Thanks to all you guys that responded so quickly ! I will now close the chapter on this. Before doing so however, and while I appreciate Dish wanting their all of their subscribers to have either the EA or WA, I cannot justify in my own mind why they feel the need to move channels from one satellite to another satellite within the same arc configuration i.e. 61.5 and 72.7 are both members of the EA. And to further cloud the logic of it, they are moving channels from a bird that they only commissioned in July last year (but which they own) to another bird (older but which they lease).
This one has a lot of logic behind it actually. They are trying to end mixed dish configurations and get people on pure Eastern Arc or Western Arc setups. This will require not only DISH upgrades for a lot of folks, but also receiver upgrades as well. They want everyone on the Western Arc to have at least all 8PSK compatable receivers in their homes as in the future DISH will move all the SD channels on the WA (Western Arc) to 8PSK which would open up a bunch of space for MANY MANY new HD channels. Effectively they could double the ammount of space they have (if not more) by doing this and without adding a single new satellite. This would blow away DIRECTV in the way of available spectrum they have for new HD and other new services.
See there is a method to their madness, its unfortunate that these things take so long to get done.
Anyways here is the list of HD channel moves that I have that will be moving from 61.5 to 72.7. The dates and channels are however subject to change.
BIG 10 Network (9500) April 6
HBO2E (9455) Mar 16
HBOCY (9451) Mar 16
HBOFM (9453) Mar 16
HBOLT (9459) Mar 16
HBOSG (9454) Mar 16
HBO-W (9478) Mar 16
HBOZ (9452) Mar 16
MAX-E (9458) Mar 16
MAX-W (9440) Mar 16
SHOCS (9513) Apr 6
SHOTO (9480) Apr 6
SK&FM (9435) April 6
STARZ (9435) Feb 16
STZC (9486) Feb 16
It is rumored that many SD Channels will be moving fro 72.7 to 61.5 in February as well (Again dates and channels are subject to change) The first rumored batch of channels to move from 72.7 to 61.5 are as follows....
MIL, SLTH, BIG10, CHILR, TENIS, NHLN, BIO, CNBCW, EWAM FXNWS, SK&FM, STARZ, STZC, TOON, COOK, EACTN, EMYST, ENCOR, EWSTN, HBO2E, HBO-E, HBO-W, MAX-W, SHO-W, SPMAN, STRZW, TMC-E, TMC-W, TMCXW, PREVW, HBOSG, HMC, NATGW, NTGEO, NTGEO, CNBC, FOXB, FUEL, HBOCY, HBOFM, HBOLT, HISTI, MAX-E, SCI, TLC, TRV, CMT, EDRAM, ELOVE, ENCRW, 5-MAX, ACMAX, BOOM, DISC, HUB, FSC, GREEN, MUN2, NICKT, VERIA, DIY, FOXMO, GAC, NBATV, OTDCH, VH1CL, VS, EPIX3, A NUMBER OF THE MUZAK AUDIO CHANNELS, BITV, ESPN2, MTV, NFL, NICK, SHO-E, SHOTO, SPIKE, A&E, CMDY, FOOD, HGTV, HIST, SHOCS, STYLE, TBS, USA.
A number of HD channels will also be moving from 72.7 onto 61.5. The rumored list is as follows (and again is subject to change)
HGTV, HIST, SHOCS, STULE, TBS, USA, DIY, EPIX2, CI, HDNMV, WGN, GREEN & HDTHR.
Again there is a method to their madness... Rome was not built in a day.