Smithsonian Channel

[Uniblurb3 ACE - Guru]

I'm in Central Ohio, have U450, and don't subscribe to the HD Premium Tier.

I could swear I didn't have the Smithsonian Channel (1118 SMTHD) before but have it now. Real nice and have been watching a lot of wildlife shows on big cats. Also I like any channel where there's no commercials and it only runs for 45-50 minutes. Commercials are shown at the end and you can change the channel.

Did a search and found this thread where the Smithsonian Channel is not in the HD Prem Tier and it is available to those who have U300 or higher. Also look at the link in the below thread to a post by Texasguy which explains what channels are in the HD Prem Tier.

http://forums.att.com/t5/TV-Programming/Smithsonian-Channel-sneek-peek/m-p/2564511/highlight/true#M6...

I'm wondering if it was there all along or it just became available in my area? Maybe I'm imagining things and wonder if others in my area are seeing the same thing? Thanks.

[kryptonite]

Odd.  According to what we (used to) know, you should get Smithsonian SD, as that is U-300, but NOT Smithsonian HD, as the HD feed is in the HD Premium Tier.

If you get other HD Premium channels, maybe it is a free preview of some sort.

If you don't get other HD Premium channels, maybe it is a goof, or a permanant change.

I'm on U-200 with HD Premium.  I get Smithsonian HD, but not Smithsonian SD.

[Uniblurb3 ACE - Guru]

Thanks kryptonite and know you are in the same market/area.

Yeah, something has definitely changed. I'm receiving both the Smithsonian HD feed (1118), and the SD one (118), while not subscribing to the HD Premium Tier. All the other HD Prem Tier channels are still blocked and I swear it said up until a week ago "You are not subscribed to this channel" when going to 1118 SMTHD.

I haven't seen anything about freebies for the Smithsonian channel and it sure would be nice if it was permanent.

[kryptonite]

But what would the change be?

If Smithsonian SD was moved to U-200, then i'd get it.

If Smithsonian HD was moved to U-200 (plus regular HD fee), then i'd get both.

[Uniblurb3 ACE - Guru]

I don't know what the change would be but I just don't remember being able to view 1118 before. Maybe it was changed a few months ago as TG said in the below thread. But I've gone past it many times in the guide and don't remember being able to see a live picture.

http://forums.att.com/t5/TV-Programming/New-Channels/m-p/2564515#M62444

In looking at the channel lineup for our area it is showing 1118 for U300 and above. But as you can see channels in the HD Prem Tier, like MGM, are still blocked for those other than subscribers.

[texasguy37 ACE - Champion]

Uni, according to the channel lineup, Smithsonian Channel HD is included in the U300 and above packages AND in the HD Premium Tier Package. Thus, there are two ways to get the channel.

[Uniblurb3 ACE - Guru]

Yeah TG, realize that but just don't remember seeing Smithsonian HD in my area/on the guide before with U450 and w/o the HD Prem Tier. Oh well, at least I'm seeing it now, thanks.

[dhascall ACE - Professor]

I would say it is a goof but not sure what part is "goofed." They either 1) made it a normal HD channel and no longer part of the PT lineup or 2) it was moved in error to the regular HD lineup and supposed to be HD PT only.  I saw a current list of PT channels and Smithsonian was (still) on it.

IIRC - NASA 264 was playing on U-200 for a while before they caught their mistake.

Didn't 1105 get this treatment?  Where it was originally an HD channel, was moved to a HD PT channel nd then got bumped back to HD regular?  Something like that.

[Uniblurb3 ACE - Guru]

Dave, like TG said Smithsonian HD is still part of the HD Prem Tier and you can also get it with U300 or higher w/HD service.

Whatever the goof I like it w/o having to pay for 1118.

I remember the situation well with them announcing both HDNET (1105) and HDMOV (1106) were being moved to the HD Prem Tier. They changed their minds and didn't move HDNET while we said goodbye to HDMOV as it became part of the HD Prem Tier.

And you can bet they didn't move HDNET because it is the only channel that shows the test patterns. Maybe they did this for SomeJoe because you have to use the test pattern to use his "Basic TV Calibration" system.

BTW, I did my best to create panic about losing HDNet, and the test patterns, in this post/thread!

[spd2demun ACE - Master]

We've been getting it on U450 since TGs earlier post; and watch it a lot.  It is how the History/Discovery Channels USED to be.   I don't have the HD Premium Tier.