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Scott Greczkowski
Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU! Cutting Edge
Last reply · posted in DISH Network Support Forum
I just had the opportunity to speak one on one with Charlie Ergen, the CEO of Echostar Communications / Dish Network about the distant network issue.

Charlie wants to urge everyone to CALL their senators and leave them a message at (202) 224-3121 telling them to protect the legal Distant Network customer that receive their distant locals from Dish Network.

Charlie mention that 20 or 25 calls on this issue per senator will get them to take notice of this issue.

It is expected that the distant network shutoffs will effect many viewers from the states of PA, VT, AK, HI, KY, TN, OR, MT, UT. Members in those areas are especially urged as they will be the ones who will be most effected by this shutoff.

I asked Charlie about the reports of some of our members getting their distant networks shut off as of today and he confirmed that they have begun the shutoff process, and said it is being done randomly, and the last customers will be shut off on or by the December 1st deadline.

If you have been shutoff, please call (202) 224-3121 NOW, your call might just get you your networks back in the future!

And while Dish Network is running the website http://www.savemychannels.com where you can email your senators, your efforts would be better served by calling in and talking to someone about this issue.

A big thank you to from Charlie to everyone who has already called in or wrote in. Remember you can call in daily about this if you want. Let congress know your a legal customer and you want your distant networks today.

In addition Charlie emailed me a letter which will be going out in awhile to all retailers, he has given me permission to repost this letter here.

Please call, and get the word out. Together we CAN make a difference!

IMPORTANT NOTICE
Save Distant Network Programming
Contact Your U.S. Senators and Representative in Congress Today

November 1, 2006

Dear DISH Network Retailer,

As you know, on October 20, 2006, a district court judge issued an order rejecting the joint settlement agreement between EchoStar and broadcasters and entered a permanent injunction requiring us to shut off "distant network" channels to all customers by December 1, 2006. As a result we must start tuning off customers daily over the next 30 days to meet the December 1 date.

We are disappointed by the court's decision, and we are working aggressively to preserve all channels for as many customers as possible. Congress is the ONLY entity that can preserve network signals for these customers They are scheduled to meet in a post election session starting November 13. Congress has the ability to preserve our customers networks BEFORE the injunction deadline. Many in Congress have expressed a desire to address the issue and to framework legislation to preserve distant networks for those customers who legally qualify and in markets where we do not offer local channels by satellite. They need your SUPPORT. If you agree this is an important customer issue we offer some suggestions later in this notice.

What are Distant Network Channels?

Distant network channels are the ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX broadcast channels customers get from us by satellite that originate outside their community. This injunction does not, however, affect or upset in any way our ability to offer local network channels to local markets (i.e., local ABC, NBC, CBS, or FOX network channels). The good news is that we offer local channels by satellite in 170 markets, serving over 96 percent of the U.S. households. The injunction also does not affect any of our other great programming we offer, like ESPN, USA, Discovery, and Showtime. Nonetheless, hundreds of thousands of customers would be impacted by the forced shutdown of their distant network channels.

What is DISH Network Doing?

DISH Network will continue to do everything it can to prevent as many customers as possible from losing their distant network channels, as we are aggressively working towards a congressional and a judicial solution. Congress can pass legislation to protect consumers, and we will ask the courts to reconsider their decision.

What Can You Do and When?
You can alert Congress to the pressing need for action and to the importance of distant networks to your business and for consumers. The window for congressional action in this session will be very short when Congress returns on November 13, 2006. As a result, it is critical that your voice is heard on Capitol Hill today.

Specifically, you can help prevent these distant network channels from being taken away by immediately going to www.savemychannels.com. Simply type in your ZIP code, and this web site will show the names and email addresses for the two U.S. Senators from your state, and for the Representative in Congress from your local district. It's so easy to use, you can even send an email message to them directly from the web site.

You can also help by placing phone calls directly to Congress. Simply call 202-224-3121, tell the operator where you live, and they can connect you to your elected Representatives' offices. Since they can only put you through to one number at a time, please call back two more times to be sure you reach both of your Senators, and your Representative in Congress. Please do not send mail, it may not get to Washington in time.

The message is simple. Tell your elected officials that Congress CAN pass legislation to protect consumers from unnecessarily losing access to their distant network channels, and that Congress NEEDS to act now, but this can't happen unless Congress hears from YOU today. Here is some language that you can use:

· Hello Congressman or Senator___.
· My name is ___ and I am a DISH Network Retailer [and customer].
· I understand that a court recently ordered DISH Network to shut off all distant network signals being provided to consumers in our state.
· This court decision will require a shutdown no later than December 1, 2006.
· If this happens, consumers will be confused and angry. It will also impact my business and my employees locally.
· I am calling to ask you to help do anything to resolve this situation and make sure consumers are not harmed.

We will continue to keep you informed of significant developments. In the meantime, please go to www.savemychannels.com today.

Thank You for Supporting DISH Network.

Again thank you to all SatelliteGuys members and forum members from around the country for your help in this matter!
151 Replies · 25675 views
BobMurdoch
This is akin to seizing someone's car because they were speeding.

Yeah, well, it's not that inconvenient, you can always buy another car.

WHAT?

It was a bad law, and I'm shocked that the Supremes aren't fighting for the right of a viewer to purchase programming that both a distributor and a consumer want to buy. At the very least it fails the stink test, as the only party to refuse the settlement OWNS THE COMPETITION WHO WILL BE POACHING THE CUSTOMERS AFFECTED BY THIS.

This violates both the letter and the spirit of the decision authorizing the acquisition of D* by News Corp. with conditions. Those conditions were to not withhold network programming they control in an attempt to compel customers to switch to their service. WHY isn't anyone screaming this to high heaven? With the networks and the independent affiliates losing out on $100 million over this, I'm surprised they haven't been mentioning this on their news broadcasts trying to make more people aware of this egregious practice.
C
Senators dish and direct satellite

Steve Toth has lived in a motorhome since 1998 and along with thousand of othe rv fulltime husband and wife teams have local television channels where we are licensed we are licensed under daughter in arizona

we love east and west nbc abc fox cbs etc for when you are in other parts of the country get news weather

Please do not take away east and west television channels from fulltime motorhome and trailer husband and wife teams

we pay around 6 dollars month for east and west channels

thank you for keeping our channels steve toth
Pepper
Steve Toth has lived in a motorhome since 1998 and along with thousand of othe rv fulltime husband and wife teams have local television channels where we are licensed we are licensed under daughter in arizona
Unfortunately, it looks like you will only have locals when you are near "home" in the spotbeam.

Maybe Dish could come up with a variation of the RV/Truck waiver, give those people a "priority" phone number they could call on a daily basis (high tech version: make this part of "my account" at dishnetwork.com), tell the CSR what zipcode they are in, and get locals turned on. If they are telling the truth about where they are, the locals will be available on spotbeam.
M
Just caught the live audio feed meeting with Charlie and anaylists. Couple of interesting things(at least to me) regarding Distants. First, Charlie says 900,000 subs are affected, second, for those that don't have locals, E* is basically writing us off. They fully expect we will leave for Direct or cable and E*'s answer is go out and steal current cable or Direct customers to replace us. THe big news is that Charlie admitted they made mistake in pushing this Distant lawsuit too far.
Hall
First, Charlie says 900,000 subs are affected, second, for those that don't have locals, E* is basically writing us off.
And again, of those 900,000, only a small number don't have local channels available now.
They fully expect we will leave for Direct or cable...
One, doesn't Dish have more local markets than DirecTV ?? Odds are, DirecTV won't be able to offer most locals. As for cable, if you're in a market with no locals, does your town or location even have cable service available ??
T
And again, of those 900,000, only a small number don't have local channels available now??


I don't know where this comes from. In the town I just moved from there were around 4,000 or so people. None were eligible for LIL with Dish or Direct. It wouldn't take very many small towns to add up to 900,000.

We had 1 station 75 miles away (on the other side of a fairly big mountain) and the other networks were 220+ miles away. Ironic that the Reno DMA contained the networks that could (and in some cases did) deny our waiver, yet we weren't eligible for Reno LIL because we were so far away.

Now that I've moved to Reno and had to live with the horrible horrible locals here I wish I had my distant nets back.
T
Unfortunately, it looks like you will only have locals when you are near "home" in the spotbeam.

Maybe Dish could come up with a variation of the RV/Truck waiver, give those people a "priority" phone number they could call on a daily basis (high tech version: make this part of "my account" at dishnetwork.com), tell the CSR what zipcode they are in, and get locals turned on. If they are telling the truth about where they are, the locals will be available on spotbeam.

I'd hate to see any futher decrease in CONUS offerings, but as an aside, why not just offer all of the markets (limited only by spotbeam range) for a flat rate to qualifed subscribers? Similarly, I'd like to see such a package offered to all customers, with--as long as we are subject to such freedom robbing laws--unqualified content blacked out, or preferably just impeded to a point where we would be more apt to watch the local affiliate if truly available.

When LIL first began, it was possible to choose any market you wanted, though I believe it was limited to three or four markets in total. I'm sure this is a stupid question to most, but can someone tell me the purpose of the advent of spotbeams? Is it to prevent viewing outside the intended area, or does it increase the satellites' capacity by not requring everything to cover such a large footprint?
TNGTony
I'd hate to see any futher decrease in CONUS offerings, but as an aside, why not just offer all of the markets (limited only by spotbeam range) for a flat rate to qualifed subscribers?

A little thing called the law! Only two of each network is the max one can have legally now. And for Dish, starting December 1, the number is closer to zero. :)


Similarly, I'd like to see such a package offered to all customers, with--as long as we are subject to such freedom robbing laws--unqualified content blacked out, or preferably just impeded to a point where we would be more apt to watch the local affiliate if truly available.
This is my cue to remind everyone that without laws like the SHVREA, no distant network channels from anywhere would be available to anyone ever. The "evil" laws in question are permissive. They ALLOW satellite companies to do things AGAINST the will of the stations, program providers, syndicators and copyright owners they are carrying.

When LIL first began, it was possible to choose any market you wanted, though I believe it was limited to three or four markets in total. I'm sure this is a stupid question to most, but can someone tell me the purpose of the advent of spotbeams? Is it to prevent viewing outside the intended area, or does it increase the satellites' capacity by not requring everything to cover such a large footprint?

That would be a capacity issue. If you take a look at www.dishchannelchart.com take a look at how many times several transponders are re-used!

See ya
Tony
Hall
I don't know where this comes from. In the town I just moved from there were around 4,000 or so people. None were eligible for LIL with Dish or Direct. It wouldn't take very many small towns to add up to 900,000.
First off, are you suggesting that everyone in that town is/was a Dish customer ?? I suspect not..... If the average household has what 2.x people, and everyone in town was a customer, that's approx 1600 customers to Dish. Dish and Directv have similar number of customers, so let's divide that in half again to 800 for Dish, 800 for Directv. This all assumes again that everyone is a customer of one or the other.

Second, when Dish throws out numbers, they mean "accounts", if you will, not viewers. I am (1) customer to them, not (5) (wife and kids).
Tom Bombadil
This is akin to seizing someone's car because they were speeding.

Well, if you want to use this as an analogy, it would be more like a person who was caught speeding and found guilty in court. Then they went out and were caught a couple more times, and found guilty in court again. But they continued to speed, driving even faster, were caught a few more times and found guilty in court.

Then after the last conviction, they attempted to pay everyone off in order to be able to keep on driving.

Such a person would lose their license and not be allowed to drive any car.

If Charlie had really wanted to keep DNS, he would have cleaned up E*'s act after the first court loss, keeping existing grandfathered DNS subs on while strictly applying the rules to all new subs, just as D* did. But instead he decided to go on breaking the law and now must pay the piper.

A lot of the current anger and frustration should be directed at Charlie, for having taken the actions that endangered and eventually lost you the opportunity to receive DNS from E*.
G
Tom Bombadil said:
If Charlie had really wanted to keep DNS, he would have cleaned up E*'s act after the first court loss, keeping existing grandfathered DNS subs on while strictly applying the rules to all new subs, just as D* did. But instead he decided to go on breaking the law and now must pay the piper.
Close.

There was only "one" court case. There was an early decision against Dish Network, then appealed and remanded for retrial. Then again, another decision which was handed down early 2003.

The difference is during the retrial, Dish Network's practices were questioned using their April, 2002 data. Also submitted into evidence was everything from the original suit back in 1999. So, over a three year period, the amount of invalid subscribers were skyrocketing. Dish Network may have won the first appeal for the retrial, but the retrial did them no good.

Dish Network received the benefit of the doubt in the courts. The problem was that they thought there was no way they would lose, and they certainly wouldn't settle. Until it was too late, that is.
T
First off, are you suggesting that everyone in that town is/was a Dish customer ?? I suspect not..... If the average household has what 2.x people, and everyone in town was a customer, that's approx 1600 customers to Dish. Dish and Directv have similar number of customers, so let's divide that in half again to 800 for Dish, 800 for Directv. This all assumes again that everyone is a customer of one or the other.

Second, when Dish throws out numbers, they mean "accounts", if you will, not viewers. I am (1) customer to them, not (5) (wife and kids).

Good points. I was thinking in terms of viewers, not accounts. And though 70% of the town has a Dish on the roof or the front trailer hitch odds are half those are D*.
Bobby
Supporting Founder Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in DISH Network Support Forum
This thread is a place to discuss the 4K events that appear on channel 540. We are getting, at this point, one college football game a week. Let's hope there is more coming.
1938 Replies · 302176 views
long_time_Dish
No NASCAR in 4K on Sunday? Bummer...
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Jim5506
No NASCAR in 4K on Sunday? Bummer...
It's on Prime.
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long_time_Dish
It's on Prime.
Ah, ok, thanks!
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Foxbat
The World Series Game 1 quality was excellent, the Dolby Surround put us in the seats. Thanks, Dish!
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S
Not seeing many 4k games on the 148 channels lately?

Also I do not see the 4KFox channel on 148-01; I also do not subscribed to our Local Houston channels.

Maybe I need to subscribe to locals or add the National Action Pack? Not sure the extra cost is worth it??

thx for any info or suggestions

S
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jsmit86
Not seeing many 4k games on the 148 channels lately?

Also I do not see the 4KFox channel on 148-01; I also do not subscribed to our Local Houston channels.

Maybe I need to subscribe to locals or add the National Action Pack? Not sure the extra cost is worth it??

thx for any info or suggestions

S
Most of the 4K action on the 148-xx channels will be on Saturday for College Football. For whatever reason, the guide does not show the games until later in the week. The Fox Big Noon game will show up, and there will usually be a couple of other games, some on Fox, and some on ESPN.

I don't know if you need to be subscribed to locals to get them.
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ewindowman
Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in DISH Network Support Forum
Looks like dish is Bankrupt. Filling tomorrow Tuesday June 30th
469 Replies · 16710 views
comfortably_numb

Too bad their service is expensive and their coverage sucks compared to the other two of the Big 3
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Juan
Too bad their service is expensive and their coverage sucks compared to the other two of the Big 3
Was that a back door compliment for Verizon?
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dishstaller
Meanwhile att is getting rid of overseas call centers

Too little too late.

I can actually shed some light on the corp attitude towards call centers.

2015-2017 I was on the Viasat Dealer Council. They would fly us out to CO or CA and wine and dine us. Pretty cool but I was there to give my input because I was a top retailer and I wanted things to improve.
Anyway, at one of the meetings I brought up the fact that customers constantly complained about the overseas call centers. The VP of the company told me that I just didn't understand....those people cost something like 25% of what US employees would cost. Well, as usual when I went out to these meetings, I was loaded for bear....ie facts. I gave them an example of a customer who spent over an hour with one of these call centers and still never got her issue resolved. She called me the next morning after we opened and I had her situation fixed in 2 minutes. I told him "So you guys paid this overseas call center X amount but the customer still wasn't taken care of. I on the other hand, and a US call center probably would have as well because there wouldn't have been the language barrier, had her taken care of in 2 min. so your savings just went right out the door because a US call center would have taken care of her and MANY other customers while your overseas call center did nothing more than PISS off a customer.
Blank stares was all I got.

And THAT was when I realized just how incompetent most of the people are who run these companies. It WAS an enlightening experience.
Almighty1
Even 23 years ago, Verizon was known for having quality customer service. T-Mobile had quality customer service too but just poor mobile service. AT&T when it was still known as AT&T Wireless, Cingular Wireless both had poor customer service. This was when all three were providing customer service from the U.S. so even in the U.S., some companies are still better than others as it still depends on who they hire. That's the same reason AT&T Broadband Inc. which was basically their Cable TV never gotten far and got sold to Comcast.
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comfortably_numb
And THAT was when I realized just how incompetent most of the people are who run these companies

I wouldn't call it incompetence necessarily, it's just that the customer is only a device now, the old idea that you need to spend money to make money has been forgotten. They're not looking at the long game. They're looking at immediate exposure and shareholder value. Spending a lot of money on local call centers might be a good long term investment, but it doesn't do anything for them in the short term. That's what the blank stares were about, they thought YOU didn't get it.
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comfortably_numb
Was that a back door compliment for Verizon?

And TMO. If anybody's lagging behind the most, it's ATT.
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dishstaller
Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter
· posted in The Chit Chat Club
Now after reading this story I walked away thinking that this is being blown out of proportion because of the incredibly low numbers of those affected.....BUT....I've read posts by some of you who are taking this drug so I figured it was worth posting.

0 Replies · 10 views
dfergie
Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU!
Last reply · posted in The Chit Chat Club
Stumbled across this ... http://www.gaspricewatch.com/USGas_ZipSearch.asp
I found no local prices, although it did show stations at my location...
Added these to this post...
USA National Gas Temperature Map
State By State Gasoline Taxes
Gas Buddy

Ethanol Free Stations

5572 Replies · 463170 views
osu1991
$3.55
R
$3.45 in Jane, MO.
Bobby
Regular$5.299​
Premium$5.859​
Diesel$7.599​
at Costco, Rohnert Park.​
harshness
Finally! Some big movement in California diesel pricing (and no, there is no such beastie as a diesel "winter formula").

Crude (combined pricing) is around $90/barrel now, so prices should have, at least, fallen in step with the crude futures.
dishstaller
Finally! Some big movement in California diesel pricing (and no, there is no such beastie as a diesel "winter formula").
Just curious here.....then why is diesel so much higher out there than it is elsewhere. Bobby just posted $7.59/gal, locally it is $5.59.....that's two bucks difference. :eeek
Scott Greczkowski
Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU! Cutting Edge
Last reply · posted in The Chit Chat Club
Sometimes a thread gets so many posts in it that is can cause issues for the server so that why today we introduce The Song Name Game Part 3!

So let the game continue!

The last song was added by Bobby who posted...

One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters

CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!

Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game

Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.

Example:

Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow

Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio

Another example:

Ride the Lightning -- Metallica

Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne


Get it?


An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....
68796 Replies · 2689209 views
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EatMyVolts
Expressway to Your Heart -- The Soul Survivors
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long_time_Dish
Find A Way To My Heart - Phil Collins
H
FIND Your Way Back-Jefferson Starship
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ClarkGable
Working My Way Back To You - The Four Seasons
dishstaller
Don't Look Back - Boston
KAB
KAB
Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter
· posted in Movie Talk
Not a bit surprised.

0 Replies · 21 views
Ramy
Supporting Founder
Last reply · posted in The Sports Section
Really excited for this season with Kentucky having a new coach and some really exciting recruits. Probably won't last long, but here's hoping this season is great.
200 Replies · 3852 views
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cp2k
I like the move to campus sites for the early games. That adds a fun new dimension for fans, and cuts down on some of the travel expenses that would come with having to follow a team all the way through the playoffs at neutral sites.
Jimbo
I like the move to campus sites for the early games. That adds a fun new dimension for fans, and cuts down on some of the travel expenses that would come with having to follow a team all the way through the playoffs at neutral sites.
Agree ... they started doing that a few years ago.