Comcast, you ruined everything
December 8th, 2009 at 11:47 PM ^
IIRC, an extra $5/month will get you the whole sports tier (including BTN and the extra Fox and CBS college sports channels, which come in handy if you enjoy watching UM hockey games) if you already have one of their digital packages. The only caveat is that you will not get the secondary BTN channels if they air more than one game at a given time. In my experience (in Atlanta), the UM games were almost never pushed to the secondary channels. It sucks to have to give Comcast the extra $5/month, but well worth it if you ask me
I feel for you in SEC country
December 8th, 2009 at 11:54 PM ^
Comcast can eat a dick. DirecTV is a million billion times better even though it doesn't have On Demand. BTN is still not available from Comcast in HD, only in SD.
December 9th, 2009 at 12:05 AM ^
I have DirecTV at school and Comcast at home, and I like Comcast better. Better channels, On Demand, and fewer bad picture days. With the snow this week, I wonder if DirecTV will go out. No Versus on DirecTV, too (though they blame that on Comcast raising the price).
I get BTN in HD on Comcast. Are you outside the footprint?
December 9th, 2009 at 12:06 AM ^
Yeah, we checked the price of the extra sports package, and we can afford it, but it really irks me that we won't get HD. Even in Big Ten states it sounds like it's all SD.
December 9th, 2009 at 12:06 AM ^
I have On Demand on my DirecTV. I don't think there are any good TV providers out there. DirecTV has gotten cheap as well. They've removed Versus. Sucks when you want to watch playoff hockey.
December 9th, 2009 at 12:16 AM ^
I don't think there are any good TV providers out there.Before moving here, I had Mediacom. They had this lovely OnDemand service, but no matter how often I reset my cable box, I wasn't able to partake of it. My neighbors could, but their stream skipped about every 20 seconds. About the only nice thing they ever did for me was to not reach a deal to air BTN until after I had missed The Horror. In France, where I lived for a few months, I paid 30 euros/month for 300+ channels, super-high-speed internet, unlimited local and long-distance calling within France, AND unlimited international calls to over 60 countries, including the U.S. I 3 competition.
December 9th, 2009 at 8:21 AM ^
I loathe Comcast as well, but it's the only option where I live (condos, so no dish). However, BTN is in HD, at least in the Grand Rapids area.
December 9th, 2009 at 9:37 AM ^
here in Chicago we do get BTN, Versus and Red Zone Channel in SD/HD not to mention the BTN over flow channels. We also get ESPN360 now with Comcast's internet service.
So they are slowly starting to offer much more value and IMHO are as good or better than DTV with the above mentioned factors weighed in.
December 9th, 2009 at 9:37 AM ^
and BTN is in HD
December 9th, 2009 at 10:40 AM ^
No complaints from me. I have BTN and it's in HD. Idk where you live, but it must not be in michigan or BT country.
December 9th, 2009 at 12:09 AM ^
I was contemplating switching to Verizon and take advantage of their FIOS bundle for a year before I move. I know Michigan is rarely on the secondary channels for football, but now I may have to reevaluate the whole process.
The thing I hate about DirecTV is that they always conveniently forget to unsubscribe me from auto renewing their sports packages.
December 9th, 2009 at 12:40 AM ^
is out right now here in aa .... fail
December 9th, 2009 at 1:20 AM ^
Definitely a bad picture day at the present. So sayeth one using Comcast.
December 9th, 2009 at 8:15 AM ^
if you think satellite is so bad, why don't you look at what comcast uses to get their signal to you. They use a satellite. If you are complaining about your signal from DirecTV, you should check your dish and see if it is secure. I have used DirecTV in Michigan for 8+ years and I don't have any issues with picture.
BTN contract struggles and Versus contract struggles have one thing in common....Comcast. They are the DEVIL!
December 9th, 2009 at 10:27 AM ^
It doesn't matter if Comcast uses a satellite as long as they don't lose the signal the way some people do with their little dishes. Not defending Comcast, just saying that the technology isn't the complaint--it's that it's not working for some people.
December 10th, 2009 at 12:14 AM ^
I liked satellite just fine, but because of the economy, I currently live with my in-laws, who hold the purse strings. And for whom Comcast was cheaper. And who don't take Big Ten football into account when making decisions. Sad!
December 9th, 2009 at 8:17 AM ^
I have Cablevision (Connecticut). They just added BTN-HD, which is fine, though Michigan has been regionally bounced in football for Penn State games at the same time. The things we don't have are ESPNU and the NFL Network. Thinking of switching to the new ATT U-Verse, which has all of them.
December 9th, 2009 at 8:50 AM ^
I have Comcast and my parents have Direct Tv. I love the the pakage I have with Comcast but their customer service is God awful. I have had three problems that I've had to schedule them to come in and fix stuff, one just this last weekend. It takes them several days to even get to your problems, which tells me how awful their service is considering they don't have enough man power to get to you until a few days after your call because they are so busying fixing everyone else's problems. Worst of all, they never try to trouble shoot the situation over the phone they just say "oh we will send someone out" and then charge you for it. Love the cable package, hate the service. Honestly I'd rather have Direct Tv if I didn't have to deal with the hassel.
December 9th, 2009 at 9:15 AM ^
I've got Comcast and I pay the fee for the Sports package -- and I get all the B10 games on the subsidiary channels. Sometimes if you plug in your zip code, the B10 website gives you the wrong channel, but I've never missed a game since the advent of the B10 schedule. (P.S. I live in Maryland.)
December 9th, 2009 at 9:18 AM ^
My personal favorite is Uverse. The fact that they have to run their own line makes the picture quality better than the competition even in SD. Also, with comcast I hate the lag when you change channels; Uverse is fiber optic so you change channels instantly. Plus I can access the DVR from anywhere in the house and record 4 shows at once. Its a little pricier but I think it is worth it.
December 9th, 2009 at 9:40 AM ^
I'm U-Verse too.
My favorite part of it is setting up recordings from the Internet. I can't believe I used to do this while sitting on the couch with a remote and sorting through long-loading pages. Now I can find and record all my dinosaurs and evolution and history shows and never have to stop MGoBlogging.
I also can change the channel on Misopogal from the office (you have to have 4 recordings going at once). I found this very amusing, until she wanted to switch back to Comcast (meaning I lose my BTN) because "the channels keep switching randomly." Now it's kind of a game to see who can get the other to watch the dumbest show possible (currently she leads by changing the Red Wings to David Blaine....[shiver David Blaine creepy].
P.S. Glad you liked my graphic. Maybe I should start an avatar store.
December 9th, 2009 at 9:51 AM ^
I had Comcast for the past 3 years and got U-verse this fall. It is a bit more pricey than Comcast, but I don't think I can ever go back now. I didn't think it would be necessary to watch the DVR in any room or set recordings online, but I have used that feature a lot. Also, the storage capacity of the DVR is unreal. I have HD recordings of every Michigan football game this season, movies, and a lot of other programs collecting on there and it still isn't full. Way better than Comcast. The quality of the menus is much nicer too; it makes the old Motorola boxes used by Comcast and Charter look like they are from the 90's.
When you add the fact that you get every HD channel you could ever want, it is definitely worth the extra $20-30/month. Oh, and the customer service is actually good, which was my biggest problem with Comcast.
December 10th, 2009 at 12:23 AM ^
I would love, love, love U-Verse, but it's not even an option where I live. Neither is FIOS. I don't live in the boonies (not hardly) but nonetheless we don't have either right now.
December 9th, 2009 at 11:31 AM ^
I got the silver HD package just for Big10HD. Ordered so that we'd be ready for start of basketball season. Football was just a bonus since my local cable didn't carry B10 at all.
December 9th, 2009 at 7:27 PM ^
Well Charter sucks too, I only wish I could get my old DirecTV back with DVR. Charter makes you pay 15 bucks for HD and another 5 or 10 for a DVR and I refuse to pay that much for something another provider gives for free (or cheaper).