Dish to expand HD

[mike123abc]

Anyway you slice it DIRECTV has the advantage now. Nothing Dish can really do until more satellites get into orbit. Turning on the spots on E12 will help a lot of markets in the Eastern US get LiL ASAP. Adding 10 or so more HD national channels will help too, they need to add 1-2 a month to keep the buzz going until they get their new satellites up. Dish still has far more HD than most cable companies, they will be behind DIRECTV probably another 6 months. It is hard to complain about a company that has had the most HD for years falling behind for 9 months before it catches up. It is mainly behind because of launch delays.

 

[kstuart]

Well that would be encouraging, if true. What is the reason?

Probably, that the "official" launch of USA-HD is not until the end of January...

 

[nlk10010]

Probably, that the "official" launch of USA-HD is not until the end of January...

You mean that channel on D* calling itself "USA-HD" is an imposter?

You put quotes around the word official. Why? Is the dictionary definition not appropriate? What is yours?

 

[drdroo]

You put quotes around the word official. Why? Is the dictionary definition not appropriate? What is yours?

USA has said their HD feed is officially launching on Jan 28th. What's on D* right now is probably like when my local Papa Johns opened ahead of their 'Grand Opening'.

 

[skottey]

Didn't Direct promise 100 by the end of 2007? I guess they were lying too, cause they didn't achieve that promise (again) either!

Fair enough, but I am not talking about DirecTV. I am talking about Dish.

Dish says they have 76 HD nationals. As a subscriber to Dish, and a regular visitor to their website and this one, I can't for the life of me figure out what 76 HD nationals they offer that I don't have. Somebody please post a list of these 76 HD nationals. My count is somewhere in the 40s at best.

 

[nlk10010]

USA has said their HD feed is officially launching on Jan 28th. What's on D* right now is probably like when my local Papa Johns opened ahead of their 'Grand Opening'.

Oh, a "soft opening".

Well if that's true then it would indeed be a reason why Dish might wait until Jan. 28th, although you have to admit that having USA actually broadcasting HD shows on D* yet claiming they don't launch officially for another month or so is odd, if not unprecedented.

Do you have a link or pointer to their statement?

 

[drdroo]

USA Network HD will not officially launch until January 28th, 2008

USA Network - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

They site a wrestling site, but some other people cited other materials here that said the same thing in a different thread. The launch is connected to WWE RAW going HD on USA Network.

I agree with you that you'd think Dish would have it up now, but I think people might be right that they want to link it to their tiers.

 

[nlk10010]

It certainly is a possibility (that they want to link it to their tiers), although also a bit of a stretch.

It seems that in order to feel good everyone is trying to make up their own reason why the launch hasn't occurred yet but will "soon" (e.g., on the last CC I saw Charlie scratch his nose at exactly 8:28PM so USA/SciFiHD must be launching on the 28th).

Chances are they will go up when everyone least expects it (I'm still waiting for the "is this the Wednesday they launch USA/SciFi-HD?" thread).

 

[trumanhorn]

It's good to know E*'s on the cutting edge with their 100 HD release. D* announced 100 HD channels at CES last year, and this year they're projecting 150. It seems like too little too late from them; are they not concerned about losing customers?

 

[drdroo]

D* still has the biggest marketing machine and the largest count right now. I don't think it really matters until E* matches or beats them. Will E* match/beat them? I absolutely believe so. Either way, I'd not go back to D* for all the tea in China.

E* is really limited by how much they can do until they launch satellites. Some people will bitch about their HD locals (which I'm probably not going to see mine in a LONG time since we just got SD locals in Dec 2005), and the other people will bitch about national HD. The problem is finding the balance until you can launch the sats.

Unfortunately E* cannot accelerate the launch. There's a pecking order and other companies are ahead of them in the line.

 

[nlk10010]

Absolutely, D* was brilliant with their marketing campaign during the period when they were waiting for the sats to launch. They kept reminding people about all the channels they were going to get and how D* was the "secure" choice (much like VZW).

I also wouldn't be surprised if D* gave many networks "incentives" to launch HD channels earlier than they would have otherwise, even with little or no actual HD content, just so D* could overwhelm people with the sheer number of channels they were launching.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

USA shows a lot of programing in TRUE HD.

Now channels such as Cartoon Network, MTV HD (Not the same as MHD), VH1 HD, Comedy Central HD, CM HD have never had a single HD program on them, they are just SD upconverts.

 

[drdroo]

We're talking within a few million of each other though. Dish only sells in like Radio Shack, Sears (neither very well from what I've seen) and some TV ads here and there.

DirecTV sells with CC, BB, Papa Johns, and a ton of other places. The marketing machine doesn't seem to work very well ultimately.

 

[Slamminc11]

It's good to know E*'s on the cutting edge with their 100 HD release. D* announced 100 HD channels at CES last year, and this year they're projecting 150. It seems like too little too late from them; are they not concerned about losing customers?

As I said before, Direct failed to meet their announcement again last year and didn't have 100 launched by years end, so why should be believe the 150 projection this year?

 

[rad]

As I said before, Direct failed to meet their announcement again last year and didn't have 100 launched by years end, so why should be believe the 150 projection this year?

And Dish failed to turn up all the HD LIL cities that they announced for 2006 so why should we believe they'll add the cities announced today in 2008

 

[drdroo]

I don't believe what any of these guys say until it actually launches. It's always surprises instead of disappointments that way.

D* just likes to take their lies and slick marketing to every single channel I watch a couple times an hour. That's an expensive way to totally BS everyone.

 

[Poke]

Yeah not to worried Dish will be fine..

 

[ehren]

76 HD channels right now, what a laugh.

 

[Bulldog]

By what standard do they think they are the leader in HD? They're currently behind the curve on channel count, behind the curve on HD LIL's, quality is subjective so I won't argue that point yet, and they cost more than their direct competitor so value is a wash.

The standard is called "Taurus Droppings"

 

[Elecktronsurfer]

Gotta agree, Dish'll be fine. I just signed up - I've four TV's, one of 'em HD, all have DVR capability... This by itself is too cool.

Network HD is OTA with a humongous aerial in the attic (count me in wanting Tulsa local HDs too). I get most of the major channels (beyond Scifi) that I watch in HD - would be nice to have the count that D* has, but then we'll get there.

These DVR's are fantastic! I had one with the local BFE cable operator and very few HD channels. I've watched some Voom, was hopeful the Monster Channel would be better. Seems the bandwidth could be better allocated vs. Voom, but then that's just me.

For my uses - the hardware and price to get it's outstanding. I like the current HD capability, but will be way satisfied when Scifi and the locals go HD too. After that - smooth, way smoooth sailing.