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Rogers trials Digital Starter Pack in London

29K views 61 replies 28 participants last post by  gdkitty 
#1 ·
Rogers announced today the launch of the first Digital Starter Pack which the company claims will give Rogers cable customers "the choice and flexibility they want."

Available beginning November 8 as a trial in London, Ontario, the Rogers Digital Starter Pack delivers a standard set of 86 core TV channels, including government mandated channels, for a base price of $20.29/month including all monthly fees.

Customers can order the Digital Starter Pack and then choose any additional 15, 20 or 30 channels from more than 100 options, starting at $26.38/month including all monthly fees.

The Digital Starter Pack trial will run until the end of March 2012.

Customers in the London area can contact Rogers by phone or visit their local Rogers retail store to learn more about the Digital Starter Pack.
 
#2 ·
Don't know how this gives customers "the choice and flexibility they want."

What about a la carte pricing or "nothing but HD" pricing? That's what I hear everyone around here want!
 
#3 ·
It will be interesting to see how this rolls out. Like many of this groups readers, I watch probably less than 12 channels - those being the speciality HD and no matter how I tried to drop the 350 channels I did not want, I was forced to take VIP before starting at the HD selections.

I expect this is being driven by Bell's FIBE offering of 80 basic channels for a low price. Time will tell.
 
#4 ·
Customers can order the Digital Starter Pack and then choose any additional 15, 20 or 30 channels from more than 100 options, starting at $26.38/month including all monthly fees.
That sounds like a-la-carte to me. The basic package price sounds too good to be true. I'm guessing the programming is very similar to the VIP analog package. If Rogers get's enough analog customers to switch to this new digital plan, they can shut down analog for good.
 
#5 ·
a standard set of 86 core TV channels, including government mandated channels, for a base price of $20.29/month
I can't imagine 86 "TV" channels without the majority of them being audio "channels".

RVT (Radio via television) is wasted on me, I'm seriously thinking of going back to television via radio (OTA)
 
#6 ·
This must be a price for 1 year. I can't see how Rogers can make any money on a price that low. I also wonder how they were able to negotiate this with their channel providers. On the other hand the flexibility is marginal, since you can't order less than 15 channels. How about ordering 1 channel extra only. Also i'm sure their is linkage rules meaning you can't order only U.S. channels. I'd like to read the fine print
 
#7 ·
I forgot about audio channels. That means this could be the same as basic analog cable with a selection of FM or digital music channels added. Dose anyone have the channel list?
 
#8 ·
I can't imagine 86 "TV" channels without the majority of them being audio "channels".
Rogers describes the channels as "core TV Channels."

According to the Rogers Website, their are 146 stations in the Rogers Digital Basic package. Of those 63 are audio. Of the remaining 83, they consist primarily of OTA channels (10 CBC channels), OTA Ethnic channels, Religious channels, sales channels and Rogers owned digital specialty channels such as SportsNet. They even count PPV channels in that 86 which I think is disingenuous.

In other words, few if any of these stations cost Rogers Cable a dime in terms of programming costs. (yes Sportsnet costs Rogers money to produce but that is a cost paid by Rogers Media not Rogers Cable
 
#9 ·
Here is the list I compiled of non-audio channels in the Rogers basic package and would likely be the components of the trial package


  1. ABC Buffalo (WKBW)
  2. APTN (Aboriginal Peoples Television Network)
  3. ATV Halifax (CTVAT)
  4. CablePulse24
  5. CBC Calgary (CBRT)
  6. CBC Halifax (CBHT)
  7. CBC Newsworld/Voiceprint (SAP)
  8. CBC Oshawa (Channel 12 CHEX TV Durham)
  9. CBC St. John's (CBNT)
  10. CBC Toronto (CBLT)
  11. CBC Vancouver (CBUT)
  12. CBC Winnipeg (CBWT)
  13. CBS Buffalo (WIVB)
  14. CHCH
  15. Citytv Calgary
  16. Citytv Toronto
  17. Citytv Vancouver
  18. Citytv Winnipeg
  19. CPAC English (main audio) (Cable Public Affairs Channel)
  20. CPAC French (main audio) (Cable Public Affairs Channel)
  21. CPWA FM Portuguese Radio Toronto
  22. CTS (Crossroads Television System)
  23. CTV Calgary (CTVCA)
  24. CTV Kitchener/London (CTVSO)
  25. CTV News Channel
  26. CTV Toronto (CTVTO)
  27. GameTV
  28. Global BC (CHAN)
  29. Global Calgary (CICT)
  30. Global Toronto (CIII)
  31. Grace TV
  32. Joytv 10
  33. Joytv 11
  34. Mediaset Italia
  35. Metro 14
  36. Multicultural Free Preview Channel
  37. Multicultural on Demand
  38. NBC Buffalo (WGRZ)
  39. NFL Network On Demand
  40. Pay Per View 23
  41. Pay Per View 3
  42. Pay Per View 5
  43. Pay Per View Preview Channel
  44. PBS Buffalo (WNED)
  45. RDI
  46. Real Estate Channel
  47. Rogers On Demand
  48. Rogers TV
  49. Rotisserie Channel
  50. ShopTV Canada
  51. Sports Preview Channel
  52. Sportsnet East
  53. Sportsnet Ontario
  54. Sportsnet Pacific
  55. Sportsnet West
  56. SRC Toronto (CBLFT)
  57. SUN TV
  58. Télé Québec (CIVM)
  59. TFO (CHLF)
  60. The Accessible Channel
  61. The Aquarium Channel
  62. The Cottage Channel
  63. The Shopping Channel (tSc)
  64. The Sunset Channel
  65. The Weather Network
  66. TLN en Espanol
  67. Treehouse On Demand
  68. Treehouse
  69. TV Call Display
  70. TV Listings
  71. TV Mix - Kids
  72. TV5
  73. TVA Montreal (CFTM)
  74. TVOntario (TVO - CICA)
  75. TXT-TV
  76. VisionTV
  77. VoicePrint
  78. W Network (East)
  79. WNLO Buffalo (CW23)
  80. WNYO Buffalo (MyNetworkTV)
  81. Your World This Week
  82. YTV (East)
  83. YTV On Demand
 
#11 ·
The trial is in response to the CRTC's demand in September that cable companies offer consumers a "skinny basic cable" service which consisits of a limited number of television channels at a lower monthly cost and more so-called “à la carte options” which enable consumers to pick and pay for the channels they want.


My guess is that Rogers will make little effort to promote this and will make it difficult to get. Rogers wants this trial to fail so they can go to the CRTC and say "look, we tried Skinny basic and ala carte programming and it failed because no one wanted it"
 
#14 ·
I will be investigating this to see what my costs would be in comparison to Shaw Direct's OVP/DVP package. I have held off on doing the PVR thing with SD based on feedback and there are now many channels, SD and HD, that Shaw is missing. If I can pick and choose the channels I want and get something close to the monthly costs that I am paying now I will probably jump ship. Heck I might be even be willing to pay a little more than I pay now if I can get closer to the channels I want and am missing from SD.
 
#15 ·
The illusion of a la carte

Customers can order the Digital Starter Pack and then choose any additional 15, 20 or 30 channels from more than 100 options

So out of all of the channels Rogers currently carries, you only get to choose from an additional 100 channels for a la carte in addition to the 'core' channels provided for in the package?

Why the restrictions? A la carte should mean I get to choose the channels I wish to view outside of the 'core' channel offerings from ALL of the available channels Rogers currently carry, not just from 100 so chosen by Rogers.

This really pisses me off to no end! :mad:
 
#16 ·
Only Fools Rush In

Enforcing a 15 channel minimum (for the pick and pay) makes it basically a glorified theme pack of deception.

The Theme Pack of Deception will allow many of Rogers' current Digital VIP customers to downgrade to a package that costs less than $50 a month (not counting extra HD costs), but will also hopefully entice many more people into joining Rogers (or help to reduce cancellations by its current subscribers) at what amounts to a mini-VIP plan at a lower monthly cost (but with fewer channels). If Rogers loses money, ALL of its plans will have to be altered. If Rogers doesn't improve its bottom line, its customers will have to be manipulated in a different way.

I'm only paying about $11 a month with my new subscriber Rogers offer, so I don't mind occasionally adding other channels like Super Channel (another $18) to my package as the need arises.

However, if I was paying $20 a month for my current package (without Super Channel) and then was given the opportunity to add a minimum of 15 more channels that perhaps were previously only available with the Digital VIP package (but would drive my monthly bill up to the $50 range), I would be very hesitant to bother adding anything and would also have trouble finding 15 channels that I wanted EVERY month, anyway. I guess I'd add Showcase, Bravo, Space and try a few others once in a while, but only if they cost $2 to $3 for each added channel (with no minimum purchase restrictions). Thus, the 15 channel add-on package is too restrictive for my tastes and would never be used.

Nice try Rogers, but if I'm going to soon be paying about $20 a month for your "Skinny Basic" plan, I'm not going to be using your Theme Packs of Deception, and will most likely decide to ignore even your "Skinny Basic" plan and instead cancel my entire Rogers Cable package (when my current offer expires) and stick with OTA.

Rogers needs to trim more fat from its "Skinny Basic" plan so that it costs even less, and if it doesn't remove the 15 channel pick and pay restriction from its "user-based" deceptive theme packs, the consumers need to trim the fat from Rogers' "bottom" line by saying goodbye.
 
#17 ·
I have a few comments regarding this trial, as well as some posts in this thread.

1. This is a trial
2. This is not meant for everyone
3. It's probably designed for people who want "less than basic".
4. People should check out what's actually on offer before commenting - several comments indicate that little/no such research has been done.
5. People who expect "any channel" (TMN, or other high priced specialty channels) to be included in the a-la-carte selection are dreaming.
6. The exact lineup is not even available yet, so many of the comments in this thread are speculation.
7. As you add more and more channels the costs rise and you may be better off with VIP depending on your choice of channels.
 
#18 ·
Well I counted 56 of those 80 channels that I NEVER WATCH and I was being generous for some I watch once in a blue moon. I'm sorry but I just do not see the point of, for instance, 7 local CBC channels as part of the package in SW Ontario. I REALLY do not understand the sunset,cottage and rotisserie channels...Rogers has too much bandwidth available obviously!

I accept that the government mandates a whole pile of channels that imho they should not, but nothing I can do about it.

So, given that one has to have the 80 channels it is not clear if I can then select the TMN/Moviepix group at something near their current price and then select a set of specialty channels of my choice. Note that I only want them in HD if possible.

For example I want TSN HD for Formula 1 but no other sports channels but I want CBC's DOC channel but not much interest in BOLD and so on.

In my exact location I will not be moving to OTA nor to satellite.

The money is LESS important than having the choice.
 
#19 ·
That list is NOT the trial list. That is the TV stations currently on the Rogers basic list which I guess will likely mimic much of what is on teh Starter list.

For the record, my idea of skinny basic for Toronto would be the following OTA Stations in SD and HD. Even better would be a Skinny basic SD and a Skinny basic HD at an even lower cost.

CTV
CBC
CITYTV
Global
CHCH
TVO
ABC
NBC
CBS
FOX
PBS

plus mandatory government crap.

It would not include all the other CBC, CTV, Global affiliates, no PPV, no audio, no ON demand channels, no Rogers specialty channels, no religious channels

The rest would be pick and pay.
 
#20 ·
Although I don't live in London and not sure what will be in this package, who "really" will be hurtted(business wise)

Rogers certainly won't for the simple reason.

If Rogers offers "pick what you want minus the monitory channels in your area(local) what do they really have to loss
As specialty channels go they have

F/X Canada
Sports nets ones (which most subs will take)
Omnis
OLN
City TV/News
G4(I think)
and thats it I think.

Since majority of their subs are in the GTA?London area I assume they probably have close to 1 million subs.

So they know right of the bat

OMNIs
City TV/News
will get every sub.

As Sport Net goes they'll probably get most of those million subs subbing to them as well due to Blue Jays/Leaf games(not sure if they show other Toronto area sports team games or not)

As for F/X OLN & G4 that remains to be sen.

The real losers her are Shaw/BCE.(business wise) since these two companies own way more specialty channels then Rogers its they who'll lose if not enough subs on Rogers actually sub to their channels.

True they'll automatically get subs for CTV & CTV2, big deal. It specialty ones that make the money.
 
#21 ·
Here is the list I compiled of non-audio channels in the Rogers basic package and would likely be the components of the trial package
That channel lineup lends new credence to the song, '57 Channels And Nothing To Watch.'

Londoners have historically received Detroit channels, not Buffalo channels, as US networks. The lineup to tailored for Toronto, not London. The last time Rogers tried to replace Detroit networks with Buffalo networks there were many complaints.

The now defunct Sun TV is listed.
 
#22 ·
That list was likely the Toronto list. The Rogers site did not say. Again, I was really just trying to illustrate what stations you might be able to expect, it was not meant to suggest that was the stations Londoners would receive.
 
#23 ·
Skinny Advanced

Since SPACE, HGTV and Discovery are some of the additional channels that can be added once you subscribe to the Skinny Basic plan (according to the Rogers CSR posting in the Rogers forum), I called Rogers and asked how much it would cost me (in Toronto) to get those 3 channels with Showcase and Bravo thrown in as well, all added to my current $11 plan.

I was told that because I would still get the $20 discount of my current special applied to my upgrade, it would only cost me about $49 plus tax for the Digital VIP plan (I don't pay anything for the SD digital box) for each month (until my special ended).

Since the Londoners pay $46.67 per month for Skinny Basic AND 15 extra channels (that they pick from a list that I haven't seen), my upgrade offer would be very close to the same price, but with even more channels. I don't really get to choose specific channels, but since the price is about the same, I basically have the Skinny Basic package right now, with the option to upgrade.

It's still too much money for me to be tempted to upgrade from my current plan, but I'm just trying to point out that the Skinny Basic plan plus the additional channels (minimum 15) can be used to get at least some of the channels that were previously too expensive to get as part of the Digital VIP package.

I suppose if you just wanted 1 extra channel, you could pay an extra $14 or whatever the cost it is to get Showcase and the other channels on that tier (channels 29-44), but if you wanted to mix and match channels from different tiers, you might soon have a way to do such a thing.

It's only a trial, but as long as we have the freedom to one day break up some of the existing blockades that are currently thrown our way, perhaps there is light at the end of the tunnel.

I'm hoping that more of the important channels are one day added to the pick and pay option list, so that I can get a few of the "better" channels without having to pay $50 a month plus tax.
 
#24 ·
According to a local news report, Rogers is calling the pilot "pick and pay" TV, aka "a la carte".

AM980 Daily on Demand - November 3rd said:
Rogers has selected London as a test market for a new service the cable giant is calling "pick and pay" TV. It essentially does away with pre-determined 'bundle' packages, allowing customers to cherry pick the channels they want.
 
#25 ·
Right from the Horses Mouth

Here is the quote directly from Rogers Red Board:

"You asked us for more choices and told us you want to build your own TV packages and pay for the channels you like to watch. So today, we’re launching the trial of a new TV offering that is designed to do just that.

Based upon the little information that Rogers has so far provided, the trial package on offer does not meet even what Rogers themselves claim to be providing. Again, this opinion is based upon what information Rogers themselves have provided. They made a statement of claim:

"today we're launching the trial of a new TV offering that is designed to do just that"

And what pray tell is the new TV offering designed to do?

"build your own TV packages and pay for the channels you like to watch."

Well again, the devil is in the details. Rogers will have to live up to their own claims.

BTW, nowhere in their post does it state that the package is designed "for persons who want less then basic cable."

Also, this from the Rogers PR person from the Red Board:

"starting next week, stores in London will have full details of what’s included in the package and the options available"
 
#26 ·
UIn all honesty if Rogerrs truly wanted to give a "starter package" why then they just:
1) Give the CRTC "must carry locals"
2) Give Governmentment 'must carry channels'
3) Give the "20 most subscribed channels" that Rogers subs subcribe to.So through out Rogers subsriber base the top 20 channels(speacialty)that have the most subs have that as in the packager and rom there allow people to sub to what they want.
 
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