Will DISH ever add the FSN HD feeds?

[CapeFish]

Fox Sports Net has been doing certain sports telecasts in HD and DirecTV is able to carry them using 2 special events channels. VOOM used to have my local FSN Florida HD service with the Marlins in HD.

With the addition of Rainbow 1 to the Echostar fleet, will DISH be able to offer FSN HD by 2006?

 

[Cyclone]

I think that you will begin to see Dish carrying the Regional Sports Networks (RSNs) when they also begin to start offering local channels in HDTV.

 

[BobMurdoch]

It still is a bandwidth capacity issue. Rainbow 1, MPeg4, and new birds being launched will all help alleviate the bandwidth traffic jam which is restricting HD growth. I think that 2 years from now we will be seeing a vast improvement, but the short term HD growth will still be hindered until these assets come online.

 

[Walter L.]

Long term, E* will migrate to MPEG4 and lauch new birds. However, I wish that short term they continue adding more HD at 61.5.

 

[Cyclone]

The bigest problem with RSN's in HDTV, is that only a limited number of subscribers actually qualify to watch them. So like Mr. Murdoch says, its a bandwidth issue at this time.

 

[BFG]

The problem with their carriage is more because of contractual agreements then it is with bandwidth.

All the RSNs that do HD games are not 24/7 HD stations and only use a feed when showing a game in HD. So dish really only need 1-2 channels available to show one of these games (one of those channels could be the PPV channel like the used for NBA and Maverick games)

Many of those RSNs that do HD games have made agreements with the local cable companies to get them carried and the cable companies help fund the costs of producing those games in HD.