Bell TV Pricing and Programming Packages Discussion

[Jakester]

OK, so returned the cottage and fired up the satellite receivers. We use to have just the basic plan plus one theme, but needed/wanted TSN. Discoverd this whole new good/better/best thing, and was somewhat annoyed.
In any case, for the moment we now have the 'better' package.. my problem is we have 4100 receivers and i have a favorites listing which has all the channels we subscribe to but excludes the PPV listings. that way we can just scroll thorugh everything we receive.

How the heck to do I figure out what channel numbers I get now other than going through the program guide to see what is red-ed out and what isnt? The programming guide gives just the symbol for all the channels I get now, but I cannot find any simple list of 'here are your channels numbers in this package' Really? Do I need to go through the alphabetical list of channels and map them to my good/better symbols, then program that into my receivers favorite list? thats a lot of channels, I cant believe they dont make that list readily available... maybe I just cant find it, or maybe some other kind soul has already gone to this effort and would share... it seems like it would be very useful. "here are your channels number for good, better, and best"...

[Pinza]

First thing I would do would be to "Lock" out the PPV etc, that will clean up the Guide.

I hardly ever use a Favourite list, as all I see are what I subscribe to after locking out the French, PPV, Adult, not subscribed etc.

Advantage of this is that anything on Free Preview appears in the Guide, it will NOT appear if you use a Favourite list.

[Jakester]

Ah, that sounds reasonable. I will give that a try.

thanks.

[joe123]

Is it not possible to stay on the old programming, while adding TSNHD for the playoffs ?

[reidw]

Originally Posted by joe123

Is it not possible to stay on the old programming, while adding TSNHD for the playoffs ?

Nope. Unless of course you had TSN HD in your old programming. Any change to your old stuff immediately forces you over to Good/Better/Best if the channel you are adding is in the Good/Better/Best stream (i.e not a premium service like TMN or MLB which are still separate).

[MalcolmD]

I noticed that in the "new" channel guide (for June 2012!) CBC Ottawa HD is listed in the time-shifting. As I live in Ottawa I went online to look at my current package (the "old" themes, which don't include Ottawa HD) and lo and behold got the "you can't change your programming online" message.

Does Bell have some deliberate perverse strategy to make everyone angry?

[slash]

So bell tells me that cts and Fan 590 are not coming back to Sask. and the only way to get them is to switch back to the old packages. Makes no sense to me. What is going on at Bell? They will allow me to switch back but that means the loss of a couple hd channels unless I buy a movie add on.

[moosefan]

Originally Posted by joe123

Is it not possible to stay on the old programming, while adding TSNHD for the playoffs ?

I was able to add a theme pack on the old programming using the chat feature. This was last week.

I was also able to go back to the old programming after two CSRs and two supervisors. I was also told there would be a "forced migration" to the new programming at some point.

[JoeLouie]

Any tips for getting anything thrown in free, as a new subscriber?

[CSA60]

I'm quite surprise the general lack of outrage here at the new packaging and the threat of forced migration. I've checked out the new packages and to keep the channels we watch, it is going to cost $12 a month more and even then we lose certain channels (albeit channels we don't really watch). We have already had our annual increase in rates (well above the rate of inflation again) so I find this unconscionable. Of course the value proposition is that if you subscribe to a SD channel you automatically get the HD channel but I see this as specious as HD is the new standard. It's like saying 'we are going to increase your rates because we are transmitting in colour.' This is clearly just another cynical cash grab from a company the relies on the apathy of its customers. For our part we will be dropping our Bell service the day the force us to migrate.

[reidw]

@csa60: The forced migration idea is more likely a CSR's heavy handed ploy to get you to switch NOW as opposed to later. Bell's track record has been stellar in the past for not making subscribers give up their old packages for years after new ones were introduced. At one point about two years ago there seemed to be many here on one of several old "legacy" deals all of which were still being honoured.

What I find interesting here is that even though so many of you are always doubting what CSRs tell you in other situations, you're believing the same CSRs in this instance. CSS have told customers dozens of made up stories. Why believe this one when it actually goes against Bell's historical record?

One more thing. I do agree with you about the pricing of the new offers. I think Bell thought that by offering many more additional channels at each level above Good that they would be able to deflect away complaints and anger about the huge differences/jumps in price between the levels. However, the Best Level is actually made up of several smaller sublevels each of which can be ordered separately. What I don't understand is why Better wasn't also broken down this way. There are a number of themes in Better that I'd never watch but it's simply "take it or leave it". I'm choosing the latter.

[JoeLouie]

My biggest complaint about the new Good/Better/Best packages is the huge jump in price between them. I am getting the Good package mainly because I don't need or want half of the extra channels in the Better package, and can't justify spending an extra $30 for a bunch of channels I don't want, only to get a few that I do want. If there was something between Good and Better for $15 or so I'd have no problem with that. So, because of that I'll stick with Good and just live without a few channels.

[West of Carp]

I'm losing Documentary & Bold channels come Apr. 19th. They're being moved to other theme packs. If I switch to the Better or Best package plus Premium Movies, I'll have to pay $130 to get the same programming I have now for $92. I watch the Doc channel a lot, but not anymore I guess; same as Bold for championship figure skating coverage (way better than regular CBC). I refuse to pay more until I'm absolutely forced into it. Watch Bell gradually whittle away at the options for us grandfathered subscribers to force us over to the new packages.

Living outside cable-land, I have no alternative unless it's Shaw, but there're no savings there either. Too far from the border for OTA, Bell Turbo Hub for internet so those options are out as well.

[MaxHeadroom]

I find the new programming packages insulting, to the point where we are going to cancel Bell TV after eight years.

Consider this statement from the CRTC here http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/com100/2011/r110921.htm:

...the CRTC strongly encourages television distribution companies to give Canadians more flexibility in choosing the individual services they want as part of their packages. The CRTC has called on Bell Canada, Quebecor Media, Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications to submit a report by April 1, 2012, detailing the steps they have undertaken to respond to consumer demands.

I don't know how these new packages fulfill consumer demands.

Too many channels, not enough original content, and no economical way to get only the few channels we want. Digital OTA in HD offers adequate TV for us.

[rogue17]

April 1 is April Fools day.