TVPrediction's Swanni's rant against Dish Network...

space86

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
May 3, 2007
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Swanni's anti Dish rant...


I now have DIRECTV at home.

But after the satcaster dropped Versus last week -- and consistently shows little interest in adding more HD channels of late -- I wish I could just give DIRECTV the boot and sign up with Dish Network.

Despite having fewer resources than many of its rivals, Dish Network has done a remarkable job of expanding its high-def lineup over the last year.

The nation's second largest satellite service now boasts having 140 HD channels, more than any other TV provider. The numbers are hyped a bit, of course; every TV operator inflates their HD totals, including DIRECTV. But any objective analysis would show that it does have more HD channels than anyone else.

So, as a HDTV fanatic, why can't I subscribe to Dish?

For the very same reason that DIRECTV's inability to come to terms with Versus makes me mad.

Dish Network has a history of constantly getting entangled in programming disputes with networks and engaging in legal battles with rival companies such as TiVo. In fact, Dish has been forced to drop some channels for a period of time because Dish CEO Charlie Ergen believes in playing hardball at the negotiating table. It often appears that Dish doesn't mind denying its customers a favorite channel for awhile if it means a few more dollars in its coffers.

And I can't subscribe to a TV service that doesn't give me confidence that my favorite channels will be there when I tune them in. (I would think that all Dish DVR owners would also be nervous thanks to Dish's patent battle with DVR service TiVo; the latter is trying to get a judge to agree to force Dish to disable its DVRs because it says Dish has violated its patents.)

Until now, DIRECTV has been very successful in reaching agreements with programmers, but the Versus case suggests that that may be changing. The nation's largest satcaster may start playing hardball like the nation's second largest satcaster.

And if that happens, I may start shopping for a non-satellite TV service.
 
Good...

Hope he does. Then he can start complaining that cable has little to offer in HD or premium packages and their fees are worse than any provider. Or he can start complaining how U-Verse only allows 2 HD feeds at one time into the house. Or he can start complaining about FiOs fees, poor billing department, or awful DVRs.

I have a feeling that no matter what Swanni chooses, he will find something to complain about
 
Bye Bye Swanni. Taking an old argument and trying to freshen it up.
 
DISH has more than 150 hd channels . At least everytime I see an advertisment for DISH , that is what they say. I can only count about 105 , but I sub to top 250 + hd & plat+ Hbo/showtime. That total includes the 15 hd pay per views.
 
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Yeah, Swanni says Dish is the pits, Bob says I'm looking at FIOS. Swanni says FIOS sucks. Bob says let me help you with that.... :D
 
The idiot (swanni, not bob this time) is complaining about dropped channels, but it seems to me that Direct has had more of a problem than Dish as of late...just goes to show that anyone with access to a keyboard can pretend to be a writer, whether they have a clue or not...
 
Dish hasn't had a dropped channels problem in awhile. Normally January 1st is a day I dont look forward to as it normally the day Dish does its big drops, but all was quiet this year.
 
hmm, I appreciate Dish playing hardball with companies that try to use the popularity of some of their programming to foist high priced lesser quality programming on them. Each time Dish doesn't blink, I believe we win in the end.
 
I think that it the reason why DISH is cheaper than DIRECTV on programming across the board. THey don't bend over and take it every time a company wants to hike the cost of their channels to DISH. That and DISH doesn't pay a billion dollars a year to keep NFL Sunday ticket , that makes all programming packs go up so they can defray costs across the board.