HD feeds being added to Welcome Pack!

[Tampa8]

Correct. And I don't believe Directv has a $20 package anyway. Anyone trying to spend as little as possible gets a much better deal with DISH, ongoing not promotional. No first receiver fee, (There is a $7 DVR fee for the account, none though if you get a 211) easy to have no HD fee, and Direct charges a $15 advanced receiver fee. That is for any of the DVR receivers not just the Genie. So even if Direct does include HD in their lowest $29.99 package you are paying a high premium for it. If DISH is indeed adding HD channels to the Welcome pack that is a decent deal for someone who does not want to or can't depend on the internet for TV particularly since it includes locals not easily available online.

 

[satjay]

Correct. And I don't believe Directv has a $20 package anyway. Anyone trying to spend as little as possible gets a much better deal with DISH, ongoing not promotional. No first receiver fee, (There is a $7 DVR fee for the account, none though if you get a 211) easy to have no HD fee, and Direct charges a $15 advanced receiver fee. That is for any of the DVR receivers not just the Genie. So even if Direct does include HD in their lowest $29.99 package you are paying a high premium for it. If DISH is indeed adding HD channels to the Welcome pack that is a decent deal for someone who does not want to or can't depend on the internet for TV particularly since it includes locals not easily available online.

Could be a package that they now market as for those that are thinking about cord cutting? No hassles to get your local channels and some HD

 

[rglore]

One of my account's monthly bill now shows Welcome Pack $19.99 and HD Free for Life, $0.00.

 

[pattykay]

I tlam thinking adding HD feeds to the welcome pack is a good idea for marketing the package, maybe after the new year they will market publicly and advertise the package

Speaking of marketing, I wonder if Dish is giving us the HD feeds to try to get us to use up more hard drive space, so that we will either buy more external hard drives or upgrade our receivers. Those sneaky bastards!

On a related note, since Welcome Pack now includes HD feeds, I wonder if Welcome Pack will also qualify for a free Hopper upgrade.

 

[pattykay]

Dish should offer the same sling TV package for $20 to existing dish satellite subs without requiring locals.

I also like the idea of a satellite-delivered version of Sling. Perhaps they should call it "Sling Pack."

No. Currently, Food Network, HGTV, TBS, TLC, Msnbc, and History are in SD.

Yes, that is the same list I put in the OP.

I wonder if they too are going hd soon?

Actually I dont believe it is a mistake. I got some engineer notes a few weeks ago that said the HD feeds would be part of the Welcome Pack at the end of November. Maybe it's not official yet.

I took Scott's post to mean that the remaining HD feeds would be added by the end of this month.

I may be incorrect, but isn't DirecTV's price $29.99 for the Family Package? I also believe there is a $10 HD fee, and now I think DirecTV charges for even the base receiver.

Correct. However, the additional fee is one or the other, not both. On my Directv account, I am "grandfathered" with the $10 HD fee, but the primary receiver fee is waived. A new subscriber would have the $6.50 primary receiver fee, but no fee for HD.

 

[ChadT41]

Speaking of marketing, I wonder if Dish is giving us the HD feeds to try to get us to use up more hard drive space, so that we will either buy more external hard drives or upgrade our receivers. Those sneaky bastards!

On a related note, since Welcome Pack now includes HD feeds, I wonder if Welcome Pack will also qualify for a free Hopper upgrade.

That's a good question, and my vote would be probably not, as it is not a revenue driver. That could be wrong though as it would increase the monthly bill, but I would imagine those same folks asking for discounts for their bill as well to cover the cost.

 

[pattykay]

One of my account's monthly bill now shows Welcome Pack $19.99 and HD Free for Life, $0.00.

Did you ever have a higher package on that account? Both of my Dish accounts show the same thing, but I previously had AT120 / AT120+ (at different times for each account. I did not subscribe to both of those packages at the same time.)

 

[rglore]

Did you ever have a higher package on that account? Both of my Dish accounts show the same thing, but I previously had AT120 / AT120+ (at different times for each account. I did not subscribe to both of those packages at the same time.)

Yes, used to AT200 on that account.

 

[zippyfrog]

I found this interesting - when you go to Dish's site now and setup an order for the Smart Pack (http://www.dish.com/packages/ then click on Order Now for the Smart Pack), one of the line items on the order setup is "HD Fee - $0.00." Earlier when we started seeing these HD feeds show up, I did this test and that line items was not listed under the Smart Pack when you tried to order.

The other thing I find strange is that when I setup an order for Smart Pack, I can add the Multi-Sport Pack. I know you have to have AT120+ in order to add the multi-sport pack, so I figure this is a glitch in the system.

 

[pattykay]

On a related note, since Welcome Pack now includes HD feeds, I wonder if Welcome Pack will also qualify for a free Hopper upgrade.

To answer my own question, my Hopper upgrade is scheduled for tomorrow.

 

[fhsucade07]

I found this interesting - when you go to Dish's site now and setup an order for the Smart Pack (http://www.dish.com/packages/ then click on Order Now for the Smart Pack), one of the line items on the order setup is "HD Fee - $0.00." Earlier when we started seeing these HD feeds show up, I did this test and that line items was not listed under the Smart Pack when you tried to order.

The other thing I find strange is that when I setup an order for Smart Pack, I can add the Multi-Sport Pack. I know you have to have AT120+ in order to add the multi-sport pack, so I figure this is a glitch in the system.

I went in and acted as if I was changing my package to the Smart Pack and it didn't give me the Multi-Sport option so it is likely a glitch unless it is something that will change on the 2nd when the HD addition is official. From what I understand, the Sports Pack can be added with the Family Pack on DTV. If they make this change and I can suddenly get Pac-12, Big 10, NFLN and RedZone with the Welcome Pack or Smart Pack, sign me up.

 

[eacalhoun]

Speaking of marketing, I wonder if Dish is giving us the HD feeds to try to get us to use up more hard drive space, so that we will either buy more external hard drives or upgrade our receivers. Those sneaky bastards!

I know you were probably just kidding (given the "cheesy grin"), but since there is still an SD version of all channels, one can record the SD version if so desired - correct? Thus saving drive space.

 

[pattykay]

I know you were probably just kidding (given the "cheesy grin"), but since there is still an SD version of all channels, one can record the SD version if so desired - correct? Thus saving drive space.

I know that. I do that all the time. My point was that giving us the HD feeds might be Dish's way of "encouraging" us to use up more drive space. I did not say that they are forcing us to record in HD.

 

[ChadT41]

I know that. I do that all the time. My point was that giving us the HD feeds might be Dish's way of "encouraging" us to use up more drive space. I did not say that they are forcing us to record in HD.

I'm thinking a different route. Possibly a better retention tool, to try and get back over 14 million, and also preparation for abolishing SD in the future... Atleast for channels that have an HD counterpart. That would also make way for 4K as well... But this is all just throwing ideas out there.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I got something this morning which says... "Update Smart Pack to include HD content at 72.7, 110, 119, and 129 on 12/9"

So looks like Smart Pack is getting them too.

 

[pattykay]

I'm thinking a different route. Possibly a better retention tool, to try and get back over 14 million, and also preparation for abolishing SD in the future... Atleast for channels that have an HD counterpart. That would also make way for 4K as well... But this is all just throwing ideas out there.

Which would then force us to use up more hard drive space. Anyway, in my case, Dish's diabolical plan worked. They got me to upgrade to the Hopper and locked me into a new two-year contract...and I have never been happier with my Dish service!

 

[primestar31]

Which would then force us to use up more hard drive space.

That's not all that true with mpeg 4, which uses much less space compared to old mpeg 2. I've never checked the exact difference, but 1 hour of mpeg 4 HD video, isn't all that much more than 1 hour of mpeg 2 SD video.

 

[navychop]

MPEG-4 takes roughly half the space of MPEG-2, at the same PQ.

HVEC is about twice as efficient, in turn, than MPEG-4.

 

[MikeD-C05]

MPEG-4 takes roughly half the space of MPEG-2, at the same PQ.

HVEC is about twice as efficient, in turn, than MPEG-4.

I give, what does HVEC stand for?

 

[osu1991]

I give, what does HVEC stand for?

High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) is a video compression standard, a successor to H.264/MPEG-4 AVC

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Efficiency_Video_Coding