Bell TV Pricing, themes and programming package discussion

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Haystack, were you subbing to the sd channels of showcase and national geo. when you were grandfathered in with $10.00 hd pak? I currently have the $10 hd pak (grandfathered in) but only sub to the sports sd so i could receive the hd versions, other than that i only have the basic sd digital. Right now i'm getting all the old voom channels, rush equator etc. and still am receiving disc hd and tlc hd but do not sub to the sd channels of those two but i did lose showcase hd and ng hd, so i guess i'm wondering if i called bell if would be able to get those two hd channels back like they told you.
 
I think you're missing my point. I too am a firm beleiver in "you get what you pay for" and I for one always buy the higher end product as "quality" is the single most significant product component in my opinion when it comes to shopping. What you misssed however is the fact that many of us reader's are forced to subscride to the SD version of the channel in order to watch the "HD" version. Who cares about the SD version anyway, get rid of it for all I care. The fact is that I'm paying $90 a month for a subscription, so as an individual subscriber, I should be deemed a valuable assest by Bell TV. They need many subscribers willing to continually provide them $1,000 a year, year after year like I do. If they didn't force me to subscribe to the SD channel then I would agree with you wholeheartedly, and would be willing to pay a fair fee for the HD channel, but let's remember they are getting revenue by forcing subscribers to pay for the SD channel. Remember "life is a two way street"! Bell best not get too greedy because if they're truly providing only 720P and StarChoice is providing 1080I, there could be an exodus of customers whom choose to move for better quality of signal. Gotta love competition.

Cobra
 
iintresting ill follow up on that, becuase when i asked for an "ALL IN" price, taxes in i would expect that to be included.. LOL but i will definatly make sure that stuff is in there.

I would assume then that the online bell quotes also do not include those 4 charges you mention???? That could definatly sway wich way i go.
 
The web page states you can pick and pay TSNHD & SNHD but you still have to sub to sports 1 SD.
I have learned Bells left hand does not know what the right is doing.
http://www.bell.ca/web/tv/en/on/pdfs/channels/channels.pdf
page 2 under HD theme packs.
You have to ask many CSR and form a consensus.
 
All the Network channels are free and you can pick 4 HD themes for 10$ for the rest of the channels you want. You will also need to have the sports 1 & 2 SD themes as well to get the HD channels of TSN and Raptors TV
 
Did you know that Bell TV internal informational system for its CSRs and TSRs is reporting (as of today) that you can now subscribe to four HD Themes without any Digital Themes?

Thats right you can get MORE HD SPORTS, HD VARIETY, MORE HD VARIETY and HD WORLD without any Digital Theme packs.

The only downside is that the HD Theme everyone wants is HD SPORTS has a prerequisite. To get this theme: if you subscribe to Digital Standard you do need either the New Sports 1 theme or any of the two grandfathered versions Sports 1 theme pack; if you have Base Numerique the Sports 1 prerequisite is waived to get HD SPORTS.
 
If you go to the Bell web site, there is an option to walk through the selections and pick and choose the packages you want. It will give you the total costs based on your selections.
 
Not being that well versed in the sales jargon, i would guess that the $62 includes the 6141 receiver Rental, the $52 does not. I could be wrong though.
 
From what I see WGN, RUSH, A&E, Discovery, National Geographic, Showcase, Equator, Oasis and Treasure HD can be received without subscribing to the SD version. There is a tiny little * beside TSN, Raptors and Sportsnet HD that says you must subscribe to the SD. So you look to be good to go.
 
Yes val23 I know its hard to believe but its true. Bell will give you some channels just because you subscribe to them. :D
 
So is adding a them pack or two the same as upgrading your plan?

You mean you can't start out at say 40$ a month, add some stuff for 3 or 4 months to try it and then drop them so you are back to what you started out at?

Either I'm missing something or this just doesn't make sense.

Set me straight before I leap.
 
If you are on a pre-2003 "Legacy" programming package that has "Locals", Reseaux Francophones" or a complete package like "Canada's Digital Advantage" you are unable to return if you migrate to the "Genesis" platform with "Digital Standard" or "Base Numerique". Both Legacy and Gensis have different digital theme packs. But only Genesis will give you TSN2 and more HD choices.
 
slowtyper,

to get the 6 free months of HD you must have Genesis programming. This means that you must drop your Ulitmate Package. At regular price Digital Extra (with 7 Digital Themes and premium movies) is $80/month or $75 in a Bell Bundle in Ontario ($70 in a Bell Bundle in Quebec). [Please note: you must add your 4 or 5 HD themes with Hd US Timeshifting within 5 days of getting your HD rental receiver installed.]
 
I'm confused every time I see a Bell advertisement. That's the plan. Not simple that's for sure.
 
jayoldschool, we are in the exact same boat, I spent some time on the phone with Bell this morning, No Joy There!
When I signed up for Bell HD, If I subscribed to an SD channel I got the HD version automatically. (looks like Bell likes to change the rules as they go along).
"Change my package", was what I was told!
This won't cost me anymore now, but, my fear is every 3 or 4 new HD channels will be grouped into a new "Theme Pack" and cost an extra $5.00.
A year from now my $70.00 a month Bell TV bill could be $90, $100 or more depending on how they “package out” newly added HD stations.:(

xnaron, You and I must have spoken to the same person "free preview, free preview blah blah blah" was all the Bell rep kept saying (p.s. I get Discovery and A&E in HD)
 
That is the part that PI$$ES me off the most. I will never watch the SD channel.

I wish we would just pay for HD. The only SD channel I watch is CNN and that should
be available in HD - where is it?
 
What if it's the 9242 PVR? My initial intention was to buy it since the salesperson said that after applying Bell's current promotion, it will be $199 after on a 2 year contract. Since the rental of the 9242 is $20/month, it would be cheaper to just get it if it is $199 after deductions with Bell's current promo for new customers.

So is the $52/month ($55 I guess after the digital service fee) make sense?
 
Just a quick note about Discovery SD and HD, they may in fact be the only SD/HD pair that have completely different programming. Due to Discovery HD airing 24/7 HD content and the fact that a lot of shows on Discovery SD are only available in SD the 2 channels end up showing different programming. Granted whatever the SD version shows that is available in HD will air on the HD channel but not in the same time slot or even on the same day as has been my expereince.
 
Thanks for the reply. I ended up not changing anything on my package. They said I would get all the HD channels for free for 6 months and after that I could readjust my package to suit my needs.

Although they said I would get all of them free, I notice a few HD channels are blocked such as TSN (not sure why..I have TSN SD) and HDNET (i thought this was free for everybody).

I haven't called in to complain yet as I just got it set up yesterday.

Bell guy drilled into a power cable and I had no power in the house from 9am to 8pm!

HD looks fantastic though!
 
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