Hitz replacing Cinemax? Really?

My sentiments exactly.  Why is this happening?

I did the math. Changing to Digital Preferred and paying for the 5 premiums separately will cost less than Digital Premiere plus Cinemax. Still paying $8/month more than just Digital Premiere as it was, but that's Xfinity for you. I'm sure they'll restructure the rates in a few month to close this loophole...

Items I do not like about this change:

There is no pricing for "HITZ" on the most current rate card, so is it free or only 'bundled' with selected legacy premier plans that no longer show on the rate card?

Is the HITZ only an on-demand service? I'm supposed to trade 5 cinemax channels for none?

It definitly is not the equivalent of the Cinemax channels. The Comcast arguement that 'all of the content is available on demand or on HBO" is incorrect. When many of the extra channels were removed, the statement that the content was available in on demand was false. I looked for several items in the channel guide and they were not in the on-demand lineup. Cinemax series will not appear to HBO anytime soon. 

Comcast, better wake up. I can get Cinemax for $9.99 per month on Amazon Prime. I'm also going to price the other options as well, just to keep them honest..

In my monthly bill I read the notice regarding Cinemax. I went to the entry covering in more detail of why my cable provider was dropping these channels. THEY are real excited about this change as they used the word over and over in their description of why the new channel Hitz is going to be so "exciting" for the "excitement" of its' subscribers.

However, I find this as another move by my cable provider  to cut their costs and give their subscribers less and less product. Cinemax does have original series and movies exclusive to them and show many older movies on their home channel as well as it's subchannels that have not been shown on HBO for several months or years before a duplicate showing appears on Cinemax. In fact there are 3 additional subchannels for Cinemax that my cable provider  doesn't even offer to its subscribers. All of the subchannels are offered in HD for which we get only the main channel in HD isn't that "exciting" to know. My cable praovider spends billions of dollars to purchase other companies and it make you wonder why can't there be more options available to the cable subscribers. The sports fee just went up to $8.00 a month and what if you don't want sports offering. Rationality  from my cable provider is that everyone MUST pay this fee due to the huge prices they must pay for sports offering. May be true, ESPN3 does have a ton of sports offerings, BUT, I have a feeling that the contract between my cable provider and ESPN covers all of the ESPN channels for a agreed to fee between them and this is true for any additional channel offering with another company and my cable provider. 

My cable provider does have features that are of value to its' subscribers. The vast OnDemand movie offerings and other offerings are excellent.

I realize that there are "stock answers" given to a person asking some of the question I have attempted to put forward here and you accept them with what little that you can do about it, complain!!

Thank you for listening to my long winded presentation. I have very strong feelings towards these type of decisions.

Have a nice day

J

Why not ask customers first?  We already pay enough as it is so we should have a choice.  Take away Streampix - which is mostly junk - and the few good movies on there were seen by serious movie buffs ages ago.  The Movie Channel only has about 15 or 20 movies On-Demand at any one time and the same movies can usually be found on Showtime at the same time anyways.  Cinemax maybe in the shadow of HBO but it's content is far superior to Streampix and TMC.  And they still sometimes get content before HBO.  Let us see what's going to be on Hitz first and then let us decide if we want to trade and give up Cinemax.  Looks to me like Hitz is going to be nothing more than a regurgitation of Streampix with a few current B movies thrown in to pacify the masses hooked on Marvel movies.  But please don't tell me I'm going to like Hitz better until you reveal some of its content - and then let me decide that.

Totally agree.  However, I only watch the On-Demand content because, as you say, none of the sub-channels are offered in HD.  And everything on the main channel and sub-channels are On-Demand anyway and almost 100% HD.  The quality of movies on Cinemax (current and old) is generally far superior to what is on Streampix.  Hitz will likely be just a recycle of the Streampix B-movie catalogue with maybe a few (very few) good movies tossed in for good measure that could be rented for 4.99 from the Comcast library anyway.  The Movie Channel never gets new content and shows generally the same thing as what has already been on Showtime  - and their On-Demand content is only about 15-20 movies a month, if that.   I would rather give up Streampix and TMC and call it even rather than give up Cinemax before I know what's going to be in Hitz.  But then this is Comcast we're talking about.

When I say "Hitz" on my voice remote right now, something called "Hits" comes up which is totally different.  What do we do when "Hitz" goes live in mid July?  Is Comcast going to address that - or do we need to get a lesson in proper pronunciation between "Hitz" and "Hits". 

Hi SM95350, thank you for your feedback regarding Hitz. We regularly examine our channel lineups and talk with a wide range of programmers to ensure that we are bringing the content that our customers want the most. We appreciate your feedback and thank you for taking time to reach out to us. 

Did you even read my question?   Wasn't the answer I was looking for.  In fact, it doesn't even make sense.  The question was, "When I say 'Hitz' on my voice remote (per Comcast's own instructions), something else comes up called 'Hits'.  That's 'Hits' with an 's', not 'Hitz' with a 'z'.  This is a common problem anyway when searching for TV programs or movies with very similar sounding names.  Is someone - meaning some brilliant programmer on the Comcast staff - going to fix this problem before 'Hitz' is forced down upon us.  And please be specific with your answer.  And don't categorize me - with 'Hitz' - as being a customer who wants this content in the first place.  Ya'll didn't ask me.  And if you really meant what you said, you would leave the Premium package alone and let us keep Cinemax until we actually see what's in 'Hitz'.  But Comcast's  secrecy about 'Hitz' pretty much says it all anyway.

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@ComcastJessie wrote:

All,

 

From time to time, we make changes to our packages, with the goal of providing a better value to our customers. As part of this effort, we will be adding Hitz and removing Cinemax for Premier, Super and certain other TV packages effective July 17, 2019. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience that this change has caused. 

 

To help answer more of your questions, see the frequently asked questions below.

 

What is Hitz?
Hitz is a new on-demand movie service that includes more than 200 titles from a variety of top studios. This selection will rotate over time.

Where can I find Hitz?
The easiest way to find Hitz is by saying “Hitz” into your X1 voice remote. Hitz can also be found in the Networks section of the On Demand menu. You can also see current Hitz movies in the on-screen grid guide - frequently near other movie services.

Why are you doing this?
Most of the movies on Cinemax have also aired on HBO. By offering Hitz instead, we’ll be delivering customers a better variety of content. 

How can I watch Cinemax original content?
While Cinemax will no longer be included in the packages being adjusted, Cinemax will still be available to purchase on its own for $12 per month.

Should I pay a different price now that I am no longer receiving Cinemax?
While Cinemax is being removed from these packages, we believe the new lineup offers a better value. Most of the movies on Cinemax have also aired on HBO. By offering Hitz instead, we’ll be delivering a better variety of content. 

 

 

If you would like additional information about Hitz, see here: https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/hitz

 

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Jessie,

               The article you have referenced says Certain other TV packages. What are those packages? I don't think I qualify for hitz because I don't subscribe to Cinemax or HBO.

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@SM95350 wrote:

Did you even read my question?   Wasn't the answer I was looking for.  In fact, it doesn't even make sense.  The question was, "When I say 'Hitz' on my voice remote (per Comcast's own instructions), something else comes up called 'Hits'.  That's 'Hits' with an 's', not 'Hitz' with a 'z'.  This is a common problem anyway when searching for TV programs or movies with very similar sounding names.  Is someone - meaning some brilliant programmer on the Comcast staff - going to fix this problem before 'Hitz' is forced down upon us.  And please be specific with your answer.  And don't categorize me - with 'Hitz' - as being a customer who wants this content in the first place.  Ya'll didn't ask me.  And if you really meant what you said, you would leave the Premium package alone and let us keep Cinemax until we actually see what's in 'Hitz'.  But Comcast's  secrecy about 'Hitz' pretty much says it all anyway.

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The remote doesn't recognize  the word "Hitz" because the service launches on July 17, 2019

I know that.  You didn't read what I said.

On July 17, 2019 when I say "Hitz" into my voice remote,   what is going to come up?  "Hitz" or "Hits"?  How will the voice remote distinguish the diference?  I would expect "canned" answers from Comcast employees, but not from contributors.