Thanks for the feedback Andrew. I was going to suggest it might be the result of a serial number shortage but in the past user accounts had a placeholder which indicated the serial number was pending. I guess that is no longer the case.

I went through this yesterday.  Renewed Sonar Platinum and verified the updated 2017 sub date in my CW account. 
 
Didn't see anything about a new Melodyne, so went to Celemony and logged into my account.
 
Under the existing Melodyne v2, was this message:
"A free update to Melodyne 4 Essential is available for you. Click the plus sign..blah, blah" 
 
I followed the instructions, and got the v4 upgrade. 

If one is interested in the upgrade deals for Melodyne...
 
Audiodeluxe.com claimed (via email) that the WINTER16 sale will be through April.
 
If you have previously upgraded to the editor edition you and go to editor 4 for $83 and change OR for a mere $125 and change, get the full Studio version and really save some cash!

There is a whole thread about resellers and pricing info here http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/3351789

I forgot I upgraded to editor and so I get nothing from the upgrade to essential included in Manchester.
 
Pretty good deal for the editor upgrade so I will jump on it at Audiodeluxe.
 
Thanks for the tip !
 
JR