I think it would be great if E*, or someone else would become an HD only provider. I know the logistical issues Dish would have with SD customers and equipment if they pulled the plug on SD, but with more and more channels and home sets going HD, someone has got to be 1st. Maybe it my tech'y nature talking or perhaps still too early for the masses. Any opinions?
HD only provider - Maybe still to early
- Thread starter petrozio
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That was Voom and it didn't work out that well.
No, Voom had SD also, plus that was several years ago and things have changed.
Sadly, it appears Dish Network is using their HD only packages for bait-and-switch. The TurboHD packages are seemingly just to lure people over and get them committed for two years before they realize they have to switch to Classic+HD to get the new HD being added.
ANY provider who attempted to do that now, might as well go ahead and declare bankruptcy. Studies show that only 13-25% of U.S. households own a HDTV. For many, it's still a niche, a luxury even. Proof in the pudding; E* adds all new HD programming tothe corresponding HD add on packs. The same is not true for Turbo HD customers. Many retirees and older folks will never buy a HDTV. Right now, the revenue is still found in SD programming. Having said that, realistically by 2012, maybe what you're saying will happen. But, HD will be the standard then. Most SD sets have to be phased out and replaced with HDTV's and satellite providers have to have all MPEG4 receivers. Dish cannot replace all MPEG2 receivers by 2010!
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that's not true.. the retired folks in my area have and are upgrading to hd.. sadly most for sports.. which means directv rather than dish..
You're off topic, but I'll answer you anyways. There's NO bait-and-switch! Nowhere has it ever said that all new HD programming would be added to those HD only packages. Plain and simple. For $15-$20 more, you can switch to a classic pack and add the HD add on. You'll be guaranteed to get all new channels in those packages then. Read your agreement carefully. It states that Dish has the right to add/remove programming and tier programming. If Dish is that bad for you, there's other options, other than bitching about it here everyday.
So, the retired folks in your area are representative of the entire nation? LMAO! You might want to think that through again. My next door neighbor is a crackhead. Does that mean everyone's neighbor is a crackhead also?
The main reason is that consumer education on HD vs SD is pretty sad... I'll take a WAG and say that 75% of people that buy an HDTV, connect it to their cable or SD sat receiver & say "wow, this HD is awesome"... the whole time looking at a stretched out, crappy picture...
Just my opinion...
Just my opinion...
Nowhere, except straight from the mouth of customer service reps. When I signed up, I couldn't find anything about new channels on the website, so I did the reasonable thing and asked; on three separate occassions I was assured I would be receiving the new channels...
Oh, and how about that hilarious time when dish updated the Turbo HD page on the website, listing FoxNews HD in Turbo Bronze and Fox Business HD in Turbo Gold?... That was up for a few hours to the world, and I didn't even have to be lied to by a CSR
So yeah, other than that you are right.
As for the original question, an all HD provider seems unrealistic, but I still think an all HD package is a very viable alternative. Now if only someone could get it right...
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Their own employees were telling people that -- and not just me either! And during a Charlie Chat they proclaimed the large $10 price increase to TurboHD packages would be worth it for all the HD channels coming -- which at the time seem to jibe with what I was being told. All that sure seems like a trick now because TurboHD subs have barely gotten anything meanwhile the Classic+HD packages that went up much less (only $3-5) are getting all the new HD channels.
Pardon me for not wanting to raise my bill 36% just because Dish Network has been deceptive.
If I didn't have to pay such a large fee to cancel I would. In the meantime I will exercise my right to free speech.
I'd be interested to know the corresponding numbers that show % of households that sub to Satellite (and some other figures).
If it's only 10-20% then maybe a majority of them can handle HD already.
According to Nielson, there are 114.5 million us households with a TV for the 08-09 season.
Dish has a little over 13 million subs.
While many have glamorized what was VOOM, an all HD distributor they were not.That was Voom and it didn't work out that well.
Yes VOOM! failed for several reasons. First and foremost is they emphasized their HD too much and did not advertise their SD. There were not many HD stations then and consumers did not understand that could still get all of the channels they could on Dish or Direct. Like wives NEEDED the Lifetime channel. People didn't see the Lifetime logos in the advertising.
Also, they would do crazy crap to get people hooked up with their digital locals. I still have a long range antenna, a 20-30' pole and a rotator that they put up at my house!!!!
From DIRECTV's financial reports we know that their customer base is made up of between 50-60% "advanced receivers"; those which are either DVR, HD or HD DVR. Given the flap over many of the SD LIL channels in MPEG4-only markets being postage stamped, that's not going over very well.
If I had to guess, I'd offer that around 35% of the DBS marketplace is HD capable.
Sadly the CSRs aren't a good source of information. The concept of "CSR Roulette" gets discussed here often, because every CSR seems to give different information. I hope Scott & crew brought this up at Team Summit as an issue that Dish must address.
I'm pretty sure that "will be worth it" quote came from the retailer chat, which the average customer wouldn't know about if Scott & others here didn't summarize the meeting.
http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-ne...8th-dish-retailer-chat-recap.html#post1630955
Turbo Bronze went up $5
Turbo Silver went up $7
Turbo Gold went up $10
AT100 went up $2
AT200 went up $3
AT250 went up $3
DVR Advantage Classic 100 went up $5
DVR Advantage Classic 200 went up $8
The only packages that made out well were the Dish Latino w/ Locals (price decreases), Welcome / Family packs (no change), and HD Absolute (no change).
The Turbo Gold folks have the biggest reason to be pissed off -- they took a $10 price increase and only got the same channels (CMT, Spike, and Comedy Central) that the Turbo Bronze folks received.
I can see the smaller increase on the Classic packages -- they were already paying for those channels before the HD feeds were added.
As for the Turbo packages, I'm interested to see what Dish comes back with after the discussions at Team Summit. I get the feeling that they raised prices on TurboHD simply because they can -- there's no competing options from DirecTV or cable companies to keep the prices as low as they were on those plans. It is in their best interest, however, to stop the bleeding of subscribers leaving.
My gut feel is that the fixed costs (transponder lease on existing satellite) and startup costs are so high that they can't be supported by a niche market, which is what an HD-only subscriber is today.
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