FiOS TV quietly adds USA HD and CNBC HD all around the country

You'd think that if a provider had only added one HD channel in the past year -- and was falling behind its competition in the HD arms race -- that it'd be the first to proudly announce any new additions, but you'd be wrong. FiOS subscribers around the country started reporting on Saturday that USA HD and CNBC HD showed up in the guide as channels 884 and 879, respectively. The rumor is that this is in preparation of all the Olympics coverage in HD on those channels, and this makes sense as in addition, there were also two dedicated Olympics HD channels added to the guide at 896 and 897, which are currently displaying nothing more than color bars now.

[Hfva Posted Jul 20th 2008 11:21PM]

Same shows in N. VA. Plus, based o the letter recieved from Verizon, July 21st will be the day were they go all digital in the area. may be by end of day of the 21st those two channels will appear and hopefully a lot more.

[Hfva Posted Jul 20th 2008 11:24PM]

Same appears here in N. VA. Based on the letter we recieved we go all digital begine on the 21st of July and shortly after we will be getting more. I will not be holding my breath for that to happen in the next month.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 20th 2008 11:40PM]

Actually, the channels started popping up on Friday.

[MickBurke Posted Jul 20th 2008 11:44PM]

So where are the 10 or 12 other HD's they were supposed to get in june or july!??!

[gemini Posted Jul 21st 2008 2:12AM]

According to the mail message on the set top box, and the letter from Verizon, July 21 thru July 22 is the magic date here in Oregon. We should receive several additional channels. We'll see... 2 more days to go, I guess.

[pedantic Posted Jul 20th 2008 11:44PM]

Hello TWC? Are we going to get these HD channels before the Olympics?

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 21st 2008 1:32AM]

I e-mailed TWC in SoCal and ask if we are getting USA HD in time for the Olympics but they said no agreement has been made. Fios come to my area I am tired of having 21 HD channels and waiting until November 12, 2008 for 12 more HD channels in one of the largest market.

[brianbobcat Posted Jul 21st 2008 1:20AM]

So those color bars, are they at leas tin HD, and do they come with tone (5.1 tone?)?

-Brian

[harley3k Posted Jul 21st 2008 3:44AM]

So if they could add these nationwide without having all the digital conversion done, why wasn't it done sooner?

The excuse for not having more HD was because they had to go all digital first to have the bandwidth.

[MadMike Posted Jul 21st 2008 12:07PM]

I welcome USA HD, but still no FX in sight. Sheesh.