Future of C-Band Paid Programming

[Kraven]

Folks, anyone here think/feel/know if C-band paid programming will ever make a come back, or is the current HITS lineup the end of the road?

Growing up in the country, we had c-band paid programming up until 1998 when the folks switched to Expressvu. Can't explain it properly but I do miss the ol c-band days.

Cheers, K

 

[FaT Air]

but I do miss the ol c-band days

I don't presently subscribe to 4DTV, but did years ago for a while. I Think when "M" stopped support at the consumer level the writing was on the wall. I remember BITD saying Oh oh when "M" bought out GI for some reason.
It's hard to say how long SRL can keep the current providers, or how successful they will be in signing others. Another factor is the age of the consumer equipment. Sooner or later the 4DTV receivers are bound to start failing.
Think a 'come back' will require a different 'platform' that allows receivers that are not from only one supplier/licensee. And with [apparent] current policy, I don't see that happening. D15H and D1R3CT will enjoy their monopoly for years to come. I, for one, was surprised when the FCC didn't allow their merger.
BTW: OTARD's dish rules were written for them. Ku FTA was an unintended beneficiary.
I also "miss the ol c-band days" I remember seeing the Discovery Channel "Coming Soon" slate for what felt like eternity. The anticipation level was OOS.

 

[Dishman Dan]

Folks, anyone here think/feel/know if C-band paid programming will ever make a come back, or is the current HITS lineup the end of the road?

Growing up in the country, we had c-band paid programming up until 1998 when the folks switched to Expressvu. Can't explain it properly but I do miss the ol c-band days.

Cheers, K

Stay tuned!

There are changes coming!

 

[macgod79]

Dan pm me the details

 

[Xizer]

The Future of C-Band Paid Programming: there isn't one. And anything left up there for free and unencrypted will be gone in the coming decades as television networks phase out satellite uplinking completely in favor of 100% fiber distribution. Communications over any infrastructure but the Internet fiber backbones are not long for this world.

C Band is going to continue to dying and paid subscriptions for C Band are dead already without the ability to get any HD channels. No one wants to pay for a handful of standard definition channels that they have to put up a big object in their yard in today's era of 1080p online video and pizza satellite, cable, fiber, and telecom television - all of which are better quality than 4DTV these days. Why would you put up a C Band dish to subscribe to TV when DirecTV/Dish Network have over 100 HD channels and you do it all with a much easier to manage pizza dish?

None of the networks are going to want to offer people a way to subscribe directly to their HD master feeds on C Band before they stop satellite distribution either.

By the time cable is dead thanks to Internet streaming and piracy and the traditional TV model has to move to a la carte everything will be distributed via fiber and Internet streaming. Satellites are already being taken out of the picture completely. Networks will offer a way to subscribe to them individually again, but only via the Internet as they stop uplinking to satellites and the transition to full Internet distribution is complete. C Band's final years are here and they are hobbyist years only. Enjoy it while it lasts. Ku Band will stick around a lot longer to serve those very rural areas which will still require satellite a long time in the future.

 

[cyberham]

"The coming decades..." is a long time and I think it's impossible to predict anything in the area of technology that far into the future. To attempt to do so is arrogant. You make some good points. I disagree with some. Usually predictions foretelling sweeping major overall changes are wrong. You over-estimate the ability of pizza companies to satisfy everybody. Your predictions might be true in a perfect world but, fortunately, we live in a much less than perfect world. I have confidence those companies will continue to piss off significant chunks of the viewing public as people resist the ever-increasing costs associated with subscribing to TV. If I'm forced to predict something, I say it is unlikely there will ever be an option of buying single channels affordably, since that would be the cause of the quickest failure of most available content. End users would stop buying many (most?) of the currently available channels since the only way those channels are currently sold is by forcing them on the public in fixed packages.

For a very long time, there will be huge areas of the country where high-speed Internet streaming is not available. It is extremely expensive to justify optical fibre installations in low-density areas of population. Even cable TV has not hit those areas yet. Those areas will continue to be served by satellite TV for a long time.

 

[Xizer]

"The coming decades..." is a long time and I think it's impossible to predict anything in the area of technology that far into the future. To attempt to do so is arrogant.

I chose decades because that is probably how long it will take every network to take down their satellite uplinks and distribute themselves via fiber only and for satellite distribution to be completely dead. I expect to see some doing this over the next few years.

You over-estimate the ability of pizza companies to satisfy everybody.

I didn't say they were satisfying everybody. But they sure are satisfying a whole lot more people than C Band subscriptions are going to.

For a very long time, there will be huge areas of the country where high-speed Internet streaming is not available. It is extremely expensive to justify optical fibre installations in low-density areas of population. Even cable TV has not hit those areas yet. Those areas will continue to be served by satellite TV for a long time.

Like I said, it will probably be decades before there is enough fiber, cable, and high speed wireless distributing to cover all the very rural areas enough for satellite multichannel video services like DirecTV and Dish Network to be completely phased out. Paid satellite TV will continue to serve those areas for years to come, but it sure won't be C Band which is what this thread is about. C Band is dead for the home consumer and on its way out for the commercial operations.

Verizon FiOS is a great example of what can be accomplished via fiber backbone infrastructure in America today. Verizon uses just one Super Head-end in Florida equipped with big satellite dishes to receive all the network feeds they distribute to their FiOS TV subscribers (they have a backup installation in Illinois). They have markets in California, Texas, Florida and New York. Wide swaths of the country. Anyways, Verizon sends every channel from this one satellite receiving installation across the nation completely via fiber.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Stay tuned!

There are changes coming!

God I hope so.

 

[sergei]

Verizon FiOS is a great example of what can be accomplished via fiber backbone infrastructure in America today. Verizon uses just one Super Head-end in Florida equipped with big satellite dishes to receive all the network feeds they distribute to their FiOS TV subscribers (they have a backup installation in Illinois). They have markets in California, Texas, Florida and New York. Wide swaths of the country. Anyways, Verizon sends every channel from this one satellite receiving installation across the nation completely via fiber.

[h=1]Pricing for June 17 Verizon FiOS Upgrades Leaks[/h]http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2405227,00.asp

If this is the new coming thing, I think I'll past!!!!

 

[cyberham]

Pricing for June 17 Verizon FiOS Upgrades Leaks

Pricing for June 17 Verizon FiOS Upgrades Leaks | News & Opinion | PCMag.com

If this is the new coming thing, I think I'll past!!!!

You may have company with those same feelings. Just because "more" or "faster" is offered and technically possible does not mean end users will pay more.

 

[KE4EST]

Dan pm me the details

Yes please PM me also.

 

[eurosport]

Fios is not an example of anything in the future. They only built out so far and quit.

Sent from my DROIDX using SatelliteGuys

 

[Xizer]

Pricing for June 17 Verizon FiOS Upgrades Leaks

Pricing for June 17 Verizon FiOS Upgrades Leaks | News & Opinion | PCMag.com

If this is the new coming thing, I think I'll past!!!!

I'm quite content with my 300 Mbps Verizon FiOS connection + every single HD channel on their system equipped with three Ceton InfiniTV 4 CableCARD™ tuners allowing for 12 channels to be recorded/viewed simultaneously on my 20 terabyte HTPC + phone service for $200 a month.

It's a better value than what those rip off cell phone companies are charging these days.

 

[cyberham]

$2400/year for TV/phone? You...are...an...enigma!

 

[Xizer]

Believe it or not, some of us aren't poor.

Some people like to spend money on a $200 pair of jeans. Others like to spend it on alcohol, or cigarettes.

My TV subscription costs the same as buying that $200 pair of jeans or inhaling cancer every month.

 

[kodaz]

naw, not me.
i would consider spending that much on a car payment though...
50.00 a month is more than i am willing to spend on programming that i may watch 1 or 2 channels of.

Hey Dan, send me that info on the changes too!! i am a HUGE c-band junkie

 

[earlief]

PM me also dan

 

[Mr Tony]

Stay tuned!

There are changes coming!

so why dont you tell us then?????

 

[wallyhts]

The Future of C-Band Paid Programming: there isn't one. And anything left up there for free and unencrypted will be gone in the coming decades as television networks phase out satellite uplinking completely in favor of 100% fiber distribution. Communications over any infrastructure but the Internet fiber backbones are not long for this world.

C Band is going to continue to dying and paid subscriptions for C Band are dead already without the ability to get any HD channels. No one wants to pay for a handful of standard definition channels that they have to put up a big object in their yard in today's era of 1080p online video and pizza satellite, cable, fiber, and telecom television - all of which are better quality than 4DTV these days. Why would you put up a C Band dish to subscribe to TV when DirecTV/Dish Network have over 100 HD channels and you do it all with a much easier to manage pizza dish?

None of the networks are going to want to offer people a way to subscribe directly to their HD master feeds on C Band before they stop satellite distribution either.

By the time cable is dead thanks to Internet streaming and piracy and the traditional TV model has to move to a la carte everything will be distributed via fiber and Internet streaming. Satellites are already being taken out of the picture completely. Networks will offer a way to subscribe to them individually again, but only via the Internet as they stop uplinking to satellites and the transition to full Internet distribution is complete. C Band's final years are here and they are hobbyist years only. Enjoy it while it lasts. Ku Band will stick around a lot longer to serve those very rural areas which will still require satellite a long time in the future.

Not so sure about 100% fiber. It costs too much money. Let me give you an example I own a small clec and just got a quote from two companies to lay underground 144S of single mode fiber for about a mile cheapest bid was $730,000.

FCC is pushing wireless back hauls for rural areas fiber is too much and is not getting any cheaper.

What I am watching is Hughes net "gen 4" 100 Gbps that's awesome. That's 100,000 1Mbps streams from blockbuster then what if they have spot beams lets say 50 then that's 5,000,000 1Mbps streams.

ISP's may be forced to allow anything on the network. But and it's a big but they can limit your transfer (AT&T does it right now on dsl and uv) I don't think that they are going to let the bread and butter just walk out the door that easy.

 

[trinidex]

Stay tuned!

There are changes coming!

I'd appreciate a PM with info....thanks!