Dish CSR please comment on mixed arc set-up for Puerto Rico and USVI customers

[ljdonato]

TonyT, I am with you 100% on your comments.
I am hopeful that it will get resolved the correct way, since, as I already stated, we were receiving these channels before, and suddenly they were taken. Not in the middle of any negotiations that I know of, not in the middle of sat changes (the shuffle from 61.5 to the 7x had not begun when this happened), just without any explanation at all.
"Moving" will not solve anything. We will lose locals (both PR, and, probably, where we "move", since they could be in spotbeams), we will still not be able to receive 72 or 77 or 129 (because of footprint), so no EA or WA for us, and no HD since we will lose our HD spots from 110 and 119, and will not receive them from 129. So right now, this suggestion does not solve anything for us. Plus, it is not legal or honest.

In the quote; "Just authorize all national channels for all zip codes and be done with it."----- I think (or hope) that Pepper was referring to Dish Network, in general, not to actions that any CSR could do.....

Here's hoping that this will get solve soon, and that you will continue providing lots of dinners at home...
Thanks for your efforts

 

[englishtycoon]

Tony, people have already done this to get access to the 61.5, but not sure how much longer that will stay since you are moving the HD off. I really don't see a problem with using
a state side address if they are not getting the programs they pay for. I doubt dish would brick 250,000 customers. Charlie is not a fool.

By the way thanks for fixing this problem.

 

[ljdonato]

That very well could be the reason. When MLB negotiates the rights to early rounds of the baseball play offs it is fairly typical that we don't get the first rounds as we aren't part of the 50 states.

I am not sure, but I think this has more to do with DirecTV LA getting the exclusive rights to broadcast those. I know that we get those games (in PR) over local channels that contract with DirecTV and we can watch those early rounds, but with a big DirecTV logo onscreen (even when it is OTA).

 

[navychop]

......Sports leagues and movie studios aren't the only ones that screw us over. We send young men and women to fight as members of the US Armed Forces yet we can't vote for President and our Congressional delegate doesn't have a vote in Congress.

Jim

That's by your own choice. PR has decided it is financially and politically desirable to maintain the status quo. Let's see you vote for statehood, and then you'll be on your way to full voting in Congress. BTW, remember, you are not paying as much in taxes as you would if you were a state.

 

[englishtycoon]

That's by your own choice. PR has decided it is financially and politically desirable to maintain the status quo. Let's see you vote for statehood, and then you'll be on your way to full voting in Congress. BTW, remember, you are not paying as much in taxes as you would if you were a state.

and what taxes are you referring too?

 

[TonyT@DISH Network]

Charlie is not a fool.

I agree, which is why it would concern me to have ALL the PR/VI customers "move" suddenly, LOL. That would be a an exodus that would likely not go unnoticed, especially by the audit team.

By the way thanks for fixing this problem.

We are here to do what we can!

 

[holy_devil]

I am not sure, but I think this has more to do with DirecTV LA getting the exclusive rights to broadcast those. I know that we get those games (in PR) over local channels that contract with DirecTV and we can watch those early rounds, but with a big DirecTV logo onscreen (even when it is OTA).

Its not Directv, its Wapa and before that Deportes 13. I believe Wapa gets the signal anyway they can sometimes with the Directv logo, sometimes with the Yes network logo.

 

[rdavidowski]

Hi Navychop

Nothing to do with the thread but just to comment on the statehood issue. We are probably about to have another chance to vote for statehood this year. The White House committee for PR's status Issue has given a guideline were they state that there should be two votes this year on the matter. One asking only: "If PR wants to keep being part of the USA?" which has an obvious answer by possibly 98% or more of the vote being yes. And a second round which would ask "If PR wants to become a state or keep the status quo for another while?" with that result possibly being devided 50/50 because of tax issues more than political considerations. Considering politically we are at a disadvantage to any of the other 50 states, but would that compensate for the extra taxes. That is to be seen......

But then again people are becoming increasingly frustrated because of issues like this one from Dish an other stuff companies like netflix and a few others unjustifiably do to territories.

 

[englishtycoon]

Hi Navychop

Nothing to do with the thread but just to comment on the statehood issue. We are probably about to have another chance to vote for statehood this year. The White House committee for PR's status Issue has given a guideline were they state that there should be two votes this year on the matter. One asking only: "If PR wants to keep being part of the USA?" which has an obvious answer by possibly 98% or more of the vote being yes. And a second round which would ask "If PR wants to become a state or keep the status quo for another while?" with that result possibly being devided 50/50 because of tax issues more than political considerations. Considering politically we are at a disadvantage to any of the other 50 states, but would that compensate for the extra taxes. That is to be seen......

But then again people are becoming increasingly frustrated because of issues like this one from Dish an other stuff companies like netflix and a few others unjustifiably do to territories.

what are the tax implications?in the usvi we pay federal taxes but no state, but there are other states that do not have a state tax. Just curious

 

[navychop]

Hi Navychop

Nothing to do with the thread but just to comment on the statehood issue. We are probably about to have another chance to vote for statehood this year. The White House committee for PR's status Issue has given a guideline were they state that there should be two votes this year on the matter. One asking only: "If PR wants to keep being part of the USA?" which has an obvious answer by possibly 98% or more of the vote being yes. And a second round which would ask "If PR wants to become a state or keep the status quo for another while?" with that result possibly being devided 50/50 because of tax issues more than political considerations. Considering politically we are at a disadvantage to any of the other 50 states, but would that compensate for the extra taxes. That is to be seen......

But then again people are becoming increasingly frustrated because of issues like this one from Dish an other stuff companies like netflix and a few others unjustifiably do to territories.

So full independence is rather a dead issue?

I was stationed on Guam (LOVE the place) so I have some feeling for the treatment toward territories.

Not all PR citizens pay federal income tax.

 

[rdavidowski]

Hi englishtycoon

The only difference between PR status quo and a state are 3 things. 1. We can not vote for the president, we are only allowed to vote in the primaries. 2. We do not get the proper representation on congress and with PR's high concentration of people per square mile, if we were a state we would be getting more congressional seats than 26 other states. But as it is we only get one voting representative and the vote counts only if it is not a deciding vote. Many would jump and say that that's like not voting at all but what that gives you is the right to propose changes or promote laws that if you didn't have the right to vote you couldn't do. 3. We are exempt of federal wage taxes but do pay medicare and social security taxes. But then we do pay state tax and it is one of the highest in the nation. American multinational companies used to be exempt of federal taxes but that ended around 1996 or 1998. Don't remember exactly.

 

[rdavidowski]

Yes Navyshop it has been a dead issue for decades. They use to have a political party that represented about 3% to 4% of the votes but in the last two elections they have gotten less than 2% of the vote and that automatically does not qualify them as an official inscribed party. But then again you may hear of them because they are a very vocal minority; as usual. The first question is a given answer without a doubt.

PR residents (not citizens) only pay state tax. Unless you work for the federal government, armed forces or do business directly with the federal government then you are forced to pay federal income tax. All of PR's residents pay medicare and SS. And I mention residence and not citizens because if you were to move here it will also apply to you. It does not have to do with citizenship because we are born US citizens. Any one of us can apply for the office of the president as long as our RESIDENCE is in the 50 states. And many do as they have two homes, one being in the mainland. I exercise my presidential vote in Florida because of that, and also here for local governor elections. There are also an increasingly number of people filling the federal income tax not because they are obligated to but because they get money back for having more than 3 children as dependents.

 

[papita]

Tony T:

First of all a big THANK YOU!!! for trying to help us. Below is a full list of the HD situation in Puerto Rico(PR). I have to start by saying that PR customers do not have access to the Platinum package. I do have it because I am on AEP and Dish gave it to me free for 12 months (out of the 30 years celebration). I am missing 4 HD channels from the Platinum package. I do not see a reason why couldn't Dish put all the HD channels we are missing from 119/110 on the 61.5 position. Don't say space is a problem because we are only missing 22 HD channels and there are 36 HD channels on 61.5 that do not need to be there (we already get them from 119/110). Please see the table below and try to solve PR HD injustice for good.

Channels that I have signal right now and are blocked (either on 61.5, 110 or 119)
Channel Mapdown Letters Full Name
9540 403 NHLN NHL Network
9527 111 DIY Do It Yourself Network*
9507 162 VH1 Video Hits One
9505 340 ENCOR Encore**
9495 152 CBS C CBS College Sports**
9493 166 CMT Country Music TV
9490 193 SCI Science Channel
9481 327 TMC-E The Movie Channel East**
9477 205 FXNWS Fox News
9471 109 LMN Lifetime Movie Network
9466 151 VS. Versus
9457 194 GREEN Planet Green*
9444 187 HMC Hallmark Movie Channel
9443 119 BIO Biography Channel
9428 115 STYLE Style
Channels that I do not have from Platinum package because they are not on 61.5, 110 or 119.
380 295 EPIX1 Epix 1
375 SHRTS Shorts HD
378 293 INDIE IndiPlex Movie Channel
379 294 RETRO RetroPlex
Channels that I do not have because they are not on 61.5, 110 or 119
9529 130 AMC American Movie Classics
9526 192 ID Investigation Discovery
9524 202 HLN Headline News
9523 132 TCM Turner Classic Movies
9447 113 COOK Cooking Channel HD
9476 206 FOXB Fox Business
9408 191 G4 G4 - Video Game Channel
9482 185 HLMRK Hallmark Channel
9525 121 HISTI History International
395 395 SPMAN Sportsman's Channel
9430 204 TRU truTV
9512 319 SHO-W Showtime (West)
9498 351 STRZW Starz (West)
9496 352 SEDGE Starz Edge
9486 354 STZC Starz Comedy
9455 301 HBO2E HBO 2 East
9451 307 HBOCY HBO Comedy
9453 305 HBOFM HBO Family
* Have it right now ONLY because it is in Free Preview
** 110 satellite position and are blocked !!!!

Channels on 61.5 we already have on 119/110
9511 MSNBC
9510 BET
9508 NBATV
9506 Spike
9499 TBS
9492 BRAVO
9491 HIST
9489 APL
9488 TLC
9487 DISC
9485 CMDY
9484 MTV
9475 FX
9473 GOLF
9469 PLDIA
9468 SPEED
9463 TOON
9462 FOOD
9461 HGTV
9446 WGN
9442 TENIS
9439 CNBC
9438 TWC
9437 TRV
9436 CNN
9432 SYFY
9431 USA
9429 NTGEO
9426 NFL
9425 ESPN2
9424 ESPN
9423 HDNMV
9421 HDTHR
9420 TNT
9419 A&E
9416 NICK

 

[englishtycoon]

Tony T:

First of all a big THANK YOU!!! for trying to help us. Below is a full list of the HD situation in Puerto Rico(PR). I have to start by saying that PR customers do not have access to the Platinum package. I do have it because I am on AEP and Dish gave it to me free for 12 months (out of the 30 years celebration). I am missing 4 HD channels from the Platinum package. I do not see a reason why couldn't Dish put all the HD channels we are missing from 119/110 on the 61.5 position. Don't say space is a problem because we are only missing 22 HD channels and there are 36 HD channels on 61.5 that do not need to be there (we already get them from 119/110). Please see the table below and try to solve PR HD injustice for good.

Channels that I have signal right now and are blocked (either on 61.5, 110 or 119)
Channel Mapdown Letters Full Name
9540 403 NHLN NHL Network
9527 111 DIY Do It Yourself Network*
9507 162 VH1 Video Hits One
9505 340 ENCOR Encore**
9495 152 CBS C CBS College Sports**
9493 166 CMT Country Music TV
9490 193 SCI Science Channel
9481 327 TMC-E The Movie Channel East**
9477 205 FXNWS Fox News
9471 109 LMN Lifetime Movie Network
9466 151 VS. Versus
9457 194 GREEN Planet Green*
9444 187 HMC Hallmark Movie Channel
9443 119 BIO Biography Channel
9428 115 STYLE Style
Channels that I do not have from Platinum package because they are not on 61.5, 110 or 119.
380 295 EPIX1 Epix 1
375 SHRTS Shorts HD
378 293 INDIE IndiPlex Movie Channel
379 294 RETRO RetroPlex
Channels that I do not have because they are not on 61.5, 110 or 119
9529 130 AMC American Movie Classics
9526 192 ID Investigation Discovery
9524 202 HLN Headline News
9523 132 TCM Turner Classic Movies
9447 113 COOK Cooking Channel HD
9476 206 FOXB Fox Business
9408 191 G4 G4 - Video Game Channel
9482 185 HLMRK Hallmark Channel
9525 121 HISTI History International
395 395 SPMAN Sportsman's Channel
9430 204 TRU truTV
9512 319 SHO-W Showtime (West)
9498 351 STRZW Starz (West)
9496 352 SEDGE Starz Edge
9486 354 STZC Starz Comedy
9455 301 HBO2E HBO 2 East
9451 307 HBOCY HBO Comedy
9453 305 HBOFM HBO Family
* Have it right now ONLY because it is in Free Preview
** 110 satellite position and are blocked !!!!

Channels on 61.5 we already have on 119/110
9511 MSNBC
9510 BET
9508 NBATV
9506 Spike
9499 TBS
9492 BRAVO
9491 HIST
9489 APL
9488 TLC
9487 DISC
9485 CMDY
9484 MTV
9475 FX
9473 GOLF
9469 PLDIA
9468 SPEED
9463 TOON
9462 FOOD
9461 HGTV
9446 WGN
9442 TENIS
9439 CNBC
9438 TWC
9437 TRV
9436 CNN
9432 SYFY
9431 USA
9429 NTGEO
9426 NFL
9425 ESPN2
9424 ESPN
9423 HDNMV
9421 HDTHR
9420 TNT
9419 A&E
9416 NICK

Papita, The problem is we are not going to get access to the 61.5 and HD is moving off it. So we have to stick with addressing 110/119 only. Like Tony said the only way we will get more HD is to unlock the ones that are being blocked now and eventually freeing up more space with the transfer over to mpeg4.

 

[Pepper]

In the quote; "Just authorize all national channels for all zip codes and be done with it."----- I think (or hope) that Pepper was referring to Dish Network, in general, not to actions that any CSR could do.....

Yes, that's exactly what I meant. Definitely not suggesting that it be done other than through the proper procedures, just saying what needs to be done.

And my comment about "moving" was more in jest than anything, I'm sure 100K+ "movers" would attract some scrutiny.

 

[Beeski]

Tony, if you get the ear of anyone in management, will you please educate/inform them that for US Virgin Islands customers:
a) the lack of ABC/CBS/NBC/FOX in the base Dish Network package is not good. Dealing with Sobongo/AAD and their waivers, then losing our HD limits Dish Networks ability to compete in this market
b) not getting what we pay for....as has been illustrated in the many posts above....flat out sucks.
c) if it is lack of transponder space, Dish should bite the bullet and convert all MPEG2 customers to MPEG4 receivers, and make everything HD
d) DirecTV and the new Innovative HD offerings mean Dish has lost its monopoly on HD and should therefore respond by fixing their product offering in the VI.

 

[Tampa8]

Tony T:

I do not see a reason why couldn't Dish put all the HD channels we are missing from 119/110 on the 61.5 position. Don't say space is a problem because we are only missing 22 HD channels and there are 36 HD channels on 61.5 that do not need to be there (we already get them from 119/110). Please see the table below and try to solve PR HD injustice for good.

If I am missing what you are saying, forgive me. But I think you are missing a huge point. You can not look at 119/110 AND look at 61.5 as a way to get a full package. That's not how it works. 119/110/129 makes a complete package, and 61.5/72.5 and in some cases 77 makes a complete package. That's how dish does, and I can tell you if they didn't alot of New England would not be able to get HD. (trees - 119/110/129 requires a much lower view of sight)
Saying there are HD channels that are duplicated is not correct, it isn't duplicated for those that do not see or get the 119/110/129 sats.

Leaving the HD on 61.5 to me would solve this as many have said. I don't know why the switch to 72 but then I'm not employed by Dish.

I have one other question. Is there any chance the channels not being shown, (blacked -out) are not allowed to be sold to PR by Dish?

 

[ljdonato]

I have one other question. Is there any chance the channels not being shown, (blacked -out) are not allowed to be sold to PR by Dish?

We get them in SD just right. And we used to get them in HD up to one day when they were gone without any explanations.

 

[englishtycoon]

If I am missing what you are saying, forgive me. But I think you are missing a huge point. You can not look at 119/110 AND look at 61.5 as a way to get a full package. That's not how it works. 119/110/129 makes a complete package, and 61.5/72.5 and in some cases 77 makes a complete package. That's how dish does, and I can tell you if they didn't alot of New England would not be able to get HD. (trees - 119/110/129 requires a much lower view of sight)
Saying there are HD channels that are duplicated is not correct, it isn't duplicated for those that do not see or get the 119/110/129 sats.

Leaving the HD on 61.5 to me would solve this as many have said. I don't know why the switch to 72 but then I'm not employed by Dish.

I have one other question. Is there any chance the channels not being shown, (blacked -out) are not allowed to be sold to PR by Dish?

we get them in SD so unless HD is just being blocked which Tony thinks is not the case and is working on it

 

[Tampa8]

c) if it is lack of transponder space, Dish should bite the bullet and convert all MPEG2 customers to MPEG4 receivers, and make everything HD

I do agree you need to get what you pay for, otherwise Dish needs to lower your cost to the channels you actually get. And if 61.5 would serve more people instead of 72 I just don't know why they are migrating.
But your point "C" I do not agree with. Yes, in time, but not if it means raising rates to pay for it. There are probably still millions that have MPEG2 equipment. Even people who post here and are up to date on what is going on still have at least one MPEG2 receiver.