Smithsonian HD dropped and replaced with Crime & Investigation HD

[mike123abc]

Dish would probably be better off eliminating the Platinum tier. It might have been a good concept with VOOM in there, but now it is quickly becoming a ghost town. If Dish really wants to grab a bunch of customers they would just eliminate the Platinum tier, fold the channels that want to cooperate into AEP (like they do with the NBA network), and eliminate the HD upcharge all together.

If Dish were to offer HD with no upcharge they would be adding subs, not losing them. Right now $20 is pretty much impossible to justify, and the $10 is barely just because the other providers do it. Cable says free HD, but you still have to rent a box or cable cards from them.

If AEP was free HD, it would be a big win, free DVRs and Free HD with AEP would have a lot of people signing up.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

My understanding is that Smithsonian wanted more money for the channel yet were only planning about 200 hours of new programming for the next year.

That would make the repeats worse then VOOM.

I am not upset that its gone nor am I happy about it being gone. I am neutral on it as I did watch the channel from time to time, yet I can understand the number of repeats being an issue when this is a channel many were paying extra for.

 

[dennispap]

Dish updated the website for the platinum package.

 

[Carl B]

Dish updated the website for the platinum package.

Still not worth the 10 bucks a month they charge for it.

 

[wonko]

I had been trying to decide whether to keep Platinum or not. I do watch HDNet Movies, and some Universal. But dropping a real HD channel for semi-HD reruns of shows I didn't want to watch the first time around pushed it over the edge. Just canceled Platinum online. I can use the extra $10 to offset my Netflix sub.

 

[Koilvr]

Irish people suck. stupid leprechauns....Smithsonian was awsome. Thanks for makin it go away Charlie

 

[TheForce]

I wanted this channel but after seeing it, I was really disappointed. In reviewing the schedules I rarely selected anything from it. Very disappointing! Unless they improve their lineup of shows, AFAIC, Dish did the right thing if they wanted more money. I like History and Science and Discover channel for this genre. Lots of repeats there too but the programs are all very engaging. Smith, I recall the only interesting shows were the tours through the Museum.

 

[justthinking]

Have you guys seem the new dish pricing??
TurboHD Gold w/ DVR Advantage + Local + Platinum would cost $75 not counting any additional receivers..
Even a more modest Turbo HD Silver w/ DVR & Local would cost $55..
Why is the price for paid tv & cell phone services can only increase but not decrease even if economy is not doing well??

 

[HDRoberts]

My understanding is that Smithsonian wanted more money for the channel yet were only planning about 200 hours of new programming for the next year.

That would make the repeats worse then VOOM.

I am not upset that its gone nor am I happy about it being gone. I am neutral on it as I did watch the channel from time to time, yet I can understand the number of repeats being an issue when this is a channel many were paying extra for.

Wow. Nice perspective. Only around 4 hours of new programming a week. That means around 164 hours of reruns a week. Yet they wanted MORE money?

Can't say I blame Charlie much.

 

[catnap1972]

Wow. Nice perspective. Only around 4 hours of new programming a week. That means around 164 hours of reruns a week. Yet they wanted MORE money?

Can't say I blame Charlie much.

If that's Charlie's barometer, he could probably drop 3/4 of the channels Dish offers. Repurposed network crap isn't what I'd consider "new" programming.

 

[TheForce]

Have you guys seem the new dish pricing??
TurboHD Gold w/ DVR Advantage + Local + Platinum would cost $75 not counting any additional receivers..
Even a more modest Turbo HD Silver w/ DVR & Local would cost $55..
Why is the price for paid tv & cell phone services can only increase but not decrease even if economy is not doing well??

As business is lost from tight budgeted customers, the business tries to hold onto base revenue by raising prices for remaining customers. This is bad thinking but it is what they all do.

Personally, if I see Dish increase my monthly bill, I will be dropping services accordingly. If my revenue stream falls off more due to the economy, I will be rolling back unnecessary expenses like the premium AEP I get from Dish until the economy returns. I know what channels I watch so I may have to forego the luxury have having the additional channels there in case I decide to watch something.

It's difficult to cut stuff you use but easy to lose stuff you had as a luxury and didn't really use anyway. I think this is how Charlie operates. He probably knows how popular these channels like Smithsonian were so he can gamble on losing them to save money.

 

[Slamminc11]

Irish people suck. stupid leprechauns....Smithsonian was awsome. Thanks for makin it go away Charlie

good post...

 

[HDRoberts]

If that's Charlie's barometer, he could probably drop 3/4 of the channels Dish offers. Repurposed network crap isn't what I'd consider "new" programming.

His barometer no doubt includes ratings. Hardly anyone watches+Hardly any new content=gone. Seems reasonable to me.

Sorry if you don't like network "crap", people watch what they watch.

 

[Dah-Henny]

Smithsonian wanted more money for the channel

I don't have an issue with Chuck dropping channels under this scenario...IF IT'S THE TRUTH.

It just seems like a very convenient excuse to feed Scott and us every time a channel disappears. I do, however, believe that the platinum tier will be attractive again as new channels are added to it. :up

 

[allargon]

I don't have an issue with Chuck dropping channels under this scenario...IF IT'S THE TRUTH.

It just seems like a very convenient excuse to feed Scott and us every time a channel disappears. I do, however, believe that the platinum tier will be attractive again as new channels are added to it. :up

What new channels? There have been very few HD only 24/7 HD channels launched recently. I haven't seen any on Dish's list unless you count Fox Business News channel. No way will Fox let that channel go to platinum tier hell.

 

[mperdue]

I am neutral on it as I did watch the channel from time to time, yet I can understand the number of repeats being an issue when this is a channel many were paying extra for.

I don't see anything on CI that isn't a repeat! Do they even have original programming?

Mario

 

[HDRoberts]

I don't see anything on CI that isn't a repeat! Do they even have original programming?

Mario

Repeats are one thing for older shows like what appears on C&I. I have a much bigger problem with channels who repeat things continually after just a few days or weeks. That's the type of thing Smithsonian was guilty of.

My only disappointment is the lack of HD on C&I. With old shows, it should be an SD channel.

 

[nlk10010]

His barometer no doubt includes ratings. Hardly anyone watches+Hardly any new content=gone. Seems reasonable to me.

Sorry if you don't like network "crap", people watch what they watch.

No doubt we know absolutely nothing about what drives Charlie.

We could just as easily say "Charlie's barometer is cost. If providers raise cost to a degree he doesn't like he ditches the channel, regardless of who watches it".

Speaking of barometers, the ideal barometer for subscribers is what other providers offer for the money. Sorry if Charlie chooses to offer less for the same $, or even more. If others provide these channels (e.g. YES, GolTV, Smithsonian) then people will go where they get the better value, and apparently they have, in droves, at least recently.

I agree with you that it's likely a ratings/cost thingie; it's just that Charlie's critical value for this parameter seems to be a lot higher than D*s.

 

[MikeD-C05]

Never watched Smithsonian at all . The entire platinum pack is not worth the extra $10.00. Not worth it if they reduced it to 4.99 like DIRECTV does either. If Charlie dropped it due to undue price increases I can see why he dropped it and I agree. I have already dropped off one 722 on my account ,added a 211k with an external hard drive in it's place to do away with the dvr fee. I have also dropped Hbo/Starz and reduced all programming to just the top 250 dvr advantage pack. I still say DISH should of done something new this year to offset their unruly price increases of $8.00 a month on the top 200 dvr advantage pack. They should of dropped off all extra dvr fees if you had dvr advantage. This keeps many people from owning or leasing more than one dvr per account . The AEP is way to expensive now when you consider less than 10 years ago it was only 69.99 a month and now is over 97.98 a month before you add the 5.00 for locals= 102.98 a month. I will continue to drop all extra programming that I can and any extra receivers if it will offset these YEARLY HIKES on programming . When I can no longer Stomach the price hikes I will have to look elsewhere for my programming. I can just go with ota and my echostar pal plus dvr. It works pretty good ,just no name based recording features.

 

[Laddyboy]

Have you guys seem the new dish pricing??
TurboHD Gold w/ DVR Advantage + Local + Platinum would cost $75 not counting any additional receivers..
Even a more modest Turbo HD Silver w/ DVR & Local would cost $55..
Why is the price for paid tv & cell phone services only increase but not decrease even if economy is not doing well??

Locals and DVR included with Dish DVR Advantage so:

DDA Turbo Gold (60) + DVR (free) + locals (free) + Platinum HD (10) is $70.
DDA Turbo Silver (50) + DVR (free) + locals (free) + Platinum HD (10) is $60.
DDA Turbo Silver (50) + DVR (free) + locals (free) is $50.