EchoStar Questions DIRECTV Local HD

[earth station]

EchoStar Questions DirecTV's Local HD

Multichannel News

By Ted Hearn

1/18/2005 5:00:00 PM

There's no better witness for cable's HDTV advantage than the competition.

EchoStar Communications Corp. told the Federal Communications Commission it
should be "skeptical" of DirecTV Inc.'s broad promises to provide hundreds
of HDTV channels beginning later this year.

In a Jan. 14 filing that touched on a number of digital-TV issues, EchoStar
attorneys also claimed that DirecTV's HDTV plans offered no justification
for the government forcing EchoStar to do the same thing.

EchoStar argued that DirecTV's plan to provide 1,500 TV stations in HDTV in
2007 rests on the use of four Ka-band satellites, which are susceptible to
rain fade "in large regions of the country" and remain "relatively untested
for direct-to-home video delivery."

Last September, DirecTV announced that it would launch two satellites this
year that would offer 500 local TV stations in HDTV, and that it would
launch two more in 2007, bringing the number of local HDTV stations to
1,500.

The United States has 1,748 local commercial and public TV stations,
according to the FCC.

EchoStar added that in addition to rain-fade problems, DirecTV's new Ka-band
satellites will share spectrum with terrestrial microwave services, perhaps
limiting delivery of HD services on a scale envisioned by DirecTV.

"It is not clear that DirecTV's plan fully takes into account these
constraints on the Ka-band spectrum," EchoStar explained.

DirecTV spokesman Bob Marsocci said the company's plan to launch the first
two satellites this year and to roll out more local HD content had not
changed.

"With the successful launch of these satellites, we will commence our
local-HD-channel service in 12 markets by midyear. Additional markets will
follow later this year," Marsocci said in an e-mail.

EchoStar also used the filing to warn the FCC that requiring carriage of
local TV stations in HD format would eat up channel capacity, forcing it to
abandon some local markets or to bump channels that it already provides.

Cable operators, EchoStar pointed out, use less spectrum to provide a TV
station's HDTV signal than its analog signal. But DBS operators, it added,
use more spectrum for HD than for analog converted to standard-definition
digital.

As a result, forcing direct-broadcast satellite providers to carry a local
station's HDTV feed instead of a downconverted version ends up "exacerbating
the difference in bandwidth between" cable and DBS, EchoStar said.

Echoing the position taken by the cable industry, EchoStar also came out
against a multicast-carriage mandate, which would require carriage of every
digital-programming service a TV station could pack into its 6-megahertz
allotment.

"The multicast obligation is an unadorned handout to broadcasters, at the
expense of DBS operators' First Amendment rights," EchoStar said.

 

[earth station]

EchoStar barks again...

I swear Charlie wishes he was DirecTV. DISH should help make Local HD happen, not criticize it. Now I know what their business plan is. ...."The more HD there is, the more we don't have a business plan." And they will be gone!

 

[beast37799]

wait ka band is susceptible to rain fade no really get out anything wireless is susceptible to astomspheric conditions geeze charlie

 

[Stargazer]

I have been wondering about all that HD in such little time that DirecTv announced a while back myself as well. Seems like a good bit to accomplish in such a small amount of time. Things go wrong and/or get delayed.

 

[rad]

This is from the company that had to drop their HD plans for AMC-2 at 105 because they figured out too late that it didn't have CONUS coverage (even though Dan over on DBSForum was saying that before E* had to change their minds).

 

[Cyclone]

I swear that Dish has taken an about Face in the past 3 years, and they now use every excuse not to add new TV channels. They really fight it tooth and nail now.

 

[rocatman]

wait ka band is susceptible to rain fade no really get out anything wireless is susceptible to astomspheric conditions geeze charlie

Ka band is far more susceptible to rain fade than Ku/DBS, this is a fact. I had the opportunity to talk to some of the NASA communication experts recently that were involved in the Advanced Communication Technology Satellite, a Ka band experimental satellite that was launched and operated by NASA in the mid 90's. They had serious questions about using Ka band for live video because of the rain fade issues. Bash Charlie/Dish all you want but don't do it from a position of ignorance.

 

[beast37799]

I swear that Dish has taken an about Face in the past 3 years, and they now use every excuse not to add new TV channels. They really fight it tooth and nail now.

unless its shopping channels cause everything else is not compelling

 

[korsjs]

coming from dish, this does not surprise me. they don't have or don't want to add hd and they don't want others to have it either. like i said, they are becoming a cable company. however, most cable providers have more hd and better programming. shame on you charlie you SOB. you wonder why so many people are beginning to dislike your company.

 

[MustangLX89]

That's exactly what I was thinking. It's the "we don't want to do it so you can't do it" attitude. Perhaps if they spent as much time actually working a problem and coming up with solutions that they spent making excuses something would actually be accomplished.


Naaa, then we wouldn't be feeding the goat now would we?

 

[DishSatUser]

Hmmm, lot's of vitrol here.

I believe that making sure he isn't forced to do the same thing isn't a bad idea. Personally, providing service should be based on market demand, not regulation.

I've I were a competitor and I wanted to do a "cyber-cold-war", I'd invest in a bunch of Sat technologies that really won't work, but convience the FCC and E* that they are going to be the next wave.

After E* is forced to do the same thing, you can have them fail on the launch pad or something and use it as an argument to do something else.

Hay wait a minute! Wasn't this what Regan did to the former USSR with the Star Wars proposals

 

[James Long]

Multichannel News ...

"The multicast obligation is an unadorned handout to broadcasters, at the
expense of DBS operators' First Amendment rights," EchoStar said.

The right to free speech?

Someone needs to read the constitution.

JL

 

[DishSatUser]

Is it "free speach" if I tell you what books you have to read in public. Perhaps some of those books you like, but if you are going to be able to read those aloud, you also are required to read aloud the opposing views.

While kinda loosly similar, forcing multicast distribution for the local channels is similar to the above. Heck, if customers really wanted them and there was a sufficient market, E* and D* and any other competitors would put it up to make money from the customers that are paying for the service.

If my local news station want's to add on a 6 home shopping networks on their multicast signal, why would I want to recieve them? I've got no shortage already!

 

[Barry Erick]

Rain fade. That is what the other networks and many affiliates told NBC in the 80's when they announced and moved to Analog KU satellites. Well, NBC's fix for it worked fine. They double modulated to cover the noise floor and used diversity satellites. They have continued the diversity with their Digital change over a year or two ago. We also have cbs, which uses C band for their analog and now digital and while the analog was normal modulation and had problems, the digital uses diversity and is fine when the receivers work. Unfortunately they have a high failure rate.

Anyway, I doubt that DirecTV entered this without study.

 

[shappyss]

I remember reading on a post a while back (if i have time i will look it up) that DirecTV already considered the Rain Fade Issue. They had an advanced system to add more power to certain transponders based on weather conditions each local channel area