Green Dot Digital TV Service

Hey folks, have you guys heard yet? Green Dot, the local ISP that offers wireless internet broadband has launched their digital tv service. It currenlty offers 42 channels, and marks the return of the popular Starz movie channel and Showtime back in T&T. If you recall, before Flow took over CCTT(Cable Company of T&T), they offered Starz, Showtime, Cinemax, HBO, TMC(the movie channel). But after the take over these channels were removed for copywright infringement. CCTT was re-broadcasting these channels illegally. These channel were not even meant for this region.
The price of the service is TT$200.00. There is a "Year In Advance" package offer that is $75.00 mnth, only when you pay for a full year in advance which is $1300.00 + VAT. The promotional price is $150.00, but you hav to sign a full-year contract.
When you sign uo, you have to wait 30 days for installation, because of the demand. Additional set-top boxes will be limited t one per household because of demand. It was stated on their website that they will be receiving extra boxes on December 1st 2009, to effectively meet demand. Additional set-top boxes will carry a monthly fee of $25.00.

Ok...now my take...
I reviewed the channel listing to see what channels they offered. They offered pretty much the same we're accustomed to. Usual network channels like USA, FOX, CW11 to name a few, however they don't offer Syfy(formally Sci-Fi Channel). On the music side of things, there's Synergy. Other offerings like the popular BET & MTV are listed as coming soon. Tempo is also listed as coming soon.
On the kids side of things, there Disney, Discovery Kids & Cartoon Network, sorry no Nickolodean. Educational wise, Discovery, Animal Planet & National Geographic. Good line up on that aspect. For sports, you gonna have to make do with just ESPN and FOX Soccor Channel. There's no Speed Channel, ESPN 2, etc. There's also the "Other" category which consists of offbeat channels like the Food Network, HGTV, MSNBC, CNN etc.
Now the final part..the Movie offerings.
The movie channel line up is what will be the selling point for the price. Let me state right now that Popular channels like Cinemax and HBO is NOT available. With that out of the way, they offer the ever popular Starz movie channel. This was on of my favourite movie channels back in the day. Really great movies. Blockbuster releases etc. Anime movies also. All in beautiful Dolby Digital sound. Next is Showtime. A really decent movie channel which in my view favours more oscar-nominated shows. They don't really show the big blockbuster summer shows. So don't expect to see Transformers on Showtime. However don't be fooled, you can expect to see some really great movies like the oscar winning No Country For Old Men, or Taken or The Departed. They also have some great series; like the fantastic show Dexter! Other offerings are TNT, Space, Universal, ZEE Movies, Encore.
The movie line up is what will be the selling point for this service. On all other areas, Flow or Directv has them Green Dot beat. There is no channel packages that customers can tailer to their liking.
Plus for $10.00 more you can get at least 20-30 more channels with Flow or DirecTV.

Upon reviewing the offers I think it's a bit steep. I mean for 42 channels, $200.00 a month is a bit high. I mean, save for the exellent movie offering they have in the basic line-up, the competitors have the upper hand. They just can't compete with the flexibility the competition has. Tailor packages to suit your every need. Plus 20-30 more channels for $10.00 more.
What they do have going for them is that many poeple would welcome a service that offers just the channels they want. They offer basically the same channels per say, but to offer less channels and charge nearly as much as competitors with more offerings/options is madness.
all in all, i wait to see how the company grows in the market in the coming months. They are relatively new to the market of digital tv, so they don't have deep pockets as their rivals, so i think the better approach would be to drop thier price. Cause don't how yuh look at it, $200.00 for 42 channels is difficult to swallow.
Website here: http://www.tv.tt/index.html

I know I've been disappointed by telecom companies before but i really hope they improve their listings over time. And yeah reduce their pricing lol.

Wispa65 wrote:Hey folks, have you guys heard yet? Green Dot, the local ISP that offers wireless internet broadband has launched their digital tv service. It currenlty offers 42 channels, and marks the return of the popular Starz movie channel and Showtime back in T&T. If you recall, before Flow took over CCTT(Cable Company of T&T), they offered Starz, Showtime, Cinemax, HBO, TMC(the movie channel). But after the take over these channels were removed for copywright infringement. CCTT was re-broadcasting these channels illegally. These channel were not even meant for this region.
The price of the service is TT$200.00. There is a "Year In Advance" package offer that is $75.00 mnth, only when you pay for a full year in advance which is $1300.00 + VAT. The promotional price is $150.00, but you hav to sign a full-year contract.
When you sign uo, you have to wait 30 days for installation, because of the demand. Additional set-top boxes will be limited t one per household because of demand. It was stated on their website that they will be receiving extra boxes on December 1st 2009, to effectively meet demand. Additional set-top boxes will carry a monthly fee of $25.00.

Ok...now my take...
I reviewed the channel listing to see what channels they offered. They offered pretty much the same we're accustomed to. Usual network channels like USA, FOX, CW11 to name a few, however they don't offer Syfy(formally Sci-Fi Channel). On the music side of things, there's Synergy. Other offerings like the popular BET & MTV are listed as coming soon. Tempo is also listed as coming soon.
On the kids side of things, there Disney, Discovery Kids & Cartoon Network, sorry no Nickolodean. Educational wise, Discovery, Animal Planet & National Geographic. Good line up on that aspect. For sports, you gonna have to make do with just ESPN and FOX Soccor Channel. There's no Speed Channel, ESPN 2, etc. There's also the "Other" category which consists of offbeat channels like the Food Network, HGTV, MSNBC, CNN etc.
Now the final part..the Movie offerings.
The movie channel line up is what will be the selling point for the price. Let me state right now that Popular channels like Cinemax and HBO is NOT available. With that out of the way, they offer the ever popular Starz movie channel. This was on of my favourite movie channels back in the day. Really great movies. Blockbuster releases etc. Anime movies also. All in beautiful Dolby Digital sound. Next is Showtime. A really decent movie channel which in my view favours more oscar-nominated shows. They don't really show the big blockbuster summer shows. So don't expect to see Transformers on Showtime. However don't be fooled, you can expect to see some really great movies like the oscar winning No Country For Old Men, or Taken or The Departed. They also have some great series; like the fantastic show Dexter! Other offerings are TNT, Space, Universal, ZEE Movies, Encore.
The movie line up is what will be the selling point for this service. On all other areas, Flow or Directv has them Green Dot beat. There is no channel packages that customers can tailer to their liking.
Plus for $10.00 more you can get at least 20-30 more channels with Flow or DirecTV.

Upon reviewing the offers I think it's a bit steep. I mean for 42 channels, $200.00 a month is a bit high. I mean, save for the exellent movie offering they have in the basic line-up, the competitors have the upper hand. They just can't compete with the flexibility the competition has. Tailor packages to suit your every need. Plus 20-30 more channels for $10.00 more.
What they do have going for them is that many poeple would welcome a service that offers just the channels they want. They offer basically the same channels per say, but to offer less channels and charge nearly as much as competitors with more offerings/options is madness.
all in all, i wait to see how the company grows in the market in the coming months. They are relatively new to the market of digital tv, so they don't have deep pockets as their rivals, so i think the better approach would be to drop thier price. Cause don't how yuh look at it, $200.00 for 42 channels is difficult to swallow.
Website here: http://www.tv.tt/index.html

I agree that the standard rate of $200 a month is pretty steep price to pay for their channel lineup,but what I think they are trying to do is get people to sign up with them for a year of their service since it is significantly discounted if you take the annual subscription at the rate of $1495 vat inclusive. Their overall channel lineup is much less than flow and direct tv,but you have to consider how much irrelevant channels flow has like golf and art to name a few,I mean who watches that,like 2% of the subscriber base if so much.It seems to me that they are using penetration pricing and seems to be working in their favour for now because alot of trinis that cant afford the alternatives may just turn to them.They're new to the subscription tv service game,so I guess only time will tell how successful they will be at being a competitive force in this industry.

I agree with you there. Based on the culture of our trini people, since its the "new" thing on scene, there will be the mad rush to get the service. Plus like you said, the lineup they're offering is really considered a penetration package. But once the hype dies down, we'l see hoe they fare against the competition. But I do know, that unless they start offering more channels, with customizable packages they'll remain servicing a niche market.

Also remember they did a survey before they setup their service and asked people about different aspects such as prices and the channels they would like,so maybe they are being guided by the results of the survey.In my opinion if I think if they have a significant customer base already and can comfortably handle their programming and maintenance costs they should use some money to upgrade their existing internet service because too many times have I heard that they went by people house and they couldn't get a signal,then they can consider offering an internet and tv combo or something.

Anyone have any updates on this topic? Im considering changing from DVT to Greendot but I need more info. If u know someone who has it, can u give an advice if the product is worth it? Im currently paying $310 per mth DVT and thats too high for me considering the amount the spanish on DVT.

Well Resha My Cousin Has Green Dot and he says it much better than DTV. He says it have alot more movie channels and less spanish so what you can do is google their website and view the packages

I have it for just about a year now,I wouldn't go as far as saying it alot better then DTV but it does have alot less spanish.Channels are crystal clear alot better than FLOW,there is however some volume variation on some channels but that's very minor.Sometimes a few channels do go down but that does not happen very often,mostly when the weather is really bad,but their packages are way better than what TSTT is offering both in price and value.The only problem I have with them is that I can't seem to get my box configured to get closed captioning on my tv,for which they are still looking into the problem for me.

Much thanks to u both. K , I saw the package deal they offering but I just needed some customer views and opions about the product.

Ohor i wish yew luck. I have Both Direct Tv and Cable Digital On Separate TVs And When one has nothing good i go on the next one lmao. But i kinda get irritated watching the Cable Guide how small and puzzled it is