No new BHN channels

[skottey]

As a subscriber to Dish and BHN, I am constantly weighing whether to get rid of BHN all together, alter my Dish package or continue on with both services as is.

With BHN I have-
2 HD DVRs
movie pak (Encore and Fox movies)
HBO, Cinemax, Showtime with on Demands

With Dish I have-
America's Top 100 + HD package ($20 extra) - No locals
HD DVR
HD non-DVR box
standard box
Starz channels including Starz HD, which BHN doesn't offer


There are reasons I have the pay channels with each the way I do. BHN gives me a good price on HBO and Cinemax, and they have on demands of each. They have HBO HD but no Cinemax HD. They also have more multichannel offerings than Dish. BHN has all the multichannels available for each, where as Dish only has a handful. I've thought of switching my Cinemax subscription to Dish but it would be silly to do it just for the HD. Sure would be nice if BHN would add Cinemax HD! As for Showtime, they offer again, all the multichannels, On Demand, and HD of Showtime east. So I keep my subscription with BHN.

Dish offers the better Starz, having more multichannels and the HD version.

At times I think about getting rid of BHN or lowering the package, changing it up or whatever, but what holds me back is that Dish is constantly going out when the rain comes down. Rain is something that happens a lot here in FL during the summertime. For this reason I can't give up BHN.

But on a day where Dish has added yet another HD channel (History), with more announced for later in September, it is very annoying to me that BHN won't even go as far as to announce anything in the works. Customer Service tells you they have heard of nothing. I am tired of this.

 

[iceturkee]

hmmm, i only lose my directv during a very hard thunderstorm and never more than about 10 minutes. to me, it isn't a big deal.

 

[skottey]

hmmm, i only lose my directv during a very hard thunderstorm and never more than about 10 minutes. to me, it isn't a big deal.

It is constant with Dish. At least three times a week that I see. I have two dishes. I think it is only the one that carries most of the HD channels. Because it will go out but channels on the other dish remain on usually. I was happy I managed to get through watching Psycho and The Birds this weekend before Frenzy came on and it cut out for 30 minutes. I wasn't too interested in the third Hitchcock movie so it wasn't a big deal this time.

 

[iceturkee]

just curious, have you checked the dish alignment lately? i have found 2 big reasons you get searching for satellite message. if the dishes have gone out of alignment that will affect your picture, even during a light rain storm. and, obviously, during a thunder boomer!

 

[skottey]

just curious, have you checked the dish alignment lately? i have found 2 big reasons you get searching for satellite message. if the dishes have gone out of alignment that will affect your picture, even during a light rain storm. and, obviously, during a thunder boomer!

No. I don't know how to do that. I have only had it for six months and it has been cutting out during rainstorms since day one. It was professionally installed by a Dish tech (contractor?).

 

[iceturkee]

i don't know how dish network works but i have the protection plan with directv. if i have a problem, they send out a tech to fix and there's no charge. realigning dishes is one of the biggies. i've had it before but i was warned those slimline dishes can get easily out of whack, so i got it again. i did have to have a guy come out and check a brand new hd dvr i bought. no charge for the service call and he hooked up a new dvr.

is there any program where you can check your signal strength while your tv is on?

 

[skottey]

i don't know how dish network works but i have the protection plan with directv. if i have a problem, they send out a tech to fix and there's no charge. realigning dishes is one of the biggies. i've had it before but i was warned those slimline dishes can get easily out of whack, so i got it again. i did have to have a guy come out and check a brand new hd dvr i bought. no charge for the service call and he hooked up a new dvr.

is there any program where you can check your signal strength while your tv is on?

I had to have my 622DVR fixed under warranty and I had to calibrate it somehow when I hooked it up. The signal strength was close to 100% and not fluctuating too much. I can jump back into that screen now that I know about it, which I didn't until I had my replacement sent.

I am a tech person by trade with a computer business and consider myself very tech savvy, but honestly, I don't know much about dishes. Much of the technical stuff I read on some of these boards is very Greek to me. I only care about getting cool channels and the idea that it works. I feel like I have a pretty good mix between Dish and BHN, although the longer I have Dish, the more unhappy I grow with BHN. Several times a week I check the HD tier, the premium 200's, and the 140's on BHN to see if anything new has been added. It almost never is. Dish on the other hand has been great. With Dish I hear about the new channels on here long before I find them through the guide. Other than the rain outages I am very happy with Dish.

When Verizon Fios comes I will dump BHN for Fios and keep Dish until the HD channels are matched on Fios.

I am happy with BHN for Roadrunner, as I have a virtual office business account for my company. I will probably keep that when I ditch them for TV. The billing I have separate.

I am rambling on way past your question about signal strength, but I have a habit of doing that on here.

 

[iceturkee]

i don't remember what part of florida you are in. if its central and/or east coast, it may be a long, long time before we see fios.

 

[skottey]

i don't remember what part of florida you are in. if its central and/or east coast, it may be a long, long time before we see fios.

I'm in St. Petersburg (west of Tampa). I live in the most densely populated county in the state (Pinellas) and they are in my surrounding areas. They are in the north part of my county working their way down. I am on the south side so it will be a while but probably not more than a year or two. Dearest mother has it about an hour north of me and it is great for TV. The Internet is fast but as problematic as Verizon DSL, especially with email (not that I use an ISPs email anyway).

 

[jcarrera]

yeah, ice, I am Brevard. Why is it going to take so long? I would have expected to see it going only into new developments, but in Tampa, seems they are doing it all over.

 

[skottey]

yeah, ice, I am Brevard. Why is it going to take so long? I would have expected to see it going only into new developments, but in Tampa, seems they are doing it all over.

They started in Temple Terrace (suburb of Tampa) a few years ago. Before they changed the law in Florida, which now allow cable TV providers to make deals with the state instead of the local cities, Verizon Fios was fighting with the city of Tampa and others because Tampa wanted more out of the deal than Verizon was willing to give. It doesn't matter now, Verizon can go anywhere. The old way was just slowing progress anyway. In Pinellas, where I live, there are over 20 municipalities, and that meant over 20 deals the old way. Now they just make a deal through the state to do the whole state. No more deals that end up costing the customer more. People in my county are now griping about BHN moving the government channels to the digital tier, which was made possible by the change in the law.

What annoyed me most before they changed the law was the opposing side (BHN included) that was saying that this change in law will allow the companies to pick and choose where they want to lay cable and offer service. They were complaining that companies like Verizon would only go into the wealthy neighborhoods and not the low class neighborhoods. Hello!!! Would it make good business sense to go into a neighborhood that is on food stamps and WIC, who can't afford digital cable, Internet, and phone? Of course not. Worthless argument it was! I distribute fliers (handbills) to promote my business. I pick and choose the wealthy neighborhoods to have them hung on the doors. I have done the lower class neighborhoods and they don't respond to my ads. The wealthy neighborhoods call me for service left and right. Servicing the ghetto is a waste of my time and money. Same with Verizon servicing the ghetto. The law was changed for the better. Now that Verizon doesn't have to fight with each city, they can roll right in with service. I'm sure it won't be too long before your county is covered over there.

Progress. The wheels are in motion.

 

[stevenl]

So will that law change for BHN now as well? can they pick and choose where they go? So bhn can just pull up its plant and move it to only the rich areas? How does that help the citizens of the state? Whom the law was designed to protect? Verizon wanted the law to "Compete and have fair competition" But the law is clearly one sided as cable has 1 set of rules and verizon another. And verizons rule does not include the extra costs BHN has to ensue by maintaining plant in areas that do not make money.

 

[iceturkee]

yeah, ice, I am Brevard. Why is it going to take so long? I would have expected to see it going only into new developments, but in Tampa, seems they are doing it all over.

my understanding was verizon could only apply for a franchise where they had phone service, hence the tampa-st pete area. however, i thought the bill signed by gov crist this summer allowed for them to apply anywhere within florida.

that's why i'm saying it might be awhile before you might see the service in brevard county. they would have to apply, be awarded the franchise and then lay the cable.

 

[skottey]

So will that law change for BHN now as well? can they pick and choose where they go? So bhn can just pull up its plant and move it to only the rich areas? How does that help the citizens of the state? Whom the law was designed to protect? Verizon wanted the law to "Compete and have fair competition" But the law is clearly one sided as cable has 1 set of rules and verizon another. And verizons rule does not include the extra costs BHN has to ensue by maintaining plant in areas that do not make money.

BHN must apply for an agreement with the state. The local agreements remain in place until they expire, at which point the BHN will deal with the state. In other words, if BHN has an agreement with Orlando that expires in 2010 and one that expires with Tampa in 2011, they will be dealing with the state for Orlando in 2010 and Tampa in 2011.

So the same set of rules will apply to BHN as all the other companies. I suppose BHN could pull out of the ghetto, but why would they? They already have the cable laid. If they aren't making any money off the ghetto than maybe they would pull out.

You may not like the idea of companies being able to pick and choose where they want to service customers and you may feel the government should "protect" the consumer, but you should really try to understand how a free market works. Capitalism is about making money, not protecting the poor. I have a feeling there would be a backlash and bad PR if BHN started pulling out of any neighborhood, so I doubt they would do that. It would be all over the front page of the SP Times and and other papers. I think the looser laws will mainly impact companies like Verizon going in, who will just skip over the poorer neighborhoods.

If you want equality for all, got to Venezuela. Their dictator now runs all the power and phone companies. The "people" own it and the government runs it. I don't know about you but I prefer the free market.

 

[skottey]

i thought the bill signed by gov crist this summer allowed for them to apply anywhere within florida.

This is correct. They can now go anywhere.

 

[jcarrera]

They can go anywhere or they can apply to go anwhere?

 

[skottey]

They can go anywhere or they can apply to go anwhere?

The application covers the whole state. So yes, they apply to Florida and they are granted either an all or none.

In other words, a new company comes in, they apply to FL, they are approved, they can then go anywhere in FL they want. No more dealing with cities or counties.

Free Press : Florida Governor Signs Cable TV Bill

One part I didn't know is at the very end of the above article.

"Existing cable companies then also can seek a state franchise and cancel their local contracts."

My local paper mistakenly said they had to finish out their contract as I stated above, but this says they can seek a state franchise and cancel their existing local franchise. But they actually CAN finish out their local franchise agreement and then they must apply to the state.

This was a very controversial bill but I think it was for the better for sure that it passed.

 

[stevenl]

BHN must apply for an agreement with the state. The local agreements remain in place until they expire, at which point the BHN will deal with the state. In other words, if BHN has an agreement with Orlando that expires in 2010 and one that expires with Tampa in 2011, they will be dealing with the state for Orlando in 2010 and Tampa in 2011.

So the same set of rules will apply to BHN as all the other companies. I suppose BHN could pull out of the ghetto, but why would they? They already have the cable laid. If they aren't making any money off the ghetto than maybe they would pull out.

You may not like the idea of companies being able to pick and choose where they want to service customers and you may feel the government should "protect" the consumer, but you should really try to understand how a free market works. Capitalism is about making money, not protecting the poor. I have a feeling there would be a backlash and bad PR if BHN started pulling out of any neighborhood, so I doubt they would do that. It would be all over the front page of the SP Times and and other papers. I think the looser laws will mainly impact companies like Verizon going in, who will just skip over the poorer neighborhoods.

If you want equality for all, got to Venezuela. Their dictator now runs all the power and phone companies. The "people" own it and the government runs it. I don't know about you but I prefer the free market.

Yes I understand how capitalism works, but in this case these companies use PUBLIC land to run their business. So they must do so in the benefit of the public. Just like how radio stations have certain requirements becuase they use public air waves. Cable companies and verizon are using public property My property and yours, to make money off of. So they should be required to benefit all those who pay taxes not just the rich.

and I didnt know that about the agreement, it seems a bit more fair for the companies if it applies to everyone.

Its funny verizon would use the easement to run their fiber right through a poor neighborhood bypassing it for service but then hook up the rich next door neighbor.... That bill gives them that ability. It had a good part in that it allowed them not to deal with local governments seems to benefit everyone even the cbale companies, but at the same time it takes away protections consumers had.

 

[jcarrera]

Did taking away the local franchises also take the fee confiscation revenue away from the cities and put it into the state's pocket?

 

[iceturkee]

steven, i know how much you adore your employer but competition is one of the many things that makes this country great. and, quite frankly, cable companies need competition. the satco's have it, so should the cable people.