Greek Channel Mega Cosmos gone

[Scott Greczkowski]

Greek Mega Cosmos

As we posted last week in our supporting pub members forum the Greek Channel Mega Cosmos will be leaving Dish Network for DirecTV on December 1st.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Mega Cosmos Off of Dish

GLOBESTAR REFUSES TO PROVIDE PROGRAMMING TO ECHOSTAR'S DISH NETWORK

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — December 1, 2006 – EchoStar Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH) confirmed today that Globestar, the distributor of Mega Cosmos, stopped delivering Mega Cosmos to DISH Network for reasons beyond DISH Network's control.

As a result, DISH Network can no longer deliver the channel to its customers and is taking legal action against Globestar.

“We are very disappointed that Mega Cosmos has decided to remove their channel from DISH Network and we are doing everything we can to fight this unfair action,” said Tracy Thompson, Vice President of International Programming for EchoStar. “We encourage customers to contact Mega Cosmos directly at 1-866-780-5367 during Greek business hours with concerns.”

Despite the loss of Mega Cosmos, DISH Network still has the most Greek programming in the U.S. with 10 channels. DISH Network also offers other top quality Greek-language channels that provide similar programming to Mega Cosmos, such as Antenna Satellite and ERT Sat. In addition, DISH Network is the only place to find the best Greek sports, the latest Greek music and the only provider of Greek programming with discreet English subtitles. DISH Network remains committed to the Greek community and to supporting Hellenic culture to all generations of Greeks living in the United States.

For more information about DISH Network or about DISH Network?s international programming offers please visit www.dishnetwork.com, call 1-800-333-DISH (3474) or contact a local DISH Network retailer.

About EchoStar

EchoStar Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH) serves more than 12.755 million satellite TV customers through its DISH Network™, and is a leading U.S. provider of advanced digital television services. DISH Network?s services include hundreds of video and audio channels, Interactive TV, HDTV, sports and international programming, together with professional installation and 24-hour customer service. EchoStar has been a leader for more than 25 years in satellite TV equipment sales and support worldwide.

EchoStar is included in the Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) and is a Fortune 500 company. Visit EchoStar?s Web site at www.echostar.com or call 1-800-333-DISH (3474).

OR CONTACT:

EchoStar Communications Corporation
Heather Black, 720-514-5351
press@echostar.com

Source: EchoStar Communication Corporation

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Whats funny about this press release is Dish is acting like this was a surprise to them.

I reported this was happening a few weeks ago in our pub members area, in addition I am told by Dish Network employees that they were notified of this earlier in the week.

BTW I am hearing these are not the only International channels moving off of Dish and going to DirecTV.

 

[aeris]

FU Directv, plain and simple.

 

[ralfyguy]

How many more lawsuits? This is getting ridiculous. Ithink it's the constant lawsuits, which require expensive lawyers, that causes the rates to go up all the time.

 

[Smith P.]

Really? Dish telling us because of hackers !

 

[SummitAdvantageRetailer]

Yep, Mega Cosmos is now available on DirecTV.

I tell ya, first it was centroamerica TV and now Mega Cosmos. Well, technically SBS from last year but these two are pretty dynamite channels in their respective languages. If Scott is true in other channels migrating to DirecTV, DISH Network stands to lose quite a few subs and lose their foothold in the international programming market.

 

[Stargazer]

Who knows, maybe Dish Network is profiting from the hacking somehow. Remember the C-Band days? Charlie was real clever with the NPS distant networks deal, why not with the pirate market too? He has more than one royal flush up his sleeve.

 

[ppappas]

Granted this doesn't rank up there with Distant Nets (which I also lost) or the potential looming DVR problem, but one of the reasons I have been a Dish subscriber for the last nine years is the availability of international channels. My wife is from Greece and greek channel package keeps her in touch with home.

Out of the blue with no warning at all, the Mega Cosmos channel disappeared on December 1st. For that day, there was some cryptic info about Global Star and then the channel was removed from the guide. There is no information on Dish's web site and a call to customer service was useless.

Has anyone heard of any problems between Dish and Global Star? Direct TV claims to carry Mega, and after all these years I may have to consider switching.

 

[greasedupdeafguy]

My guess is that it's another disagreement concerning what Global Star wants for the package and what E* thinks is reasonable to pay. Also, you are correct. D* does offer Mega Cosmos.

 

[epsilon]

http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=83426

 

[ostaz]

I'm really ticked off about all this. I urge other Greeks to write emails, make phone call, and generally create a fuss!

Pete


----- Original Message ----- From: Peter Deneff
To: communication@megatv.com ; kiki.silvestriadou@megatv.com ; stella.roussi@megatv.com
Sent: Monday, December 04, 2006 11:05 AM
Subject: Fw: Mega Cosmos




----- Original Message ----- From: Peter Deneff
To: gmikroudis@gmikroudis.com ; info@unitel.gr ; usglobestar@aol.com
Sent: Monday, December 04, 2006 10:56 AM
Subject: Mega Cosmos





Dear Globestar and associates,
I think that the recent decision to remove Mega Cosmos from Dish NEtwork was one that was conducted in haste and not very clearly thought out. You have treated your loyal viewers very badly. These are Greeks, many of which who are elderly, who have enjoyed your programming and either don't want to keeps switching providers or even more likely, who are locked into contracts with Dish network and couldn't switch even if they wanted to. Furthermore, you have created a situation where Greeks abroad must now chose between Dish and Directv and must give up some of thier favorite programming. I do not see why Mega cannot be offered on both Dish and Directv if your company is so eager to change things. I would have respected the decision had you decided to offer your channel on two platforms...this would create true competition. Please reconsider and take all sides into consideration, not just your pocketbooks. The real losers here are your former loyal viewers, the Greek-Americans, all of which were unaware of your intentions to abandon them until you were gone. The Greek American consumers are way too easily offended to go racing over to DirecTV for one lousy channel. They certainly won't pay $15 for one poor-quality, limited bandwidth channel when they could get an HBO movie package in HD for less. I, for one, will not switch platforms and, in fact, may chose not to subscribe to Mega ever again even when the DirecTV experiment fails and they return to Dish. This is just another example of blatant corporate greed and unfortunately, all my older relatives and friends are the ones who have to pay for it. I am a popular Greek singer and musician in Southern California and I will make sure to tell all of my family, friends, and fans to boycott DirecTV and Globestar until they learn to treat thier clients with respect.

Peter Deneff

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

The move was done overnight, and was in the works for a few months.

Again I noted this was going to happen almost 3 weeks ago in our private Pub Members area.

Dish is acting like this took them by surprise, but if I new about it Dish had to know about it.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Merged all the same topic together and got rid of the dupes.

 

[ostaz]

Merged all the same topic together and got rid of the dupes.

Thanks, it's easier to follow now!

Pete

 

[Minsk1]

Both D* and E* eventually will loose Internationals to IPTV. Now if you are looking for German, Russian, Ukrainian, Italian programming you are much better of with OverseaTV then with D* or E*. I never looked at other languages but I assume they are coming IPTV soon too. PQ is very good and comparable with limited bandwidth from E*, D*.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Just FYI, I am hearing a rumor that Alpha and ERT may soon be leaving Dish for DirecTV as well. Just a rumor but from a strong source.

 

[epsilon]

Nothing to smile about. If ERT goes, I'm ending my 6 year relationship with E*. I doubt ERT would stoop as low as the Charlie/Globestar bluffing war went. If anything, I think they'll make themselves available to both E & D*..

 

[ostaz]

Nothing to smile about. If ERT goes, I'm ending my 6 year relationship with E*. I doubt ERT would stoop as low as the Charlie/Globestar bluffing war went. If anything, I think they'll make themselves available to both E & D*..

Yes, not all Greek companies are as shabby and unethical as Globestar.

-Panagiotis

 

[ppappas]

Has anyone heard of any updates on this? My wife is bugging me to get Direct TV added to one of our TVs just to get Mega. I would rather not do this if Dish can resolve their dispute with Globestar. My queries to Dish have gone unanswered.

Thanks, Peter