Fox Soccer Plus launched Monday, March 1, 2010 to lucky subscribers of DirecTV, DISH Network and Verizon FiOS. For the rest of us, it’s an anxious wait until the powers that be decide that there’s a spot on the programming dial for us.

But for those of you fortunate to have Fox Soccer Plus, what are your impressions thus far? Please use this open thread to post your observations, ask questions and provide us feedback on what we’re missing out on (such as the Premier League games that Setanta US used to show in addition to Coca-Cola Championship, FA Cup, Champions League, Serie A and more).

You can view the TV schedule for Fox Soccer Plus here. And you can see the list of live games featuring Premier League teams on Fox Soccer Plus here.

The first program aired on Fox Soccer Plus was the classic Premier League game between Arsenal and Manchester United from the 2009/2010 season. And the first big live game will be the England against Egypt friendly, which will be shown live on Fox Soccer Plus on Wednesday, March 3 at 3pm ET.

What’s your opinion about Fox Soccer Plus? Click the comments link below and share it with us.

On Friday night, Fox released a press release stating that Fox Soccer Plus would be available on Time Warner Cable beginning March 1. EPL Talk broke the news on Twitter. Time Warner Cable customers got excited.

Except that Time Warner Cable won’t be launching Fox Soccer Plus on Monday. Time Warner Cable will start carrying the network in select markets on dates yet to be specified, Fox Cable Networks spokesman Brian Peterson told the Associated Press on Friday. How vague is that compared to the original quote from the press release which sounds quite concrete:

“Fox Soccer Plus has reached agreements with DIRECTV, DISH Network, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon FiOS to offer the service to subscribers beginning March 1, 2010.”

This is obviously very frustrating news for Time Warner Cable customers. Their expectations were raised last night only for those hopes to come crashing down. And how much more vague can you get as “select markets on dates yet to be specified.” Ugh! Your best bet is to check with your regional TWC office.

In other Fox Soccer Plus news, Fox Soccer Plus will not be available in HD when it launches on Monday on DirecTV, DISH Network.

Fox Soccer Plus, the new 24/7 soccer network from Fox Soccer Channel, will launch on DirecTV and Verizon FiOS on March 1, 2010.

In phone calls and e-mails with DirecTV and FiOS representatives with several EPL Talk readers, DirecTV and FiOS representatives have confirmed that Fox Soccer Plus will be available. One EPL Talk reader even shared the above screen capture (see above) which shows the FiOS programming guide with Fox Soccer Plus programming on the Setanta Sports channel (1009) where Fox Soccer Plus will launch Monday.

Another EPL Talk reader said “I just got a message on my Verizon FIOS set-top-box saying as of March 1st Setanta Sports Channel 1009 will become Fox Soccer+ and no games will be missed.”

As for DirecTV customers, DirecTV has added a page to its website explaining the monthly subscription policy (believed to be $14.99). And in communications with DirecTV representatives, many have confirmed that Fox Soccer Plus will be available beginning March 1 including one who said “As of March 1st all existing subscribers of Setanta will automatically roll over to [Fox Soccer Plus].”

In both the DirecTV and FiOS instances, it is not known at press time whether either Fox Soccer Plus will be available in HD although it appears unlikely.

UPDATE: DirecTV has confirmed that the March 1 indicated above will be the launch date for Fox Soccer Plus on DirecTV channel 621. The channel will be available in SD first, and HD in the near future.

The first quarter of 2010 has been the most traumatic ever for Premier League fans in the United States with several key changes that significantly impact the quantity and quality of matches on television. Setanta US will close its doors after February 28, and will be replaced by Fox Soccer Plus which launches March 1 on DirecTV and FIOS. DISH Network customers meanwhile did a jig when Fox Soccer Channel launched in HD on that network on February 10.

But for the large majority of soccer fans in the United States, we won’t be able to watch Fox Soccer Channel in HD anytime soon (unless you’re a DISH customer). And Fox Soccer Plus won’t be available in the near future (unless you’re a DirecTV or FIOS customer).

There is something you can do about it, though. And that’s by contacting your satellite or TV provider. Here’s how:

The following is a list of contact information for the major TV providers in the United States. Included are all forms of contact that are available. If you’re a customer of any of these services and you want Fox Soccer Plus and/or Fox Soccer Channel in HD, I highly encourage you to make your voice heard and tell your provider:

AT&T U-verse:

• Twitter
• E-mail
• Contact form
• Phone: 1-877-U-ASK-ATT

Cablevision:

• Contact form
• Live chat
• Phone

Comcast:

• Twitter
• E-mail
• Contact form
• Live chat
• Phone: 1-800-266-2278

COX:

• Twitter
• Contact form (select your state from the drop-down)
• Live chat (select your state from the drop-down)
• Phone (select your state from the drop-down)

DirecTV:

• Twitter
• Contact form
• Phone: 1-800-531-5000

DISH Network:

• Twitter
• Contact form
• Live chat
• Phone: 1-888-686-2388

RCN:

• Twitter
• Contact form
• Phone: 1-800-RING-RCN

Time Warner:

• Twitter
• E-mail
• Contact form
• Phone

Verizon FIOS:

• Twitter
• Contact form
• Live chat
• Phone: 1-888-881-8161

When you’re contacting the customer service reps, be courteous and patient because they’ll often not know much (if anything) about the availability of Fox Soccer Plus and/or Fox Soccer Channel in HD. Ask them how you can request that a channel be added. And if they’re aware of either network, ask them when they plan on adding the networks to its programming lineup.

How many times have you read comments or discussion threads about how the public hate their cable company? Customer Service departments at cable companies probably hate it. Before the Internet, it was difficult to discern how many others had the same passion of hatred as you did. Now it’s relatively easy to find those insults and to add fuel to the fire.

But if you had a choice, only one choice, of what cable, satellite or IPTV provider you could choose from — which would it be? Vote now.

Slowly but surely, it’s getting easier and easier to subscribe to Setanta Sports via your cable and satellite provider. Just last week, Comcast in Boston, Massachusetts added Setanta Sports to its selection of channels to choose from.

Comcast now carries Setanta Sports in Allston, Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Brighton, Brookline, Charlestown, Downtown Financial, East Boston, Fenway, Jamaica Plain, Mattapan, Hyde Park, Dorchester, North End, Roslindale, Roxbury, South Boston, South End, and West Roxbury. To receive Setanta Sports, channel 761, in the Boston area call 1-800-COMCAST.

Back in October, we here at EPL Talk reported that Comcast was dragging its feet in New England, the Bay Area and Illinois in regards to adding Setanta Sports to its programming. Now that New England has added Setanta, now is the time for you to call your local Comcast office and demand that Setanta Sports is added. Learn more about how to get Setanta on Comcast here.

In just the past few months, Setanta has been added to AT&T U-Verse, Cox Cable (in Virginia) and Verizon FIOS. It’s already available on DirecTV and DISH Network on satellite. But if the network can get added on to regional Comcast Cable companies nationwide, it’ll finally be a giant step closer to being available in the mainstream.

Setanta Sports is now available on AT&T U-Verse, as of this week.

U-Verse is AT&T’s Internet protocol television (IPTV) solution that starts at $44 per month and is available nationwide. Setanta Sports is available for $15 per month.

U-Verse also offers Fox Soccer Channel and GolTV, so if you’re unable to get DirecTV and you want to move away from DISH Network, AT&T U-Verse may be worth considering. Learn more about U-Verse today.

Setanta Sports is now available on DirecTV, DISH Network, Verizon FIOS, Cox (in Virginia), NextTV, WorldTV, AT&T U-Verse and other carriers.

If you’re a Comcast Cable customer and you want to get Setanta, learn what you can do to get Setanta on cable.

Setanta Sports may be unveiled on RCN Cable and Verizon FIOS in the next 4-8 weeks, or will they?

AFANA.com uncovered an article in The Morning Bridge cable industry newsletter which quoted Setanta Sports CEO Roger Hall as saying that Setanta will begin a rolling launch on RCN cable systems beginning June 1st and on Verizon FIOS fiber optic cables in July.

However, a representative from Setanta followed up with AFANA to say that the information is inaccurate. Could it be that Setanta’s CEO let the cat out of the bag and released the news too early, or are Setanta and RCN and Verizon FIOS in serious discussions?

If so, this would be good news for soccer fans in the United States who can only get Setanta Sports via DirecTV, Dish Network, Setanta Broadband, NexTV and GekTV.

Despite Setanta Sports indicating to AFANA that the information is inaccurate, The Morning Bridge has yet to print a retraction or to remove the quote from Hall.