Response from E* on TBS HD

[tigerfan33]

We all know that there are not alot of full time hd channels out there. I have to admit that I WAS one that did not want certain channels because they are not 24/7 hd. But certain programs are in hd and we want them.WTBS hd has the playoffs-Weather Channel hd will have a few programs that I would want to watch. CNN hd has a few too. We can only watch one channel and record so many at a time. We want it not because of the channel itself. But the hd programs that are on it.

 

[Ronnie-]

not arguing that. It's stretchovision, cropovision, or whatever you wanna call it on all providers. That's why personally, I'm in no rush to get them.

But this thread is about TBS, which I could understand people wanting it, even if only the baseball is HD. I'm not even a baseball fan but I'd rather see that than Lou Dobb's beauty marks in HD.

TBS may be doing it, but to say ALL PROVIDERS are is flat out false

edit: got ya, all providers, not channels.
My bad!

 

[grb]

Charlie is waiting to see if the Rockies make it in or not lol.

Good one! He's going to have find that out in SD though if he wants to see today's game!

The truth is Charlie pushes sports to the back of the bus for his network. He keeps adding redundant HD channels (e.g. Discovery and National Geographic to augment the already existing HD channels Equator and Discovery HD Theater, and bypassing opportunities like TBS that has exclusive rights to many of the MLB playoff games this year.

Get used to it. Charlie has conceded sports coverage to Direct, in spite of his full page newspaper ads for NFL coverage on Dish. He let Direct have Sunday Ticket several years ago and declined to offer Extra Innings this year.

He has chosed quantity over quality for HD and unfortunately he will soon be second in both...

 

[TulsaCoker]

I remember hearing stories about D* adding many HD LIL on a quick schedule late last year. I advocate that you don't get overly excited about D*'s plans.

Well I don't know the numbers but D* did add more LiL this year. (well atleast Tulsa )

 

[mhowie]

Well I don't know the numbers but D* did add more LiL this year. (well atleast Tulsa )

And they offer the Indianapolis ABC, NBC, and Fox locals in HD...unlike E*. :-(

 

[coltrane679]

Let's face it--Charlie just didn't give a damn here. It has been no secret the baseball playoffs were to be on TBS this year. And as far as adding programming goes, adding TBS-HD would seem to be pretty trivial a task.

Maybe when AT&T buys the joint we'll actually have someone in charge interested in competing again. Charlie seems content to let his butt get kicked all over the yard on sports--not just by Direct, but by the cable operators, too.

 

[whitewolf8214]

Charlie doesnt care about sports or what the customer wants. everybody else is getting tbs excepts us he knew for awhile that the baseball playoffs would be on tbs and yet he dont give it to us.Charlie wake up and give it to us.

 

[NightRyder]

Let's face it--Charlie just didn't give a damn here. It has been no secret the baseball playoffs were to be on TBS this year. And as far as adding programming goes, adding TBS-HD would seem to be pretty trivial a task.

Maybe when AT&T buys the joint we'll actually have someone in charge interested in competing again. Charlie seems content to let his butt get kicked all over the yard on sports--not just by Direct, but by the cable operators, too.

MLB did this to you not Charlie. If MLB was more interested in its fans than a fat check the games would be on a broadcast network not cable. Last thing we need is another stretch-o-vision faux HD channel like TBS-HD.

NightRyder

 

[adavis720]

MLB did this to you not Charlie. If MLB was more interested in its fans than a fat check the games would be on a broadcast network not cable.
NightRyder

BINGO!!!!

Isn't baseball the people's game? It should be on network TV.

 

[whitewolf8214]

Agree with Night that MLB did it to us and agree with adavis that MLB should be on network TV.

 

[KAB]

Let's face it--Charlie just didn't give a damn here. It has been no secret the baseball playoffs were to be on TBS this year. And as far as adding programming goes, adding TBS-HD would seem to be pretty trivial a task.

Maybe when AT&T buys the joint we'll actually have someone in charge interested in competing again. Charlie seems content to let his butt get kicked all over the yard on sports--not just by Direct, but by the cable operators, too.

Since you are new around here, we like it when accusations are based on fact, not on your imagination.

 

[mdonnelly]

Let's face it--Charlie just didn't give a damn here. It has been no secret the baseball playoffs were to be on TBS this year. And as far as adding programming goes, adding TBS-HD would seem to be pretty trivial a task.

Maybe when AT&T buys the joint we'll actually have someone in charge interested in competing again. Charlie seems content to let his butt get kicked all over the yard on sports--not just by Direct, but by the cable operators, too.

First,

If having every NFL and MLB game is a requirement for you, boy did you get a wrong number with Dish. Most of us here are content with getting our local teams either OTA, LIL or RSN. Out of town teams for hundreds of dollars more vi EI or ST is an extravagance that we refuse to indulge in.

 

[Pete14]

I'm in Chicago and hoping TBS HD will get added in time for Cubs playoff games in HD. The reason I'm still holding out hope is because, contrary to some earlier posts in this thread, I feel that Dish has recently come through big time with HD Sports programming, at least in in the Chicago market. We have the new Big Ten Network with multiple HD channels (a bonus considering local cable providers aren't yet carrying the BTN in any format) and we recently gained the HD version of Comcast Sports Net Chicago, which carries the majority of regular-season Cubs, Bulls, and Sox games. I was resigned to never having CSN Chicago in HD considering the channel is owned by Dish's biggest competitor in the market -- I was absolutely shocked when I found channel 379 (CSN Chicago HD) a few weeks ago when randomly flipping through channels; most Dish subscribers I've talked to didn't know it was there either. So if Dish is coming through with those HD sports channels, then there must be some reason that TBS isn't being added (other than "Charlie's not interested in Sports").

 

[gjh3260]

BINGO!!!!

Isn't baseball the people's game? It should be on network TV.

its becoming a "rich" people's game now

 

[8bitbytes]

I'm willing to bet that Dish has discussed terms with TBS and we know how that goes. TBS thinks they are going to become some national sports powerhouse and probably wants to pay for that push up front. Dish doesn't play that way and since the only HD we will most likely see from TBS anytime soon is the MLB playoffs, that's a lot of subscriber money for very little return. Will baseball fans get angry? Probably. Will some leave? Maybe. There's a LOT of college football on so many more sports fans are getting what they want to see. Now, if we could just get these broadcasters to STOP cutting the games off at the start of the 4th quarter just because your team has a fat lead....

 

[mruk69]

Do you really want to see guys scratch their b@lls and spit tobacco in HD?

Hmmm, you might bitch that TBS HD will be stretch-o-vision but the NBA Playoffs on TNT-HD looked damn good. I am sure they would do the same with the Baseball playoffs.

 

[rad]

I was resigned to never having CSN Chicago in HD considering the channel is owned by Dish's biggest competitor in the market...

FYI, Comcast does not own Comcast Sportsnet Chicago. The owners of the Bulls/Sox/Cubs/Hawks got together and formed the network so they could keep more of the revenue generated by their teams. Charlie could have had it a long time ago bit didn't.

 

[discreet29483]

I just hope TBS doesn't have those idiot Brave Announcers for the playoffs )

 

[Pete14]

FYI, Comcast does not own Comcast Sportsnet Chicago. The owners of the Bulls/Sox/Cubs/Hawks got together and formed the network so they could keep more of the revenue generated by their teams. Charlie could have had it a long time ago bit didn't.

Yes, the owners of those teams just made up a word "Comcast" that coincidentally sounds like the name of the local cable quasi-monopoly, but is actually unrelated. You might also want to correct the Wikipedia page for CSN Chicago, which states:

CSN Chicago is jointly owned by Comcast (20%), the Tribune Company (owners of the Cubs, 20%), Jerry Reinsdorf (owner of the both the Bulls and the White Sox, giving him a 40% stake), and Bill Wirtz (owner of the Chicago Blackhawks, 20%)

My point is not that Dish stood up to the big bully Comcast to heroically acquire CSN Chicago HD rights, but rather that they have responded (however late in the game) to subscribers' desire to add CSN Chicago HD to their channel lineup. Comcast may not be the sole owner of the network, but which of those "20% owners" do you think is in charge of business operations, including negotiations for broadcast rights?

 

[flyingsquirrel]

Comcast does own a significant chunk of Comcast Sports Net Chicago. I am not sure it CONTROLS it, but it does own a large chunk, with the owners of the four major sports franshises in town. I think Comcast is the top percentage owner, followed by Jerry Reinsdorf (White Sox and Bulls) and Tribune Company (Cubs).

Comcast also gets a commission on all the ad and operational revenue off the top for operating the station. So it gets a higher percentage of the revenue that the other parties do.

I believe this is similar to the arrangements in other cities, with the possible exception of Philly.

ALSO, TBS will be doing a significant number of NBA games this winter.

As for the Cubs in HD on TBS, I would like to see it as well, but I am not going to lose sleep over it.