STATIONS NOT WANTED - MAKE THEM TOTALLY OPTIONAL ADD ON

[navychop]

I really enjoyed the way it used to be on C-band.
Once a year I would take a look at all of the channels, pick and choose which ones I wanted to pay for, call up my provider, and pay for them.
I was really shocked at the prices of DBS when I scuttled the BUD and went mini.
The great thing about the c-band business model, is that you could choose a package, or completely ala cart...your choice.

Which may have something to do with its demise. Or approaching demise.

 

[Teehar]

Which may have something to do with its demise. Or approaching demise.

I don't think that was what led to c-band fading away.Who wants a 10' dish that has to have multiple cables coming in so it can move to a different sat for other channels.Not to mention the price.An 18" with all your favorite channels with one cable and much cheaper for the equipment is what led/leading to its demise.I highly doubt it was due to al a carte.

 

[king3pj]

Channel	Cost/channel
ESPN/ESPN-HD	$4.69
ESPN2	$0.62
ESPN Classic	$0.19
ESPNU	$0.18

If those numbers are to be believable... And if they are accurate, show me a cable or satellite provider that is allowed to offer ESPN without ESPN2. The two together put you over $5/month.

I read that chart too. You missed my point though. I dont think ESPN would ask for a $5 to $8 increase that would move the entire family of channels from about $5 to $10 to $13 like he suggests.

 

[Dah-Henny]

I don't think that was what led to c-band fading away.Who wants a 10' dish that has to have multiple cables coming in so it can move to a different sat for other channels.Not to mention the price.An 18" with all your favorite channels with one cable and much cheaper for the equipment is what led/leading to its demise.I highly doubt it was due to al a carte.

I don't think it was due to ala cart either. I loved playing with my C/Ku system, but my family could never watch anything, cause I was always scanning the skies. After a 60+ mph gust one winter spun my 10 footer (and it was bolted down tight), I decided to give Dish a try.

 

[MikeD-C05]

Channel	Cost/channel
ESPN/ESPN-HD	$4.69
ESPN2	$0.62
ESPN Classic	$0.19
ESPNU	$0.18

If those numbers are to be believable... And if they are accurate, show me a cable or satellite provider that is allowed to offer ESPN without ESPN2. The two together put you over $5/month.

EXACTLY RIGHT- thank you. From what I read in other articles , ESPN is paying Double to Major League Baseball to secure a 8 year deal worth 5.6 billion. Which will translate into higher fees that they will charge to make up for the deal.

www.hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012...eight-year-5-6-billion-deal-to-keep-baseball/

 

[MikeD-C05]

I read that chart too. You missed my point though. I dont think ESPN would ask for a $5 to $8 increase that would move the entire family of channels from about $5 to $10 to $13 like he suggests.

From what I read in another article /website, they are paying 5.6 billion to keep major league baseball on Espn for the next 8 years. Which translates into higher prices for subscrbers to make up for the increased price that Espn will pay to keep baseball. So you can expect to pay double to keep Espn on your tv. So I do see them asking for Double for any tv provider to keep Espn on their service.

 

[dare2be]

As someone else mentioned, it's the nature of the beast. What I disagree with is that we have to accept it. Two things have to happen: break up the oligopolies and bundling of channels in trans agreements, and pay the providers for their ACTUAL metered viewership of their channels. If the providers can't produce or provide compelling content on their channels, let the channels die on their own.

While true ala carte is not feasible, more package options for the consumer would provide similar benefit. The existence of the Welcome(Smart) Pack and the Heartland Pack shows that it can be done, even within the current environment.

 

[Mr Tony]

here is something interesting....dug through my old files and found C-Band's pricing for alacarte dated 7/1/03

ESPN & ESPNews 4.30
ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews and Golf 5.50

so the pricing isn't that far off what they are charging right now
Basic Channels Annual 6 Month 3 Month Month+
ESPN / ESPNews ** $42.99 $22.57 $11.82 $4.30
ESPN / ESPN2 / ESPNews / Golf ** $54.99 $28.87 $15.12 $5.50

 

[The Fat Man]

Since the WHAT STATION DO YOU WANT thread only allows for one station to be listed and not genres, I would like to suggest this post as what we would like to have as ELECTIVE or ELIMINATE without specifically requesting in a package.

Let me start by stating we never watch sports channels and are tired of paying for them for everyone else.

Therefore I would like to see a SPORTS FREE tier of packages where all sports are ADD ON to whatever package is choosen.

If this is not made an option then I fear a mass exodus as the new rates are effected in February and everyone finds themselves screwed because of the excessive costs which will kick in on all packages because of the cost of the sports networks.

I got to say I can't see a provider going through with this. If I'm right, even most of the religious providers have some sports included in their packages. But I must say, i do like Canada's system. I'd might pay more for what I want than here in the United States, however, I would actually take stock in what I'm paying for. Goodbye women's channels. Just kidding, the women's channels keep the woman off my back when aunt flo comes for her monthly stay.

 

[dare2be]

But I must say, i do like Canada's system.

Please elaborate on what you like about Canada's system.

 

[fuzzfacefrombboard]

What REALLY irks me after reading all of this thread is that, while I am not a sports fan and pretty much only watch the KC Chiefs games and the occasional StL Blues game, I actually DID enjoy ESPN Classic from time to time and even though I have the AEP, I would still have to shell out EXTRA $$$ if I wanted to watch it. All because ESPN forced it out of the packages to make room for ESPNU, which I have never, and will never watch. Seems crazy to me...

 

[Sassan]

Get rid of:

85 Best
86 JTV
87 Rocks
94 Deal
95 ITV
96 Games
103 Prvw
123 Mall
134 SHBNC
210 CSPAN
211 CSPAN2
219 Alive
220 Mall
221 Buy!
222 HSN
223 Best
224 Shop
225 Sale
226 HSN2
274 LQCH
275 YouTV


Then, get rid of all the duplication of channels.

Clean up the guide and all the overlapping channels, and the I will know what Dish really offers and will be better able to answer the question.

 

[Mr Tony]

Please elaborate on what you like about Canada's system.

Canada does themes. They have packages that have a bunch of channels in them but they also break up channels like sports, news, music, etc. They also have some channels you can buy just by the channel

easier to do this...look at the pdf attached. This is for Shaw Direct

 

[Mr Tony]

Get rid of:
<---snip--->

Then, get rid of all the duplication of channels.

Clean up the guide and all the overlapping channels, and the I will know what Dish really offers and will be better able to answer the question.

you do realize those channels pay to be on Dish?
C-Span and C-Span2 there is some agreement that they have to be carried

 

[Teehar]

Canada does themes. They have packages that have a bunch of channels in them but they also break up channels like sports, news, music, etc. They also have some channels you can buy just by the channel

easier to do this...look at the pdf attached. This is for Shaw Direct

If that type of programming works in Canada I don't see why it wouldn't work here.It would be nice to have some of those options here.

 

[Sassan]

The question was what channels to get rid of, not what makes the most financial sense. Those channels are crap that no one watches (forgive me if you are one of the few who do watch) and do nothing but use bandwidth.

Financially, getting paid to broadcast the channels, then hey hey, go for it.

 

[dare2be]

Canada does themes. They have packages that have a bunch of channels in them but they also break up channels like sports, news, music, etc. They also have some channels you can buy just by the channel

easier to do this...look at the pdf attached. This is for Shaw Direct

Well, then, that is exactly what I've been talking about...creating more sub-packages to supplement the main packages without having to tread the ala-carte minefield.

 

[Mr Tony]

dish has started doing that with Heartland and Outdoor Sports

 

[Teehar]

dish has started doing that with Heartland and Outdoor Sports

But correct me if I'm wrong,Dish requires a base package.Shaw lets you create your own bundle without base package?

 

[dare2be]

dish has started doing that with Heartland and Outdoor Sports

Yep, see the edited ending of my post#47.