Verizon Adds 75 New Channels to FiOS TV Lineup - Including 55 in HD - for Customers in Massachusetts and Rhode Island

Verizon Adds 75 New Channels to FiOS TV Lineup - Including 55 in HD - for Customers in Massachusetts and Rhode Island

First in Series of Content Additions Offers Sports Programming, Including Big Ten Network, and Beats Comcast, Charter, RCN and Cox with More HD

New FiOS TV Customers Eligible for a Free High-Def DVR for 12 Months and Free Month of HBO and Cinemax

BOSTON, Aug. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon FiOS TV is now even better for customers in Massachusetts and Rhode Island as the company is launching 75 new channels, including 55 additional high-definition (HD) channels. FiOS TV customers in the area now have more than 480 HD choices available at any time, with a total of 85 HD channels and more than 400 HD video-on-demand (VOD) titles offered each month.

As a result of this enhancement to the FiOS TV lineup, Verizon is now offering consumers here more HD than any of the local cable companies -- including Comcast, Charter, RCN and Cox -- offer. Verizon will continue expanding its FiOS TV channel lineup this year, with a major focus on HD content. By year-end, Verizon plans to offer all available major HD programming.

Verizon also announced that it is offering customers in the region new FiOS Freedom bundles, which include options for a new FiOS TV Extreme service tier with more high-definition (HD) channels than the cable companies in the market, in addition to ultra-high-speed FiOS Internet service and reliable, unlimited local and long-distance calling. [Note: This announcement and others can be found at Verizon's online news center: http://newscenter.verizon.com/.]

To make the offer even sweeter, Verizon is offering a year's free use of either an HD DVR (digital video recorder) or an HD Home Media DVR to consumers who sign up for FiOS TV between now and Oct. 4. With Verizon's unique Home Media DVR, customers can use one DVR to record programming that can be watched on up to six other TV sets in the home. This includes viewing up to three separately recorded programs simultaneously on different TV sets, and the ability to pause recorded programming on one set and continue watching it on another. FiOS TV's Home Media DVR is bundled with Media Manager, a feature that allows customers to access photos and music from their personal computers and play them on their TV.

Verizon is also offering new FiOS TV customers, or existing customers who upgrade to a bundled package, one free month of HBO and Cinemax, which includes over 25 premium channels and access to hundreds of additional titles on VOD. New customers who take advantage of this offer will save between $200 and $260 the first year, depending upon the DVR customers choose.

"FiOS TV is the only service to consider if you want the ultimate HD experience," said Bob Driscoll, Verizon vice president of sales and marketing in New England. "With our increased number of HD channels, along with HD video-on-demand programming and our current HD DVR and premium movie promotion, we're blowing cable away."

Verizon Leads the Way With 55 New HD Channels, and More to Come

"There's HD on FiOS, and then there's everything else," said Driscoll. "The addition of new HD and sports channels, along with new multicultural content and more, is part of our commitment to lead the industry in the scope and quality of our programming."

FiOS TV customers in Massachusetts and Rhode Island will now have a total of 85 HD channels and will get to see some of their favorite channels in HD, including Animal Planet, TLC, Science Channel and Smithsonian Channel. Other new HD programming that FiOS TV customers in the region now receive includes CNN, CNBC, Lifetime, Bravo, TBS, History Channel, Weather Channel, USA and SCI FI.

In addition, movie buffs now can get 11 new channels from Cinemax and 13 new channels from HBO in HD plus FiOS TV's Movie Package, which now includes 13 new HD channels from The Movie Channel, Starz and Showtime, including The Movie Channel Xtra, Starz Edge, Starz Comedy, Starz Kids and Family, Showtime, Showtime Showcase, Showtime Extreme and Showtime 2.

For sports fans in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, Verizon has launched five new HD sports channels. Verizon has always placed a high priority on major sports programming and offering as much as possible in HD.

The company has now added top college basketball and football action with the Big Ten Network in HD, and hockey and golf fans will find NHL games, PGA Tour events and original sports-related programming on the high-definition Versus/Golf Channel. In addition, Verizon has launched three other new HD sports channels: the Outdoor Channel 2, which provides high-definition programming that promotes traditional outdoor activities like fishing, hunting and shooting sports; World Fishing Network, which provides recreational and sport fishing enthusiasts with an entertaining and comprehensive lineup covering a wide range of programming; and Mav TV, a 24-hour network targeting the male demographic that features wrestling, fishing, roller derby and gaming.

New Standard-Definition Channels, Including Multicultural Content

In addition to the new HD content, Verizon has launched 20 new standard-definition channels in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. New content includes Reelz, Veria TV and WAPA TV. Verizon also is now offering two new standard-definition sports channels with Big Ten Network and Setanta Sports, a premium channel dedicated to bringing European and International soccer and rugby to U.S.-based fans. Currently, no other cable provider offers Setanta.

Verizon also is offering customers in Massachusetts and Rhode Island 15 new multicultural channels, including leading channels for Arabic, Portuguese and Russian audiences, among others. These new channels continue to make FiOS TV an outlet for emerging and independent networks to showcase their diverse programming.

Much of the multicultural content comes from World TV, a division of content management and delivery company GlobeCast, which previously signed a distribution deal with Verizon for top-tier international channels. The new GlobeCast World TV international television channels include MBT (Arabic), RTPI (Portuguese) and RTR Planeta (Russian). In addition to the World TV content, Verizon will offer Filipino channel GMA Pinoy TV.

Customers in the Massachusetts and Rhode Island join those in Indiana, Oregon, New York, northern New Jersey, southeastern Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania who are receiving new content on the FiOS TV channel lineup. During the next few months, Verizon will roll out this new content and more, region by region, in other areas where FiOS TV is available.

Verizon's FiOS TV service offers a broad collection of all-digital programming, with more than 400 total channels and 11,000 video-on-demand titles, 70 percent of which are free. The VOD library also includes an increasing number of HD titles, and Verizon plans to have 1,000 HD VOD titles per month by the end of the year. FiOS TV is currently available to more than 7 million homes in 13 states. For more information on FiOS TV, visit www.verizon.com/fiostv. Consumers can also call their local Verizon sales office or 888-438-3467.

[Note: A complete channel lineup can be found online at http://www22.verizon.com/content/fiostv/channel+lineup/channel+lineup.htm .]

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), headquartered in New York, is a leader in delivering broadband and other wireline and wireless communication innovations to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers. Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving nearly 69 million customers nationwide. Verizon's Wireline operations include Verizon Business, which delivers innovative and seamless business solutions to customers around the world, and Verizon Telecom, which brings customers the benefits of converged communications, information and entertainment services over the nation's most advanced fiber-optic network. A Dow 30 company, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of more than 228,600 and last year generated consolidated operating revenues of $93.5 billion. For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

VERIZON'S ONLINE NEWS CENTER: Verizon news releases, executive speeches and biographies, media contacts, high-quality video and images, and other information are available at Verizon's News Center on the World Wide Web at www.verizon.com/news. To receive news releases by e-mail, visit the News Center and register for customized automatic delivery of Verizon news releases.

Source: Verizon

CONTACT: Heather Wilner, +1-212-321-8333, heather.b.wilner@verizon.com,
Phil Santoro, +1-617-743-4760, philip.g.santoro@verizon.com, both of Verizon

Web site: http://www.verizon.com/
http://newscenter.verizon.com/

Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/618232.html

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