There seems to be some misinformation going on that Motorola will be ending c band support as of the end of the year. This is not true. NPS is getting out of selling c band subscriptions and lieing to convert people over to Dish Network.

I called NPS twice today and they told me these lie's and wanted me to convert. I called SRL and they told me this is not true. I then called Skyvision and had a nice conversation with Mike Kohl about this. Mike's exact words were "hogwash" NPS has made a deal with the devil and is trying to sell there remaining customers to Charlie.

Mike also said that he will be talking about this whole issue on Friday night on Access America. He went into other details but I'll let him tell everything this Friday.

The bottom line is if your not with SRL or Skyvision renew your subscriptions with them as soon as your subs with NPS run out. I will be doing this.

Do not bite on NPS's offers to transition you to dish network. They are pulling a Superstar, Netlink, Turnervision.

Good information to know.

Hopefully the remaining 4DTVers out here are enthusiasts like ourselves and will not be conned into the alternatives. There's more to my C band dishes out in my yard than 4DTV anyhow. Sometimes it's difficult deciding what to watch with all my other choices. :D

I do believe that NPS as we know it will be gone by the end of the year, even from Dish Network. Now that it seems Dish can sell Distant Networks again they have no need for NPS.

Also seems strange that NPS wont sell Annual programming anymore.

If this is all true then I would say the handwriting is on the wall for NPS.

I would still like to see HITS get permission from Turner Broadcasting to make available there channels via 4DTV.

I would still like to see HITS get permission from Turner Broadcasting to make available there channels via 4DTV.

Mike Kohl also told me there are some new idea's in the works for the future so there may be some cool stuff happening for us with Skyvision and SRL.

I do believe that NPS as we know it will be gone by the end of the year, even from Dish Network. Now that it seems Dish can sell Distant Networks again they have no need for NPS.

Also seems strange that NPS wont sell Annual programming anymore.

If this is all true then I would say the handwriting is on the wall for NPS.

Scott we need to get the word out there and about Mike talking about this issue this coming Friday with Ralf on Access America. The public needs to know the facts.

Where do I find Access America?
Edit: never mind, found it

Access America - Home (http://www.access-america.net/)

stickied thread

I just renewed (mailed yesterday) another 3 months of absolute 890 with Mike and co. I sent him an email to feel him out this morning, here's his reply
(Ice if you dont think letter is beneficial you can delete this post maybe it will help shed some light or cast darkness depends on how you look at it I guess).....

I’m glad that you have been enjoying your programming on your 4dtv dsr-922. I wish that we were able to offer you a better picture quality but we are providing the maximum quality that the equipment that we use to broadcast the signal is able to produce.

Well I don’t know the situation with the person on the blog, but to purchase the Speed channel, they would have to have 10 services either in a package or a la carte with us, before they could order the Speed channel & they can only pay for 6 months at a time. We do believe that Motorola will discontinue support of C-Band authorizations after the end of the year. In fact when they first presented the possibility of ending the authorization stream in early January, they were looking to do so on April 15, 2010. We successful lobbied to get that changed to the end of 2010 with possible reconsideration thereafter. In good conscience we do not feel we can sell subscriptions that run beyond 12/31/2010.

We have set up a special deal for our C-Band customers with Dish Network. We can get you a free system Dish Network system and have it installed as early as tomorrow! Have you seen the picture on Dish lately, it is much improved, plus they have so many High Definition channels that there is basically never a need to watch anything but HD on Dish, and Dish HD is better than any pictures C-band ever offered, I will assure you of that.

I have copied Lisa, one of our entertainment specialists, on this e-mail and she will be calling you shortly.

It is my sincere hope that we can keep serving your entertainment needs long into the future.

Mike Mountford

CEO

c/p: Dish HD is better than any pictures C-band ever offered,

That guy is definitely smoking something! Or has never seen real
C-band video.

I switched to Dish Network a few years ago and the HD on my 50 inch plasma is equal to or better than the HD I used to watch on my 922 and HDD 201. How many HD channels remain on 4dtv? Is NET the only one left?

I just renewed (mailed yesterday) another 3 months of absolute 890 with Mike and co. I sent him an email to feel him out this morning, here's his reply
(Ice if you dont think letter is beneficial you can delete this post maybe it will help shed some light or cast darkness depends on how you look at it I guess).....

I’m glad that you have been enjoying your programming on your 4dtv dsr-922. I wish that we were able to offer you a better picture quality but we are providing the maximum quality that the equipment that we use to broadcast the signal is able to produce.

Well I don’t know the situation with the person on the blog, but to purchase the Speed channel, they would have to have 10 services either in a package or a la carte with us, before they could order the Speed channel & they can only pay for 6 months at a time. We do believe that Motorola will discontinue support of C-Band authorizations after the end of the year. In fact when they first presented the possibility of ending the authorization stream in early January, they were looking to do so on April 15, 2010. We successful lobbied to get that changed to the end of 2010 with possible reconsideration thereafter. In good conscience we do not feel we can sell subscriptions that run beyond 12/31/2010.

We have set up a special deal for our C-Band customers with Dish Network. We can get you a free system Dish Network system and have it installed as early as tomorrow! Have you seen the picture on Dish lately, it is much improved, plus they have so many High Definition channels that there is basically never a need to watch anything but HD on Dish, and Dish HD is better than any pictures C-band ever offered, I will assure you of that.

I have copied Lisa, one of our entertainment specialists, on this e-mail and she will be calling you shortly.

It is my sincere hope that we can keep serving your entertainment needs long into the future.

Mike Mountford

CEO

Mike Mountford is blowing smoke in his letter. Motorola is not ending support for c band at year end. I spoke with Mike Kohl yesterday at Skyvision, Both Skyvision and SRL have been in contact with Motorola and this is false information NPS is selling.

NPS got a 20% increase in there fee's they pay to Motorola in January (For ACC tier bit access I would guess) NPS is also in a no contract situation with A&E networks so those channels are on the line.

The deal with the devil (as Mike Kohl call's it) has been sealed with Charlie Ergen of Dish Network. NPS gets a Bounty from Charlie for every C band subscriber he turns over to them. NPS is getting out of the c band business at year end and closing it's doors.

Motorola is not happy with the lies NPS is spreading for there own benefit. Nps may be facing legal action for this.

If I would have to sum it up, NPS contact from Mr Mountford you got adding what I know. NPS contract ran out Jan 1st for tier bit access. They had till April 15 to pay the increases and renew. They refused to pay the 20% increase and got Motorola to extend it till Dec 31st for a smaller fee. Probably the 7% increase they raised programming in February. They figured the only way to win is to sell there customer base to Charlie Ergen getting a finders fee for each fool who converts.

Skyvision and SRL are under different contracts with Motorola , HITS (Comcast) and the programmers. They are not effected by anything NPS does with Motorola.

The bad part about this is there hard sell to Dishnet and lies they offer as far as the skys are going dark are not good business decisions for c band consumers.

It's Charlie and old school games with NPS, to refuse to pay and try to pressure the programmers and the like to NPS's terms. This is probably why we could never get channels like Disney and the C3 MTV suite back. NPS went in there with an attitude to run it there way and lost. Then they call the other side the bad guy. :eek:

It would benefit the 4DTV subscriber base if users were to be made aware of the situation in the correct manner. Since Skyvision is a long established provider, perhaps they could get word out before rumors spread like wildfire. Explaining that it's not going anyway.

As NPS subs expire it would be as simple as switching to them. Both Skyvision and SRL would profit from this.

I would expect the other resellers affiliated with NPS, will also drop off later this year unless some other private deal is in the works.

Here is something i just read a few minutes ago.

Link.



Satellite Mart / Specializes in C-band, DIRECTV and Dish Network Equipment and Programming. (http://satellitemart.com/cband.htm):D

What time will Mike Kohl be on Access America ?

What time will Mike Kohl be on Access America ?

Friday 9pm EST

I would also like to add that when Lisa the CSR from NPS called me last night, she said that the total c-band sub base was approx. 20,000 total and that NPS had about 85% of that, with all others only 15%..... Another blantent stretch of the truth I assume....

Wish I hadn't sent that renewal check Monday, after June, its SRL or Skyvision for sure.


Superstar pulled this crap with me in early 2000's, now deja vu with Mike...

I would also like to add that when Lisa the CSR from NPS called me last night, she said that the total c-band sub base was approx. 20,000 total and that NPS had about 85% of that, with all others only 15%..... Another blantent stretch of the truth I assume....

Wish I hadn't sent that renewal check Monday, after June, its SRL or Skyvision for sure.


Superstar pulled this crap with me in early 2000's, now deja vu with Mike...

Last I heard NPS had approx 17,000 and SRL approx 23,000 subs. NPS has been loosing subs to SRL for a while. I called NPS again today because I wanted to know when my subs run out and the current renewal cost. Im figuring out what I will order with SRL and when. My plans are to migrate some of my services to SRL in April then continue through the summer with more. By Sept I will be totally with SRL. I too made a mistake of renewing a couple weeks ago with NPS to beat the Feb 1st 7% price increase.

I also let them give me all the details on there dish packages and played along. As they told me channel's names I said I get that free on C band DVB :) Then I threw a few other channels I sub to now and Dish didn't even offer them. The guy was trying to sell me a $85 a month package. I said to the guy How much :eek: Thats crazy!

Been doing my homework as far as transitioning to SRL/Skyvision totally. I kinda overlooked Skyvisions packages. After doing some deep looking and the math. I can get the most and best bang for the buck doing a split sub. For those who don't know it you can have part of your subscription from SRL and part from Skyvision at the same time. I did it before and it works great SRL, can set it all up :)

Here are Skyvisions URL's:

Skyvision Satellite Equipment (http://www.skyvision.com/programming/digital.html#4dtv0)

Skyvision Satellite Equipment (http://www.skyvision.com/programming/alacarte.html)


And SRL (Programming Center) URL:

Satellite Receivers C band and 4DTV satellite programming (http://programming-center.net/)

This is now Frontpage news. :)

This is now Frontpage news. :)

Thanks Scott, :up the public need to be informed before NPS dwindles the 4DTV subscriber base down more by scare tactics used on them to sign with Dish Network so they can get there bounty.

I can't wait to listen to Mike Kohl this Friday on Ralf's show.

I wonder if there is any way to utilize the old 4DTV mailbox system? The ACC could simply send a message out to all users.

I wonder if there is any way to utilize the old 4DTV mailbox system? The ACC could simply send a message out to all users.

Im sure the Mailbox works. Someone would have to request the use of it and pay to have it sent. Good way to cut NPS's deception down.

[QUOTE= I too made a mistake of renewing a couple weeks ago with NPS to beat the Feb 1st 7% price increase. [/QUOTE]

I don't see what happened(and continues) as a mistake on your part or any others that thought they were being prudent to renew ahead of the NPS announced price increase. It was by luck, coincidence, and my usual tight-fisted temperament that prevented me from falling into the same trap.

I got an invoice from NPS early last week for my yearly sub expiration in March. The usual meager discount was offered for renewing by Feb 10th(one month in advance of expiration). I had also just learned from the Satforums that a price increase was due for Feb 1st. However, there was already a 30% increase from the previous year's bill on the new invoice. Plus, my credit card closing is the 27th so I was definitely not going to add a new charge until the 28th.

I called NPS on the 26th. First thing I was told by the very sweet CS girl was, "I'm urging all my customers to renew ahead of the February 1st price increase." I questioned her about the amount on my new invoice. It seemed to me to _already_ reflect a huge price increase. Was the new(Feb 1st) increase included in this amount? She said she would check... did a calculation... and told me the new amount was $300+(don't remember exact figure), definitely MORE than the current invoice: for a ONE YEAR RENEWAL.

I told her that I planned to renew but was waiting until the 27th to pass in order to beat my credit card closing date. She offered to call me the next day, to be sure I didn't forget. I told her not to bother. She restated the offer, because she didn't want me to miss the deadline. I firmly(but politely) declined.

After "sleeping on it", I came to the conclusion that the NPS price increase was just way too much to accept. My family mostly watches PBS; the picture quality on the re-uplinked G3 channels is terrible; and I checked SRL's "Pick Ten" package which had 80% of what my family had any intention of viewing. There was always "a-la-carte", 30 or 90 day subs to other choices if someone really was interested.

So, I did not call back. And for that I'm thankful.

Walker, in Virginia

Well, i guess this is the end for those of us that viewed FOX News Channel. It looks like they are going encoded mpeg2 format. I hate the thought of the pizza man trying to force us to buy subscriptions.:rant:

Fox To Go All HD, All the Time - 2008-12-08 05:02:00 | Multichannel News (http://www.multichannel.com/article/160441-Fox_To_Go_All_Hd_All_The_Time.php)

That email definitely sounds like Dish lobbying! What a load of crap! I never did subscribe with NPS and I'm really glad now that I didn't.

Well, i guess this is the end for those of us that viewed FOX News Channel. It looks like they are going encoded mpeg2 format. I hate the thought of the pizza man trying to force us to buy subscriptions.:rant:

Fox To Go All HD, All the Time - 2008-12-08 05:02:00 | Multichannel News (http://www.multichannel.com/article/160441-Fox_To_Go_All_Hd_All_The_Time.php)

Isn't it possible that they could be picked up by HITS?
Terry

Isn't it possible that they could be picked up by HITS?
Terry

HITS will have to receive the HD signals and either convert them to DC-2 combo Mpeg-2 or 4 or Mpeg 2 SD.

Isn't it possible that they could be picked up by HITS?
Terry


That would be great! Surely something can be done. I didn't sleep last night worrying about what is happening with 4dtv.:confused:

Hey SRL or Skyvision.... If you're listening....

A lot of us want Fox News if possible.... Me included!

It's the only reason I subbed to G3 with NPS, and when NPS sub runs out, I am going to need it.

Still looking for Cartoon Network

That would be great! Surely something can be done. I didn't sleep last night worrying about what is happening with 4dtv.:confused:


I hear that, I had a hard time sleeping two nights ago for the same reason, but I think every thing will turn out, it will be interesting to see what a real provider can do, one that has a working relationship with Motorola, and Comcast.
Terry

Hey SRL or Skyvision.... If you're listening....

A lot of us want Fox News if possible.... Me included!

It's the only reason I subbed to G3 with NPS, and when NPS sub runs out, I am going to need it.



Me too Lonewolf. This is the only reason i went with G3. If enough of us make noise maybe we will get SRL or Skyvision's attention.:up

Me too Lonewolf. This is the only reason i went with G3. If enough of us make noise maybe we will get SRL or Skyvision's attention.:up

It's okay to make suggestions to SRL and Skyvision. Just don't go on the attack like so many did with NPS when things weren't the way they wanted it. I suggested channels to SRL years ago and they actually got them through HITS, Then it took NPS another year to get the same channel from HITS. SRL always has had more of HITS's channels than NPS.

The best thing that could be done is if they could work a deal to get the current or new Starchoice STB for us to work with all of HITS uplinks. HITS has allot more channels up there then we can get with our 4DTV's in megapipe (29270 combo) mode. I think if that was done everyone would be happy with the choices.

I think one of the things that took NPS down was there G3 reuplinks. It cost NPS a fair amount per month to run it. They contracted the work out to Crawford which were pretty poor dealing with the technical aspects of the DC-2 and things. NPS stretched the rubber band to the max trying to add more channels (thus the poor picture quality) When NPS lit up there second transponder on G3 and there were only 7 channels vs 12 in the mux it looked quite a bit better. NPS also did no pre processing of the signal before encoding. MPEG 2 and all digital can benefit by softening and removing any garbage in the signal before encoding. It allows the encoding process to go easier, thus reducing load and bandwidth needed. That is why HITS and Shaw (Starchoice) look so much better than NPS did using the same SR and FEC. I was watching Starchoice this evening and was commenting to a friend how nice *C looks. They also limit the channels in the mux to about 8. I think thats about all you want to push a MPEG 2 signal at 19510 especially without pre processing. 29270 and 7/8 can handle allot more just look at HBO on G1.

We will have to wait and see what transpires. We should be thankful SRL and Skyvision are around, otherwise with NPS closing there doors it would be the end of least the 4DTV as we know it. It would be for pure hobby use only hunting out DC-2 if we could keep some kind of channel mapping in the units.

This article in today's Sky Report MediaBiz (http://www.mediabiz.com/news/skyreport/) deserves some response from NPS competitors. Seems like the writer only bothered to contact one of the subscription providers. No very good journalism and a few letters to the editor might shed some light on the real facts.

2/5/2010
C-Band at the End?

Looks like the consumer C-Band business will be dead and gone by the end of this year. After hearing from several retailers about rumors that Motorola would cease its authorization stream, we started making inquires. No response from Motorola but Mike Monfort of National Programming Service (NPS) confirms that the demise is likely.

"We had a conference call in late December when Motorola talked about discontinuing the authorization stream on April 15th," Monfort says. After some protests and concerted lobbying, the giant manufacturer boosted prices by 20%, agreed to continue service until the end of the year and said they will then decide the future.

Motorola will almost certainly discontinue the service, Monfort says, so his National Programming Service (NPS) has ceased selling annual subscriptions. That's bad news for many retailers and C-Band's current 22,606 subscribers. "The people who are left love their C-Band," Monfort says. But Motorola apparently finds the business inconvenient ... and so an era is coming to an end.•

This article in today's Sky Report MediaBiz (http://www.mediabiz.com/news/skyreport/) deserves some response from NPS competitors. Seems like the writer only bothered to contact one of the subscription providers. No very good journalism and a few letters to the editor might shed some light on the real facts.

2/5/2010
C-Band at the End?

Looks like the consumer C-Band business will be dead and gone by the end of this year. After hearing from several retailers about rumors that Motorola would cease its authorization stream, we started making inquires. No response from Motorola but Mike Monfort of National Programming Service (NPS) confirms that the demise is likely.

"We had a conference call in late December when Motorola talked about discontinuing the authorization stream on April 15th," Monfort says. After some protests and concerted lobbying, the giant manufacturer boosted prices by 20%, agreed to continue service until the end of the year and said they will then decide the future.

Motorola will almost certainly discontinue the service, Monfort says, so his National Programming Service (NPS) has ceased selling annual subscriptions. That's bad news for many retailers and C-Band's current 22,606 subscribers. "The people who are left love their C-Band," Monfort says. But Motorola apparently finds the business inconvenient ... and so an era is coming to an end.•

It seem's that this report is one sided with all it's information coming from NPS. This is the same story we have heard since week's beginning. It is based on Mike Mountfords claims only. What I heard from SRL and Mike Kohl at Skyvision is totally different. They have been in contact with Motorola and Mountfords sky is falling claim is false. I believe it is all because of a a money issue and bad relationship between Motorola and NPS. How come NPS is the only one that raised prices in February. If there was a 20% increase for all from Motorola wouldn't SRL and Skyvision's prices have gone up too? They didn't...

I suggest we all listen to Access America tonight and get Mike Kohl's (Skyvision/SRL) side of the story. I heard it already from the horses mouth so to speak and posted what I was told. NPS seems to be playing some kind of head games with us.

Just got off the phone with NPS - they refused to sell me any programming for my BigDish - full stop.

Tried to strong-arm me into Dish Network - which I refused.

Now I have no G3 - dammit!

Just got off the phone with NPS - they refused to sell me any programming for my BigDish - full stop.

Tried to strong-arm me into Dish Network - which I refused.

Now I have no G3 - dammit!

Boy NPS must be hurting for that bounty :mad:

NPS has been in bed with Charlie...

and now I think that Charlie wants a ring!!!... :eek:



I looked at the updated programming charts which are now without the yearly subs and do not include the uplinking fee and WOW! Prices are up again! :shocked

NPS has been in bed with Charlie...

and now I think that Charlie wants a ring!!!... :eek:



I looked at the updated programming charts which are now without the yearly subs and do not include the uplinking fee and WOW! Prices are up again! :shocked


Man I am sooooo glad I switched to SRL when I did, those guys are so curtious when you call them, and I like their line up, I know there where channels on G3 that people liked, but from what I have read on these boards, and others SRL and Skyvision say they have plans for the future, so you never know what might happen.
Terry

I just wanted to say I just found out about this board about a month ago, I like it here.
There is another board, won't say which one it is, some nice guys there too, but it seams like about 1/2 of them already have their umbrellas out waiting for the sky to fall.
So in short thanks guys!!
Terry

I just wanted to say I just found out about this board about a month ago, I like it here.
There is another board, won't say which one it is, some nice guys there too, but it seams like about 1/2 of them already have their umbrellas out waiting for the sky to fall.
So in short thanks guys!!
Terry


Even though it's a little late :welcome to Satguys.
The Best Satellite Forum Out There! :)

Heres a little fuel on the fire. ;)

Whats the Story With 4DTV? - The Satellite Dish | Blog on Multichannel News (http://www.multichannel.com/blog/The_Satellite_Dish/30638-Whats_the_Story_With_4DTV_.php)

Heres a little fuel on the fire. ;)

Whats the Story With 4DTV? - The Satellite Dish | Blog on Multichannel News (http://www.multichannel.com/blog/The_Satellite_Dish/30638-Whats_the_Story_With_4DTV_.php)


:)

I have had a big dish since 4-1-1982 and I plan on keeping mine until all of the programmers are gone. Mike Shraeder (SP), who started NPS years ago was my installer. Back then he operated out of a hole-in-the-wall office on the northwest side of Indianapolis.

very nice Scott

After I posted the story, I heard from Mike Kohl who said a lot of what has been reported that he said was taken out of context.

We will hear whats really up directly from the mans mouth tonight at 9PM on the SatTalk show.

i am with SRL and very happy with them. NPS was good when i had them. its been a while since i had nps. they did screw up my credit card charges one time that ended up with me spending 8 hours on the phone that day trying to get the charges corrected. this has happened to me with several companies i deal with so its not just nps.

i don't like the idea that they are in bed with dish net. sort of a sellout but i guess they are going where the money is.

After I posted the story, I heard from Mike Kohl who said a lot of what has been reported that he said was taken out of context.

We will hear whats really up directly from the mans mouth tonight at 9PM on the SatTalk show.

Mikes original statements to me were that what NPS was saying about Motorola ending support is "hogwash" and they (NPS) made a deal with the devil. This is what I originally reported.

There has been so much information that others posted, plus letters and information from other sites that some things are embellished upon I'm sure.

I'm looking forward to the whole story tonight. :)

Is the show coming on? Or am i listening to "Big Band" for nothing?:D

It should be on now! I'm hearing it.

Its on now and hes talking about it. :)

Mike Kohl said everything is fine with the 4dtv and Motorola "Business as usual". The whole NPS sky is falling fiasco is being created by them (NPS).

Still on the phone now with Mike. :)

That's Cool Did He Mention How Many Subs There Really Are?
Sorry For Three CapSS My PdaPDA Its Doing It
Terry

And It Likes Three Instead Of The I Guess
Terry

He did mention that if any G3 channels (like foxnews that I like) are made available to us, that Comcast would have to change their format so we can view them, but he did sound like they were going to try to get us some of those unavailable channels. He didn't lie though and promise anything, so we have to respect that.

Lets hope for megapipe capability...

I recorded the whole show. I'm putting together a sound clip with Mike Kohl telling the 4DTV / NPS / Motorola whole story. I will make it available for you guys to listen too. I hope to have it up later today.

I recorded the whole show. I'm putting together a sound clip with Mike Kohl telling the 4DTV / NPS / Motorola whole story. I will make it available for you guys to listen too. I hope to have it up later today.

That would be great! I missed the show as I got wrapped up in doing taxes. Thank you so much. Have a great day!

Okay I uploaded the clip of the main segment with Mike Kohl to my website. It's a streaming MP3 so you need Winamp, Windows Media Player or Real Player to listen.

I will go through the whole show and look for other interesting bits and put them up there too later. Wanted to get the main info up there now :)

The URL:

TvroPro.... What's up with the 4DTV.... (http://www.***********************.com/satellite/4dtv.htm)

Okay I uploaded the clip of the main segment with Mike Kohl to my website. It's a streaming MP3 so you need Winamp, Windows Media Player or Real Player to listen.

tvropro

Thanks for the link and service. listen last night but its always good to listen again.

I am an NPS dealer and after reading these posts, I wanna jump ship and encourage my customers to go with me. So where is this SRL?

SRL:

Satellite Receivers C band and 4DTV satellite programming (http://programming-center.net/)


If you are an NPS dealer you probably will not have any programming to sell as it seems that NPS is getting out of the C band business. You may want to contact SRL and see if you can sign up with them to be a dealer for them.

SRL:

Satellite Receivers C band and 4DTV satellite programming (http://programming-center.net/)


If you are an NPS dealer you probably will not have any programming to sell as it seems that NPS is getting out of the C band business. You may want to contact SRL and see if you can sign up with them to be a dealer for them.


And if you can become a dealer good for the industry with the added subs for SRL and them, the subs, not leaving 4Dtv, which in my opinion is still the best value for programming out there!
Terry

I just called NPS to renew the 4DTV guide.

They told me they were no longer renewing the guide.

Seems like they are trying to cut services.

I would not be suprised if they dropped the G3 channels.


-

I just called NPS to renew the 4DTV guide.

They told me they were no longer renewing the guide.

Seems like they are trying to cut services.

I would not be suprised if they dropped the G3 channels.


-

Did you have a subscription to anything? they have to give you the guide if you sub. Talk to a supervisor then.

The writing is on the wall as far as the end of NPS. Anyone who is still with them (including me for a couple more months) is going to have problems. If they would refund my money I would be with SRL today. I have my new pkg's picked out with SRL and Skyvision already and in there system and a websams user so it's all a phone call away. I refuse to let nps run away with money I paid them though. They will make good no matter how much hell I will need to raise with them to get it done.

There is a subscription.

And they refused to renew the guide.

It is a old pack and they tell me it will not be grandfathered in for the guide.

If it was not for Fox News would probably go to some other company.


-

Okay I uploaded the clip of the main segment with Mike Kohl to my website. It's a streaming MP3 so you need Winamp, Windows Media Player or Real Player to listen.

I will go through the whole show and look for other interesting bits and put them up there too later. Wanted to get the main info up there now :)

The URL:

TvroPro.... What's up with the 4DTV.... (http://www.***********************.com/satellite/4dtv.htm)

Must be a very busy website or it's a very slow server since I've been waiting for over 5 minutes for the video to load (I have a 10Mb adsl connection to my provider).

There is a subscription.

And they refused to renew the guide.

It is a old pack and they tell me it will not be grandfathered in for the guide.

If it was not for Fox News would probably go to some other company.


-

Looks like NPS just wants to piss off more people. :rant: I would call back and ask to speak with a supervisor though and don't take no for an answer.

2 more interesting Clips from the show added. :)

TvroPro.... What's up with the 4DTV.... (http://www.***********************.com/satellite/4dtv.htm)

What a shock I received tonight when I called NPS to renew. I was not happy to go back to them last year, but we had a Superbowl emergency (I forgot to renew before my sub with SPS expired the day before the SB) , and I had to go back to NPS. I didn't want to because they tired to cheat us out of a rebate the year before. This past year with their service has been uneventful until I called them tonight.

I spoke with a woman that told me that she could not renew my annual sub with them, but I could get a sub for less time. The reason that she gave me was that Motorola was getting out of the CBand business. Period. We were welcome to renew for less than a year, but if Motorola stopped providing CBand (whatever it is they do) then we would lose our money, BUT WAIT!!!!! There is hope! If I decide to switch to small dish now, then we could get FREE two room installation AND activation!!! Along with that we could choose to receive 220 channels for $15.00 per month off the regular price for an entire year. We could actually receive a refund for the one month of service of our Abs. Dig. pack. She said that right after saying that our remaining month of CBand would be free.

My experience with NPS is that they don't refund anything, even when promised and in writing, without me losing a LOT of time, effort, and teeth.

Did I forget to mention the free DVR? There was also an insurance soft sell. She was smooth, I must say. She told me that if I didn't call back by tomorrow and accept the offer that I would be out the one month free CBand service, which I guess would be the supposed refund of our remaining one month. No, she did not say that it would be credited to our new small dish bill. She said refund.

Bless her heart. She was sure to let me know that they in no way were trying to pressure us into purchasing a small dish system. She was so kind as to be honest that they had NO CLUE when Motorola would pull the plug. It could be tomorrow. I could be six months from now. Awww. Not a clue. She was so thoughtful of me to let me know that they couldn't refund my money because they couldnt' promise me anything.

OH! And didn't I know that CBand was more expensive for me than the small dish?

Yep. No more CBand for anyone anywhere.

--------------------------

Mike Mountford does come across as someone that is not completely on the up and up. If it is not him, then his employees are grossly misrepresenting NPS. You know: The company that he is ultimately responsible for.

Mr. M, this thumb is for you: :up , and no, it is not to give you a thumbs up.

I have spoke with NPS a few times in the past week and what you said is there standard sales script. Little do the know we know it's all bull. I think for the better of of all of us is don't even renew short term anymore with NPS (they can't be trusted on pulling there plug). Call SRL/Skyvision. NPS will start loosing money from me tomorrow since one of the 4 things I have with them expires. I also have an outstanding bill sitting here for the last small pack I renewed just before Feb 1st. I want to talk with a supervisor about that since if they will not promise me that the programming will be on for the term on the bill I will refuse to pay it past the date I speak with the supervisor. Starting in March I will be begin my migration to SRL, in April phase 2 will begin with SRL, at that point all I will have left with NPS is one alacarte till Oct.

It's going to be a wild ride with uncertainty with NPS till I secure my services once again with SRL & Skyvision. I will not be taken advantage or have money stolen by NPS with any games they want to pull because they are having issues with programmers and Motorola. I had a problem with NPS pulling a shot years ago when ABC family went digital and they tried to steal that renewal money. I refused to budge and they deleted that bill out of the system. I had to play hard ball to do it but they did not get away with it. I guess I will have to do that again. :mad:

In next 3-6 months, I see 80-90% of NPS customers either go with SRL or (probably only a few) go with their dishnet bs. So, I can see uncertainty that the G3's going away very soon with so very few subs left for Mike and co. I just hope G3's stay up until June 30 because that is what I am paid up to. I sure wish I hadn't renewed early, but Mike already has my money.

July 1st I plan to be with SRL and or skyvision...

Yes It looks like G3 will be the first thing NPS will abandon. I feel for you with having subs with NPS, I'm in the same boat. Except for one alacarte which I was renewing yearly I have been keeping all my other subs at 3 month terms. Im sitting on pins and needles expecting my programming to go to non subscribed mode any day because NPS didn't pay a programmer. Im sure there going to default on there bills, then blame the shutdown on Motorola. If there was a way I could get a refund I would and start SRL today. I don't want to pay double though. If worse comes to worse and NPS pulls my programming while I still have a term left with them. I can get it back with SRL probably within 15 minutes. Then NPS will have a battle on there hands with me even getting my lawyer involved for theft.

if you pay buy credit card... would early cancelations be covered under fraud protection ? my cc has it and then id think the cc company would get involved chasing nps. purchases are contracts and you cant just walk on contracts without consequences.

crackt out,.

If they terminate the service you paid for, and you paid by credit card, it is a very simple process to have the difference forcefully recalled by the issuing bank.

The great thing about credit cards is more often then not, the consumer is always right.

I wouldn't shead a tear if G3 gets turned off. It is by far the worst example of commercial engineering regarding video delivery I have ever seen. (Ok maybe not, 97 West has some contenders.)

Always remember that NPS is super sneaky. They know what they are doing. It's in the verbiage somewhere that they can change up subscription at anytime. In my personal opinion, I think that they will stick with the end of 2010 as the date in order to avoid a lot of headaches, but who knows what will happen when they see how many people will jump ship.

IDEA --- someone mentioned using the mail function to inform all 4dtv users of NPS's lie. Of course nps couldn't be named. a reply came back that you had to pay for it. could one of us do it, but all of us chip in to help with the money to pay for it? it would be well worth it. i'm curious if motorola would just do it to let customers know that they weren't backing out. mike kohl is able to talk to someone there, maybe he could talk to them for us?

I forgot to add in my original post from last night that the woman that I spoke with was named Lisa. I am curious if she is the same Lisa that is mentioned in the very first post of this discussion. Mike M. said she was an entertainment specialist.

by the way, the loss of g3 is going to really hurt

G3 leaving won't hurt me much. I used to watch AMC but not much anymore. I mostly hang out on W5 and C3 on 4D. And where ever on DVB :)

I know it hurt's to loose services sometimes but it is what it is. You can get over it. Some won't be able to do without them and will buy pizza. I'll save my pizza jump ship money to buy pizza I can eat :D :D

I just called NPS again to verify.

they told me that motorola will no longer authorize CBand 4DTV , and that is all. we must switch to the 410 to continue rec'ing cband. g3 will be lost because nps has sole rights to cband programming.

i got that info after asking specific questions, but they did give it to me. the man i spoke with was paul, and unlike lisa, the did end up specifying that it was only 4dtv. this is across the board for all that sell cband programming.

If I was a network like Fox News for example, I would not be too happy to have a bunch of loyal viewers taken away from me because of a business decision. I would be giving the "exclusive rights" to another company so I could maximize my viewers. Not everyone can afford 50 to 100 bucks a month for TV. I wonder how many of the networks are aware of this crapola NPS is pulling? I am in the disability income arena and will be for the rest of my life. I have no choice in the matter. I also know that I am not alone in this great country of ours. I am on a first name basis with my senator in Indy. Maybe I should give Marlin a ring...... I want my news! End of story.

why do i have a sponsored link in my signature area and you guys dont'?

I just called NPS again to verify.

they told me that motorola will no longer authorize CBand 4DTV , and that is all. we must switch to the 410 to continue rec'ing cband.
WRONG. SRL & Skyvision will continue to authorize C-Band & 4DTV



g3 will be lost because nps has sole rights to cband programming.

true but not the sole right to C-Band. Just the sole right to those G3 channels

WRONG. SRL & Skyvision will continue to authorize C-Band & 4DTV


true but not the sole right to C-Band. Just the sole right to those G3 channels

Thank You Ice :) We have to keep the info on Satguys right. It's NPS that is getting out of C band, no body else.


The Sky is Not Falling!

I just called NPS again to verify.

they told me that motorola will no longer authorize CBand 4DTV , and that is all. we must switch to the 410 to continue rec'ing cband. g3 will be lost because nps has sole rights to cband programming.

i got that info after asking specific questions, but they did give it to me. the man i spoke with was paul, and unlike lisa, the did end up specifying that it was only 4dtv. this is across the board for all that sell cband programming.

Same old question for you to think about is why in the world would Motorola only tell one company of their plan to end 4DTV when there is another company doing business with them of equal or larger size. Bottom line they wouldn't so now it sounds like NPS is not getting the feed back they hoped for and are changing there story hoping to minimize the damage that they had not seen coming. If you’ve noticed their respond to people calling in keeps changing and why in hell would Motorola just keep the 410 going and drop the 4DTV receivers when I’m sure there’s more 905,920 and 922 receivers in service, they wouldn’t and even NPS says they have 22,000+ clients and besides they don’t sell the 410 programming only SkyVision does. This is just another angle their tying to use to get people to switch to DN. The story from NPS has more holes in it than my Raydx dish and just seems to keep getting better every day almost as good as some of the info commercials that been on TV.

To Iceberg: "WRONG. SRL & Skyvision will continue to authorize C-Band & 4DTV"

I am in no way arguing. I think that you can tell from my original post about NPS that I am NOT a fan of theirs.

I want to know how you know this, because when i just went to Skyvision's website, they are selling refurbished 410 sets. why would they do that? those sets are older than the 4dtv.

What i meant about the 410 sales is that it is now very prominent. It didn't used to be that way.

Also, when you say that Skyvision and SRL will continue to authorize cband and 4dtv, do you know whether or not they will continue with the 4dtv after dec 31, 2010?

I want to know how you know this, because when i just went to Skyvision's website, they are selling refurbished 410 sets. why would they do that? those sets are older than the 4dtv.

The 410 allows you to subscribe to the programming on W5 (105W) and get a receiver for a lot cheaper than a 4DTV. The downside is you are only limited to 105W

Also, when you say that Skyvision and SRL will continue to authorize cband and 4dtv, do you know whether or not they will continue with the 4dtv after dec 31, 2010?

post 14 kinda answers that
http://www.satelliteguys.us/2095702-post14.html

If I was a network like Fox News for example, I would not be too happy to have a bunch of loyal viewers taken away from me because of a business decision. I would be giving the "exclusive rights" to another company so I could maximize my viewers. Not everyone can afford 50 to 100 bucks a month for TV. I wonder how many of the networks are aware of this crapola NPS is pulling? I am in the disability income arena and will be for the rest of my life. I have no choice in the matter. I also know that I am not alone in this great country of ours. I am on a first name basis with my senator in Indy. Maybe I should give Marlin a ring...... I want my news! End of story.


STONE:

There are a bunch of us that want to keep Fox news. Maybe a petition could be started in support of such. It would be some ammo for your senator to maybe pull some strings for us. Something to think about!

WRONG. SRL & Skyvision will continue to authorize C-Band & 4DTV


true but not the sole right to C-Band. Just the sole right to those G3 channels


But once they let it go wont they loose the rights to those channels?

If so it would be possible for Skyvision/SRL to pick them up, if they do I hope they are not married to W3!
Terry

But once they let it go wont they loose the rights to those channels?
correct. The channels will disappear off G3 as NPS is paying for those to be reuplinked



If so it would be possible for Skyvision/SRL to pick them up, if they do I hope they are not married to W3!
Terry

They could but you have to realize NPS is paying to reuplink those through Crawford. So unless SRL or Skyvision decide to reuplink them you probably wont see them on 4DTV.

I think the only hope for getting Fox and maybe the other news channel would be if they were picked up by Comcast and added to the Hit's on W5 maybe as part of a package as they probably have the necessary equipment and funds to do it.

HITS has Fox News (As is Cartoon Network) on there 101 WEST Sat uplinks. My guess is its combo mode or megapipe.

4080 V
Digicipher 2
SR 29270
FEC 3/4

HITS would be in a much better position if modern consumer level set top boxes where available in the United States market.

Its posted on the HITS site as an option for cable companies...why couldnt they make it available to 4DTV'ers??
Digital Cable Programming Lineup - HITS Quantum from Comcast Media Center (http://www.comcastmediacenter.com/hits-quantum/programming-lineup.asp)

I know it would take a remap from Motorola to get those added in there

My guess is its combo mode or megapipe.

You are correct. All the HITS transponders on AMC 2/4 are combo mode/megapipe.