HBO/Cinemax HDs better be part of D* Aug 14 additions

[jacmyoung]

I switched from E* to D* in 02/08 not because of PQ but D* had more HDs. Today just installed E* back with one 722 and got grandfathered in with the $29.99 "HD Absolute" package grandfathered in and no contract. Below is my A/B comparison between E* HDs and D* HDs. The HBO HDs are sweet but I think D* will add them soon, there is no reason not to:

http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-ne.../144153-my-second-impression-e-hd-v-d-hd.html

Still loving D* with 4 HDDVRs, but will keep the $29.99 E* HD pack for a while to see how both try to out do each other.

 

[voomontheloon]

I wish I had the luxury of getting both D* and E*. For those who can, it is probably the best way to go.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Dish's math is fuzzier than D*'s. They are both fuzzy.

 

[skottey]

Do all of those have a HD option?

Also, I do want them, BUT DirecTV carries those premiums that air 1st run programming. What these others have can be found on DVD and thus its not a HUGE competitive loss.

It would be a HUGE competitive loss NOT to carry more than just HBO E/W in HD and Max E/W in HD. They NEED to carry as many of the 26 available HBO/MAX channels in HD as they can fit on their system.

Whether something can be found on DVD is not the question. I have a gigantic DVD/HD-DVD/bluray collection and I STILL look to premiums for those hidden gems that I would have otherwise not heard of. It is simple, the more premium multichannels, the more choice. Sure, all HBOs play the same stuff on a different day at a different time, but that means more choice when I sit down to watch an HD movie.

If I kept HBO for original programming, I would have left them long ago for cancelling shows I loved (ie Lucky Louie, Carnival, and others). I keep them for the movies.

I have had all the premiums for well over a decade with cable or sat. Having 45+ SD multichannels of the premiums used to be good enough, but not these days. I want ALL those channels in HD. Nobody is offering them yet. Heck, DirecTV still doesn't even carry them all in SD, the way I have enjoyed them (ie HBO Zone, HBO Comedy, @Max, Actionmax, etc) for years.

I got DirecTV for more HD, and so far have had to give up multichannel choice. It is worth it for now, but if cable ends up with all the HD premium channels in two years and DirecTV doesn't add them, I'll go back to cable. DirecTV should not take the non-sports fanatics for granted. I enjoy a little bit of sports, and a lot of movies.

I am happy with DirecTV now, but that would certainly changed if they didn't add more HBO/Max channels, while having the capacity.

 

[skottey]

Yawn. ( I am a HBO sub BTW). Majority of subs aint gonna miss a few weeks of HBO's that are non hd, theyyll come.

We'll wait a few weeks, sure. We'll even wait until fall. The fact is, there was a news press release in June of 2007 that is floating around that says they will be adding a bunch of the HBOs in the fall (of 2007). This thing is still floating around and if you don't look closely at the date, you think it was 2008 and expect the channels this fall. The truth is, DirecTV did not live up to their own press release, and did not add all those HBOs in HD last fall. I give them the benefit of the doubt. They added all those other channels and ran out of room. But they better add them this time around.

Weeks or a few months, fine. Next year or in two years? no way. Most subs would not wait and just deal with it without bitching and getting mad.

 

[Rey]

The question is, are they actually the HD leader? If both providers used the same counting criteria, Direct will still be in the lead. The only thing Dish has a true advantage in are these premiums in HD.

http://www.satelliteguys.us/attachment.php?attachmentid=27427&d=1217682555

Courtesy of dmendenjr

i agree and probably D is going to add more premiums by the end of the month.

 

[skottey]

I wish I had the luxury of getting both D* and E*. For those who can, it is probably the best way to go.

I have cable and DirecTV, but certainly don't carry my premiums with both. That would be insane. I have DirecTV's Premier package with two HD-DVRs and with cable have digital cable with one HD-DVR and no premiums. There are a few channels on cable that DirecTV doesn't have that we watch stuff on, but nothing great.

I am keeping cable around like an old pet. I want to see what happens with SDV coming soon. Right now, DirecTV's HD picture quality blows my cables away (Bright House) and the channel selection in HD is greater.

Before DirecTV, I had cable and Dish Network for a while. I was not happy with Dish Network but am happy with DirecTV.

 

[voomontheloon]

It never fails to amaze me how many people are willing to fall into the habit of defining HD leader by the number of national HD channels. D* and E* probabaly would want us to do so, but we knowledgeable consumers should know better.

The fact of the matter is, to most (admitted not all) subscribers interested in HD, only two areas matter: (1) sports/action, and (2) movies. Most people wouldn't give a hoot about whether cartoons and music channels are in HD.

I would reckon, at this moment, D* and E* are pretty even in sports/action, and E* has the edge in movies (because of its HBO/Cinemax HD channels).

E* has been hurting financially recently, and is projected to continue to lose subscribers for the rest of the year. This is actually a golden opportunity for D* to deliver a crippling (if not fatal) punch to E* by really trouncing E* on IMPORTANT HD offerings.

Let's stop the counting of channels charade and get to the substance of the issue!!!.

 

[Xstation]

E* has been hurting financially recently, and is projected to continue to lose subscribers for the rest of the year. This is actually a golden opportunity for D* to deliver a crippling (if not fatal) punch to E* by really trouncing E* on IMPORTANT HD offerings.

Let's stop the counting of channels charade and get to the substance of the issue!!!.

can't wait for Dish and DirecTV to merge!!

 

[bgilga]

If Dish and Directv merge, what would we complain about?

 

[DodgerKing]

can't wait for Dish and DirecTV to merge!!

Not me. They needs to stay competitive and independently successful.

 

[Rey]

Not me. They needs to stay competitive and independently successful.

agreed. but if it has to happen i hope it's D buying out E. i'm not interested in charlies business habits. right now i don't have to deal with him 100%. just some and it's enough.

 

[vurbano]

can't wait for Dish and DirecTV to merge!!

I sure hope you can wait because it will not happen.

 

[HDRoberts]

It never fails to amaze me how many people are willing to fall into the habit of defining HD leader by the number of national HD channels. D* and E* probabaly would want us to do so, but we knowledgeable consumers should know better.

The fact of the matter is, to most (admitted not all) subscribers interested in HD, only two areas matter: (1) sports/action, and (2) movies. Most people wouldn't give a hoot about whether cartoons and music channels are in HD.

I would reckon, at this moment, D* and E* are pretty even in sports/action, and E* has the edge in movies (because of its HBO/Cinemax HD channels).

E* has been hurting financially recently, and is projected to continue to lose subscribers for the rest of the year. This is actually a golden opportunity for D* to deliver a crippling (if not fatal) punch to E* by really trouncing E* on IMPORTANT HD offerings.

Let's stop the counting of channels charade and get to the substance of the issue!!!.

I don't normally come into the Directv forum, but I just wanted to offer a diferent opinion...

First, Dish didn't not lose subscribers' they just didn't lose as many as Directv last quarter. And tomorrow, well see about Q2.

Also, a very low percentage of subscribers have HD. As long as this is the case, Dish is OK as they compete very well on SD subs. Adding a few channels only a small amount of subscribers care about won't by any means be crippling or fatal.

I guess I'm not most people. I want focus on the basic channels. I couldn't care less about massive sports packs and huge premium additions as I won't subscribe to either. All I want are my favorite shows in HD, fun "destination/travel" programming in HD (as I don't find it worth watching these in SD), and my local NFL teams games (plus the Cavs playoffs) in HD. I get most of that with what Dish already offers.

I agree we need to stop the pointless channel counting. The problem is, eveyone's definition of necessary programing is different. The only channels I would like top see Dish carry are Comedy Central HD, Spike HD, E! HD and IFC HD, although I wouldn't mind some others (and 3 of those are not because I care about their HD programming, but just want them with my HD only pack). Non of those I feel would be worth switching providers over. I already have the vast majority of the channels I want in HD. Only competing price-wise and technology-wise could lure me over, and they haven't made much progress on either for me. I suspect many Dish HD subs feel the same way.

 

[skottey]

First, Dish didn't not lose subscribers' they just didn't lose as many as Directv last quarter. And tomorrow, well see about Q2.

I am confused by your statement. Are you implying that both DirecTV and Dish are losing subscribers and DirecTV is actually losing more subscribers (either percentage wise or exact count wise)? I am no expert by any means but I think DirecTV has been gaining subscribers since the big HD roll out last year and I know for sure that Dish has been losing subscribers. I have never seen anything on this site or anyplace else for that matter about DirecTV losing subscribers recently (and I spend a lot of time here, way too much time).

I realize I am just one guy, but I personally ditched Dish in January and joined DirecTV in May (have always had, and still maintain a digital cable subscription too). It appears to be that a lot of people did the same thing.

I am not so attached that I won't ever leave DirecTV, but I do like them more than I did Dish. If anything, I would reduce my DirecTV package until the contract runs out and up the cable package to all the premiums if SDV is the big success that it is supposed to be, allowing them way more channels. Obviously, picture quality would need to imporve greatly too.

I also feel that the DVR is just fine with DirecTV. It may not be as good in some ways as Dish's DVR, but it is better than the cable DVR through BHN/TW. I actually love the DirecTV DVR and the ability to go online and schedule my movies and tell them which box to record on. The only thing that would make it better would be if I could add external storage (used together with the hard drive inside) AND be able to watch movies recorded from one DVR on either DVR. What would be even better is if they added a central server option in the house where you could store 1TB for an extra $10 a month. They could use a fairly cheap computer with Linux and allow you to have say, up to 4 1TB drives. If you buy the equipment, you could add your own drives, or rent one from them for an additional fee per TB of storage. All HD-DVRs in the house would be able to access the central storage solution. I am finding that I am recording movies at a far faster pace than I can watch them. I am going to run out of space on both my DVRs soon. I'd gladly pay more for a central storage device. I'd buy it outright and add my own TB drives. Actually, 1.5 TB drives are coming out now. My God, the storage would be wonderful. I need to stop dreaming now.

 

[aramus8]

I don't normally come into the Directv forum, but I just wanted to offer a diferent opinion...

First, Dish didn't not lose subscribers' they just didn't lose as many as Directv last quarter. And tomorrow, well see about Q2.

First, can I have some of what you are smoking? Second Dish gained a whopping 35,000 subscribers in the first quarter and lost 25,000 net in the second quarter while poor old DirecTv was only gaining about a quarter million every quarter. Even using Dish' fuzzy channel count math there is no way they're doing well now and that's the only reason all those channels got added suddenly. Charlie finally got scared. Here are the links:
DISH Network Reports First Quarter 2008 Financial Results | Reuters

DISH Network(R) Reports Second Quarter 2008 Financial Results: PRNewswire Business News - MSN Money

 

[Rey]

i personally know a few that left E for D. so i'm not sure how is it that D lost subscribers this past quarter and E didn't. we shall see today's numbers.

 

[Rey]

DISH Network lost approximately 25,000 net subscribers during the quarter ended June 30, 2008, ending the quarter with approximately 13.79 million subscribers.

 

[HDRoberts]

I meant to say "didn't gain as many subs", Sorry.

My point is just to day adding a few HD channels isn't going kill Dish. More will have to be done to lure a lot of us. The title of this thread convinces me everything isn't all rosy on the Directv side, either.

 

[Rey]

let's wait and see what is what by the end of this month