Charlie Chat HDTV Quote

[Bruce]

I don't think so, he makes good points. There really isn't much HD dish doesn't have. Yet everyone is screaming for more, more, more. But not much more exists....

What is not on Dish
Premium Movie Channels:
MaxHD
TMC-HD
StarzHD ( which really sucks as a channel by the way )
PlayboyHD
Spice HD

Regular "Basic" HD channels:
Universal-HD
ESPN 2 HD
InHD 1 and 2 ( really worth it if you like sports, they will have 3 ML Baseball games a week during the season and also it is not cable only, they broadcast via a Satellite-AMC 10 / TP-7, and per FCC rules, E* and D* could carry it if they come to a deal)

and then Networks except CBS-HD

 

[boy921]

HDTV, EDTV, SDTV & Charile's LSD

Why would Charlie add HDTV when he broadcastes his Charlie Chat in his favorite definition mode? Which is, "LSD" = lower standard definition. (Ya know what I mean?)

 

[Sean Mota]

What is not on Dish
Premium Movie Channels:
MaxHD
TMC-HD
StarzHD ( which really sucks as a channel by the way )
PlayboyHD
Spice HD

Regular "Basic" HD channels:
Universal-HD
ESPN 2 HD
InHD 1 and 2 ( really worth it if you like sports, they will have 3 ML Baseball games a week during the season and also it is not cable only, they broadcast via a Satellite-AMC 10 / TP-7, and per FCC rules, E* and D* could carry it if they come to a deal)

and then Networks except CBS-HD

These are not compelling channels for E*. They are all upconverts. Even the MLB games in INHD are upconverts. Give me a break! Whomever tries to hide this one, deserves whatever Charlies does to them. No matter how anyone here tries to make excuses for E*, the above channels are available and delivering HD right now (except probably for ESPN2HD with limited HD)

 

[BFG]

Premiums aren't compelling. Not enough people would be subscribing to them to make the bandwidth conjestion valid, he gains nothing from adding them, or adding any HD for that matter. HD offerings are a insignificant factor in dish's profits...

 

[korsjs]

i don't know if he could get inhd 1 and 2, but they are great channels. i would rather have them then hdnet/movies.

 

[Sean Mota]

Premiums aren't compelling. Not enough people would be subscribing to them to make the bandwidth conjestion valid, he gains nothing from adding them, or adding any HD for that matter. HD offerings are a insignificant factor in dish's profits...

Sorry but I can say the same about any channel. If you are charging for the Premium package and there is an HD channel in the premium package, well I think it should be added to it. Just like HBO-HD. BTW, do you want HBO-HD to be dropped from the HBO package and that way, your argument is even stronger. Why we do not drop some other channels that are not compelling? Who is the judge that decides what' compelling and what is not?

The fact still remains that these are HD Channels with compelling programming and E* has not made an effort to get them. Simple enough. Please do not make excuses for the HD Leader.

 

[korsjs]

they don't call themselves "the leader" anymore, they call themselves "A leader in hd"

 

[BFG]

more people sub to HBO and showtime than the other 2, therefore there's more people eligible for their HD channels.

 

[Sean Mota]

more people sub to HBO and showtime than the other 2, therefore there's more people eligible for their HD channels.

Your source for this? How do you know who subscribe to what? That is not the point anyway. It does not matter whether SHOWTIME/HBO gets more subs than TMC or CINEMAX or STARZ. If I you are an everything pak sub, you are being cheated out of three HD channels that you should have. Even if you sub separately. These channels should be added to their respective premium whether you think they have more subs or not.

This is why I dropped all the premium channels on E*. They were cheating people with not adding the HD Channels and still are doing it.

 

[BFG]

Ok, I know you like your premiums and I like my DVDs, so I concede buddy

 

[Sean Mota]

The problem is not about whether I like a certain channel or not. It is whether the provider picks up the channel. Here on the E* forum we hear all the time why E* hasn't picked up YES, ESPNU, HD Network for O&O cities, etc and other HD channels. and yet we are hearing all the time in E* press releases: E* adds German TV, E* adds Aljazera-tv, E* adds all kinds of international channels.

I think enough is enough and E* used to be a good alternative to Cable but even cable is looking better than E* these days. After 3/31 (when V*s decision is done whether they stay or not), I may slam the door on E* and go back to cable or D*.

As I said before, I have no loyalty to no company (whether E*, V*, C* or D*). My loyalty is to my pockets that pay the monthly fee for my entertainment. That's the bottom line.

 

[dodge]

Premium Movie Channels:
MaxHD
TMC-HD
StarzHD ( which really sucks as a channel by the way )
PlayboyHD
Spice HD

Who is going to pay the high bill for those above channels anyway, I already pay like 70 bucks a month and only get the 100 pack, out of those 100+ channels how many do you really need or watchmaybe 10-15, If I want a movie in hd I will watch it on hdnet movies or get the hd ppv.

As for the rest they probably want too much money for carriage Its bad enought e* and D* charge 10 bucks for the hd pack.

 

[dragon002]

What Hd is out there other than what charlie has now
network feeds, yes directv has those and they are the only ones with retansmission agreements with the big 4 , and you can get that same crap off of ota.
Voom has what 50 some channels most of which have been created by voom or is upconverted crap.
Directv might have 1 or 2 more hdtv channels than charlie does, but then again they also have 8 million more subs and way more commercial subs than he does.

My other question is what else is out there in hd other than the hd nets , and the special sports nets and locals, nothing that I have ever seen, and when it comes to hd cable is a joke, my local cable co. does not even offer 1 hd channel yet i get like 7 from echostar and 8 ota.

Well my point is here that if you want more hd you need to bitch at the broadcaster and programmers not at charlie.

Just my $.02 worth

finally someone , actually one in 19000 who tells it like it is, dodge .....SALUTE'

dragon

 

[James Long]

I believe that Charlie is disappointed that he isn't the leader in HD. E* once was with several HD channels up and sold before Voom sold it's first receiver and D* finally entered the market last year. But he was able to look at the big picture, including "how much is this going to cost" in bandwidth and in money. He put the investment where it gave him a much greater return.

For all that Cablevision poured in to their service they only got $14 million back from their customers in a full year. E* posted a profit and broke the 11 million customer mark. It disapointed Charlie that he couldn't do both ... lead in HD and be a profitable and growing system.

Charlie is investing for the long term. Filling 121 with Internationals with their high subscription fees brings in cash and doesn't get in the way of future plans. Filling 105, 121 and the wings with local TV markets at $5 per subscriber helps too. Especially in markets where people wouldn't sign up for a $90 programming package from E* because cable had locals and E* didn't.

"This Fall" has been said too much. Fall 2003 Charlie expected AMC-2 to be a better satellite and have a lot of HD to put on it. Fall 2004 Charlie expected AMC-15 to replace AMC-2 and get him back to where he wanted to be Fall 2003, but the new HD still wasn't as prevalent as expected. Fall 2005 might be different - E10 will be there in E*'s current HD slot and there are several new HD producers allegedly coming online by then. And chances are, there will only be D* to compete against by Fall 2005.

Past performance is not indicitive of future results. Just because the past two falls have been disapointing for HD devotees on E* doesn't mean this one will be as well. We will see.

JL

 

[Sean Mota]

Keep dreaming about the Fall of 2005, be hopeful not to be dissapointed once again (a message brought to you by your Dish Network provider --- we like to dissapoint you).

Not going to hear from me about it once more. But I will be here in the Fall of 2005 and if there's no light at the end of tunel and E* failed to deliver once more, I will laugh out loud in a corner. Again E* plans of HD may be late to theater as D* is getting to explode with theirs and who knows what is D* is going to bring other than the HD LIL. Hopefully, D* will be gentle.

 

[dodge]

Hey Sean Mota
If you dont like e* that much how bout you sell me that E* hd receiver of yours, i will be glad to take the pain out of your hands

 

[BFG]

Yeah, with fellow respect, Sean your e* ranting and bashing is starting to annoy me and is depressing when I'm just trying to read threads and help people. Maybe you need to block the E* fourms from your posts if E* bothers you so much. I've stepped away from the voom forum, so could you do the same please

 

[James Long]

Not going to hear from me about it once more. But I will be here in the Fall of 2005 and if there's no light at the end of tunel and E* failed to deliver once more, I will laugh out loud in a corner.

Feel free to come back and laugh really loud at the end of December. If there are any real new program provider entrants into HD and E* doesn't get caught up and in position to lead your laughter will be especially valid.

Then again, I wonder if E* will make 12 million or 13 million subs by the end of the year.

JL

 

[houselog442]

I bet ya, if al jazeera and (anti)free speech tv went HD that commie lover would put them up on dish so fast it would make ur head spin

 

[rocatman]

And until some more tranponders open up on 110/119, E* would have to increase the compression if they wanted to put more HD up. And I think those transponders will open up when the one dish locals solution is implemented via the AMC-15/16 birds.

So E*'s quandry is content vs. quality when it comes to HD. If I were making the choice, I'd choose HD quality.

I really don't think that Dish's primary plan is to use the AMC-15/16 satellites to alleviate their one dish for all locals problem. The Echostar-10 (E-10)satellite going to 110 W is what I think Dish is planning to use to take care of this. E-10 may also free up as many as 3 more CONUS TPs at 110 that are currently being used for non-distant network SD LILs. These could be used for more HD but E-10 won't be operational until fall of 2005. E-10 should also free up as many as 5 TPs at the 61.5 and 148 locations each that are currently being used for SD LILs.

Dish plans for AMC-15/16 are somewhat puzzling. Both are currently being used to test Ka band which should be completed in May so we may find out in June what Dish's plans are for them. AMC-15 should have 8 - 10 free Ku band TPs after taking over for AMC-2 at 105 W and all 24 TPs of AMC-16 should be available at 85 W. If Dish made a deal for the Voom HD programming it could end up at 105 or 85 W.

Dish also has the Rainbow-1 acquisition pending as well a deal in the works for at least 16 TPs at 129 W using E-5. Both of these require FCC approval and decisions should be made in the next couple of months.

If the E-10 satellite gets launched successfully and the FCC rules in favor of Dish, they could have a lot more capacity by the end of the year. How much will be used for HD is anyone's guess.