (Fox and SyFy in this case). The latest episodes of Fringe and Haven are available on Hulu Plus.
Sorry to say, that's all Fox and SyFy have made available. On the bright side, the earlier episodes from this season will be rerun and you can record/watch them then. Fringe is also being rebroadcast in HD on the Science channel. They have been running them in sequence from the start of season 1 on Tuesday nights, but they are all repeated frequently during the week.
Your argument of movie channels versus streaming the movies is a sound one by costing alone but I watch more movies than I normally would because of subscription services such as HBO, Starz!, Epix or even Netflix or Amazon Prime than I would if I picked and chose. I am loathe to pull the trigger on a PPV and probably would not watch movies that way if I did not have the premium channels. (I would save even more, but that is beside the point.)
As for streaming, I have yet to see a stream that fully satisfies my quality standards but I do not do Vudu or some other services although I have done Amazon Prime and I just don't see the same quality as a linear channel or even a "free" on demand and nowhere near Blu Ray.
I have epix but it is included with the ultimate HD pack on verizon fios which also includes the movie channel, cinemax,and showtime. if i want HBO or STARZ ,I have to pay more ,one thing i hate which i dont think is fair, is the people in new york have hbo and starz included with their ultimate pack but the rest of verizon customers dont.:nono:
I have epix but it is included with the ultimate HD pack on verizon fios which also includes the movie channel, cinemax,and showtime. if i want HBO or STARZ ,I have to pay more ,one thing i hate which i dont think is fair, is the people in new york have hbo and starz included with their ultimate pack but the rest of verizon customers dont.:nono:
I wrote "on fios" in my post. What are you saying?
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