Can Dish wait to add more HD

[slicked25]

OK, after checking out the grass on the other side there are 10 HD channels that Directtv has that I'd want.

CSTV
HBO West
The Movie Channel
Showtime 2
Showtime West
4 more Starz channels
VH1

Out of the above 10 that are worth watching and factoring in the one's we've obviously already have only 2 are not premimum in CSTV and VH1. I'd take MTV but it's so overrated it's not even funny unless you "like" Perez Hilton fan? Don't try to kill me but I didn't see Voom listed and personally, could care less if they had Voom or not but after checking their packages, am I missing something here?

Thank God I didn't trade in my Vette (and no, it's not The almighty C6 Zo6 but 170mph ain't too shabby for a '94) because I've been feeling a little inferior to the grass on the other side of the fence (DTV.) And at the end of the day my 35 dollar (Dish HD Only) bill still looks great.

http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/global/contentPageNR.jsp?assetId=3420007

 

[gadgtfreek]

I agree, the HD Only pack is hard to beat for the price. I spent the last day or so evaluating options, theres just not anything in my area to beat it.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

DISH has always been the leader in premiums up until now-.

They Still are , These are the premiums D* has that E* doesn't .

1. HBO Family West

Now the list E* has that D* doesn't,

1. HBO Comedy
2. Action Max
3. 5 Star Max
4. Starz Cinema
5. Showtime Beyond
6. The Movie Channel Xtra East
7. The Movie Channel Xtra West

Plus E* has every other premium that D has. These are available to SD customers as well. Where Starz Comedy and Starz Kids and Family isn't on D*. Now HD on E*

1. HBO East
2. Cinemax East
3. Cinemax West
4. 5 Star Max
5. Starz East
6. Showtime East

Now HD on D*

1. HBO East
2. HBO West
3. Cinemax East
4. Cinemax West
5. Starz East
6. Starz West
7. Starz Edge
8. Starz Kids and Family
9. Starz Comedy
10. Showtime East
11. Showtime West
12. Showtime 2 East
13. The Movie Channel East

Clearly more HD channels. But Not as much over all Variety In SD and HD premiums IMO. Which is why I picked E*. Now if your talking Sports D* Smashes E*. D* might even beat E* in locals SD and HD. Once E* figures out what going on with Eastern Arc and Western Arc , You could bet money E* will have a bunch more HD premiums.

 

[TulsaCoker]

The HD only package is genius and will only get better as the year progresses. A very strong marketing plan.

You are correct maketing great....as a business plan though it sucks. Nothing like cutting your revenues by more then half.

 

[dholmes_chem]

You are correct maketing great....as a business plan though it sucks. Nothing like cutting your revenues by more then half.

Perhaps, Charlie is like a Crack dealer. He'll give you a taste of HD for cheap, then once you're addicted, you'll want more, you'll need more like HD premiums, sports, etc. And once you have all that, he'll jump the price of HDonly. All in all, not a bad marketing plan.

 

[Islandguy43]

The only thing preventing it from being perfect is the exclusion of the RSN(s).

Can the multisport be added to the HD Only Pack?

 

[db2]

I need my RSN to make the switch to HD only. Allow the multisports pack and I will sign up tomorrow.

+1

 

[ripnbigc]

I want the HD only pack, but gotta wait for Speed and FX!

 

[gadgtfreek]

I want the HD only pack, but gotta wait for Speed and FX!

FX was a concern, but I can pick up Nip Tuck and the Shield on netflix (most likely in bluray )

 

[M Sparks]

Clearly more HD channels. But Not as much over all Variety In SD and HD premiums IMO.

Yes, but I'm finding I watch the SD versions less and less. If I see something on an SD premium I want to watch, I will run a search on it and try to find the HD version to record. If it's not available in HD over the next nine days, then I'll just watch the SD version.

HBO Comedy has a ton of stand-up stuff that's not available in HD anyway, and rarely shown on other channels...so it's valuable even in SD.

So, for me, DISH still has the edge on HBO and Cinemax, and DirecTv has the edge on Starz and Showtime. I would especially like to have The Movie Channel HD. But, the Showtime/TMC channels are uplinked, all they have to do is turn them on...

BTW...I guess I didn't realize there was no Starz Cinema HD. Lame. They should have done that instead of the kids channel.

 

[Sphagnum]

Dish within the next month has to add more HD channels or pay a high price of losing viewership

...You take yourself WAY too seriously! 99% of the Dish subscribers out there aren't waiting on bated breath for more HD channels... Yes, you love HD and I love HD and we both don't wanna watch anything BUT HD.. but even I am plenty happy with what HD I have now and waiting patiently for the entire industry to slowly switch over to an all/mostly HD channel lineup...

Dish isn't going to lose subscribers in droves in 1 month if they don't add HD channels NOW as you suggest.... yes, they are losing subscribers to DirectTV in a general trend, but that waxes and wanes and it will come back to them as they add the content in the coming months and years.... I would wager to say that the VAST majority of Dish subscribers could either care less about their HD channels, are satisfied (for now) with the HD channels they have, or are content to wait (or have to wait due to contract) until more HD is uploaded....

 

[MikeD-C05]

How do you account for the last quarter drop off of subs? DIRECTV had a 17 % increase and DISH had an 84 % drop off of new subs. THey actually lost subs even with the new subs added in. IF it weren't for DIRECTV adding all those hd channels and their advertising that they had more hd channels than anyone else , this wouldn't of happened. HD is what new subs want and DISH got caught for over 9 months without any and lost because of it. Not many DISH existing subs care about hd but that is not where sat companies make their money anyway. THey are all about the new customers. Without new subs coming in to replenish the old subs who churn for whatever reason, they would quickly go out of business. THIs is why there is suddenly a push for the eastern arc to launch by September and the drop of Voom. THey needed more bandwith for national hd channels that people watch. IF DISH doesn't get back in parity with DIRECTV's channels by this Fall and even add those channels that DIRECTV doesn't have , they will indeed lose even more subs. I don't think that DISH can afford to have another losing quarter or there will be some dumping of DISH stock which could threaten their credit ratings from Banks , etc. SO by not adding hd channels quickly or even by this fall , they do indeed risk losing more new subs and existing subs who want more hd . COmpetition has a way of forcing the issue and DIRECTV will have another satellite come online to use by August or September which will let them add another 50 hd channels and more hd locals. ANd we already know how well they can advertise their hd supremecy in the market. SO DISH does need to get on the ball and add more hd QUICKLY if they want to survive in the market or be relegated to the analog crowd and be labeled the poor man's hd company.

 

[Jerryinvirginia]

The biggest problem isn't how many services offer HD, but the % of air time SHOWING true HD content. WAY TOO MUCH STRETCH-O-VISION. Even the big 4 networks are not filling air time with HD. NBC offers the TODAY show in HD, while CBS morning show is SD?????? Fox takes advantage of NASCAR rights with HD, but have a lot of SD in prime time. These examples could also be compared to the introduction of color programs that were trikled out in the '60's........you had to look hard for that big change-over. Anybody remember BONANZA? The change IS comming, just not fast enough.

 

[MikeD-C05]

The point is that even though the networks aren't showing hd all the time , they are showing the sd shows in upconverted 1080i /720p. THis is just like seeing your programming in the best resolution that you can see compared to the analog feeds. ALL channels will have to get an hd feed going even if it is just a place marker for now in upconverted stretchovision. IT still looks better than the sd feeds that we have now. NO ONE wants to watch sd shows over an HD tv. NO one. They look like sh*t for the most part. THis is why DISH got it's ass handed to them this last quarter. DIRECTV doesn't have that much more hd showing on their numerous hd channels than before but it sure looks better and to Joe 6-pack they can look for themselves and say DIRECTV has the most hd channels out there. IN the next decade you will see much less stretchovision and much less analog feeds in 4 x 3 . But this is just like the begining of the color transition we had in the early 60s and didn't really conclude till the early to mid 70s where all new programming was in color. It won't happen over night but the first step is to get an hd channel or marker in place with upconverted shows. Then the programming will come. THis is why DISH decided to market the ALL HD stand alone pack for a low price of $29.99. IF you don't want the crappy sd picture over your sd tv then here you go and look it is a very low price. The channels come from ALL programming packs out there and even include the ultimate hd channels-sans voom-rip. THis is a smart marketing tool that I look for them to continue till they regain parity with DIRECTV and their hd offerings. Then I look for it to go by the way side. THen DISH will look like DIRECTv and you will have the programming packs + 10.00 hd fee and if you want the ultimate pack for 5.00-10.00 depending on what DISH decides to charge. Eventually I look for all hd channels to be the standard instead of the exception but it will be to late to drop the 10.00 fee , because it will be part of the programming packs by then.

 

[M Sparks]

ALL channels will have to get an hd feed going even if it is just a place marker for now in upconverted stretchovision.

Upconverted...YES!
Stretch-O-Vision (or regular PAR stretch, or partial zooms)...NO!

I went through my channel list and found 42 SD channels that have HD counterparts either already on the air, or supposedly coming very soon. A few are just rumors, but most are already on the air. And that doesn't include west coast feeds- which would bring it up to 45 or 46.

Just a few years ago, most companies had HD plans similar to what Universal HD was doing. Scripps was going to put up a channel that had HD programming from ALL their channels. MTV creating MHD. Fox was planning a channel with different stuff from all their channels.

We're past that. Scripps split their channels out initially, then went to straight simulcasts, because that's what other channels are doing.

We're also to the point where a NEW SD channel is an obsolete idea. This is why we're seeing stuff like WFN.

IF they don't distort their SD programming, I have no problem with this. I am well past the point of watching something simply because it's in HD. I watch programs because I'm interested in them. The more of these simulcast channels added- even if they only have a few hours of HD a day- the more interesting programming will POTENTIALLY be in HD.

60 channels with four hours of HD a day is the same amount of HD programming as 10 channels of 24 hour a day HD.

If they can find the bandwidth, I would love to see the day when EVERY channel is "HD"...even though some programming will never be HD....AS LONG AS THEY LEAVE THE SD PROGRAMMING IN 4:3! I like what NBC/Universal and ABC/Disney are doing. If there's a program on any of their channels I want to see, I know I can turn on the HD channel and see the best possible picture in it's native aspect ratio.

In fact, if we could get the programmers to stop distorting the 4:3 programming, Eastern Arc is already headed towards a time when we don't need the SD versions. Since everyone on EA will have an HD capable receiver (that's my understanding, anyway)...why bother to uplink the SD versions at all?

 

[kb7oeb]

DISH already pretty much has the same thing. They just have 5 Star Max HD instead of MoreMax HD. There isn't much difference between the two, though I would have preferred MoreMax.

I wish they had added MoreMax HD instead of Max West, I've seen several times where its the only channel airing a particular movie in the 9 day search window.

 

[M Sparks]

I wish they had added MoreMax HD instead of Max West, I've seen several times where its the only channel airing a particular movie in the 9 day search window.

I'm sure there's a case where that's true for 5 Star Max too. But it is weird that they did it this way. We know they uplinked Showtime West and Showtime 2. They SAID they were going to put up HBO2 and MoreMax.

If you go to the Cinemax page on the DISH website, there's even more weirdness. First of all, they say thay have "six channels of unique programming"...lie, there's only 5. They count Cinemax HD as the sixth one. But if they are going to lie, why not say eight?

Then you scroll down, and there's channel listings. Cinemax is essentially listed twice, but it says "HD" next to both the SD and HD channel programs.

But the weirdest part...it says 5 Star Max and ACTIONMAX are in HD, but not Cinemax West.