ION Pay TV Subs?

[dspete]

Helped parents set up a new outside TV Antenna did a scan and recieved about 6 new channels on ION subs

16.82 (29) Gran Cinema
16.85 (29) NFL
16.87 (29) GOL TV
16.88 (29) Redzone
16.90 (29) STARZ
16.96 (29) Airbox

So the key channel here is Airbox? A subscription based service.
Pursued a little more with my trusty Google search and found that www.airbox.com is coming soon but also found out that Airbox has been around for awhile in other markets
boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=201709

I knew of the now defunct USDTV which I thought just came out at the wrong time but a great concept.

Trust me if I could get 10 to 15 of the top pay channels for around $20 to $25 bucks a month without all the filler channels that Dish and Directv put up I would go for it.
I'm talking History and ESPN to TNT.. You know the channels I'm talking about the good ones. Anyways I guess we'll have to see what gets announced.

A little more research found same channels in New York and it looks like Airbox may be owned by ION TV?
Source: www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=73356#station


31 31 WPXN-TV NEW YORK NY ION
Display
Channel Physical
Channel Video Audio Call Sign Network/Programming Nickname Notes Print
31-1 31.3 720p DD2.0 ION ION
31-2 31.4 480i DD2.0 qubo Qubo
31-3 31.5 480i DD2.0 IONLife ION Life
31-4 31.6 480i DD2.0 ShopTV Infomercials
31-1 qubo Qubo (WPXN-TV 31-2)
31-82 31.82 480i
(H.264) Stereo
(AAC) GranCin Gran Cine AirBox Channels.
31-85 31.85 NFL NFL Network
31-87 31.87 GolTV GolTV
31-88 31.88 RedZone NFL RedZone
31-90 31.90 Starz Starz
31-96 31.96 AirBox AirBox
Technical Data and Screencaps
Historical, Ownership, Transition, and Translator Data

The downfall is bandwidth.....

DSPete

[CAwasinNJ]

It could be that Airbox is owned by Ion, though that's surprising. The technical contact for the airbox.com domain is at Ion.

This answers the questions I had since September about the Redzone channel that's now on 16.88 and used to be at 16.201 I think. It only shows up in my scans when it isn't on the air (ie days other than Sunday.) It disappears when there's a broadcast. The other subs you show aren't there at all for me. Of course I have a cheap dumb consumer box.

I agree that it's a good concept, but you hit the nail on the head about bandwidth. According to AVSforum, the subscription channels are using a variable bitrate of about 800kbps using MPEG4. Having seen video at that bitrate, it's passable but very noticeably artifacty. Then again, so is most digital cable these days and I suspect the pizza pans are the same. It might work for some, but I'm not likely to pay for crappy looking video. I'll take it for free and "pay" by seeing commercials, but that's about it. That's a personal preference.

[kenglish]

Remember that USDTV was spread across several different local channels, and many of those did not carry HDTV yet. USDTV was all SDTV channels, too.
It would be hard to put many channels in to a single channel like KUPX, which already has an HD and 3 SD's.

Free-to-Air (FTA) satellite is a nice way to go, if you don't mind kitschy niche-market and ethnic channels.

[CAwasinNJ]

Unfortunately there's no way I know of with most consumer DTV tuners to get the technical details and find out just how high a quality the HD & SD signals really are.

I don't see a lot that's in the clear on satellite anymore. The wildfeeds and backhauls used to be, even after the big networks encrypted. There's hardly any of that anymore from what I've heard. I haven't played with a BUD for years.