When is Dish Launching the new sats?

[7thton]

When is Dish supposed to be launching the new satellites to expand its HD offerings?

 

[wonko]

ETA is March for AMC-14 to 61.5W, June for E11 to 110W, and sometime in 2008 for Ciel 2 to 129W. Which would appear to mean it will be after June for any significant amount of new national HD.

 

[tigerfan33]

ETA is March for AMC-14 to 61.5W, June for E11 to 110W, and sometime in 2008 for Ciel 2 to 129W. Which would appear to mean it will be after June for any significant amount of new national HD.

If this date holds true. This is sad.

 

[wonko]

If this date holds true. This is sad.

Nothing E* can do, it's due to delays with the launch systems. Two of those were supposed to have gone up last year.

 

[goaliebob99]

I know directv's sat is suppost to launch a couple of months before dish's first launch. That means Directv will be pounding dish with national hd that they cant add untill these birds launch. I would expect that for the next 6 months dish to be in a satus quoe and getting pounded as the hd leader continues to add HD. Unfortunatly, this is bad news for dish as it will cost them coustomers and money as Directv will continue to be very attractive to consumers shopping on the market.

 

[alexgmny]

I know directv's sat is suppost to launch a couple of months before dish's first launch. That means Directv will be pounding dish with national hd that they cant add untill these birds launch. I would expect that for the next 6 months dish to be in a satus quoe and getting pounded as the hd leader continues to add HD. Unfortunatly, this is bad news for dish as it will cost them coustomers and money as Directv will continue to be very attractive to consumers shopping on the market.

Very true

 

[Voyager6]

I know directv's sat is suppost to launch a couple of months before dish's first launch. That means Directv will be pounding dish with national hd that they cant add untill these birds launch. I would expect that for the next 6 months dish to be in a satus quoe and getting pounded as the hd leader continues to add HD. Unfortunatly, this is bad news for dish as it will cost them coustomers and money as Directv will continue to be very attractive to consumers shopping on the market.

I don't think that E* is just going to sit still and do nothing for 6 - 8 months. I think that after the realignment/consolidation of channels/TPs on the 61.5 and 129 sats is done, E* will have the space to add additional HD. As to whether the contracts will be ready, well that's another story. Acquiring the SkyAngel TP's, putting 7 HD channels per TP and firing up the spotbeams will give E* a lot of space on E12. Finding the same amount of space on 129 will be harder be probably can be done. Many of the "HD" channels that D* has been showing don't officially launch until early 2008. I think that E* has been using this time to figure how to place (maybe cram is a better word) these new HD channels in the space available. E* has also been installing the new encoders to create new space on the existing sats. I remain hopeful that E* will be continuing to add HD after these enhancements are completed. We must have some patience.

 

[drummerguy]

I know directv's sat is suppost to launch a couple of months before dish's first launch. That means Directv will be pounding dish with national hd that they cant add untill these birds launch. I would expect that for the next 6 months dish to be in a satus quoe and getting pounded as the hd leader continues to add HD. Unfortunatly, this is bad news for dish as it will cost them coustomers and money as Directv will continue to be very attractive to consumers shopping on the market.

True, but I guess it depends if more HD is actually available for Direct to add. Seems like they already have most of what's available, and still have space to spare. I remember hearing a while back that a lot more HD channels are supposed to launch the first half of this year, but who knows if those channels will actually launch. Seems like, at the very least, Dish will continue to get pounded in the local HD area, if not in the national HD area. If lots more national HD channels launch, then Dish has a lot of ground to make up -- at least in terms of quantity. But Dish could make a whole lot of people happy if they selectively add a few channels in the meantime (and we all know what those channels are )

 

[7thton]

So, after June, can we expect Dish to have enough bandwidth to launch all of the HD channels that DirecTV now has?

 

[tigerfan33]

So, after June, can we expect Dish to have enough bandwidth to launch all of the HD channels that DirecTV now has?

With the encoders in place to put 7 hd channels instead of 4 per transponder, Dish has already opened up room for more hd. Now when this will take place is anyones guess. If I was a betting man I would say they will be launching more hd even before the new bird goes up.

 

[Voyager6]

So, after June, can we expect Dish to have enough bandwidth to launch all of the HD channels that DirecTV now has?

The main problem will continue to be 129. Until Ciel-2 goes up, E* will be hampered by the limitations of E5. It will be difficult to expand the HD offerings on 129 by much until Ciel-2 is operational.

 

[Voyager6]

With the encoders in place to put 7 hd channels instead of 4 per transponder, Dish has already opened up room for more hd. Now when this will take place is anyones guess. If I was a betting man I would say they will be launching more hd even before the new bird goes up.

I think you mean 7 instead of 6 HD channels per TP.

 

[tigerfan33]

I think you mean 7 instead of 6 HD channels per TP.

I thought before the new encoders were in place they were putting just 4 hd channels per transponder.

 

[FitzAusTex]

I know this should probably go in a TBS HD thread, but what is the point of TBS HD? They're not ready to go HD yet? I know baseball playoffs were in HD, and last night i compared Screen Actors Guild awards that were on both TNT and TBS, and was surprised that TBS was showing it in HD, like TNT. Anybody finding any HD on TBS HD lately? In the past few weeks when the same movie has been TNT and TBS simultaneously, TNT has been HD, and TBS was stretched garbage-looking.

Guess my point is that yes, D* has many more HD channels than does E* (and some i'd really, really like), yet if broadcasters are going to launch HD versions in the state that TBS HD launched, then I'm willing to wait out most of 2008. And at the same time, for the rest of the year, I'll take what E* can give us till they have new sats in place.

Heck, as it is, I'm never, ever going to be able to catch up with all the HD recordings i've already crammed onto my 1TB+ external hard drives.

 

[Voyager6]

I thought before the new encoders were in place they were putting just 4 hd channels per transponder.

I believe that E* began putting 6 HD channels per TP about 6 months ago. They are now trying 7 HD channels per TP.

 

[tigerfan33]

I believe that E* began putting 6 HD channels per TP about 6 months ago. They are now trying 7 HD channels per TP.

Digi had told me back in early December that a easy way to tell the new encoders were in place to see if 6 video hd streaming on one transponder instead of 4. Now they are doing seven which will open up even more bandwith. What they will do with the extra bandwith and when is a good quetion.

 

[Sammy033]

I know this should probably go in a TBS HD thread, but what is the point of TBS HD?

Give them time. Everything on TNT was stretched in the beginning but its quite a bit better now... their huge promo crap on the bottom aside. I just saw the Simpsons movie last night. One of the FOX commercials on the bonus features had the usual "NFL-Sunday" players promo running across the bottom of the screen. Marge went after them with bug spray. I have been thinking of trying the same thing with TNT.

 

[KKlare]

I dislike MPEG-4 because I keep losing channels on my 921. It will have to go some time.
I like MPEG-4 because I can store more movies on my external hard drive. Starz seems the best on compressing the space.
One of my WD 750 GB is full with 120 mostly HD movies. I'm going to have to remove more that are less than 7.0 on the IMDB scale, about 3* on the listings. The other 750 is 1/2 to 2/3 full with non-movies and series like Burn's War (yet to be seen) and Northern Exposure, etc.
So love lowered bandwidth one way and hate it the other.
-Ken