Uplink Activity 4/30/08 1:25 PM EDT

[8bitbytes]

I'm still wondering where everyone made the leap from "lots of HD" to "lots of National HD".

I do remember that all those National channels everyone keeps listing were shown and we were told most of them will be on by June, not May 1st.

I think Scott was telling several people who were standing out on the ledge last month over SciFiHD and USAHD or their particular locals to wait until end of April before jumping.

Please correct me with the pertinent links if I am mistaken.

 

[tinydoughboy]

Though it is upsetting that no New National HD is uplinked today why dont we think like Dish:

We want to beat cable because they are kicking our tails!!!

So let's ADD MORE LOCALS IN HD ASAP.......Then with the HD content that we already have we now have more than cable. We bring more customers in this way.

If this is their strategy then I am game, I can wait longer for my National HD channels as long as they move quickly in getting my locals in HD

BTW when was the last time the D* turned on local channels in HD? And how many do they have?

 

[tigerfan33]

I'm still wondering where everyone made the leap from "lots of HD" to "lots of National HD".

I do remember that all those National channels everyone keeps listing were shown and we were told most of them will be on by June, not May 1st.

I think Scott was telling several people who were standing out on the ledge last month over SciFiHD and USAHD or their particular locals to wait until end of April before jumping.

Please correct me with the pertinent links if I am mistaken.

Dish made these commits also at the special retail chat just after the AMC-14 deal and also at the last retail chat that everything was still on track for national hd this Spring.

Spring is not over yet.

 

[Jeffro34tx]

I'm still wondering where everyone made the leap from "lots of HD" to "lots of National HD".

I do remember that all those National channels everyone keeps listing were shown and we were told most of them will be on by June, not May 1st.

I certainly do not remember them mentioning these channels would not be added until June.

I for one, would not have taken much stock in the fact that Dish would add these channels soon, except for the fact that they did list these channels and say expect them soon.

The fact that DISH -NEVER- goes out and announces channels coming before they actually have them uplinked and available, led me to believe they were SERIOUS about getting these channels up and going.

People will say they had to do this in order to ease everyone's mind's that they were serious about staying the HD Leader.... yet I believe it may have done them more harm than good.

 

[tomcrown1]

We can shout and yell about the lack of new national HD, Dish does have a problem and that is bandwidth. Dish could add alot of new National Hd and not atttract many new customers or add alot of new local HD and attract alot of new customers. The fact is that by having locals IN HD DISH CAN BE AN EASIER SELL when the customer buys his new HD TV. Local Dish Dealers knows this to be true.

 

[drummerguy]

I guess everyone that gave Dish till May 1st to get their HD act together will be leaving for D* now.

No chance. I got what I really wanted: SciFi HD (for BSG and Eureka in the summer) and USA HD (for Burn Notice in the summer), plus the bonus of CNN HD.

I'll continue to wait patiently for more HD, plus my locals (I "moved" for HD locals, plus have all my HD locals OTA, so I'm in no hurry, unless Denver HD locals suddenly go spotbeam).

Right now, I got what I want. But come summertime, when there's nothing on the networks and I'm scrounging for stuff to watch, I might be wanting more national HD -- especially Smithsonian or MGM.

 

[tinydoughboy]

We can shout and yell about the lack of new national HD, Dish does have a problem and that is bandwidth. Dish could add alot of new National Hd and not atttract many new customers or add alot of new local HD and attract alot of new customers. The fact is that by having locals IN HD DISH CAN BE AN EASIER SELL when the customer buys his new HD TV. Local Dish Dealers knows this to be true.

As a local Dealer it's pretty much a deal breaker. . I sell Phone, DSL, wireless, and Dish, and having local channels in HD is something that always breaks the deal.

 

[Russell Jorgensen]

+5

I am still crossing my fingers that Hartford get turned on next week with all four networks! I just switched from D* who only had three... and for a much better DVR!

I like the National HD that Dish added this month and I like having the HD locals that they added for Milwaukee. But, it would have been nice if they would have added all of the networks instead of just ABC, NBC and Fox. At least they could have included CBS. I know that Dish doesn't carry CBS HD for Milwaukee either, but TWC does. As cheep as cable companies seem to be, if they can reach agreement with our local CBS station why can't the satellite companies? Is Charlie really that cheep?

 

[tomcrown1]

I like the National HD that Dish added this month and I like having the HD locals that they added for Milwaukee. But, it would have been nice if they would have added all of the networks instead of just ABC, NBC and Fox. At least they could have included CBS. I know that Dish doesn't carry CBS HD for Milwaukee either, but TWC does. As cheep as cable companies seem to be, if they can reach agreement with our local CBS station why can't the satellite companies? Is Charlie really that cheep?

I maybe wrong, but I think that the cable companys do not have to pay retransmission fees for the locals they carry.

 

[tinydoughboy]

I like the National HD that Dish added this month and I like having the HD locals that they added for Milwaukee. But, it would have been nice if they would have added all of the networks instead of just ABC, NBC and Fox. At least they could have included CBS. I know that Dish doesn't carry CBS HD for Milwaukee either, but TWC does. As cheep as cable companies seem to be, if they can reach agreement with our local CBS station why can't the satellite companies? Is Charlie really that cheep?

It's a conspiracy I think. . . .I don't know about other cable operators. . . but I have been told by a local TW person that they sign agreements with local stations with the condition that they don't give the same agreement or less to the satellite companies.

Now this being true or not I don't know. . .but TW has all the local channels and Dish NOR Direct have them in my area. That, I believe is how TW keeps most of ther HD customers that is (for now anyway).

 

[tsduke]

I maybe wrong, but I think that the cable companys do not have to pay retransmission fees for the locals they carry.

Yes, you are incorrect. Cable compainies are paying retrans. If there not now wait until contract is up and they will. Mediacom and Comcast went through channels shut offs with Sinclair last year.

 

[HokieEngineer]

Considering they have been testing Smithsonian HD, MojoHD, Tennis Channel HD, and MGM HD for awhile, if they have the contracts signed, all they need to do is make the channels available to subscribers. Someone in a senior position has made the decision not to release anymore national HD, instead concentrate on eastern arc.

The sad fact of the last couple months is, Dish Network has become a third and in some markets fourth tier provider. Directv and cable carry more national HD (excluding voom). Scifi and Usa were prime examples of that, as my local cable co's had those channels way before Dish, something that used to never happen.

Eastern Arc will not help Dish's bandwidth crunch as they will not be able to take down any existing channels from 110/119 until they get all subscribers in EA markets to migrate. In my opinion its going to be a big pain in their ass for at least the next year and a half.

 

[Jeffro34tx]

It's also much easier for cable companies to add locals to their regional area, unlike DISH or Direct which have the daunting task of adding locals for the whole nation.

 

[kstuart]

List of the top 20 shows in the prime-time Nielsen ratings

(04-29) 14:59 PDT , (AP) --
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen Media Research for April 21-27. Listings include the week's ranking, with viewership for the week and season-to-date rankings in parentheses. An "X" in parentheses denotes a one-time-only presentation.
1. (1) "American Idol" (Tuesday), Fox, 24.74 million viewers.
2. (2) "American Idol" (Wednesday), Fox, 23.2 million viewers.
3. (4) "Dancing with the Stars" (Monday), ABC, 18.04 million viewers.
4. (8) "Dancing with the Stars" (Tuesday), ABC, 17.97 million viewers.
5. (9) "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 17.02 million viewers.
6. (11) "Grey's Anatomy," ABC, 16.37 million viewers.
7. (6) "Desperate Housewives," ABC, 16.35 million viewers.
8. (15) "CSI: Miami," CBS, 14.38 million viewers.
9. (14) "NCIS," CBS, 14.24 million viewers.
10. (18) "Without a Trace," CBS, 13.47 million viewers.
11. (16) "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 13.36 million viewers.
12. (16) "Survivor: Micronesia," CBS, 12.9 million viewers.
13. (34) "Law & Order," NBC, 12.75 million viewers.
14. (18) "Lost," ABC, 12.08 million viewers.
15. (18) "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," ABC, 12.07 million viewers.
16. (27) "Law & Order: Special Victim's Unit," NBC, 11.64 million viewers.
17. (31) "Cold Case," CBS, 11.62 million viewers.
18. (34) "Brothers and Sisters," ABC, 11.19 million viewers.
19. (27) "Hell's Kitchen," Fox, 10.98 million viewers.
20. (34) "Rules of Engagement," CBS, 10.57 million viewers.

Note that no channel is on that list that is a "cable channel" (what is being called "national" in these threads).

Anyone who has two brain cells, and works for a profit-making corporation, is going to prioritize providing the above programming in HD to their customers, rather than focusing on "Spike-HD"...

 

[rjlamb]

Seems like there are a lot of shill's for E here.
You're trying to change the subject from Us being promised National HD soon since February including Scott's don't switch until May 1st and you won't be sorry. Now you're putting forth that we really don't need those channels yet because there is no HD programing on them so just be patient they'll be here soon enough.
E is not your local sports team that you cover for though thick and thin, so please don't insult us with this lame reasoning.

 

[pdxsam]

Actually yes:

http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-network-forum/118128-fox-news-sues-echostar.html

That's a link to the Fox News lawsuit. There's no concrete evidence there's a connection between that and FX-HD. You could anecdotally say there's a connection but it's pure speculation.

 

[atlind01]

Note that no channel is on that list that is a "cable channel" (what is being called "national" in these threads).

Anyone who has two brain cells, and works for a profit-making corporation, is going to prioritize providing the above programming in HD to their customers, rather than focusing on "Spike-HD"...

Excuse me! Nielsen ratings are always for OTA content and cable programming are not part of that.

 

[pdxsam]

D* does NOT have Mojo or Fox News HD channels.

What's missing is that D* does actually show HD and E* doesn't have are:

Bravo
Biography
Smithsonian
Fox Business
HBO West
Cinemax West
Showtime West
Sho Too
Tennis

Those are off the top of my head, there may be more.

and the Starz multiplexes. Dish just has Starz HD. DTV has East and West Kids Family and one other.

 

[levibluewa]

Smithsonianhd, Mgmhd...

 

[tinydoughboy]

I was thinking the same thing!