[TV] Where's My SciFi Channel?

Image via WikipediaBeing a science fiction geek living in the Philippines, it frustrates me to no end that we don't have the Sci-Fi Channel as part of our cable TV offerings in the area. I don't suppose this country is exactly known for science fiction appreciation in the eyes of media moguls and the like - they've limited our access to content whether in terms of dedicated cable channels and even books over the years.

I think what really gets to me is when affiliate channels like the Hallmark Channel start showing commercials and teasers for SciFi in an attempt to get subscribers to contact their local cable operators to start negotiating for package inclusion. I swear to god that as frustrating as it is, if SkyCable (my provider) decides to add the Sci-Fi Channel as part of their Platinum package offerings, I just might upgrade in order to gain access.

Geekdom can be so expensive.

I checked out the Wikipedia page for SkyCable and it seems there are no immediate plans of getting access to Sci-Fi anytime soon - although they do indicate the possibility of HD offerings by year's end. That's certainly something I'd have to see to believe.

Well, just consider this the ranting of yet another frustrated geek. Can you hear us SkyCable? We want our SciFi Channel! Please?!?!?

[TV] SkyCable's PPV Expansion

Image by DCvision2006 via FlickrI've been a (legal) SkyCable subscriber for some time now and given my recent trip to the US and my exposure to US cable / satellite TV programming, I've been pretty interested in following the continued evolution of our own advanced entertainment options. Given the almost ridiculous amount of channels one can get in the US these days, our own local cable TV offerings are sadly limited and once can't help but compare and contrast one to the other.

In 2006 SkyCable launched it's SkyCable Platinum package, which is essentially the equivalent of add-on channel packages in the US like for additional HBO channels and expansion / development of these offerings has been slow and rather uneventful. It wasn't until last year that they really started pushing their "DigiBox" product, which is essentially the long-overdue next step into set-top cable boxes. Given I live in a, well, high-risk area when it comes to cable TV piracy, I welcomed the conversion to digital (read: encrypted) signals with open arms and waited for SkyCable to require the new set-top boxes as opposed to me needing to pay for an upgrade.

As expected, that inevitable happened in my area at a rather ironic timing: just when I was about to come home from the US. Here's me being exposed to how cable TV works over there about to experience the first baby steps into the same direction back home. Sweet. It was a somewhat buggy transition because the signals in our area were upgraded to digital before our DigiBox had been delivered, but after a few trans-Pacific calls I got that resolved and the new box was delivered and set up free of charge. The signal quality was miles away from our sometimes snowy cable signal before and I was silently happy that our cable-pirating neighbors were probably in the dark by now.

While many people don't see the need to have a set-top box and merely see it as an added annoyance given you now need to have two remote controls to watch TV, I had realized that it was important since if we were ever to progress to more advanced TV programming, addressable cable boxes like this were needed in order to do that. As much as I was sure that I wouldn't be jumping into rampant pay-per-view purchasing anytime soon, just knowing that it was a viable option available to me was a comforting thought.

Of all the cable TV providers, SkyCable is definitely trying to make headway in this direction given (1) they're the first to start requiring such devices and (2) they're also the first to offer premium channel packages whereas other providers are still trying to compete using the all-in-one package strategy. As much as I enjoyed the convenience of that kind of an offering, I knew that if we were to get access to better TV, it would mean compromises and movement into PPV offerings.

More recently we've seen SkyCable start to offer PPV programming centering around sporting events like the last Pacquiao fight and now the upcoming Beijing Olympics. It's certainly an interesting development and I found myself checking out their pricing for such packages today but was disappointed to find out that it would cost P1,500 to get access to their two Season Pass channels covering the Olympics. Bugger - that's almost twice the price of my base package.

While the miser in me refuses to pay that much for limited-time programming, I'm sur there are bigger sports enthusiasts out there willing to pay that amount and I'm definitely not going to stop them. I must admit I am more tempted to explore the HBO offerings or their other channel set known as The Metro Pack, but I'm still weighing the cost-benefit ratios for such a purchasing decision and given that I know there are a whole lot more than just three HBO channels out there and it might be more worth it to wait for those channels to become available as well.

Long story short, TV here in the Philippines is finally evolving and I'm happy to see the changes. As much as I hate having to pay extra for these kinds of things, I recognize why we need to do so and will eventually find myself paying a little extra myself should I finally decide to get some of their Platinum offerings. This is the future of TV, I suppose.

I can hardly wait for someone to start offering DVR services. Not THAT's something I'm willing to pay and arm and a leg for.

[TV] The New SkyCable Line-Up

Welcome to the new year fellow geeks! Hope you made it through with most of your fingers and toes. Of course if you didn't hurt yourself with fireworks, I can imagine a lot of you SkyCable subscribers (legal or otherwise) are still hurting from the recent loss of the Solar Entertainment Channels, which has become quite a source of geeky traffic in recent weeks.

Now that the dust has settled, let's see what we're left with and what our options are...

Well, the new channels are pretty much out and here's what things look like initially:

1. Balls (Channel 34) - This is their sports channel and rough replacement for Solar Sports. It's available to all subscribers.
   
2. AXN Beyond< (Channel 35) - This is another AXN-derived channel that tends to focus more on science fiction and fantasy shows like Supernatural and such. It's trying to address the sci-fi shows normally shown on Crime and Suspense. This channel is available to all subscribers.
   
3. KidsCo (Channel 38) - Previously announced as part of their free line-up, KidsCo is apparently for SkyCable Gold users and up and is pretty much just another kiddie channel.
   
4. FoxCrime - (Channel 50) - This channel is pretty much filled with crime shows and documentaries like Law and Order so in case you're hurting for that side of the Crime and Suspense programming, then this is the place to go. It's free for all SkyCable subscribers.
   
5. Maxxx (Channel 51) - This is their current attempt at being the butchest channel on the block. It's mostly daredevil reality shows with some wrestling-type action thrown in. Imagine JackTV without the Comedy Central programming (which is what I enjoy a whole lot more) and you get this. It's free for all subscribers.
   
6. Velvet (Channel 53) - This is a hodge-podge of the kinds of shows you're normally see on ETC and ETC 2nd Avenue like re-runs of older seasons of America's Next Top Model and weird reality TV shows like Gay, Straight or Taken. Oh, and instead of getting NBC news programming, you get fluffier ABC news shows and *gasps* THE VIEW! Oh the horror...still, it's free for everyone if you're into that sort of thing.

Of course they're not perfect replacements, but it's a start I guess. I can imagine both Solar and SkyCable are hurting because of this change in arrangements, although I don't see hordes of people leaving SkyCable just yet.

They've also done a lot of channel shuffling in their line-up. The Disney Channel is now free for everyone and can be found on Channel 47. At the same time, The Lifestyle Network has moved to Channel 52 to be closer to Velvet.

Solar seems to have made drastic changes and started offering a lot of their programming on local UHF channels. A lot of Crime and Suspense shows are now on RPN 9 (Channel 14). ETC shows are now the main component of SBN 21 (Channel 16) and ETC 2nd Avenue shows have pretty much replaced RJTV 29 (Channel 19).

You can visit the SkyCable homepage for a complete list of their new line-up. And for all those sports fans, SkyCable tried to present alternatives in terms of locating all your favorite basketball and wrestling shows on local channels like ABC 5 (Channel 10) or on their current sports channels ESPN and Star Sports.

Yeah, I know, they're pretty sucky alternatives.

[TV] SkyCable Losing Solar Channels

In case you haven't been paying attention to all the notices, starting January 1, 2008 local cable TV outfit SkyCable will no longer feature any of the Solar Entertainment channels. This means the loss of JackTV, ETC Entertainment Channel, ETC 2nd Avenue, Crime/Suspense, Basketball TV, and Solar Sports for all SkyCable subscribers, regardless of subscription level. Bummer.

At least it's not a total loss - SkyCable are fully aware of the popularity of these channels and have done a little something to try and ease our pain, although it's hard to say for sure if that's enough.

In place of the exiting channels, they've announced the debut of six new channels, namely Balls, AXN Beyond, Kids Co, Fox Crime, Maxxx and Velvet. While they're not perfect replacements for the lost channels, they do present related entertainment value. To sweeten the pot, as it were, they also threw in the Disney Channel, which was previously available only to SkyCable Gold subscribers to be available to all other subscribers as well.

There's no official reason given for the shift in channel line-up from either company - SkyCable just has that measly notice seen above while Solar Entertainment has chosen to use this time to renovate their website. Wonderful. The Wikipedia article about Solar has a note about all this being possibly related to the rights for the Manny Pacquiao fights and such, something that has passed from ABS-CBN (who own SkyCable) over to GMA (their local rival). However, the Wikipedia article about SkyCable adds in the official statement of VP for Programming Juno Chuidian claiming this was just another move to improve programming and reduce redundant channels.

Yeah right.