Is Dish ever going to add any more channels?

Chris Walker

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Jan 25, 2004
792
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I am so fed up with E*, cable and Direct regularly add channels and E* doesn't add ANYTHING besides locals and foreign channels. They are really lagging behind in the basics. Where is NFL NETWORK??!?! Where is Oxygen?? These are BASIC CABLE channels, and it's beyond pathetic that E* doesn't add them as well as others. Hell they are even dragging their feet with Fox Reality even though they have an agreement with them. They don't want to put up anything unless it's locals, shopping, or foreign. They wonder why their new sub numbers keep dwindling? If they don't get with it, when my annual sub is up for renewal in August, I am taking my $110 a month to cable. :mad:
 
That's why it's good to have choices. I wouldn't pay 1 cent a month more for any channel you mentioned. E* is a business, if they can generate more income by adding Intl or locals than some crap cable channel, good for them. If a channel comes along and I have to have it, and E* doesn't carry it, I'll switch to a carrier that does. E* is just another company I currently choose to do business with, that could change tomorrow.

In my book more does not always mean better (except HD ;) )


NightRyder
 
Yes, however, Dish does have HBO Comedy, Starz Family/Kids, 5-Star Max, ActionMax, Starz Cinema, a Showtime channel that DirecTv doesn't have (I believe it's Showtime Beyond), and TMC-Xtra. I'm sorry, but I'd rather pay more for those channels than pay extra for the Oxygen channel!! List the channels that Dish doesn't have that Directv does, then list the channels that Dish does have that Directv doesn't, and you will see Dish is actually better!
 
tonyp56 said:
Yes, however, Dish does have HBO Comedy, Starz Family/Kids, 5-Star Max, ActionMax, Starz Cinema, a Showtime channel that DirecTv doesn't have (I believe it's Showtime Beyond), and TMC-Xtra. I'm sorry, but I'd rather pay more for those channels than pay extra for the Oxygen channel!! List the channels that Dish doesn't have that Directv does, then list the channels that Dish does have that Directv doesn't, and you will see Dish is actually better!

It just annoys me to watch the Charlie Chat now because they used to always start the program off with "coming next week to Top 180 package... these 2 awesome channels". Now it's interview some rednecks about if they like Dish or not, announce two local launches in Hicksville, Alabama, and preview upcoming soccer matches. We just need some new channels once in a while, it's not asking a lot!
 
tonyp56 said:
Yes, however, Dish does have HBO Comedy, Starz Family/Kids, 5-Star Max, ActionMax, Starz Cinema, a Showtime channel that DirecTv doesn't have (I believe it's Showtime Beyond), and TMC-Xtra. I'm sorry, but I'd rather pay more for those channels than pay extra for the Oxygen channel!! List the channels that Dish doesn't have that Directv does, then list the channels that Dish does have that Directv doesn't, and you will see Dish is actually better!

What does the HBO package and Showtime package have to do with the Top 180 package? The premiums on Dish are above average and certainly better than what Direct offers, but the basics on Dish are starting to lag behind. When was the last time they added a legitimate addition to Top 180?
 
Chris Walker said:
Where is NFL NETWORK??!?! Where is Oxygen?? These are BASIC CABLE channels,

the cable company in my area has neither of these....anywhere (sure as heck not basic cable)

basic cable is ESPN, TNT, USA, SPIKE, MTV, AMC, VH1, etc
 
there are several mom & pop small town cable companies owned by local utilities in Eastern Iowa that carry NFL Network & all the other networks that E* don't carry, go figure.

Links to just two of them are:

http://www.mahaska.org/television/channels.php
http://www.heartofiowa.net/products_services/entertainment.cfm

I don't know how these small town outfits stay afloat, these two providers carry FSN North, FSN Midwest AND Comcast SportsNet Chicago all on the basic package and their prices are similar to E* and Mediacom here in the DSM metro.
 
Are there other options in those towns for cable?

Reason I ask is this looks like when the MN Twins started Victory Sports (and pulled them off FSN North). All the little ma & pa cable companies that competed against larger companies (like Time Warner or Charter) had it because of competition. Want Victory? Come here and get it.
 
The first link I listed is in a town of around 10,000 served by Mediacom. I don't know about the second link I provided, I think these are town's in the 1,000 population range, but Mediacom is everywhere in Iowa, regardless of population.

Iceberg said:
Are there other options in those towns for cable?

Reason I ask is this looks like when the MN Twins started Victory Sports (and pulled them off FSN North). All the little ma & pa cable companies that competed against larger companies (like Time Warner or Charter) had it because of competition. Want Victory? Come here and get it.
 
Chris Walker said:
Where is NFL NETWORK??!?! Where is Oxygen?? These are BASIC CABLE channels

They definitely are NOT basic cable channels. "Basic" cable packages normally have very few channels such as local channels and a few others. They are very limited in content and it would be unlikely they would include very expensive channels such as Oxygen and NFL Network. For my local cable company, Oxygen is only available with their top tier digital package and the NFL Network is NOT available at all. Personally, I don't want my bill going up for Oxygen! Oxygen is a women's channel which makes me wonder why you want it so bad. :D
 
cablevision and direct both have YES/yes-hd. dish doesnt. if locals in hd dont come by football season. see ya dish
 
tonyp56 said:
List the channels that Dish doesn't have that Directv does, then list the channels that Dish does have that Directv doesn't, and you will see Dish is actually better!
What is your definition of "better"?

Here is a list of BASIC channels carried in DirecTV Basic Packages that are not available from Dish:

CSTV
ESPN U
Fine Living
FitTV
Fox Reality
Lifetime Real Women
NBA TV
Newsworld Int'l
NFL Network
Oxygen
PBS Kids
TV One
YES

A list of Dish Basic Channels not available from DirecTV:

Auction TV (Shopping)
Beauty & Fashion Channel (Shopping)
BingoTV (Gotta be kidding)
Catalog TV (Shopping)
Healthy Living Channel (Shopping)
Horse Racing Network (More revenue generation.)
ISHOP (Shopping)
Jewelry Television (Shopping)
Men's Channel (Shopping)
Stuff TV (Shopping)
Style (Oooh. An actual channel.)
Sirius Music Channels (This is good. But, I don't miss it.)
TV Outlet Mall (Shopping)
Wisdom (The 2nd actual channel.)
And, a bunch of Public disInterest Channels

Where Dish leads DirecTV is in International Programming and SD locals, as the OP wrote. They also have the Voom10 for a partial HD advantage.

OTOH, DirecTV has all 4 major Nets in HD for those in O&O areas or with waivers. Plus, Starz and Max in HD. And, far more sports in HD.

Cable, of course, has the advantage over both in local HD and regional sports HD.
 
chaddux said:
They definitely are NOT basic cable channels. "Basic" cable packages normally have very few channels such as local channels and a few others. They are very limited in content and it would be unlikely they would include very expensive channels such as Oxygen and NFL Network. For my local cable company, Oxygen is only available with their top tier digital package and the NFL Network is NOT available at all. Personally, I don't want my bill going up for Oxygen! Oxygen is a women's channel which makes me wonder why you want it so bad. :D
He was using the term BASIC in the context of "non-Premium" channels. They are included in Cable's equivilent's to AT180 and Total Choice Plus. In that context, Oxygen, NFL, etc are BASIC vs. HBO Comedy, Showtime Beyond, etc, which are PREMIUM.
 
I need oxygen in the proper mix in the air I breath, it is good. Out of the top 180, I may watch 20 of them and Oxygen would not be one of them. Old NFL reruns does not interest me either. When football is not in season, who cares about the NFL.
 
Personally, they could get rid of the nba-tv, golf tv, soccer channels (there's 2 of them) and speed channel and give me the nfl network. But personal preferences was not the point of this post. Who cares if any of you like nfl network or oxygen. Everyone has different channels they like. The point of the post was that dish network doesn't add new channels to their top 180 anymore. I think nick toons was the last one they added to the top 180...about a year ago...it's still under 'what's new ' on their website. I am not sure cable adds many channels...it's the reason I moved to satellite in the first place, but directv does add more channels to their top package. Dish network only seems to add channels that will cause our bill to go up.
 
fiorine said:
Personally, they could get rid of the nba-tv, golf tv, soccer channels (there's 2 of them) and speed channel and give me the nfl network. But personal preferences was not the point of this post. Who cares if any of you like nfl network or oxygen. Everyone has different channels they like. The point of the post was that dish network doesn't add new channels to their top 180 anymore. I think nick toons was the last one they added to the top 180...about a year ago...it's still under 'what's new ' on their website. I am not sure cable adds many channels...it's the reason I moved to satellite in the first place, but directv does add more channels to their top package. Dish network only seems to add channels that will cause our bill to go up.
You forgot about IMF