Dish, we don't need more HD channels! We need more HD content!

[mrsdrgn]

you can't boast about HD content when in reality is not there to begin with. I care very little about whose fault it is but you know I have not heard the people from 5 max boasting about their hd content but I heard the CEO of Dish Network boasting about the contents of their 22 HD additions. When one looks into the fine print, we find out how little there is. One of those channels that has shown zero HD content up to this point is 5 max. This tactic of boasting about something that is not there is bothers me because I go to the channel expecting an HD film and instead I find an SD film. Where is the beef?

The beef is with D* not E*.

 

[Sean Mota]

How come you don't see any D* HD threads? That's because we at D* have all the channels that we want in HD. Because D* doesn't drop HD channels to add HD channels. And because D* has a better picture quality on both HD and SD channels. How much longer are you guys willing to play the E* game? Add channels, no, drop channels. E* always has a trick up their sleve. Why? And let me tell you that there are a few more hd channels that are worth adding. All this we need more hd programing. What a BS excuse.
Switch today and be happy tomorrow.

and you certainly have a point here. The trick that E* employs is just unspeakable. To say in the morning we added 22 HD channels and by midnight on the same day we removed 10 HD channels that you already had, is like a game coming from a 5 year old kid that does not what he/she is doing. It is only done to trick and deceive. I would rather have gotten an honest statement than being deceived. Your suggestion maybe right.

 

[Sean Mota]

The beef is with D* not E*.

you misunderstood me. In the content I used it, I meant where is the HD from 5 max that Charlie and E* are talking about. I want to watch it but every time I tuned to the channel yesterday it was all SD.

 

[Weezknight]

Switch today and be happy tomorrow.

Switch today and I'll be out an extra $25/month to get the same channels from D* that I get from E* (at least the ones I really want).

 

[wetz73]

The "switchers" over on the D* board are not too happy that E* is dumping VOOM and adding the stuff they paid more for at D*. The average person doesn't care if VOOM shows 24:7 HD, they care about getting the channels they know in HD even if there is no HD. E* milked VOOM as long as it could and in the end, it was not attracting subs.

 

[mrsdrgn]

The "switchers" over on the D* board are not too happy that E* is dumping VOOM and adding the stuff they paid more for at D*. The average person doesn't care if VOOM shows 24:7 HD, they care about getting the channels they know in HD even if there is no HD. E* milked VOOM as long as it could and in the end, it was not attracting subs.

Actually I am happy that they droped Voom. That was the only thing that gave me thoughts about switching back. Worldsport HD. I can't believe they kept a garbage channel like Kung Fu HD and droped Worldsport HD. But there goes to show how E* does business. I would rather pay more for honesty.

 

[riffjim4069]

Ilya, I just had to correct the title of your thread..."Dish, we don't need more HD-Lite channels! We need some, at lease one, HD channel!" I invite everyone to dump Dish and jump over to FiOS TV where the waters are clear and, unlike the cesspool known as DishHD-Lite, the HD is as pristine as from where they originate.

 

[drummerguy]

I agree, the pressure should be on the programmers. But I think for the programmers to feel that pressure, the HD versions of their channels need to be on as many cable and satellite systems as possible. When they get that, and data starts showing that folks are watching the HD versions over the SD versions and folks begin to more and more switch to HD-only packs, they might start getting it. But the crucial first step seems to be to get these HD versions in front of the consumers.

The other thing, I think, is the syndication deals. I would imagine that many programmers are locked into syndication deals for SD content only. And it wouldn't surprise me if deals including HD cost more (especially if new HD transfers need to be made). So it may be a while before those old contracts expire and they can get new syndication packages that include the HD versions. But I think for the programmers to justify spending extra money on the HD versions, they have to see some demand.

So, I'm all for adding as much of these "barely HD" channels as they can. I think, like we've seen USA HD improve a great deal since its launch, most of these new HD channels will show more and more HD over time.

 

[LER]

IF I could get FiOS, I'd be there in a heartbeat, however, I live in SBC/ATT Territory.

FiOS is just not available at ANY price here. My choices:
1) E* (Dish Network) who I've been with since 1999
2) D* (DirecTV) which would cost me >$500 to switch to
3) TWC (Time Warner Cable) (don't see any advantage here).

so, I take what E* gives, and deal with it.

Not that I like last nights move at 2300 CDT.

LER

 

[mike123abc]

It does not matter what we think. Dish only cares about new subs. New subs want locals and cable channels in HD. They do not know in advance there is no HD on the cable channels. They are then locked in a 2 year contract, and besides where else are they going to go? It is not like cable or DIRECTV offers cable channels with real HD on them either. Dish has no choice in this matter. Before when there were not any HD channels to offer VOOM gave them a lot of channels in the count. Now that there are tons of "HD" cable channels that people know the names of, they are the only ones that count.

VOOM lost the window of opportunity. They needed to be on every provider possible. Now they are just 15 channels that no one ever heard of.

 

[wetz73]

VOOM was great for its time. When people were spending thousands of dollars on HDTV's only to get them home, hook them up to SD feeds, and see a picture that looked WORSE than their $300 tube TV gave them, VOOM provided constant HD to "justify" all of this money spent (how many guys out there used this on their significant others?). Now that there is mainstream HD programming on networks the average person has heard of and these folks have watched countless VOOM reruns, it is time to move on. So thank you, VOOM, for filling this gap.

 

[tomcrown1]

Gosh I am in a nightmare. I seem to remeber alot of posters asking Dish to dump that worthless Voom channels and get the natonal HD channels that people want. Now that Dish listened and did just that we get more crying(PS I know it is fun to bitch)

 

[Slamminc11]

The folks here really amaze me you cry for more HD then when you get more HD you cry about no HD programming.
It is NOT Dish's fault if the channels which you all wanted have no HD programming or very little of it.
I do believe that when you all were demanding more HD a lot of folks pointed out that there Was VERY little HD programming out in the wild blue.
So please stop blaming Dish for the programming on the 'HD' channels Dish can only provide what programming they get they do not create programming their selves.

Now here is a post that makes some sense! :up

 

[kstuart]

What you guys are missing is that there are several different type of subscribers, who have different agendas:

- HD-Only-Pack subscribers who don't care if there is ZERO HD content on an "HD channel" because once E* adds it, they get it and the SD channel for free.

- Intellectual subscribers who are interested in a Voom-Gallery-HD feature on the artist Goya and not interest in "WWE Raw".

- Joe6Pack subscribers who love "WWE Raw" and could not tolerate 30 seconds of Gallery or Equator.

(Note - this is a generalization - I know that some people cross boundaries - but it fits most subscribers.)

So, the first group love any "HD channel" regardless of content.

The second group (which I think might include OP) were very angry at the removal of the Voom channels, and are uninterested in HD versions of popular J6P SD channels.

The third group - the main E* demographic - want channels in order of ratings - after ABC/FOX/NBC/CBS, they want USA, ESPN, TNT, Disney and Nickolodeon primarily, with FX, Spike and FoxNews next.

So, all of the posts in this and other threads complain about inconsistencies between complaints a few months ago and complaints today - but those were different groups with different agendas.

PS Ironically, the second group - who are the target audience of Voom - overwhelmingly subscribe to D* over E*...

 

[skottey]

The 5 Max thing is puzzling, I'm not sure where the blame lies there.

NightRyder

What is puzzling is that nobody is saying the name right. It is 5Star Max... not 5 Max.... Would you people take the B out of HBO and just call it HO? No! So stop calling it 5 Max.

HBO is working on launching all their multichannels in HD... it is going to take a while before the HBOs and Cinemaxes have HD all the time. At least you are getting some of the channels. My cable provider isn't even giving me the flagship Cinemax HD yet, let alone the multichannels. Lucky Bastards! I haven't been jealous of Dish in a while... now you get something I don't with cable.

 

[DWS44]

OK...as I've said in many posts, I do feel for those folks who lost VOOM channels that they enjoyed. That would royally suck to lose a favorite channel, and I have many channels that I would hate to lose.

That said, I have to admit that, given a choice, I would take a channel even if it only showed one program a week in HD, if it was a program that I regularly watched, over a channel that showed HD 24/7 that I had content that I cared little to none about. I guess that makes me a bad shallow person by the standards of the plea of the OP, but I doubt I'm alone in that preference.

As for PQ... those that have the option of FIOS...more power to ya. No such luck here. This local podunk cable company might figure out what FIOS is in a decade or three, and thats being optomistic! Heck...they just had a big HD expansion themselves...I think they are up to a whole 12 channels of frequent random pixelating HD now. (and thats counting locals)

 

[JEFFinINDY]

Ilya, I just had to correct the title of your thread..."Dish, we don't need more HD-Lite channels! We need some, at lease one, HD channel!" I invite everyone to dump Dish and jump over to FiOS TV where the waters are clear and, unlike the cesspool known as DishHD-Lite, the HD is as pristine as from where they originate.

Why do you post to this forum? It's not FIOS forum, it's a Dish forum. FIOS isn't even an option to 99% of the country.

And you don't like HD Lite? Really? Never could have guessed....

 

[Pepper]

What you guys are missing is that there are several different type of subscribers, who have different agendas:

- HD-Only-Pack subscribers who don't care if there is ZERO HD content on an "HD channel" because once E* adds it, they get it and the SD channel for free.

- Intellectual subscribers who are interested in a Voom-Gallery-HD feature on the artist Goya and not interest in "WWE Raw".

- Joe6Pack subscribers who love "WWE Raw" and could not tolerate 30 seconds of Gallery or Equator.

(Note - this is a generalization - I know that some people cross boundaries - but it fits most subscribers.)

So, the first group love any "HD channel" regardless of content.

The second group (which I think might include OP) were very angry at the removal of the Voom channels, and are uninterested in HD versions of popular J6P SD channels.

The third group - the main E* demographic - want channels in order of ratings - after ABC/FOX/NBC/CBS, they want USA, ESPN, TNT, Disney and Nickolodeon primarily, with FX, Spike and FoxNews next.

So, all of the posts in this and other threads complain about inconsistencies between complaints a few months ago and complaints today - but those were different groups with different agendas.

PS Ironically, the second group - who are the target audience of Voom - overwhelmingly subscribe to D* over E*...

Great analysis. I think I am somewhere between the first and second groups.