The Dish April 1st New HD Saga (Merged Threads)

BET-HD is NOT on DirecTV, or anywhere else that I am aware of. The AVS chart still lists it as "Coming 1Q '09". I've never seen a press release about its launch (there was one for Comedy Central).

It's quite possible that it was Viacom that dropped the ball here...they were supposed to launch "by April 1st" and didn't make it.

For whatever reason, DISH's contract may read "We will launch them all when they are all ready."

As for BET-J...It would have a separate contract since it's in the Platinum package. And it's quite clearly a placeholder channel...they are likely just uprezzing the SD feed until the HD feed launches. It seems to me WFN worked the same way.

I'm really starting to think Viacom are the bad guys here.

You are closer to the facts then you may be aware of.

Because of contract language dish is not at liberty to speak on any problems it may have with Viacom in regard to delay in launching the viacom pack.'

That being said do not be surprise if these launch this friday or next mont or two years from now.

Like dish like to say it is coming soon real soon:eek:
 
They will on the next Charlie Chat. By then, we will have forgotten about this problem and several more problems will have came and went.
 
Put me in that group! :up

Edit: With that being said ... I have been "burned" by TurboHD before. I will not switch back to TurboHD until I know that the channels are there.

Probably a prudent course of action but you can always switch back to a Classic package if necessary. I will say that Com Cen, Spike, and CMT are all in SD currently in Turbo Bronze. Nick and MTV are missing but that doesn't necessarily mean anything as some HD channels in the Turbo packs have their SD counterparts included and some don't. I can't figure it out.
 
Please wait while we find a representative to assist you...
You have been connected to (03) Jeremy K..
(03) Jeremy K.: Thank you for being a valued DISH Network customer. How may I assist you?
I was wanting to ask about the new hd that was supposed to launch yesterday
have you guys heard anything about why it didn't launch?
(03) Jeremy K.: I'd be happy to assist you with that.
(03) Jeremy K.: For account security purposes, can I please verify the full name and address with zip code that is on the account?

(03) Jeremy K.: Thank you for verifying. I appreciate your time.
(03) Jeremy K.: May I know which channel in High Definition you are referring to?
was annoucned on april 1st that comedy central hd, bet hd, vh1 hd, mtv hd, nick hd, and spike tv hd
would be available
(03) Jeremy K.: The Channels that you have mentioned will be available in Spring 2009.
so why was it told to the customers april 1st???
(03) Jeremy K.: I am sorry if some body gave any kind of wrong information on these channels.
(03) Jeremy K.: Please refer the following web link for new channel line up at DISH Network - 2009 Updates - 1.888.825.2557
well it was the boss of dish that gave the information
charlie ergen
(03) Jeremy K.: Please give me a minute while I check if we have any information on this.
k
(03) Jeremy K.: Thank you for your time and patience.
thank you
(03) Jeremy K.: I have checked the information on the above channels in HD.
(03) Jeremy K.: We tried to give our Customers all the above channels in High Definition from April 1st 2009.
ok ...
(03) Jeremy K.: However, the negotiation on the price did not match.
(03) Jeremy K.: We are still under negotiation to provide the lowest possible price on these channels to all our Customers so that it won't be an extra burden.
(03) Jeremy K.: We hope to reach and agreement for a fair price very soon.
Ash Hutto: hmmmmmmmmmmm....i see
(03) Jeremy K.: Please keep browsing our web site for all the channels that will be added in spring 2009.
(03) Jeremy K.: The web link for the new channel is: DISH Network - 2009 Updates - 1.888.825.2557


My take is this...How is this good for business...??? Shouldn't someone from up above at dish release a statement or a press release. I've never had any problems with dish in the past...just not sure as to some of the business decsions they make from time to time.

Scott...I appreciate everything you do for this site and everything you do for us. With out you or this site, I wouldn't know anything about what is going on and for that I am grateful to have this site.

Do you have any idea what could have happened or if this csr knows anything???

Thanks for everything

This CSR should be fire from Dish as I do know that nobody at dish will tell a CSR of any contract problems.
 
Scott, Thanks for the post it eases the mind a bit. I promised my kids that Nick would be in HD by Wednesday. My kids know what HD is but they don't know who Charlie is so I'm the bad guy in this house.:D
 
Hey rey now that I paid one thousand dollars for one of those 922 will you ship put all the others postage due of one thosand dollars??

All joking aside I hope that exiting dish customer can get a 922 when it becomes available.
 
I still don't think they are having an issue with TP5 on the satellite itself.

Yeh I don't know exactly what the problem is with T5, whether it's the transponder or just an Indy spot beam specific problem with infrastructure. I do know that all locals scheduled for T5 have been sidelined for the time being since they have Indy up on ConUS 5 on Old Wobbler. The subs in Roanoke feel like they've been screwed over because of it. The fact remains, E* hasn't resolved whatever the issue is for weeks now and that's now affecting other markets that were scheduled.
 
Anyone sent an email to the CEO addy? Wonder if you would even get a reply.
I haven't heard anything from the one I sent to them this morning, or the one I left online for them. I imagine that the E* braintrust is hammering out some canned vanilla response and we'll hear the [strike]excuse[/strike] reason by the end of the week.
 
I thought that maybe I was seeing things and maybe they forgot a number, but this might get a couple of laughs around these depressing times. Or maybe this is still being too optimistic.:D
If those (7) channels were in fact the ones Dish planned to launch and they're all owned by the same parent company (I believe they're *all* Viacom, but don't know for sure) and they didn't launch, it's clear that Dish jumped the gun on announcing them, i.e. contracts weren't finalized - and still aren't - when Dish announced them, or there are in fact technical issues.
 
Because of contract language dish is not at liberty to speak on any problems it may have with Viacom in regard to delay in launching the viacom pack.'

While I am sure it could not discuss the nature of the problem I cant imagine such a contract would ever preclude a company from simply acknowledging there are some unforeseen difficulties that are being solved. Since Dish is the one held responsible by the customers I doubt it would agree to a contract that prevented it from saying anything at all. Even if it were to simply say the problems will be fixed... soon. :D
 
I agree, plus why announce that a certain channel is coming on certain date, if you dont have a signed contract? If you announce that ,(without a contract), the channel has the leverage in the deal making. If this really is about price/contract(which i dont believe) then Dish, from the very top on down, is totally clueless on how to run a business/public relations..

They usually add things like 'pending finalizing negotiations' etc. That way you can announce the specific channels are coming but allow some flexibility. It would be weird in this case if the date was set before the ink was dry.