Dishnetwork or Direct t.v.

[johnny58259]

Iv'e been a dishnetwork customer for about a year and a half and i have hd programming on a vip622 but heard that direct tv was launching 150 hd channels by end of summer or early fall. I know dishnetwork leads the industry in hd programming but was wondering what i should do stick with dishnetwork or go to direct t.v. I just wonder if dish will add the same hd channells that direct T.V. are planning to add. These are some of the channels direct tv are planning to add in hd
-- Bravo -- NFL Network
-- Cartoon Network -- SciFi Channel
-- CNN -- Speed
-- Food Network -- TBS
-- FX -- The History Channel
-- HGTV -- The Weather Channel
-- MTV -- USA Network -- A&E -- National Geographic
I was just wondering what i should do stay with dish or switch to direct t.v.

 

[tsduke]

When D* will add these channels is the real question. All they have are blind promises right now.

 

[griz_fan]

It is hard to launch an HD channel that doesn't yet exist. DirecTV's current marketing campaign is, in my opinion, borderline fraud. Just because something *might* happen doesn't mean it will. for the networks you mentioned:

Bravo - doesn't yet exist (Wasn't Universal HD Bravo HD+ at one point in time?)
NFL Network - Dish already has this
Cartoon Network - doesn't yet exist
SciFi Channel - doesn't yet exist
CNN - doesn't yet exist, September launch?
Speed - doesn't yet exist
Food Network - Dish already has this
TBS - doesn't yet exist
FX - Has this been confirmed?
The History Channel
HGTV - Dish already has this
The Weather Channel - coming soon
MTV - This would be cool
USA Network - doesn't yet exist (Doesn't Universal HD carry a lot of USA programming?)
A&E - Dish already has this
National Geographic - Dish already has this

Granted, there are some networks I'd be greatly interested in seeing in HD, but until they actually exist, I'm not going to worry about it. Besides, there's no guarantee that Dish won't carry these as well.

 

[TulsaCoker]

First Directv has never siad they would have 150 HD channels only capacity. All of these new HD channels are and have been waiting for a provider to have the capacity to add these channels before they would launch them. No one here know what the future holds for Dish and their ability to add all the channels when they come on line. I think if Dish has the capacity now these channels would have launched already and Dish would have added all the other HD channels they currently do not carry.

 

[kds64]

150 Hd channels like your local news network like CBS, NBC, FOX, ABC

 

[Pakbackr]

I was a Directv customer for almost ten years and just recently made the switch over to DISH, and that was AFTER they made their big announcement about expanding their HD capacity. To me, it came down to two things...who actually has the most HD content and who has the best equipment. DISH is the hands down winner in both categories. I made the switch on Feb 1st, knowing I will need to stay with DISH at least 18 months. I figure the whole landscape will look different by then. For now, I am a happy camper with my decision!

 

[sprintcarcrazy]

It's called marketing hype, or pretty close to fraud. There is not 150 HD networks available to carry. Maybe they are talking about carrying 120 of the same CBS's NBC's etc in locals in HD, because there just isn't that many. The reason there is not more HD is because it's expensive, ESPN, CBS, NBC have spent millions on HD. The Network HD equipment is now coming down in price, thats how ESPN has been able to afford all of the Nascar HD in cars and additional cameras and will cover additional events this year. And thats how these smaller networks are now starting to move to HD. It has nothing to do with Direct TV's near fraud marketing ploys. Go to Best Buy or other Direct dealers and they will hit you with the They will have 150 HD channels by the end of the year crap and blow away everyone else. My neighbor just bought a new HDTV and was going to switch to direct just because of this crap until I showed him the facts and the comments on this forum.

So people it's all about money on the networks part and nothing about wether Direct TV is going to carry them or not. Don't forget, cable carry's most of the main stuff that Direct or Dish carry so this is not dependent on Direct's fantasy HD Boom.

 

[Jimmy J]

Funny. I was going to switch to D* about a week ago. To make a long story short, it was a no go. Now I'm glad it didn't happen. I'll stick it thru with E*....things can only get better...maybe...hopefully!!!

 

[kds64]

i have both but watch monsterHD and others on dish

 

[sprintcarcrazy]

Now thats a cool home theatre, we have a huge projection screen on the side of our house in our pool area and I bring out the audio and video to a projector outside from the 622 and we have a Dive in Theatre. Next project is to bring out the HD from the 622 outsideto a new HD projector.

 

[sprintcarcrazy]

That's right, things may be different in 18 months, I would say we will see alot more HD around that time, the explosion of HD commercials says something. Dish will have alot more capacity by then too, so It's anyone's guess to look into the future.

 

[JimK2]

First Directv has never siad they would have 150 HD channels only capacity. All of these new HD channels are and have been waiting for a provider to have the capacity to add these channels before they would launch them. No one here know what the future holds for Dish and their ability to add all the channels when they come on line. I think if Dish has the capacity now these channels would have launched already and Dish would have added all the other HD channels they currently do not carry.

DISH has a few options like moving the voom 15 to mpeg4 that would open room for another 15 hd channels. Shifting HD to mpeg4 DISH could easily double current HD capacity.

 

[sprintcarcrazy]

Yes, it has little or nothing to do with a provider having the capacity to carry them. As they say, build it and they will come. The problem has been and still is, to build it costs a ton of money and only a few top networks has the cash to do it, the others are starting to move but it will take time. ESPN has spent tens of millions of dollars on HD equipment so far. Alot of the networks won't have to spend that much but it's still really expensive for them.

 

[donh76]

Made the move to Dish

I finally made the move from D* to Dish, the installer is coming this Thursday. There were a lot of reasons for this discission but mainly it was because of the very positive responses from Dish HD DVR customers here on the forum. On top of that the deal from D* to stay with them was not that good $100 off of the $299 HD DVR plus no HD charge for 12 months..

Don

 

[MrsJerseyJets]

I was a Directv customer for almost ten years and just recently made the switch over to DISH, and that was AFTER they made their big announcement about expanding their HD capacity. To me, it came down to two things...who actually has the most HD content and who has the best equipment. DISH is the hands down winner in both categories. I made the switch on Feb 1st, knowing I will need to stay with DISH at least 18 months. I figure the whole landscape will look different by then. For now, I am a happy camper with my decision!

I agree!! I just switched about 2 weeks ago after having DirecTV as well. I just hated their DVR equipment, nothing but problems, so I am THRILLED by the VIP 622! And we wanted to switch to HD, but DirecTV was charging an arm and a leg for the equipment and honestly didn't seem to care if we left, so we did. We also figure that by the time our 18 month commitment is up, we can then see if DirecTV actually comes through on their statements of tons of HD channels, and see how Dish competes. By then we can make a real decision on who to go with (although I really don't ever want to go back to DirecTV, I'll be waiting for FIOS in my area!). But I am very happy with my decision so far!!!