dishrich said:
We are talking ONE fricken channel here, NOT an entire range - I really don't understand what this has to do with this whole discussion.
Your right. It's 1 channel. Today. And tomorrow it's 2 other networks that feel they are important enough to try to demand they too get put into AT60 or AT120 instead of buried in AT180. Charlie and Dish haven't grown over the years by not offering what the majority of their customers want at a price they want. Every now and then Charlie sits and makes an example out of a network. This month it just happens to be OLN. If you are a ESPN or a USA, you can leverage your numbers to get into a low tier. If you are an until recently obscure network that just became known due to the NHL, you haven't earned the right to demand to be put anywhere.
Again, since you dishies always listen to the E* spin doctors - OLN DID NOT FORCE E* TO TOTALLY REMOVE THE CHANNEL - E* CHOOSE TO DO THIS, BECAUSE HE COULD NOT GET THE NHL FEED OF OLN FOR THE SAME PRICE AS BEFORE!
E* COULD HAVE LEFT EVERYTHING AS-IS, SANS THE NHL, BUT CHOOSE TO STORM OFF IN A HUFF!
The fact of the matter is that Comcast and Dish negotiated a contract for a certain price/tier. Then they tell customers that if they want the OLN feed that customers want, they are going to have to pay more.
Comcast knows that the customers that want OLN likely are watching for the NHL. So they are trying to leverage those numbers in the hopes of getting providers to drop OLN from a higher tier to a lower tier. Good case, the provider drops them to a lower tier, generating more revenue for Comcast. Bad case, the providers balk at it and it remains where it's at, Comcast has the same revenue stream. Dish though gave them the worst case, just droping the network. I'll guarantee you that Comcast loses out this way, even with customers switching providers, because they also lose out on all the AT180 subs that didn't watch OLN that don't switch.
I say bravo to Charlie. I'm not a Dish fanboy. I actually could care less about the company. I however despise Comcast with a passion and anythign that sticks it to them, I'm a fan of. I'm actually anxiously awaiting FiOS TV to become available soon so I can stick it to both Dish, Comcast, and Verizon (telco) going with Fios TV, Internet, and VoIP.