Dish Network® Outlines Upcoming Hd Launch Schedule

Tomyo,

Any channel that was listed and that is not listed currently is due to a technical issue. (A technical issue that has NOTHING to do with the new satellite)

For example here in Connecticut we were listed, but were not on yesterdays list. From what I am hearing is because of last weeks LIN Broadcasting announcement Dish wants to launch the Connecticut HD locals with the LIN stations included. This means they need fiber from the channels going to the various uplink centers. In addition the uplink centers need to be wired and equipment put in place to rebroadcast those channels.

From what i am hearing that they hope to launch the missing markets ON TIME however some the factors of getting those channels on line are out of their hands, so they pulled them off the list incase there is a delay.

All areas announced on the Charlie Chat are on the Radar and WILL be on Dish Network this year.


Sorry if I should know this already, but what are the LIN stations?? I'd like to know what could be holding up Connecticut locals in HD!!!

And while I'm at it, please fire up NESN HD for next week's Sox opener!!!!!!
 
Not all local HD channels are sent via fiber. Here in San Francisco our big four network HD locals are picked up via regular antenna. Three of them are on what's known as Sutro Tower. This tower handles both analog and digital signals. There is work being done on the tower from time to time and when this happens we lose the Dish Network feed of these channels just as we lose the regular OTA feed. I'm sure fiber is the preferred choice and possibly the usual method of delivery but it's certainly not the only method of delivery used by Dish Network.

They still have to get the signal from the local antenna to an uplink center. Unless they happen to have the unlink center in range of the OTA antenna they will always need the fiber. Perhaps there are a few markets where an uplink exists in range of OTA. But, since there are few uplinks compared to markets most will need to get the signal, no matter how it is picked up locally, to the uplink center.
 
Don't the providers maintain Points of Presence in each DMA? I thought itwas to that point that signals were sent or received not an uplink center.
 
What??? No Lifetime Movie Network HD!!!:rolleyes:

Hey, you really shouldn't kid around like that. ;) Our local TW Cable added the Lifetime Movie Network HD recently when it added about few new HD channels. So we don't get the Discovery/Science/Animal Planet/TLC HD set of channels...nooooooo, we ended up with LMN HD. Hence, the reason I'm here looking at satellite.

It annoys me a ton that some of these markets being launched are in the middle of nowhere with pops of 30,000. I know Buffalo DMA has shrunk a ton, but many of these markets are considerably smaller.

Norfolk, VA
Burlington, VT
Beaumont, TX

Seriously?

I know that Burlington/Plattsburg DMA isn't a huge area but the population of Chittenden county alone (which is the county where Burlington is) is around 150,000 which is a far cry from 30,000. Also, someone mentioned that the surrounding area/terrain and how it would affect OTA reception may be a factor in choosing DMAs. The Burlington/Plattsburg area is surrounded by mountains and could definitely be problematic for OTA reception.
 
I noticed no Speed Channel---any word on this one? Directv has it but some say it's actually in SD and not really HD. Have you heard this? Thanks
It is a real HD channel. Like many HD channels it's not 24x7 HD but shows HD content when available.
 
I'd be curious as to why you'd bother even looking into an HD forum if you have no interest in it.

As for me, I held off on the L&O CI on USA network until it was rebroadcast on NBC because it's much more enjoyable to watch in HD.

It doesn't change the story, but makes it more enjoyable to watch.

It never ceases to make me wonder, what is the big deal about receiving locals in HD? Except for the occasional sporting event, the major networks prime time line up leaves much to be desired. I'm sure that viewing the typical sit-com in HD improves the story line??? As far as VOOM goes, at least you aren't bombarded with up-converted commercials. But, each to their own.
 
I know that Burlington/Plattsburg DMA isn't a huge area but the population of Chittenden county alone (which is the county where Burlington is) is around 150,000 which is a far cry from 30,000. Also, someone mentioned that the surrounding area/terrain and how it would affect OTA reception may be a factor in choosing DMAs. The Burlington/Plattsburg area is surrounded by mountains and could definitely be problematic for OTA reception.

The transmitting towers are on Mt Mansfield which IS one of those surrounding mountains.:) That said, there's still a lot of Vt, NY & NH that can't get any of those stations OTA. Last I knew B/P was ranked # 90 DMA.
 
"to each their own" says it all. I'd say 85% of what I watch is on the regular networks, with the exception of "the Shield" & would much rather watch new first runs in HD instead of a bunch of syndicated repeats in stretchovision...
I'm pretty much in the same boat. I watch some non-network shows, like Stargate Atlantis (SG-1 too when it was on), BSG, The Closer, Monk, Psych, Damages and a few stupid reality shows. The vast majority of what I watch is on the networks though.

And my area is NOT in the list for the upcoming HD markets (despite the fact that some smaller DMA's are). I should check D*'s latest list to see if we're on there or not...
 
That press release is a bunch of crap. We should be assured that E* will carry ALL or almost all available HD channels. D* will have capacity for 150+ channels. D* will basically carry all channels available in HD except for the VOOM crap (There are only a few acceptable VOOM channels and even they get old). E* gives no assurances whatsoever about carrying almost all available HD channels in the future. It's the opposite actually. It appears that E* will only carry some of the future available HD channels. If there are 150 HD channels available in the near future and D* carries 140 and E* carries 95 then D* is the superior product and it's not even close. The prices are a wash when you really compare the packages. The future is dim for E* unless they get their act together. I will definitely switch to D* soon. D* is clearly the better product at the same price now and appears that way in the future.:(
 
We respect your opinion, now go already.
The sentiments posted by the guy you replied to are one of a growing crowd and I look for this to get worse before it gets better. I'm very likely going to stick it out with Dish for the long haul. But, I just got a call last week from my mother-in-law (who I recommended to Dish about 8 months ago).

She was asking why D* has so many more HD channels than E*. She, like I'd venture to say most, did not consider comparing the list of D* unique channels (USA, Sci-Fi, etc) to E* (Voom) to be a fair comparison (not exactly the same caliber of channels). If the gap between D* and E* gets worse, which seems to be a distinct possibility, I think you're going to see many people switching. Especially as they buy those newfangled LCD sets everyone is talking about, and see the advertisement at the store listing all the channels that D* has...
 
Don't the providers maintain Points of Presence in each DMA? I thought itwas to that point that signals were sent or received not an uplink center.

True, but how do you get the signals from that antenna in Brooklyn (or wherever) to the uplink center in Cheyenne (or wherever)? That's where the fiber come into play. They don't have a 30' dish in every DMA uplinking directly.
 
The sentiments posted by the guy you replied to are one of a growing crowd and I look for this to get worse before it gets better. I'm very likely going to stick it out with Dish for the long haul. But, I just got a call last week from my mother-in-law (who I recommended to Dish about 8 months ago).

She was asking why D* has so many more HD channels than E*. She, like I'd venture to say most, did not consider comparing the list of D* unique channels (USA, Sci-Fi, etc) to E* (Voom) to be a fair comparison (not exactly the same caliber of channels). If the gap between D* and E* gets worse, which seems to be a distinct possibility, I think you're going to see many people switching. Especially as they buy those newfangled LCD sets everyone is talking about, and see the advertisement at the store listing all the channels that D* has...

Yes, there is a huge list of channels now adding HD to the end of their name and broadcasting only 1 or 2 hours of real HD every day on them. These channels are also showing 98% reruns and repeats and 4 minutes of commercials for every 6 minutes of television.

Soon enough, E* will be adding some of those channels to their list as well and we can only hope that 1 in 10 of them will have anything worth watching that we are willing to endure the nonstop CountryWide, Levitra, and prostate problem commercials to see our once weekly show, in HD hopefully instead of stretch-o-vision.

If enough people want to watch Reba reruns in pseudo-HD, the channel will get added.

I don't watch all the HD channels E* has already and for the channels I'd like them to add, I only have 3 shows I'd want to see anyway.

There's a building frenzy of uninformed desire to have HD on the end of every channel's name regardless of content.

However, if they have the content you want to watch, go get it and quit worrying about why E* does not have it. I'd like my new HD Only Package service from E* to have legitimate add-ons as they become available. I'm still trying to watch all the HEROES and NUMB3RS episodes I recorded but didn't have time to watch. I'll squeeze in the HD version of Spartacus and Patton I've got recorded sometime also from the One Penny Cinemax deal I'm enjoying as well.
 
Yes, there is a huge list of channels now adding HD to the end of their name and broadcasting only 1 or 2 hours of real HD every day on them. These channels are also showing 98% reruns and repeats and 4 minutes of commercials for every 6 minutes of television.

There's a building frenzy of uninformed desire to have HD on the end of every channel's name regardless of content.

This is true, for now. However, in the near future the pseudo stretchavision HD channels will be broadcasting more and more true HD. Will E* be able to deliver and stay competitive or will they become an overpriced inferior product? E* does a horrible job at assuring customers they will compete. I believe this is because they know they can't. I hope they can because I'm not thrilled about Murdoch and would like to stay with E*. But if the only thing E* has is a slightly better DVR then that is not enough.
 
This is true, for now. However, in the near future the pseudo stretchavision HD channels will be broadcasting more and more true HD. Will E* be able to deliver and stay competitive or will they become an overpriced inferior product? E* does a horrible job at assuring customers they will compete. I believe this is because they know they can't. I hope they can because I'm not thrilled about Murdoch and would like to stay with E*. But if the only thing E* has is a slightly better DVR then that is not enough.
E* has been delivering and will continue to deliver. 6 months ago, a few D* customers were asking the same question of their provider when E* had the lead in HD. 99.96% of all the noise is from 12 people on this forum over 3 channels.

Dish knows they can't compete? Please, they have 14 million customers. Compete with what? Charlie Ergen knows he doesn't have to lay down for every content provider and pay what they demand. If you want a company who will shell out 750 million dollars of all their customer's money to have an exclusive contract for a service a small percentage of their customers will then have to pay extra for, then have at it.

E* has a long way to go before they become overpriced or inferior.

I think in another month, most of the noise will go away.
 

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