prophet@umcp-cs.UUCP (01/24/84)
I have both HBO and SHOWTIME. The person who was trying to decide between
the two is right in that there are no MAJOR differences between HBO and
SHOWTIME. However, there are slight differences which may influence your
decision one way or another. For example, I have found that HBO has more
special programs that were done by HBO, and hence, will only be shown on
HBO. Also, I think that SHOWTIME tends to show more movies that are adult
oriented, i.e., more R-rated skin movies. Neither HBO nor SHOWTIME shows
any X-rated movies.
I am curious to know how much cable company charges differ between areas.
Here in College Park, MD., my cable company (Storer Cable) charges me
$19.95 a month for the following services: 1) the basic hookup (which in-
cludes all local stations, plus a few out-of-town stations, MTV, CNN, CHN,
Nickelodeon, weather, plus several other things, 2) HBO, and 3) SHOWTIME.
I think that my total price of $19.95 for all this stuff is a bargain. For
those of you not familiar with Cable TV, MTV stands for Music Television,
CNN stands for Cable News Network, and CHN stands for Cable Health Network
. Additional premium channels are $5.36 each. Sadly, the Playboy Channel
is not available in my area.
Also, my $19.95 monthly charge includes an FM-hookup for my stereo which
allows me to receive all the premium channels (plus MTV) in stereo.
Dennis
--
Call-Me: Dennis Gibbs, Univ. of Md. Comp. Sci. Center.
UUCP: {seismo,allegra,brl-bmd}!umcp-cs!prophet
CSNet: prophet@umcp-cs
ARPA: prophet.umcp-cs@CSNet-Relaymarla@ssc-vax.UUCP (Marla S Baer) (01/25/84)
[] We just discontinued the premium cable channels. We had been getting basic cable (all local stations, 2 Canadian, 2 other out of area independants, WTBS, CNN, ESPN, C-SPAN, MTV, etc.) and SHOWTIME. This past month, the local cable company raised the basic rate $1.75/month, and the specialty channels $1.15/manth. That wouldn't have been so bad, but they added a $5.00/month box rental charge. Since we have a cable ready tv and a VCR, we decided to get rid of SHOWTIME and the box. With the money we're saving, we can rent 7 movies a month! (And watch what we want, when we want!) Marla S. Baer ssc-vax!marla
rossen@uiucdcs.UUCP (01/28/84)
#R:umcp-cs:-486900:uiucdcs:19200022:000:950
uiucdcs!rossen Jan 27 11:51:00 1984
Basic cable + FM stereo hookup here in the heartland, Champaign-Urbana,
Illinois, costs $14.95 a month. Local stations covering the three
networks and PBS, WGN (Chicago), WTBS, CNN, CHN, CNN Headline, MTV, CBN,
USA Cable, Nickelodeon (for kids) and a few Christian channels and National
Weather Service maps, are included. HBO and Cinemax are available, to my
knowledge. I do not miss the availability of the Playboy Channel, but to each
his/her own taste. There is also a helpful service of carrying shows on the
networks via a nearby affiliate (usually Terre Haute, IN) when the local
affiliate preempts them.
In Ann Arbor, Michigan, where I last lived, services provided and costs were
about the same, but Bravo (cultural), the Disney Channel, the Movie Channel
and the Playboy Channel were also available as premium services.
--------------
"...watch TV? Who, me?"
Ken in Champaign-Urbana
{ihnp4 pur-ee}!uiucdcs!rossen daemon@decwrl.UUCP (02/04/84)
From: akov68::boyajian Dennis Gibbs: Boy, you get off cheap with your cable service! Hudson, MA is served by Adams-Russell and the price structure is as follows: Basic ($4.00): 9 Boston stations, 1 New Bedford (MA), 2 New Hampshire, 3 Providence (RI), 2 New York, 1 Chicago, 1 Atlanta, 1 Quebec (in French), C-Span, CBN (Christian Broadcast- ing Network), CHN, and various public info channels. Extended ($8.00): CNN, CNN Headline, ESPN, USA, Nickelodean, ARTS, SPN, MTV, Nashville, Reuters, Weather Channel, Appalacian Network, and NCN (National Christian Network). Premium: HBO, SHOWTIME, CINEMAX, MOVIE CHANNEL ($8.00 each --- we get all four for $29.00) DISNEY CHANNEL ($9.95) BRAVO ($5.95 --- but we seem to be getting it free) SPORTS CHANNEL ($6.00 --- we don't get this) FM Stereo: ($1.50 --- they just mentioned having this available, I have to find out if this is just a simple FM band feed or if it includes MTV and TMC in stereo.) We get all of the first four premium channels because (1) we like the extra HBOnly's, such as the Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe series, plus some of the rock concert features; (2) The SHOWTIME only features are nice --- it has a Japanese animated version of the THUNDERBIRDS puppet show that really nice, plus the rock specials, etc.; (3) CINEMAX shows a lot of older films that the other channels rarely show; (4) THE MOVIE CHANNEL has the greatest variety of movies, including the occasional "festival", such as this month's Sherlock Holmes orgy (they're going to show 15 Rathbone Holmes films in a 24-hour period -- sort of a "Sherlock 'round the clock"). I don't mind the great overlap of newer films among the four channels, because I have a weird schedule and don't always get to see films that I'd like; this way, I get much more opportunities to see films that I want to see. The Disney Channel I got basicly to videotape the episodes of the old ZORRO tv show (figuring 5 episodes a week times 4 weeks a month, it comes to a cost of 50 cents an episode to tape, which makes the $9.95 cost easier to swal- low). They often have other interesting films and features, too. The total monthly cost, adding in the remote control and an expanded guide book, comes to $53.85 --- split between me and one of my housemates. Seems rather extravagant, but since we're both getting the full system for about $27 each, it doesn't hurt the finances very much. We don't often fight over who watches what when, since we're on different work/sleep schedules, so it works out really well. Oh, an interesting bit is that when we first got the cable, about a year ago, we would occasionally get the Playboy Channel in the wee hours (they must have been test-marketing it). What was funny was that it was on the same channel as the NCN (which didn't run all night). Talk about irony. --- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC Maynard) UUCP: (decvax!decwrl!rhea!akov68!boyajian) ARPA: (decwrl!rhea!akov68!boyajian@Shasta)
chuqui@nsc.UUCP (Chuq Von Rospach) (02/07/84)
The reason you probably got the Playboy channel was not because they were
test marketing it, but because Playboy Channel and the Christian network
use the same transponder on the satellite. The religion people have it
during the day, and Playboy at night when the money is really made (since
Playboy would have REAL problems broadcasting during the day when kiddies
could see it, this is a way to make some money on their extra bandwidth).
The engineers at your cable company probably forgot to turn off the feed.
(talk about strange bedfellows!)
chuq
--
From the house at Pooh Corner: Chuq 'Nuke Wobegon' Von Rospach
{fortune,menlo70}!nsc!chuqui Have you hugged your Pooh today?
Go, Lemmings, Go!
<I'll give up my quote of the week when YOU give up those pretty pictures!>
Everyone wants to make love to their mother, Harold. What I can't understand
is why you want to make love to your grandmother!djm@ariel.UUCP (D.MORGAN) (12/09/84)
We recently purchased cable tv. We are having trouble deciding what channels to choose. I would greatly appreciate your opinion on what stations are worth while to purchase. I particullarly am interested in the choice of what movie- station: HBO, Cinemax, or Showtime. Thanks in advance, Tom Morgan ariel!djm It's 7:00, have you walked your dog today? -
jin@hplabs.UUCP (Tai Jin) (12/11/84)
> We recently purchased cable tv. We are having trouble deciding what channels > to choose. I would greatly appreciate your opinion on what stations are worth > while to purchase. I particullarly am interested in the choice of what movie- > station: HBO, Cinemax, or Showtime. > > Thanks in advance, > Tom Morgan ariel!djm > > It's 7:00, have you walked your dog today? > > - i've watched hbo, cinemax and showtime, and they tend to overlap in the movies that they show. however, i think there is less overlap between hbo and showtime. also, you should look at the schedules for these channels since the variety of movies, sports events, etc. are somewhat different too.