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story category Dish To Launch Three New Satellites
Increases HD count, freezes price on some packages...
(old news - 02:14PM Monday Jan 07 2008)
tags: prices · satellite · competition · business · cable · Dish Network
Tipped by cypherstream See Profile
Dish Network this week is beating the competitive war drum. The satellite provider says they'll be freezing prices on some of satellite television packages until 2009. The company's DishDVR Advantage package will be frozen at $39.99 a month until February 2009. EchoStar CEO Charlie Ergen recently stated that the weaker U.S. housing market had made the pay-TV market more competitive.

The company also issued a press release this morning saying they were going to be launching three new satellites in 2008, and would be increasing their HD lineup to 100 (24 more than they currently have). The company also plans to add local HD channels in 65 new markets, and says they'll be selling a $39.99 Digital converter box in the hopes of grabbing coupon wielding consumers ahead of the digital TV transition.

Related:
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  3. Thursday Evening Links
  4. Wednesday Evening Links
  5. Friday Evening Links
  6. FiOS Keeping Cable Prices In Check
  7. Consumer Reports: FiOS, U-Verse Best Triple Play
  8. Viacom, Time Warner Cable Kiss, Make Up
Forums » Dish To Launch Three New Satellites
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Post a:

jhacker

join:2001-12-11
Peoria, IL
·Comcast
·Vonage
·Insight Communicat..
·AT&T Midwest

So?

So they won't raise prices this year? Does that mean they plan a price increase next year? Most likely so. I know most people think that satellite is more economical than cable, but I disagree. While I was with Dish, they raised prices as often as our local cable company. I am paying the same for digital cable on 5 televisions as I was for Dish on 3. My family is happier now. I do have to admit I liked my Dish DVR much better than the cable DVR.

When will Dish address their poor customer service? When will they start carrying digital channels for ALL the markets? It seems like spin to me.
Pictor Guy

join:2004-06-21
Sammamish, WA

Re: So?

Technically, (based on Cable Co. definitions) aren't all the channels offered by Dish digital?

I agree that Dish has some work to do. Their STBs would be the first place I would start but unfortunately it looks like DirecTV is following Dish's example in that area.

jsimmons
Premium,MVM
join:2000-04-24
Falls Church, VA

Re: So?

Yep they are digital... Mpeg data streams, not analog.

CylonRed
Premium,MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County
It depends on the cable system - I would be paying close to $70 for the same amount of channels I get on Dish and I am not paying $60 yet on Dish.

KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK
I've had Dish Network since 1996. I think I remember 2 or 3 price increases. WAY less then cable, IMHO.
poolek

join:2003-11-04
Austin, TX
·ViaTalk
·RoadRunner Cable
·AT&T Yahoo

In my area, the prices are about the same. However, with Dish, I get a DVR that allows me to only show the channels I actually watch in the channel guide, and a true 30-second skip function to jump over the commericals. The cable DVR doesn't do that, and those functions are important to me in a DVR. I could go with a Tivo, which ime is nicer than the Dish 622 I'm currently using - but it would make the cable offer more expensive and I'd have to deal with CableCard.

TK Junk Mail
Go ahead, make my day
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Margate City, NJ
clubs:
·Comcast


edit:
January 7th, @02:39PM

More HD info

Dish HD offer:
»www.dishnetwork.com/content/our_···ex.shtml

List of current HD channels:
»www.dishnetwork.com/downloads/pd···neup.pdf
37 HD channels as part of pkgs
4 Premium HD movie channels for extra money
And you can get 4 Local HD channels for ABC/CBS/NBC/Fox for $6/mo extra

If you add them up, you can get 45 HD channels, not the 76 they claim.
--
Internet News
My BLOG
My Web Page

jsimmons
Premium,MVM
join:2000-04-24
Falls Church, VA
·Cox HSI

Re: More HD info

And some of the so called HD channels carry little HD content - like "History HD" which just stretches the standard 4:3 screen to fit the HD screen size... Annoying. Hardly HD. If you are going to sell/advertise an HD channel, for god sakes it should carry HD content.
--
"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler."- Albert Einstein

mindfrost82

join:2003-04-19
Cortland, IL

Re: More HD info

It is up to the regulators to create a standard definition for what is considered HD content and what isn't. Until then, they will advertise it the way they've been doing.
MyDogHsFleas
Premium
join:2007-08-15
Austin, TX

Re: More HD info

You have motivated me to submit a complaint about TBS HD to the FTC. They are the champs of "no HD content on an HD channel".

LBDSL
Lightning Bolt
VIP
join:2002-01-07
Auburn Hills, MI


edit:
January 7th, @03:43PM

Re: More HD info

I understand what you are saying, and where you are coming from, but keep in mind, HD is more then just 16:9 content.

TBS for example, which stretches normal 4:3 programing (Which is stupid in my mind) may in deed be HD, based on the resolution they are transmitting/broadcasting (720, or 1080)

I think the only thing TBS had which was not stretched was baseball.

Even content which appears 4:3 could be true HD with 720, or 1080 Resolution.
--
Lightning Bolt Technologies

Jahntassa
What, I can have feathers

join:2006-04-14
Conway, SC

Re: More HD info

Also keep in mind most of the stuff on TBS is syndicated and not made in-house. Syndicated stuff, most often, was not shot HD and there is no way to make it HD.
MyDogHsFleas
Premium
join:2007-08-15
Austin, TX
·AT&T U-Verse
·AT&T Southwest

Re: More HD info

said by Jahntassa See Profile :

Also keep in mind most of the stuff on TBS is syndicated and not made in-house. Syndicated stuff, most often, was not shot HD and there is no way to make it HD.
A lot of what is on TBS is movies. They were certainly not shot in 4x3 480i. They could and should be shown in widescreen.

Clearly what they are doing is simply taking the SD feed from TBS, stretching it, and broadcasting it on TBS "HD".

The name others have come up with is "Strech-O-Vision".
Pictor Guy

join:2004-06-21
Sammamish, WA


edit:
January 7th, @04:17PM

More likely than not 4:3 content did not originate from HD material but rather up-converted SD NTSC video footage. I'm not aware of anyone shooting consumer HDV in 1080i (1440x1080i) for broadcast and everything else in 4:3 is at best perhaps 480p and more likely 480i source material.

jmn1207
Premium
join:2000-07-19
Reston, VA
So maybe people in the US are not really getting shorter and fatter? Perhaps we are just being seen in stretch-o-vision?
BF69

join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN

said by jsimmons See Profile :

And some of the so called HD channels carry little HD content - like "History HD" which just stretches the standard 4:3 screen to fit the HD screen size... Annoying. Hardly HD. If you are going to sell/advertise an HD channel, for god sakes it should carry HD content.
History Channel HD is one of the measely 22 HD channels Charter offers. That 22 includes premium channels you pay extra for. Not counting premium for $10 you only get 17-18 "HD" channels. At ths point I'd say both DirecTV and Dish are a MUCH better deal for HD than cable.

johnsea66
Cool Down
Premium
join:2003-01-26
Canada

Dishes?

Most customers already have a superdish that can pick up 3 sats, are they going to require customers to have another dish? Hmm...

Dude
What Happens When I Do This
Premium
join:2000-11-20
Chicago, IL
clubs:

Re: Dishes?

yes the new 48 lnb SupraMegaDigiDish
mikenolan7
Premium
join:2005-06-07
Torrance, CA
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·RoadRunner Cable

They are allowed to "colocate" their own satellites with existing satellites they have in orbit. If they do this, the locations will remain the same, and no new dish would be required. A new receiver may still be required to handle more channnels, that depends on whether extra capability was built into the existing receivers.

hobgoblin
Sortof Agoblin
Premium
join:2001-11-25
Orchard Park, NY
clubs:

I can hardly wait....

to get Kung Fu HD.

/sarcasm

Hob

KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK

Competition is good

I've always been impressed by Echostar's willingness to do things even if they make the stock decline in the short run.
ShadezeRO

join:2006-04-24
Fort Lauderdale, FL
·AT&T Southeast

Had Dish, but not anymore

I just switched from dishnetwork last month due to lack of quality HD programming. They had 30 or so channels, most of them I didn't like.

I saw directv had a few channels that peaked my interests, and so I Switched.

I'm curious to see what happens in the near future. Would DirecTV need to launch more satellites as well to keep up?

comcastvsdish

@omcastbusiness.net

comcast vs. dish

I am tempted to switch to DishNetwork again. Currently I am on Comcast cable. Comcast is more expensive and the DVR they provide stinks. But overall it looks like I am stuck between two bad choices :-(

DishNetwork:
+ cheaper (quite a bit).
+ better DVR
+ ability to record pay-per-view shows using the DVR.
- does not work during heavy rain (from past experience)
- very bad customer service (which is another reason I left for comcast)

Comcast:
+ more reliable
+ better free "ondemand" then Dish.
- bad DVR (just about works)
- can not record "OnDemand"
- "OnDemand" is very buggy. I get server errors most of the time.
- more expensive
- so-so customer service

Regarding HD: I like it, but can live without it.
+

opatl

@exsbs.net

Re: comcast vs. dish

i just left comcast for dish in the summer so happy over priced tons of problems on my street with comcast the picture is tiled about 85% of the time would call customer no service and they are like yes we have a problem on your street we can not find it
and on Wednesday dropping comcast hsi $57 for hsi going with att for dsl more speed for $37 see you comcast

Bigzizzzle
Premium
join:2005-01-27
Franklin, TN

Cable is AIDS in our Country

Currently have Cable from ComCraptastic. I will totally go Dish in the future for my next house, Ive been both a Dish and DirecTV customer in past. Im just getting tired of the overpriced shit service in the south. IM enraged that the northern and western states where there is more competition ppl are getting 16/1 speeds and better prices. Also another unnerving thing is remember how cable made the claim that Cable Never Pixelates like satellite, well to them I say "LIAR Whores Liar Whores and U know it". I live in well kept up market where the Fiber node is 5 feet from my cable hookup. Damn them for lousy service. I also HATE the lousy Synced Audio on My HD channels which happens way too frequently ie when im watching NBC HD during say Leno. Fortunately being from middle TN the Weather isn't terrible bad for Satellite. Even before when I had a brand new Dish Satellite (old house) the picture never pixelated during the torrential down pour and lightning. I know both DirecTV and Dish are in the process of developing a VoD (Video on Demand) service like OnDemand, when that happeneds i can totally see a massive switch of Cable to Satellite. Bottom Line in Middle TN and TN in general we need MORE competition IE AT%T and others, Cause Comcast just won't float a nickel in our market and all they do is inflate our bill by 10% yearly so far offering mediocre service. I miss my Satellite and hope to see you soon either from DirecTV or Dish.
knkayotte

join:2001-02-02
Camp Verde, AZ

SciFi

I just want my Sci-Fi HD channel, then I'll be a happy camper.

Brian Grif_n
Wireless Guru

join:2001-01-17
Reno, NV
·Packet8
·Callcentric
·AT&T Yahoo
·AT&T DSL Service

Local HD availability

My family watches the local network stations 80% of the time, so having the local stations available in HD is a priority for us. We are Dish subscribers, and while Dish does not offer our locals in HD - DirecTV does. Hopefully one of those new satellites will include Reno locals in HD, or once we get an HD TV we'll be switching.
--
Check out my website: www.renowirelessinfo.com

bommai

@comcast.net

Re: Local HD availability

If your family watches locals 80% of the time, just get an antenna and drop everything else and save the money. That is what I did and am very happy.

Brian Grif_n
Wireless Guru

join:2001-01-17
Reno, NV

Re: Local HD availability

Wish I could. Due to the mountainous terrain here, I am line-of-sight to only 2 of the 7 local channels.
--
Check out my website: www.renowirelessinfo.com
Forums » Dish To Launch Three New Satellites


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