Why does Dish bother having channel 412 anymore?

[TigerWoodsLibido]

They've already thrown their pro sports audience away so what the hell is the point? Waste of space in the guide.

 

[pattykay]

They've already thrown their pro sports audience away so what the hell is the point? Waste of space in the guide.

Where do you even see channel 412 in the guide? I set my guide for All Channels, and it skips from 407 to 460. Of course, I have Locals Only, so I don't actually "subscribe" to any of those sports channels. I do see a collapsible channel 405 with 1 unsubscribed Big 10 Network channel. This collapsible channel remains in my guide (with "0 channels") even when I set my guide for All Subscribed. That is the waste of space in the guide, in my opinion. However, I get that it may be a way of "advertising" for Big 10 Network. None of the other sports channels in this range remain on my All Subscribed list, though.

 

[NYDutch]

Where do you even see channel 412 in the guide? I set my guide for All Channels, and it skips from 407 to 460. Of course, I have Locals Only, so I don't actually "subscribe" to any of those sports channels. I do see a collapsible channel 405 with 1 unsubscribed Big 10 Network channel. This collapsible channel remains in my guide (with "0 channels") even when I set my guide for All Subscribed. That is the waste of space in the guide, in my opinion. However, I get that it may be a way of "advertising" for Big 10 Network. None of the other sports channels in this range remain on my All Subscribed list, though.

Here's where I see 412:

 

[Bobby]

Here's where I see 412:

View attachment 156892

Yep, and as I remember there were some RSN channels in test on one of the updates.

 

[pattykay]

Here's where I see 412:

View attachment 156892

Thanks! They must be hidden to those of us who don't subscribe. The alternate channels are still there, so it makes sense that the collapsible channel 412 would also still be there. As for what exactly those alternate channels are used, that is another question entirely.

 

[pattykay]

Yep, and as I remember there were some RSN channels in test on one of the updates.

There was a fascinating discussion about that in the February 2022 Uplink Activity thread on the other site.

The short version is that until February, Dish still had dedicated (internal use) feeds of each RSN, that they use to map down games for the out-of-market sports packages. (MLB, NHL, NBA) Then, Dish suddenly removed most of those dedicated RSN feeds, and replaced them with more internal channels for league-provided game-only feeds. With those changes, the non-Bally RSN's engineering channels were all removed. However, most of the Bally RSN's remain uplinked with their own dedicated channels, as of the last available update.

There was speculation about whether this means that Dish is still negotiating to actually carry those Bally RSN's full-time for in-market viewers. Perhaps as long as those channels are still uplinked, Dish still needs some place to map them to, hence why channel 412 remains, even with no content actually available to subscribers. (yet?)

In any event, it is clear that Dish has apparently given up on ever getting back any non-Bally RSN's, unless we ever see any uplinks to suggest otherwise (which isn't likely) or unless those channels actually suddenly return.

 

[Juan]

The real question is why they charge so much for the rsn out of market add on package

 

[pattykay]

The real question is why they charge so much for the rsn out of market add on package

That is a good question. All of the sports slate channels still advertise Multi-Sport as having more than 20 channels, even though Dish's website only shows 16 channels in that package: MyDISH

I suppose once you add in the sports alternate channels, that technically gets you above 20 channels. However, if there is no actual content on any of those additional channels...

 

[tsunami2311]

The one sports channel i personal care about MSG they wont carry and probably never will again, Think only reason my dad has not drop Dish is cause they still have his soccer channel if they drop that, nothing will be keeping him from drop dish not even 20 years of loyalty

 

[zippyfrog]

My gut feeling is that the RSN's are going to be back "on Dish" as the RSN's are available to go direct to consumer. I put on Dish in quotes because I don't think they will be satellite delivered, rather, they will be an app. Sort of like there is the Netflix app or the Prime Video app on Dish. With Sinclair launching their RSN's direct to consumer this year, my prediction will be that those Bally Sports RSN's will be on Dish via an app. Will they be back in the same slots as before? Maybe. I could be way off, but seeing what Dish is doing with some other apps and programs, I have to think there will be some RSN app somehow.

 

[Radioguy41]

The one sports channel i personal care about MSG they wont carry and probably never will again, Think only reason my dad has not drop Dish is cause they still have his soccer channel if they drop that, nothing will be keeping him from drop dish not even 20 years of loyalty

Soccer is now on USA network since NBC Sportsnet folded.

 

[pattykay]

My gut feeling is that the RSN's are going to be back "on Dish" as the RSN's are available to go direct to consumer. I put on Dish in quotes because I don't think they will be satellite delivered, rather, they will be an app. Sort of like there is the Netflix app or the Prime Video app on Dish. With Sinclair launching their RSN's direct to consumer this year, my prediction will be that those Bally Sports RSN's will be on Dish via an app. Will they be back in the same slots as before? Maybe. I could be way off, but seeing what Dish is doing with some other apps and programs, I have to think there will be some RSN app somehow.

That is what the Hopper+ is for. No need for Dish to actually "carry" a channel (or group of channels) when they can simply give you access to the Google Play store, and let you download whatever apps you want yourself. Notice that Dish never bothered to add a HBO Max app, and that is a service that Dish actually carries. Of course, the Hopper+ will only work with Hopper 3, just like the Prime Video app you mentioned started out only on Hopper 3.

So, this is great for those with the upper-model Hoppers. (I am assuming eventual availability for Hopper 2, but not likely any other models.) Despite this limited availability, I could see Dish starting to phase out the existing built-in apps entirely, and rely on the Google Play store for everything. This would force subscribers with lower-model receivers to upgrade their Hopper if they want to keep the convenience of having "built-in" apps for their favorite streaming services in the Hopper interface. Note that the Hopper 1 already does not support Netflix. If services like Pandora start disappearing, and if Hopper Duo and Wally start losing apps, then I would say the writing is on the wall for any built-in apps on those models going forward.

 

[tsunami2311]

Soccer is now on USA network since NBC Sportsnet folded.

 

[tsunami2311]

Not soccer he cares about.

Would of eddit above post but forums keep spitting errors at me, not sure why it got posted like that either