DISH loses 4 more HD channels - 3 Return

[cashmonee]

Why?

Because the World Cup is drawing big ratings this year. Taking away ESPN and ESPN2 in HD would cause some serious defections by itself. Do it during an event like the World Cup and you would see a big time uproar.

Does anyone know how long this is expected to last? Dish is already holding on to me by a string, and this is close to being the last straw. Come August they Dish will cost me more than DirecTV (that's with MRV and two DVR's on DirecTV compared to one DVR and no MRV on Dish), and if they no longer have ESPNEWS HD and the threat of losing the main ESPN HDs, I'm likely to bolt.

 

[whatchel1]

Go for it E*

Sounds Like ABC is trying to do w/all it's channels the way it does w/ ESPN. IOW charge more for the channels than they are worth. Give em L E*. I feel only slightly sorry for some kids that would watch Disney or maybe family but that's it.

 

[brownover]

Sounds Like ABC is trying to do w/all it's channels the way it does w/ ESPN. IOW charge more for the channels than they are worth. Give em L E*. I feel only slightly sorry for some kids that would watch Disney or maybe family but that's it.

Most, if not all kids don't give a hoot whether it is HD or not. ESPN news in HD is no great loss. I thank Dish for drawing the line myself. Good post whatchel!

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Just FYI (and I reported this in the other thread) it appears that it was DISNEY who pulled the channels.... I am hearing DISH wanted to keep them going as negoations continued

 

[DodgerKing]

Yes, I am happy that Dish fights for the best prices. I was glad when Dish refused to carry the 'Yes' Yankee baseball channel, and I feel the same way now. Do you think that Dish should just pay whatever the broadcasters ask and then pass the increase on to us? Will the kids really care that much if the Disney channels are in SD?

I am glad as well. By Dish fighting to keep the prices low, this sets a lower price standard for other providers to negotiate with as well

 

[tigerfan33]

Are ESPN hd and ESPN2 hd next?

I wonder too, when and if the other Disney channels come back, will ESPNU hd follow?

 

[DodgerKing]

Because the World Cup is drawing big ratings this year. Taking away ESPN and ESPN2 in HD would cause some serious defections by itself. Do it during an event like the World Cup and you would see a big time uproar.

Does anyone know how long this is expected to last? Dish is already holding on to me by a string, and this is close to being the last straw. Come August they Dish will cost me more than DirecTV (that's with MRV and two DVR's on DirecTV compared to one DVR and no MRV on Dish), and if they no longer have ESPNEWS HD and the threat of losing the main ESPN HDs, I'm likely to bolt.

Even their big ratings are not close to the ratings of the championship games of our 3 major sports.

NFL gets about 100 million viewers
Last year's World Series drew over 22 million on some games
This year's NBA championship on ABC drew over 18 million for game 7

The highest rated game on ESPN/ABC drew 13 million with an average per game even lower than that. This huge ratings event is still half of that of baseball

 

[STEVEMATHEWS]

THE PROBLEM IS THAT DIRECTV AND THE OTHER CABLE COMPANIES GIVE THEM ALL THAT THEY WANT AND THEY DIDN'T EVEN CARE BECAUSE THEY INCREASE THE PRICES TO THEIR CUSTOMERS. IF YOU LOOK A THEIR PRICES IT'S A FACT THAT THEIR PACKAGES ARE MORE PRICEY THAN DISH NETWORK.

 

[hvarma2008]

This sounds like a similar fiasco when DISH introduced the TURBO HD packages.
When the dust settles, HD FREE will likely not include the DISNEY HD channels!
You have to pay $2.99 a month extra if you want DISNEY owned HD channels

 

[DodgerKing]

THE PROBLEM IS THAT DIRECTV AND THE OTHER CABLE COMPANIES GIVE THEM ALL THAT THEY WANT AND THEY DIDN'T EVEN CARE BECAUSE THEY INCREASE THE PRICES TO THEIR CUSTOMERS. IF YOU LOOK A THEIR PRICES IT'S A FACT THAT THEIR PACKAGES ARE MORE PRICEY THAN DISH NETWORK.

Yet, they all have more subs than Dish

 

[Nominal]

This sounds like a similar fiasco when DISH introduced the TURBO HD packages.
When the dust settles, HD FREE will likely not include the DISNEY HD channels!
You have to pay $2.99 a month extra if you want DISNEY owned HD channels

THIS. This is exactly what I'm afraid of. History seems to be repeating itself. Dish launches an innovative promotion to provide value to its customers, program providers balk and the next thing you know "Free HD" will not only no longer include the Disney channels but any newly added HD. We might have to go back to paying a $10 HD "add-on" fee to get "all" the new HD.

 

[Scherrman]

Because the World Cup is drawing big ratings this year. Taking away ESPN and ESPN2 in HD would cause some serious defections by itself. Do it during an event like the World Cup and you would see a big time uproar.

Does anyone know how long this is expected to last? Dish is already holding on to me by a string, and this is close to being the last straw. Come August they Dish will cost me more than DirecTV (that's with MRV and two DVR's on DirecTV compared to one DVR and no MRV on Dish), and if they no longer have ESPNEWS HD and the threat of losing the main ESPN HDs, I'm likely to bolt.

Well that might be true if they were getting rid of ESPN and ESPN2 but that's not the case. So I don't see how the HD channels they lost right now should make too huge of a difference.

They better not get rid of the rest of the HD ESPNs. THAT would be a huge hit on Dish.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

The following was posted to the DISH Network retailer website...

Disney and ESPN Networks Effective June 22, 2010 the standard-definition feeds of Disney Channel, Disney XD, ABC Family and ESPNews are still available, and you may continue to watch your favorite programs on their regular channel numbers.

DISH Network offers all customers HD Free for Life, which is possible because we are committed to negotiating fair contracts that allow us to keep our prices low. That is why we could not agree to the significant fees required by Disney and ESPN Networks for the HD feeds of Disney East, Disney XD, ESPNews and ABC Family. After we refused to pay, Disney and ESPN Networks pulled the HD feeds of these four channels only.

DISH Network is pursuing every avenue possible to restore the HD feeds of these channels. We apologize for any inconvenience and we thank you for being a valued DISH Network Retailer.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Another rumor from the grapevine... I am hearing that DISNEY could have pulled the HD feeds of ESPN and ESPN2 as well, but chose not to as if they did it could have harmed the ratings for those channels.

Follow the money trail...

 

[Yespage]

Another rumor from the grapevine... I am hearing that DISNEY could have pulled the HD feeds of ESPN and ESPN2 as well, but chose not to as if they did it could have harmed the ratings for those channels.

Follow the money trail...

I'd have to think that advertisers would be very angry if Disney pulled the World Cup from Dish Network viewers. They are paying for exposure.

 

[KimmiKat]

Disney just sucks.

 

[bamaweather]

Is it true that Dish has never payed Disney for these channels?

The MCN article states:

Disney responded in a statement, "The recent New York State Court ruling confirms our position that Dish Network is not entitled to carry ABC Family HD, Disney Channel HD, Disney XD HD and ESPNews HD without paying compensation. We hope that Dish will work with us to reach an agreement so that we can make these HD networks available to their customers."

And what is Dish's position? Is it their understanding that the previous contracts with Disney entitled them to carry these four networks as well?

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Is it their understanding that the previous contracts with Disney entitled them to carry these four networks as well?

From what I understand (and this is all stuff that I have heard over the years.. it might be true, but then again it might not be...) is that for most channels the HD version of the channel was included at no extra cost as they carried the SD version of the channel.

It appears to me that this was the feeling with these channels as well as DISNEY authorized the HD decoders and helped advertise the launch of these HD channels on DISH. DISH did not secretly just turn them on.

But I am just seeing this as a consumer, we have no idea what really happened and I am sure DISNEY has a good reason for wanting the channels pulled. They are a business just like DISH is.

 

[DodgerKing]

Another rumor from the grapevine... I am hearing that DISNEY could have pulled the HD feeds of ESPN and ESPN2 as well, but chose not to as if they did it could have harmed the ratings for those channels.

Follow the money trail...

You would think they would have taken the chance, considering the number of Dish subs is a small fraction of all cable/DBS subs, and the number of them with HD is even smaller. I doubt the ratings would have suffered that much.

 

[Jonhern]

Even their big ratings are not close to the ratings of the championship games of our 3 major sports.

NFL gets about 100 million viewers
Last year's World Series drew over 22 million on some games
This year's NBA championship on ABC drew over 18 million for game 7

The highest rated game on ESPN/ABC drew 13 million with an average per game even lower than that. This huge ratings event is still half of that of baseball

Look at those numbers again, espn/abc drew 13 mil while game 7 drew 18 and the WS had a high of 22 mil, the game that drew 13 mil was one of the first games of the cup, we are not even in the knockout stage yet. It better to compare the numbers to the first series of the playoffs in MLB and NBA than to the championship games. Not to mention that Univison is drawing millions as well. For that same game it drew over 4 million, so it was 17 million total viewers in the US for a group stage game, one million less than the championship game of the NBA. Not to mention all the people watching at work on ESPN3, Univison.com, and espn mobile. So yeah, not close to the nfl, but considering this is only the beginning, the numbers could be better than MLB and the NBA for the final.