Will DISH EVER catch up in HD nationals AND PQ?

[bookwalk]

Even if E* did add the same nationals that Direct carries now--let's say, by Jan 2008 (only an optimistic guess), by then more SD's would have converted to HD which Direct would have picked up.

So then DISH would STILL be behind in national offerings.

Then there's PQ--their HD seems to be getting worse, not better.

If they are going to expand their subscriber base, it had better be now, since the economy is on the verge of a severe recession.

A diminishing subscriber base means less resources for new & improved HD.

Glad my contract expires this month!

 

[ncted]

You are correct. We should all flee E* because D* has more channels.

This is all despite the fact that a few months ago E* had WAY more HD than D* and all the E* fanboys were picking on D* subs. To think E* will not catch back up to D* in a year or so is a bit silly. Of course this is all assuming we can call most of the new HD channels on D* worth watching because they have significant HD content which most do not yet. By the time they do and are therefore relevant, E* should be in a much better position to carry them.

As for PQ, I cannot tell a difference in HD PQ between my ViP722 & Samsung LN-S4696D and my neighbor's HR20-700 and his Panny 50" Plasma watching the same recordings. Both are pretty darn good IMHO.

Ted

 

[8bitbytes]

Even if E* did add the same nationals that Direct carries now--let's say, by Jan 2008 (only an optimistic guess), by then more SD's would have converted to HD which Direct would have picked up.

So then DISH would STILL be behind in national offerings.

Behind in stretch-o-vision, upscaled channels? No thanks, I'll wait for real HD. No hurry.

Then there's PQ--their HD seems to be getting worse, not better.

Haven't seen that problem on my screen. Still looks great to me.

If they are going to expand their subscriber base, it had better be now, since the economy is on the verge of a severe recession.

What? The election is still a year away - there's still plenty of time.

A diminishing subscriber base means less resources for new & improved HD. Glad my contract expires this month!

The loss of 250 whining nit pickers won't even show up as a blip for E*. At least you have something to be glad about.

 

[bookwalk]

Still don't see an answer to my original question.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

E* could catch up to D*, but I think it is going to take a while. D* has a lot more bandwidth capacity in orbit than does E*. Until E* can get another satellite or two up, tested, and put into production, D* has the edge.

The second issue, PQ, depends upon whether D* or E* prioritizes it. Historically neither have done so. The only times E* has had better PQ was when they had more bandwidth available than channels. Such as their HD channels in 2004 & 2005, when they had a lot of excess capacity but few HD channels were up. So the ones they had got a lot of resolution & bandwidth. This was also true for their SD channels in the mid to late 90s.

Right now this is true for D*, thus their HD channels are getting more bandwidth. It could be true for E* again after they get their next wave of satellites up.

Eventually all channels will be HD and both D* and E* will have to provide a lot of HD channels (just think of all of the HD locals). What bandwidth we get from them is unknown, although I would not bet on it being a lot.

The real determining factor is if having better PQ drives the numbers of subscribers. Historically better PQ has always played 2nd fiddle to number of channels in terms of attracting subs. I suspect this will continue to be true. Therefore when push comes to shove on whether to squeeze in a few more HD channels at the expense of PQ, the extra channels always win. It is what the collective "we" seem to want.

 

[8bitbytes]

Still don't see an answer to my original question.

E* has two satellites that are scheduled for launch and deployment next year, according to information obtained earlier this year in a meeting. When these Satellites are operational, they will have a combined capability of 1500 channels and will be able to provide all your tv needs on one dish.

So, yes, they will match or exceed D* as soon as they can make that happen in quantity and quality.

 

[jimboeau]

since the economy is on the verge of a severe recession.

What are you smoking?

 

[FlyingJ]

What are you smoking?

Whatever it is its not as good as what 8bitbytes has.

 

[legatebroke]

One question that I never see asked in this discussion of E* and D* HD war is who is selling more HD systems now that D* has the most HD. With the value of Dish programming and the ability do use dual tuners HD DVRs, $5 discount on dual tuners hooked to the phone line, I bet E* is still out selling D*. To answer the question of will E* catch up, no never going to happen so I guess we should all just get D* and let E* just go ahead and curl up and die.

 

[rad]

You'll just need to wait until Monday to see what E*'s quartly results are. But that's really not going to tell much, need to wait for the 4th quarter since D*'s HD additions didn't hit until mid September. But so far Wall Street is very happy with D*'s numbers on churn and new additions.

 

[riffjim4069]

If you want the best HD PQ then sign-up with FiOS TV if it is an option...best PQ, best price, and best customer service of 'em all. Of course, you will also have to suffer with their inferior HD DVRs. Personally, we will be switching over to FiOS TV after we move, but we will be using our Sony HD DVR and adding a pair of Tivo Series 3 or Tivo HDs. We will miss using our 622s, but the FiOS PQ and HD Tivo boxes should prove to be as good, if not better, viewing experience...and the savings and reliable of their Ultimate Play (TV, broadband, phone, wireless) cannot be beat.

As far as catching D* in the number of HD channels...really, I have more HD (and really bad HD) than I can possibly watch. A better question is when when is E* going to drop that outrageous $20 premium they are charging for DishHD now that HD is no longer a premium service? I predict that D* and E* will just add the HD channels to the appropriate package (AT100, AT200, AT250) and raise the rates $2-$3 for everyone.

 

[ScoBuck]

If I understood Chase Carey correctly, and I have heard it repeated before, most of the new subs for D* and E* ARE NOT those that change from each other, but rather from CABLE and from free TV.

That being said, the 3rd quarter numbers for both won't really reflect the new D* HD programming offering, as it only lit up on September 26th. I really am interested in the 4th Q numbers for a few reasons, mostly because this is now the PEAK TV buying season, and HDTV is moving to the forefront of all the purchases as the costs have now become so reasonable.

I would have to bet the house that DirecTV will be mighty disappointed if they don't blow it out in the next 4 months, considering that both CC and BB are huge HDTV retailers, both only offer D* as a sat option, D* has a $300 instant rebate in the stores if a HDTV purchaser signs up for DirecTV - (which BTW is the price of the HD-DVR). It will surely be interesting!

 

[jerryez]

According to the law suit by HDnet, D has 2 million HD subscribers.

 

[John Kotches]

What are you smoking?

1. Gasoline Prices are once again approaching record levels.
2. The dollar is dramatically weakening vs. nearly all foreign currencies. A few years ago the dollar was nearly 2:1 vs the Canadian dollar. Now the Canadian dollar carries more value than the US dollar.
3. Weaker dollar means more expensive foreign goods.
4. Wages are not increasing as quick as the prices are escalating.

Seems like the recipe for a recession to me.

 

[jimboeau]

1. Gasoline Prices are once again approaching record levels.
2. The dollar is dramatically weakening vs. nearly all foreign currencies. A few years ago the dollar was nearly 2:1 vs the Canadian dollar. Now the Canadian dollar carries more value than the US dollar.
3. Weaker dollar means more expensive foreign goods.
4. Wages are not increasing as quick as the prices are escalating.

Seems like the recipe for a recession to me.

I believe the OP said a "severe recession". I minor blip, correction, maybe? A severe recession.... not a chance.

 

[Zombie069]

1. Gasoline Prices are once again approaching record levels.
2. The dollar is dramatically weakening vs. nearly all foreign currencies. A few years ago the dollar was nearly 2:1 vs the Canadian dollar. Now the Canadian dollar carries more value than the US dollar.
3. Weaker dollar means more expensive foreign goods.
4. Wages are not increasing as quick as the prices are escalating.

Seems like the recipe for a recession to me.

This is what one gleans from watching the drive-by media.. In reality, we are not that bad off.. Listen closely and you might hear them mention that unemployment is SHOCKINGLY much lower than expected..
Not such a shock, but the liberal media has to make everything seem bad so you will lose hope.

 

[whatchel1]

media

This is what one gleans from watching the drive-by media.. In reality, we are not that bad off.. Listen closely and you might hear them mention that unemployment is SHOCKINGLY much lower than expected..
Not such a shock, but the liberal media has to make everything seem bad so you will lose hope.

I like the term "drive by media". I work for a "newschannel" as an engineer. TV news is major into 15 to 30 sec soundbites. This includes both the "liberal" & "conservative" sides of the industry.
One other thing related to a statement other than the above. Recession in many ways makes it easier to sell products for home entertainment. When it's to expensive to go out people start looking for a way to satisfy their wants by staying home.

 

[Claude Greiner]

Whats it been 2 years now that Dish has had more HD content than Directv, and now that Directv has had more HD than Dish for 6 weeks now we got people talking about jumping ship?

For what Directv carries that Dish does not have is laughable at best. Sure lets watch upconverted CNN, or how about the weather channel that provides 1 hour of HD content per day?

I wouldn't give up on Dish just yet, I think we are up for some big changes to come!

 

[Rangers484]

I see this as highly comical and hypocritical by the E* HD community.

For several years we have been poking fun at the D* promise of more HD all the while enjoying E* adding channels periodically.

Now we all have our panties in a wad because E* is not making a promise for what is to come in the next year, the same thing we laughed at only 3 months ago when D* was doing it.

It would be nice if E* made an "official" statement about their intentions but they usually don't do that so why would we expect it now?

Constantly asking if/when E* will catch up will not make the next satellite launch any quicker.

 

[WilliamC]

Behind in stretch-o-vision, upscaled channels? No thanks, I'll wait for real HD. No hurry.

Most of our channels are not "real HD." Did you forget that a lot of those D* channles E* has and they are in strecth-o-vision. You may want to wait and thats fine, but others don't. Fact is "Real HD" hasn't been around for some time now. The only "real HD" you will get will be from OTA channels and I don't mean the ones dish gives you. I mean going out and getting an antenna and setting up to recieve your locals that way. Now thats real HD! Take a look at CBS and NBC in HD. If Dish would look like that then I and am sure many others would care less how many channels they had. Some of us have been watching HD since HDNet first launched many many years ago and if you have been around that long then you know how bad things are now.

Haven't seen that problem on my screen. Still looks great to me.

Perhaps it time to upgrade to something better than an HD70. On a 720p unit the difference is barely noticeable. When you step up to a 1080p set or a CRT system that can fully resolve the 1080 lines then you start to see how the PQ has degraded.

The loss of 250 whining nit pickers won't even show up as a blip for E*. At least you have something to be glad about.

Wow now you are a fanboy! Do you go to bed with Charlie too? Does he cuddle you at night whispering sweet HD nothings?
Where did you get the magic number of 250? Pulled that out of your head, that figure is pointless. I can easily come around and say 20,000 have left E* for D*. Does it make my number factual? No, it does not. One thing you fail to realize in your obsession with E* is that the consumer has always demanded more HD channels. How many left D* for E* because E* had more HD? Fact is fact there are a lot of people out there that want more HD channels. How many people will leave or have left E* for D*? I have no idea, only E* has those numbers and unless they post them we will never know. However, I highly doubt that only 250 people are, as you say "whining" for more HD.

I see this as highly comical and hypocritical by the E* HD community.

For several years we have been poking fun at the D* promise of more HD all the while enjoying E* adding channels periodically.

Now we all have our panties in a wad because E* is not making a promise for what is to come in the next year, the same thing we laughed at only 3 months ago when D* was doing it.

It would be nice if E* made an "official" statement about their intentions but they usually don't do that so why would we expect it now?

Constantly asking if/when E* will catch up will not make the next satellite launch any quicker.

Thats what an 18 month commitment and no desire to pay a cancellation fee will get ya!
People will complain and people will make excuses and create reasons as to why its not "real HD"