DirecTV 7S Delayed Until 2004

[silversurfer]

http://www.skyreport.com/viewskyreport.cfm?ReleaseID=1216#Story1

So much for PQ improving in the near future...

 

[Stargazer]

The article says that this satellite was going to be used for adding additional local markets. Does this mean that most of the local channels they said that they would add by the end of the year will not be able to be done this year now? This will give Dish Network a BIG advantage for several months.

 

[silversurfer]

I for one hope they don't cram any more locals on 101. The PQ is really going down hill. Locals are great but not at the expense of picture quality...

 

[Guest]

Yes, most, if not all, of the markets that were announced to start service by the end of 2003 will be pushed back until early 2004 because of the delays in manufacturing and launch availability of the DirecTV 7S satellite.

I don't suspect any new locals will be added to CONUS beams at 101. I believe that there may still be some space on the spot-beams for other markets that haven't been announced yet.

 

[Stargazer]

I wonder if this would cause Dish Network to not be as rushed to add the local DMA's that they announced to be added by the end of the year to keep up with DirecTV.

 

[mike123abc]

I wonder if this would cause Dish Network to not be as rushed to add the local DMA's that they announced to be added by the end of the year to keep up with DirecTV.

Actually the opposite may happen. Dish might rush to set up markets they now know will be 6 months away on DirecTV in an attempt to lock them up during the "exclusive" period.

 

[Stargazer]

I figured it could go either way. Maybe Dish Network would target those markets to get a jump start on them over DirecTV. This may cause DirecTV to offer different cities next year that Dish Network may not be targeting.