What's YOUR tipping point?

[Poke]

Yeah we might not see any Nationals which I will be the 1st to say that is what I would like to see. But from what I can tell sounds like we might see some this month so the wait and see game.. When Dish starts adding all of their HD to really make things even with them and Direct or maybe even have more HD we can start seeing the post "Coming Back To Dish"

 

[IL HD NUTT]

I am not sure what the answer is. I do know this. I could care less about any of the channels that dish is speculating about. I am interested in CNBC HD, which I am sure nobody else cares about. So really it doesn't matter what Dish or Direct does, somebody will be ticked off.

I was scrolling through the direct forums and they were complaining about the travel channel not being in HD.

I guess what it comes down to is we all have to look at this as a hobby, I know I do. Yeah it sucks that we don't get all the channels that we would like, but I guarantee you that if we are on this site, we have something in our blood that makes us want more that the average guy wants, so in reality we are never going to be happy.

Sure I have looked into direct and charter cable. Both would have there pluses and minuses. Neither one in my opinion would be worth all the hassle of having to mess around the installs.

The only thing I am really considering is OTA and even that has trade offs, because the wife likes to DVR her sitcoms when she is at work all day.

The fact that many of us spent a Friday night watching a new satellite go into orbit says a lot about our sickness.

I think you hit it right on the head Sammy!

 

[fish2222]

The bad thing about the whole deal is that E* keeps adding Local HD channels, and wasting bandwidth. These channels are broadcasted locally over the air, and if you happen to live in a whole or out of range, than I think you should be SOL. They need to add national HD rather than locals to keep subs on. If they keep adding channels that I can't get and the price goes up more, than why would I want to stay? As long as FOX broadcasts the Nascar races and since there are no more SG-1 episodes on Sci-Fi, I really am out of reasons to have a satellite receiver anyway.

 

[fish2222]

The only thing I am really considering is OTA and even that has trade offs, because the wife likes to DVR her sitcoms when she is at work all day.

I hate to say it, but have you ever heard of a VCR? It's very easy to program, though not quite as functional as DVR, but it gets the job done. Course, the bad thing about OTA is that with the changes next year, if you don't have a digital tuner or feed, you are SOL unless you get an external tuner.

 

[PalaHeel]

Tipping Point

I am unfortunately locked in contract with Dish so I am unable to have a tipping point even if I wanted one. That is a situation I might need to deal with later but for now, I remain an E customner.

I will offer an opinion though. D is kicking E's butt on HD from here to the fartherest regions of the earth. As you know, D added three more national channels in HD this AM. Where are the E channels we keep hearing are coming? D promises and delivers and E does not. At least not in a timely manner.

I have posted on here before that I am reasonably happy with E; that is still true for the most part. However, the clandestine approach E has in communicating with its subscribers irks me to the most minute degree at times.

The tossing of occasional bones to the hungry subscribers, and then not giving them the bone, is getting old and my parience is getting very thin.

If I ran my business like E does, it would be in bankruptcy by now. Is that the direction in which E is headed? Hopefully not.

Maybe I am ripped that there are no new channels in which to view today. That coupled with D lighting up three new channels got me riled.

I have vented so.......Carry on!

 

[sammy4041]

The bad thing about the whole deal is that E* keeps adding Local HD channels, and wasting bandwidth. These channels are broadcasted locally over the air, and if you happen to live in a whole or out of range, than I think you should be SOL. They need to add national HD rather than locals to keep subs on. If they keep adding channels that I can't get and the price goes up more, than why would I want to stay?

This is where I have to respectfully disagree with you. I live in an area that is very hard to reach with antenna and it shouldn't have to be that way. They just happen to spread the location of stations between two cities that are about 80 miles apart. So for me and I am sure a lot of other people Locals are very important.

I can think of about 5 HD nationals I would give up to have all my locals in HD.

 

[zim2dive]

I'll consider myself as open to switching in 6 months (when my 18 months are up). Dish was way ahead of TWC when I switched 1 year ago, and is still on par... but Dish's inability/unwillingness to add new HD has been a disappointment. At the end of the day I don't care what the reasons are, who whose fault it is/isn't, I simply look at value, what channels can I get and for what price. I don;t loathe Dish the way I loathe TWC, but I also don't have any reason not to be willing to try Direct if they have a compelling offer in the right timeframe. And FiOS, heck I can only dream about that ever making it to my area. BellSouth still barely understands what DSL is

 

[sammy4041]

I hate to say it, but have you ever heard of a VCR? It's very easy to program, though not quite as functional as DVR, but it gets the job done. Course, the bad thing about OTA is that with the changes next year, if you don't have a digital tuner or feed, you are SOL unless you get an external tuner.

Of course, but with all my purchases and high def equipment, the only that has made my wife smile is that DVR. She threatened to leave if I got rid of it. Other than that, she doesn't care what I do.

 

[BrianMis]

There is such a thing as buyer's remorse, and I have it--sort of. If I had it to do over I would have stayed with cable, but I like DISH now. Yes, DISH offered many HD channels when cable had none. However, cable is catching up and in some places has passed DISH in channel offerings. Sadly, I have found out that satellitge TV is a great idea, but technology wise is still in its infancy, which brings along the inherent outages, satellite malfunctions, failed satellite launches, and now limited offerings in HD for us TV junkies.

DISH tries to be everything to everybody, and that has not, and will not, ever work as Confucius, or whomever, said centuries ago. DISH has the resources and the money to provide every available domestic HD channel, but since it is a global player those necessary resources are providing satellite TV to foreign countries (most of which hate us) around the world.

DISH complains about lack of bandwith for new HD channels, but still offers all those music, infomercial, PPV, NHL, NBA, etc. that could be used for regular HD channels as they become available. Yes, I know they make DISH a lot of money, but on the other hand do we all need multiple channels of HBO, Showtime, Starz, Encore, Cinemax, which show the same programs over and over?

I imagine if Chuckles and Jingles had it to do over they would have planned better for the future, but now they are in the first leg of a marathon that all satellite companies will lose to cable come February 2009. As I said in another thread, I am too old to wait for 2012-13 and beyond to wait for DISH to catch up to cable, and that is why I am going back to cable "soon"!!!

I'm curious, just how do you see satellite companies falling behind the cable companies in February 2009?

 

[darrencp22]

E* is working very linear, focusing exclusively on LILs right now. There's no question they HAVE to add these to attract new customers. What they SHOULD do is throw in a couple of nationals occasionally to make everyone happy.

 

[johnalred]

I love my 622. I love Cinemax for 1 cent. I love my superstations. I love my external hard drive that has many movies. I have too much invested in Dish and love the service too much to defect now.
Besides, we owe much to Charlie Ergen. He was fighting for satellite television when the people over at Direct were in diapers. He was a pioneer when the big dishes became popular and sold programming at dirt-cheap prices.
Sure he's hit hard times, but never, ever count this man out. He is a fighter and he knows what the consumers want. He will get things to us as soon as he can.
I've had Direct. Will never, ever go back. I always, always had a problem with their customer service and that's when all the CSRs spoke English.
As for me and my house, we will continue with DISH.

 

[FlyingJ]

Yeah we might not see any Nationals which I will be the 1st to say that is what I would like to see. But from what I can tell sounds like we might see some this month so the wait and see game.. When Dish starts adding all of their HD to really make things even with them and Direct or maybe even have more HD we can start seeing the post "Coming Back To Dish"

I get it Poke, really I do. But, just how long can that argument hold water. I notice in your posts that you state your "not impressed" with the HD that D* has added, I don't get that. You also comment that D* was "behind for so long" now that I really question. Yes they didn't have the HD that E* did, no doubt, but they did have the NFL package in HD and other sports that E* did not and for many that easily outweighed the margin that you considered E* being ahead. You also state that to each his own but give a warning that they will be sorry and b coming back, I ask for what. Do you seriously see E* pulling ahead in the HD game with D*, how so, what are they possible going to add that D* won't add? Why would someone be sorry?
This Sci Fi thing, these soon statements, if someone is not in a contract or it is otherwise financially feasable to switch to D* or whatever they choose I just don't see anyway in the next couple of years that they could possibly be sorry. The DVR arguments are getting a bit old too. Okay, they have thei plusses and minuses but it seems that many are just not listening on that front. Things were definitely in E*s favor on that subject 4 months or so ago, but have you not heard Scott's comments, have you not heard that a ton of the "bugs" have been straightened out. I look on both threads and hey, face it, E*s DVR's are not without their own bugs here and there, these threads are there. I understand the loyalty, but, no, I don't see how anyone could be sorry. Hey, if after the new commitment is up there is no reason they can't go back.

 

[dishbd]

Sports (specifically out of market NBA & MLB - although I do like my local MLB team as well) is the main thing that keeps me wanting (needing) a pay tv service. I honestly think my wife would be good with just going straight OTA with a DVD rental service.

That being said, the tipping point for me was reached in April of last year when Dish decided to let go of MLB EI. It has just gotten worse too, as D* has added more HD (especially - for me - on the sports side). Last year, it was the contract that kept me from switching. Now, it is simply a technology reason. The way our house is wired, it is just not feasible (or at least I'm not willing to) try to run extra coax to all the outlets which D* currently requires for their dual tuner receivers. Once the D* dish with the built in SWM becomes available, I'm gone. So the camel's back is fully broken, I'm just waiting on the new camel to show up.

 

[TalonDancer]

The bad thing about the whole deal is that E* keeps adding Local HD channels, and wasting bandwidth. These channels are broadcasted locally over the air, and if you happen to live in a whole or out of range, than I think you should be SOL. .....

HUH? That's kind of what satellites are best at. Providing services to people who are out of range of other technologies (e.g. cable, OTA broadcasts, etc.).

The irony is that these days folks think of satellites as a way to provide a wider range of TV to folks in large metro areas that already have several sources of local and national TV (SD & HD). This is a testament to the failure of cable nd telco operators to provide the customers in their mini-monopolies with a full range of offerings at reasonable prices with good service.

Talon Dancer

 

[Russell Jorgensen]

My tipping point is already here. I have had Dish for about 2 1/2 years now. I started with a Super Dish and an HD DVR and a standard DVR. One year later they told me that I would have to have a Dish 1000 to replace my Super Dish and upgrade my HD DVR for the new Mpeg4 signals on HD. Of course I had to wait to get the new DVR because only new subs. were getting them first (seemed unfair to those already subscribing). When I did get it meant a new commitment to them (that also seemed unfair since it was their idea to force me into Mpeg4 not mine). They didn't carry HD locals in my area so I had to have an OTA antenna installed to get them. So now I have a sat. dish and a tv antenna on my roof. Now I hear that when I will be able to get HD locals that I will have to have another dish installed on my roof to get them (61.5 sat.). That will mean that I will have 2 sat dishes and a TV antenna on my roof. NO WAY. When they put up my Dish 1000 I was told I would be able to get everything with it, including my HD locals when they were added. What a lie that was. There is no way that I will let them put anymore holes in my roof. I will just continue to use my OTA for locals and the heck with "E".

 

[ClevelandRob]

E* is working very linear, focusing exclusively on LILs right now. There's no question they HAVE to add these to attract new customers. What they SHOULD do is throw in a couple of nationals occasionally to make everyone happy.

Excellent point. They HAVE too... They were adding the nationals 2 years ago while D* was adding LiLs. Now the tables have turned... E* sat on their hands for a year and now need to add LiLs AND national. They should of added at least one new HD every two or three months. Then they wouldn't be so far behind.

That being said... I'm really sick of hearing people complain about E* adding LiLs. Blowing off locals and saying "just use OTA", well for many of us, that isn't good enough. I used to get strong signals, now it's hit or miss. Plus, I want to be able to record/watch more then one network affiliate at one time. Locals are the first thing subs look for so they have to add them in HD.

Lets all realize that adding LiLs AND Nationals are both critical at this point and both need to be addressed together. They need LiLs to get new subs and need Nationals to keep current subs.

 

[Miggity]

I am still here because of the HD only pack.

i second that motion.

 

[rogerpl]

I'm patient enough to wait for what will eventually come, but the big reason for me is the equipment. The VIP622 serving two rooms so I can just finish shows in the bedroom is huge for me. If D* dvr had that feature...

 

[Poke]

I get it Poke, really I do. But, just how long can that argument hold water. I notice in your posts that you state your "not impressed" with the HD that D* has added, I don't get that. You also comment that D* was "behind for so long" now that I really question. Yes they didn't have the HD that E* did, no doubt, but they did have the NFL package in HD and other sports that E* did not and for many that easily outweighed the margin that you considered E* being ahead. You also state that to each his own but give a warning that they will be sorry and b coming back, I ask for what. Do you seriously see E* pulling ahead in the HD game with D*, how so, what are they possible going to add that D* won't add? Why would someone be sorry?
This Sci Fi thing, these soon statements, if someone is not in a contract or it is otherwise financially feasable to switch to D* or whatever they choose I just don't see anyway in the next couple of years that they could possibly be sorry. The DVR arguments are getting a bit old too. Okay, they have thei plusses and minuses but it seems that many are just not listening on that front. Things were definitely in E*s favor on that subject 4 months or so ago, but have you not heard Scott's comments, have you not heard that a ton of the "bugs" have been straightened out. I look on both threads and hey, face it, E*s DVR's are not without their own bugs here and there, these threads are there. I understand the loyalty, but, no, I don't see how anyone could be sorry. Hey, if after the new commitment is up there is no reason they can't go back.

All I'm saying is that in the end I think they will offer about the same in HD content is all. Overall you go with what fits your needs the best and I choose Dish due to they seem to be overall a better fit. Not saying that Direct is bad I'm a big supporter of Dish and Direct as far as them being Sat TV Providers. I was just pointing out how folks go back and forth is all which is fine if that is what they choose to do.

 

[Poke]

Yeah I like the add of HD Only Pack and if they keep getting more channels in HD I might look at heading that way..