Digital Starter Pak, DTValue/DTV Value, HDXtra, and RR Packages from TWCNYC

Time Warner Cable New York offers many products and packages for their cable TV service here in New York City. They further offer customers bundles when purchasing two or more of their television, Road Runner and telephony services. Bundling these services together offers customers better prices according to TWCNY.

However, determining what exactly is included in these various packages and bundles and what the pricing details are is a challenge. Responding to this challenge is what this blog is all about. I have posted the details of a prior TWCNYC monthly bill of mine to initiate this review. Since then I've been reviewing the TWC web site and chatting with customer support to understand what I have and what exactly I'm paying for. I'm also interested in what other product combinations they offer and what those prices are as I hope to downgrade my services to realize a lower monthly bill with no real impact other than saving money.

I think I understand much of Road Runner, TWC's high speed internet access service. I have the Road Runner Broadband Standard High Speed Online Service, you can see the Road Runner products TWC offers here. I understand the product I have and the RR expected performance numbers (I even know what PowerBoost and DOCSIS are now). Road Runner offers services beyond internet access too (email, streaming radio, more).

Now I'd like to understand what's offered on the various TWCNYC cable TV packages to the same level of detail I understand the Road Runner service. My issue with the varied TV products is that I don't know specifically which channels are offered in each. TWC offers Basic Service, HD Basic Service, Standard Service, DTV, Digital Starter Pak, DTValue (or DTV Value) Package, DVR, and the HDXtra Package to just name a few (although these are the most popular I'm sure). Are these packages independent from each other? Is there overlap between packages? What is the specific pricing for each package? Pricing is a different matter since the bundling with other services comes into play that skews easy pricing comparisons.

TWC Package Filter

In terms of TV services I have DTValue and the HDXtra Combo Packages. Let me start by noting which channels are offered in each package. TWC offers a Channel Lineup page here (you may have to enter your ZIP code). But their 'Package Filter' feature on this page to list channels does not exactly match to their various products. My bill states that I have the DTV Value package, which includes Basic Service, Standard Service, DTV/DTV-Digital Television and Music Choice. To see all the channels that are part of this package from the TWC Channel Lineup page I deselected 'All' and then clicked 'DTValue.' That gives me a pretty clear picture of what channels are part of this package. DTV is listed on my bill for $10 but it's not on this page, I guess DTV is the delta between what DTValue offers to what Basic+Standard offers. You cannot get Basic, Standard or the DTV packages a la carte. You start at Basic then you can add Standard. Only if you have Standard can you then get DTValue.

I also have the Hdxtra Combo Pack. The 'combo' in Hdxtra Combo Pack is for HDXtra and for the DVR. If you have a DVR you have a monthly fee for this service. To see what channels are part of HDXtra tick the 'HDXtra' checkbox from the Package Filter as well as the 'Time Warner Cable Sports Pass' checkbox as this is part of HDXtra. This also clearly states what channels are part of this package.

I also have HBO. There is no HBO Package Filter so just click 'Premium' and any channel that has 'HBO' in the channel name you have.

I know the specific channels I have and I know how much I pay per month, so this allows me to pretty effectively gauge the value of my subscription. I've decided that I really don't need all those channels even though I already knew that. I basically got upsold to a higher TWCNY bundle when I first signed on years ago and never thought much about it since. With my bill over $150 a month it's now time to think about what I'm paying for and what I really want. I'll change gears and look over the different bundles TWC offers to understand what they have and what cheaper options I may be interested in. I do have the Full Pricing List for Time Warner Cable in Manhattan so I think I'll start there.