What would D* be like today if under Original Management or Echostar?

[Brewer4]

Pretty straight forward question. After watching all the delays with hardware, new satellites, new HD programming, etc., I was wondering if things would be different if D* remained under its original management or under the merged Echostar/Dish Network. Very curious if folks would think things would be for the better, the same or worse, especially with regard to HD.

 

[charper1]

Oh god that idea made me nearly pass out with fear. We would all be sunk with bad hardware, bugs, and no new birds even being drawn up, or new channels added. NO WAY would any DirecTV customer want this! IMHO

 

[Doctor Bob]

There were new Birds (at least 2 years before Rupert), with the Original Mgmt crew, and there were new hardware platforms being brought out by Sony; RCA; Samsung; Hatachi (HNS), Phillips, and there were also the "New" Tivo's... So the only thing that changed was Rupert, and then of course there was this massive exodus, which was not all bad... LOL

Don't go there with E*, because they can't even get it together for their own self, not alone taking over a company that has better equip than they had... RONTGLMAO...

The ONLY good thing that Rupert did, was to get rid of some of the folks that were corrupt, and that didn't last long anyways...

 

[john262]

I know that to get his purchase of D* approved Rupert had to agree not to give unfair preference on the D* channel lineup to the cable channels that he owns. However, I had thought that they would have found a way to get around that restriction and give the Fox News Channel a better channel position vis a vis CNN anyway.

But to their credit, they haven't done that. FNC is still buried at channel 360 whereas CNN has channel 202, which is a prime location.

Since FNC gets so much better ratings than CNN, I would have thought that they could use that as an excuse to change around the channel lineup to give FNC a better channel position and to give CNN a worse position. After all, would it be unfair favoritism to give FNC a better position because it has many more viewers and thus as a more popular channel it deserves a better channel position? I don't think so, but like I said, to Rupert's credit he hasn't done that. He hasn't done it yet at least.

 

[charper1]

Well I think I remember it has something to do with Turner brokering a deal to be in that "basic tier numbering" of the 200's. FOX News is in line with all the other news and info channels in the 350's & 360's. I think CNN & HLN should be moved there if all the other news & info stuff can't be squeezed into the low 200's without disrupting the ESPN line.

 

[scooby2]

God i was just thinking this the other night. I sort of wish they would have merged now and given me some HD love. Maybe D* should buy E* now and save all those poor souls. Use the Rainbow sat for all the voom HD and there would be transponders galore to go around.

This sucks not having anything new hd wise forever (espn* doesnt count they show hd rarely).

 

[JamesJ]

whats wrong with Dish network, I have it, dont have any problems, have great looking High Def. have more high def then any provider I have ever had. I am not saying they are perfect, but I dont think they deserve this hate fest....other then sunday ticket, what does directv have that dish dosent???

 

[Gary Whitaker]

Not to worry, D8 is headed towards 101 as we speak.

 

[branchbouncer]

If callling the Voom crap means more HD content then you can have it.We had Voom 3 months before it's demise and while the PQ was good(some times) you get tired of watching the same thing every two days.TNT-HD( the only other channel that D* does not have)the same thing repeats,all the time.By the way everyone needs to pull away from the tube for a while and do different things,anything,2006,more and interesting HD channels,doubt that,same old crap.Like D* said 500,000 HD customers out of 13.000.000,or for E*(some where in the same bracket) why add large amount of HD when most people (12,500,000) have SD,wait til the market is at least 50% HD before going crazy.The best case would have been that all D* and E*HD customers signed on with Voom and maybe we would have better programing

 

[JamesJ]

wait, you totally contradict yourself there branchbouncer, one minute your saying voom is crap, then the next you are saying people shoud have signed up with them and I quote "maybe we would have better proramming" I am confused which is it?

 

[Gary Whitaker]

HD retention is difficult for both D* & E* currently. Many subs do not see the standard HD Pak as a value beyond the free 3 mo trial offer while free HD broadcast nets, premium HD subscriptions for HBO / Showtime, and NFL HD Ticket are considered by most, a better value. The #1 sub reason for dropping HD pak is cost and endless loop repeat programming.

In addition many E* subs would prefer to pay just $5 for Voom, instead of having to pay $10 for the standard HD pak + $5 to get Voom. While it appears to be neither providers fault, in a way it is. Discovery HD consists of 70% of the standard HD pak price and bundling is stalling HD programming sales.

Of course as more HD sets enter homes this may change. Early adopters are disappointed with the current HD programming line up, tired of delayed promises of coming soon value add channels, and questionable HD PQ. D* subs now sighing at MP4 which requires new equipment and installation which may or may not be free, and the looming switch to Ka which may be more susceptible to rain fade.

 

[Doctor Bob]

You are right about that Gary... Here is a "Media" type, who has had it with Dish Network, over the "Yes" network, and there are several thousand in the Hudson Valley New York area that are probably going to switch over to DirecTV as well... LOL

http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2005/09/28/noyanks2.htm

 

[ocnier]

whats wrong with Dish network, I have it, dont have any problems, have great looking High Def. have more high def then any provider I have ever had. I am not saying they are perfect, but I dont think they deserve this hate fest....other then sunday ticket, what does directv have that dish dosent???

What does D* have? Answer: NBC, ABC and FOX in HD on the east and west coast out of market feeds and stated plans to provide the ALL the big four HD LOCALS in all the largest market areas. What can I say Lost, House, Law and Order etc.., and just about any other non CBS related show don't look too good on the OTA when there's bad weather, the stations just simply don't transmit with enough power, or you just can get that great a feed with ole OTA (ie sound breaks and pixelation). What the hell good is HD if you can't watch it. That's simply what D*'s got. E* is way way way past due to fix this problem, but their implementation strategy is dependent on MPEG4 and rainbow 1 (which in the grand scheme of things is at least another year off). By the time push comes to shove E* will have been behind the 8 ball for at least 2 years. This is totally unacceptable in terms of offering (charlie simply didn't want to play ball with the networks, and I think it's gonna burn em' in the long run)

 

[vurbano]

We would have every HD channel in existence but at HDlite resolution at 1280x1080i and reduced bitrates. Rupert would not have E*'s superior HD picture quality to compete with.

 

[Happy Camper]

I'd have to believe that the original D* management could not possibly be worse now than the current fools. At the very least, they would have signed up with the most excellent TNT HD, I'm thinking, without the NewsCorp/Turner/Time Warner rivalry. I do not know which highly competitive corporate party prevents that link, but we all lose.

I read this thread and others and wonder why anyone without a family member being employed by D* (or DISH, for that matter) would feel it necessary to come onto an internet forum and be an apologist for them or any other satellite company. Who cares why they don't deliver? I just want the best content for the lowest price and I care not who delivers it to me. I'm certainly not going to stick with an inferior product just because some French guy might be at "fault". As I said on another thread, Good grief!

Why does it matter which component supplier's part is crappy if the product does not work or is inferior? Would you buy the product anyway because the brand name manufacturer was being worked over by a French guy? And then, keep it because the manufacturer promised that someday it might be better? Help, help!

 

[Doctor Bob]

Wow, I'm glad I got a chance to understand what some of you guys are, "Not Thinking" about... RONTGLMAO

 

[Brewer4]

I dont think we would be worse under the original Hughes group versus News Corp. You gotta realize, Hughes brought us Sunday Ticket, hundreds of digital quality SD channels, local channels in over a hundred DMA's, dual tuner digital DVR's with Tivo, High Definition Tivo, #1 customer satisfaction with JD Powers, etc. If they didnt know what they were doing, how the heck did they have 10 million customers.

I think News Corp definately help to consolidate cash and weed out divisions that are not directly related to the core operations of delivering programming to consumers. So from a financial perspective, they've improved their cash standing and ability to buy new sats, etc. But I think the Spaceway 1 and 2 sats were part of the Hughes alignment before News Corp.

I think the News corp Mgmt is thinking big with HD but I gotta think the Hughes folks woulda figured it out that HD is the future and their growth was strongly tied to local channel offerings. I think the cash and debt positioning might have held them back whereas the News Corp team has helped to leverage the company.

 

[Brewer4]

My take on the Dish Network side, I think the past 2 years would have been really crazy. The hardware is so different between the 2 camps that I think we would have been operating under separate configurations for a long time. So there wouldnt have been any immediate consolidation and lots of duplicate channels. I think only today would we have started to see sat movements and common hardware platforms.

I think Tivo would have been on the outs and I think the competition between cable, Dish and Directv keeps things healthy. I also think we might have seen prices creep up. So I think we are better off having Dish and D* separate.

 

[colofan]

Well one thing for sure turning off consumer electronic firms from offering different receiver was a great step back for me.

Personally having a computer company make a PVR instead of companies whihc have no idea on how to truly offer options to the customer is just plain stupid.

Imagine if you had to buy your PC from microsoft instead of Hp, Dell.....

I just see D* in over their heads in some areas and they should partner with compines that can offer products and services that work.....going away from TVIO was a bad move but also TVIO needed a hardware company to provide the upgrades and get out of the business of making equipment that well really didn't work that well.

 

[JamesJ]

Directv does have the big 4 networks....BUT how many people qualify for them??? I am talking about something that is here and now, that is what this thread is about correct? and I am also talking about what 100% of the subs. can recieve..also Dish does have the 4 networks uplinked right now...but again that is in the future, what is right now? I think they both are pretty equal....Now the future Directv May just kick E* up and down the driveway.