The Dish April 1st New HD Saga (Merged Threads)

Someone needs to make a Wiki entry for "pulling a Charlie", "charlying", "getting Charlied", "Ergened", Ergening (engaging in Ergenomics), Ergenomics, Charlie Rolled, and Ergenismic, and Ergenist (the guy who engages in Ergening people).
 
Assuming that your inference is correct, Scott (because as you will admit your sources have misled you before), it could be technical issues but it could just as likely be contract issues; you know, Charlie holding the channels hostage because he thinks he can get a better deal.
Its not contractual, as the contracts for these channels were signed months ago. This was widely mentioned in the mainstream news.

I don't think I am being mislead in my information, it comes from 3 seperate trusted sources and the info matches from all 3 (and the documents from all 3 are different) :)
 
I'm sure eventually Scott or someone else will get word from dish that the new national hd was postponed because of technical problems.

If that's the case, why didn't they have these problems worked out days or weeks ago? It's not like Charlie made this announcement yesterday.

Apparently DirecTV didn't have much difficulting getting the correct signal from the network, running the miles of cable or any of the other BS excuses dish gives.
.
+1
 
What i was told about april 1st hd...

Please wait while we find a representative to assist you...
You have been connected to (03) Jeremy K..
(03) Jeremy K.: Thank you for being a valued DISH Network customer. How may I assist you?
I was wanting to ask about the new hd that was supposed to launch yesterday
have you guys heard anything about why it didn't launch?
(03) Jeremy K.: I'd be happy to assist you with that.
(03) Jeremy K.: For account security purposes, can I please verify the full name and address with zip code that is on the account?

(03) Jeremy K.: Thank you for verifying. I appreciate your time.
(03) Jeremy K.: May I know which channel in High Definition you are referring to?
was annoucned on april 1st that comedy central hd, bet hd, vh1 hd, mtv hd, nick hd, and spike tv hd
would be available
(03) Jeremy K.: The Channels that you have mentioned will be available in Spring 2009.
so why was it told to the customers april 1st???
(03) Jeremy K.: I am sorry if some body gave any kind of wrong information on these channels.
(03) Jeremy K.: Please refer the following web link for new channel line up at DISH Network - 2009 Updates - 1.888.825.2557
well it was the boss of dish that gave the information
charlie ergen
(03) Jeremy K.: Please give me a minute while I check if we have any information on this.
k
(03) Jeremy K.: Thank you for your time and patience.
thank you
(03) Jeremy K.: I have checked the information on the above channels in HD.
(03) Jeremy K.: We tried to give our Customers all the above channels in High Definition from April 1st 2009.
ok ...
(03) Jeremy K.: However, the negotiation on the price did not match.
(03) Jeremy K.: We are still under negotiation to provide the lowest possible price on these channels to all our Customers so that it won't be an extra burden.
(03) Jeremy K.: We hope to reach and agreement for a fair price very soon.
Ash Hutto: hmmmmmmmmmmm....i see
(03) Jeremy K.: Please keep browsing our web site for all the channels that will be added in spring 2009.
(03) Jeremy K.: The web link for the new channel is: DISH Network - 2009 Updates - 1.888.825.2557


My take is this...How is this good for business...??? Shouldn't someone from up above at dish release a statement or a press release. I've never had any problems with dish in the past...just not sure as to some of the business decsions they make from time to time.

Scott...I appreciate everything you do for this site and everything you do for us. With out you or this site, I wouldn't know anything about what is going on and for that I am grateful to have this site.

Do you have any idea what could have happened or if this csr knows anything???

Thanks for everything
 
If you aren't gonna light up new HD by the date you say... keep your damn mouth shut. I'd rather think I'm gonna have the same crappy line up, than get my hopes up over some unfulfilled BS date that the MAN HIMSELF said. Anybody that says we're over reacting is a tool.

You people all need to chill some!! I have been waiting for the MSG family of channels in HD (for Buffalo Sabres Games), the YES Network (Yankees) for ever, and my local ABC Affiliate in Buffalo in HD, and I am gonna get them SOON, sometime in May. Thats when my NHL Center Ice Subscription runs out, and if Dish don't have by then, both Directv and TWC have them. And you know what, because I will be a new sub at Directv or a "Dump the Dish" sub at TWC, I am gonna get a great programing deal for atleast one year:)

Its great to bitch and complain, but unless you are gonna do something about why bother? It's just like; people whom don't vote in Elections, shouldn't whine and complain about their government.
 
Agreed.

Keep your expectations low and you won't be disappointed. The world is still turning and life is still worth living without the new HD.

That's what's wrong these days, people have lowered their expectations so much, they have become mindless robots. That's the governments wet dream.
 
Its not contractual, as the contracts for these channels were signed months ago. This was widely mentioned in the mainstream news.

I don't think I am being mislead in my information, it comes from 3 seperate trusted sources and the info matches from all 3 (and the documents from all 3 are different) :)

Your judgment as to whether or not you could be misled has proven to be pretty much spot on, so OK; I just included that as a caveat.

However, as far as contractual goes, I wouldn't put it past Charlie to throw up a roadblock at the last minute. After all, contracts really mean little today; anyone can refuse to honor one and say "sue me"! I'm sure Charlie is familiar with that tactic. :) Agree it's not very likely but how likely would it be that, after all this time to prepare and test, Dish is experiencing technical issues?
 
You people all need to chill some!! I have been waiting for the MSG family of channels in HD (for Buffalo Sabres Games), the YES Network (Yankees) for ever, and my local ABC Affiliate in Buffalo in HD, and I am gonna get them SOON, sometime in May. Thats when my NHL Center Ice Subscription runs out, and if Dish don't have by then, both Directv and TWC have them. And you know what, because I will be a new sub at Directv or a "Dump the Dish" sub at TWC, I am gonna get a great programing deal for atleast one year:)

Its great to bitch and complain, but unless you are gonna do something about why bother? It's just like; people whom don't vote in Elections, shouldn't whine and complain about their government.

Just like you shouldn't take the time to write about people writing and complaining... it's not going to change anything.
 
CSR's are ALWAYS the last to know.

For example, they lit up a bunch of new HD locals yesterday.

If you were in one of the areas where HD locals were launched and called Dish trying to order them you would have been told that they are not available and they have no information.

However today you call back and the reps now have all the info and can activate the channels for you.

Dish for some reason uplinks on Wednesdays but channels dont become officially available (and CSR's are not notified) until Thursday.

Its a screwed up system.
 
If you aren't gonna light up new HD by the date you say... keep your damn mouth shut. I'd rather think I'm gonna have the same crappy line up, than get my hopes up over some unfulfilled BS date that the MAN HIMSELF said. Anybody that says we're over reacting is a tool.

And then with no HD announcements, we get whiny threads about no new HD, the rest of us just can't win.....

Here's an idea for a thread for you to start - "What kind of tool are you?" You could even have a poll. Screwdriver, Axe, Shovel, etc.

Good luck with that.
 
No I don't think thats it.

I will be honest, I was alerted last week that there was a problem with on of the HD channels (BET HD) and was told that contractually they must launch them all together (which makes ZERO sense to me since they added BETJ by itself)

If you notice the info I posted about BET HD is still strange and has no virtual channel number.

My GUESS (and this is only my guess) is that BET HD is still having issues and was the cause of the delay.

I will also be honest and spoke with people at Dish who were waiting for the channels to come on. They told me they were just like us waiting for the uplink.

All signs point to technical trouble, and if it is then why can't they just come out and say it?
 
Your judgment as to whether or not you could be misled has proven to be pretty much spot on, so OK; I just included that as a caveat.

However, as far as contractual goes, I wouldn't put it past Charlie to throw up a roadblock at the last minute. After all, contracts really mean little today; anyone can refuse to honor one and say "sue me"! I'm sure Charlie is familiar with that tactic. :) Agree it's not very likely but how likely would it be that, after all this time to prepare and test, Dish is experiencing technical issues?
I definitely agree about the technical issues. There shouldnt have been any problems with the amount of time they have had to prepare for this.
However, i dont think it is a contract problem as i dont believe Dish would announce on tv they are carrying these channels starting april 1st, and not have a signed contract for those channels. If it is technical problems, and they last for much longer, someone might get fired.
 
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It's funny, because most of those channels show very little actual HD content, yet people are up-in-arms.

I don't understand.

Most of Sprike TV's programs are in HD.

Nick has a lot of stuff in HD (I was watching the other night on DirecTV and was surprised how much was there)

MTV has some HD but not as much as I would like..

Havent seen any HD from VH1.

CMT has a few shows in HD.

BET is like BETJ no HD ever seen on this channel

Comedy Central is starting to show a lot of HD movies and a few shows.
 
"If you notice the info I posted about BET HD is still strange and has no virtual channel number."

BET has no virtual channel for the 53xx because it was removed from the Latino packages, last year or the year before.
 
All signs point to technical trouble, and if it is then why can't they just come out and say it?

Well that certainly is a possible explanation. One of several, but certainly consistent with what's happening.

Why wouldn't they say so? Probably because the bulk of their subscriber base either isn't aware these channels were supposed to launch yesterday or don't sit on the edge of their seats waiting for them. Dish probably figures it would do more harm to say "hey, you know those channels that were supposed to launch Wednesday? We're having technical problems but will have them up soon" than it would to simply act as if nothing's wrong (hoping this is resolved soon). But I'm still allowing for a Charlie power-play.
 

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