OFFICIAL DISH / FOX ORDEAL DISCUSSION THREAD

I can't believe I hadn't REALLY noticed this until now. I hadn't been on this site for at least a month, I guess.

I had noticed some strange new sports channels, but not the absence of the fox sports channels.

In my defense, I was out of town one of the weekends, and the games I have been watching for college football have tended to be on ESPN or ABC this last month. After a month in September when they tended to be on PPV instead (and I skipped).
 
Dish may have lost a small % of subs over this, but I wonder how many dropped all cable/DBS over it? How many decided to downgrade (I went from AEP to AT120) and cut out FOX channels? There is a small but growing trend of people dropping cable/DBS. Sort of like it was when VOIP/Cell started to take over the market. No one would drop their land line right....how could you live without it?

Since the trend is reducing/eliminating pay TV these days, which is just a reflection of our other discretionary spending, it would be difficult to say how much is caused by the Fox/Dish dispute.

Personally I had already played around with subscriptions a bit and finally settled on AT200+HD Extra+Multi-Sport as the best bang for my buck. While there are a very few channels of interest to me in the AT250, it wasn't worth the $10/month for them. My Netflix subscription already takes care of my movie needs with some supplement in the HD Extra pack and a few cable channels (with ads). Heck, with Netflix, there is no need to even consider Starz, imo.n The $10 for Netflix is far more valuable and useful than is the same $10 to go to AT250, imo.
 
i have everything back up for channels except i am getting no HD for my Fox Sports...and looking at my local fox sports channel today on their website...there should be some things broadcasting in HD.

anyone have any info on that?
 
i have everything back up for channels except i am getting no HD for my Fox Sports...and looking at my local fox sports channel today on their website...there should be some things broadcasting in HD.

anyone have any info on that?

Knowing your location can go a long way in trying to help you.
 
Since the trend is reducing/eliminating pay TV these days, which is just a reflection of our other discretionary spending, it would be difficult to say how much is caused by the Fox/Dish dispute.

Personally I had already played around with subscriptions a bit and finally settled on AT200+HD Extra+Multi-Sport as the best bang for my buck. While there are a very few channels of interest to me in the AT250, it wasn't worth the $10/month for them. My Netflix subscription already takes care of my movie needs with some supplement in the HD Extra pack and a few cable channels (with ads). Heck, with Netflix, there is no need to even consider Starz, imo.n The $10 for Netflix is far more valuable and useful than is the same $10 to go to AT250, imo.
Couldnt agree more. the ol lady is glued to netflix and as a result, no more premium movie channels.
 
I haven't posted a lot on this forum, I mostly lurk. But, I figured I should add my 2 cents about this, as it greatly affected me.

I have been with Dish for 7 years. Really liked them! But, dropping Fox Sports was a deal breaker for me. A lot of you have said that Dish didn't lose many subscribers, and I just can't believe that this is true. Certainly, they didn't lose a million customers, but I am certain they lost many, and I was one of them. I really like Dish and I didn't want to leave. Frankly, a small part of me even admired Dish for standing up to Fox, as I really dislike Newscorp and Fox News. However, when it came down to it, I wanted to watch my local team. I don't really care what the dispute is over or who carries it. I just wanted my sports!

There is no doubt, for the average consumer, Dish Network is the cheapest cable option. They certainly seem to be for me. When they dropped FSN, I looked at cable, FIOS, and DirecTV. All were definitely more expensive considering I could get two TVs with Dish from one free receiver and only a $6 DVR fee.

However, the closest in price was FIOS. Actually, they were the most expensive, but if you bundled it with internet (which I was already getting from FIOS), the price was very reasonable. It certainly made me annoyed that cable and FIOS don't have up-front pricing. I really have no idea what I am going to pay in two years, but I did get several assurances that if I called in as an existing customer after two years that they would be willing to put me back on a better bundle deal after my rates went up. So, it appears that their business model is to jack your rates up after two years and see who doesn't notice or doesn't really care. Annoying....but I suppose a phone call every two years isn't the end of the world. Plus, I really liked that FIOS had no commitment, and they offer price guarantees for two years. Pretty sweet....especially if they try to do something ridiculous like drop FSN! :)

The next roadblock was their DVR. It looks awful. Only about 20 hrs of HD recording time and the fees were $30 for a Two-Room DVR with sharing ($20 for the first box, $10 for the second box). Luckily, cable cards exist! :) So, I found the Moxi, and I love it! Three tuners is SO much better than two. I always had issues watching what I wanted to with Dish. No problem with Moxi with an extra tuner. And I love the menus, which I really didn't think I was going to like. The Moxi is definitely the best DVR I have ever used (and I have used many --> Tivo, ReplayTV, and Dish 622). I also REALLY love how they handle conflicts and the fact that tuners weren't reserved for particular TVs. I hated that about the 622! With the Moxi, if I want to watch TV, and all three tuners are in use, it asks me which of the three I'd like to stop recording with. Easy! With the 622, if I had a tuner recording, even if the other tuner was free, I often couldn't watch TV because the 622 reserves a tuner for each of the two TVs.

As for the quality, the picture seems to be much better than it was with Dish Network, especially on SD channels. And I really enjoy having HD on my second TV instead of SD, which is a limitation of the 622 and 722.

Overall, I am very happy. My bill is a little less, but I highly doubt that makes up for the fact that I had to buy the Moxi. Maybe in 5 years or so. :) Dish Network is the cheapest, and I really did enjoy having them, but what was I supposed to do without my sports? I'm glad they finally got them back, but switching is a pain, so I'm going to stick it out. I'm pretty darn happy with the combination of Moxi and FIOS.

Just my story and my 2 cents. I think many customers are like me. We don't really care whether its Dish or Fox's fault. We just want our sports!

By the way, it does seem to me that the government needs to step in and regulate somehow to prevent carriers from dropping channels in a dispute. It's the customers who really get hurt. :( What a convoluted system we have where customers never really see what each channel costs.
 
Issue is settled. Fox gave in and the channels are back.

Why do you think Fox is the one that caved? Then a day later Cabelvision caves AND confirms via a press release that they're paying the 'unfair price' that Fox proposed? If anything points towards Dish blinking... Fox isn't going to just suddenly decide 'oh shucks, what were we thinking, you can still carry them for free'. Cabelvision signing points toward Fox getting Dish to pay close to what they wanted, or Cabelvision could have pointed to this deal as another reason for them not to pay what Fox was demanding.
 
2. Disney is a non-starter. The hub-bub over them dropped off very quick and was never very much to begin with. If anything it showed that Disney overall doesn't have the content that could force the issue.

I have to disagree with this part of your statement. I feel that the main reason is that SD remained available. If Disney pulled SD & HD, it would have been a different story.
 
Any Sons of Anarchy fans out there, last week's episode replays Sunday night at 11:00PM. If you are set to record "NEW" only it will be skipped. Nice that I can go back to watching it on my 50" Sony as opposed to my laptop....Yeah!

I have the same sediments about Terriers (which doesn't air it's replay until Midnight on Wednesday) and my 46" Samgsung. Yes, I know that your's is bigger than mine. Just joking. Enjoy watching.
 
Why do you think Fox is the one that caved? Then a day later Cabelvision caves AND confirms via a press release that they're paying the 'unfair price' that Fox proposed? If anything points towards Dish blinking... Fox isn't going to just suddenly decide 'oh shucks, what were we thinking, you can still carry them for free'. Cabelvision signing points toward Fox getting Dish to pay close to what they wanted, or Cabelvision could have pointed to this deal as another reason for them not to pay what Fox was demanding.

If Dish Network blinked you will see FX,Nat. Geo and the Fox RSN in AT 120.If not then Fox got something they wanted more money,and Dish Network got something they wanted AT120 without FX,Nat.Geo and the Fox RSN in it.
 
Not all of them pay more

Of course a minority switched. Dish has about 14 million subs and I doubt more than 100k switched due to just this issue (represents 0.7%). But, it is more significant than it may appear on here. Even something close to 100k added to their net loss (which I predict they will have a net loss this quarter) is pretty significant

For programming after their special deals they will.;)

And yet Dish Network still manages to make a profit.;)

I believe DirecTV is going to have problems next year with Fox as they will be going up against their ex-DirecTV CEO Chase Carey(NewsCorps #2 man) who knows the ins and outs of DirecTV and how much they can afford.:eek::rolleyes:
 
Why do you think Fox is the one that caved? Then a day later Cabelvision caves AND confirms via a press release that they're paying the 'unfair price' that Fox proposed? If anything points towards Dish blinking... Fox isn't going to just suddenly decide 'oh shucks, what were we thinking, you can still carry them for free'. Cabelvision signing points toward Fox getting Dish to pay close to what they wanted, or Cabelvision could have pointed to this deal as another reason for them not to pay what Fox was demanding.

I'm sure there was give on both sides. As to why the previous poster assumes Fox caved big time you'd have to ask him but I'm thinking he's following my logic. E* has a history of just plainly taking channels away for months at a time if necessary to reach an agreement. Ultimately, Charlie doesn't care how long or how many calls are generated because of these issues because it's about managing how it appears. A lot of people are quick to scream about lost channels but then equally quick to scream about increased prices. It's a double edged sword and dropped channels are easier to explain away than a high start cost for new customers.
 
I have to disagree with this part of your statement. I feel that the main reason is that SD remained available. If Disney pulled SD & HD, it would have been a different story.

OK, that's fair. Yes if Disney had pulled it all, there would have been a lot of yammering about it. But by only pulling the HD, we found that in general, no one cared if Disney was in HD or not, or at least not nearly enough cared. Face it, the kids watching Disney channels wanted to see the channel, being in HD was nice but certainly not a big deal unless the parents made it a big deal. Frankly at this point in time, I would be surprised to see it come back in HD at all, there certainly is no general howling about the HD being gone.
 
I'm willing to bet it was no where near 100k...
I agree. I was just pointing out that even if it is 100k, it is still only about 3/4 of 1% of all subs (a tiny dent).

On a side note, I would be willing to bet that they do lose more than 100k net subs this quarter (find out when the Q4 report is released) and I will bet that they also have a net loss during Q3 as well
 
For programming after their special deals they will.;)

And yet Dish Network still manages to make a profit.;)

I believe DirecTV is going to have problems next year with Fox as they will be going up against their ex-DirecTV CEO Chase Carey(NewsCorps #2 man) who knows the ins and outs of DirecTV and how much they can afford.:eek::rolleyes:
They all make a profit. Interestingly, profits usually increase when fewer subs are added.

I will bet you any amount that not a single Fox channel will be pulled off of Dish when this current contract expires
 

100.2 Sudden Death

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