I received my official letter today.

[Mr Tony]

I would encourage anyone who does receive it and feels wronged to call CS as well as write a final letter to sky angel detailing your complaints and reasons for not continuing with sky angel. Next I would contact dish and ask for Christian channels to be added to the family package

until one of two things happen, Dish can't
-SA gives up their "exclusive" rights to some channels NOW, not when it dies
-they (SA) cease broadcasting on DBS

Dish tried to add Daystar a while back and got sued for doing it by SA

Also we don't know the legality of the agreement between Dish & SA when it comes to Religious channels. If the agreement says "during DBS broadcasting", then Dish could add some channels if one of the two things happen above.

 

[Scroll]

As I've alluded to before I think the flaw with SA is that it was so knitted to Dish that it had to rely on monthly fees for Christian programming. The key to a better business model would have been to break away from Dish, offer the Faith channels FREE, and earn a profit on the family based secular channels and hope those channels provided a good enough selection to draw non-Christian families to the service. Although I'm not even sure you can call Fox News so "family friendly" anymore, but that's another story.

It is my belief that where they strayed is essentially making one pay for the gospel and I don't think that a Christian only fee concept was ever going to achieve the original goals of the founder. They just got caught up in the secular details of business and are still in that rut today.

The killer, IMHO, was the failure to secure a new satellite. How odd that TBN made their satellite space a top priority but now their content has become so bland that I rarely find much to watch on it.

 

[Dah-Henny]

until one of two things happen, Dish can't
-SA gives up their "exclusive" rights to some channels NOW, not when it dies
-they (SA) cease broadcasting on DBS

Dish tried to add Daystar a while back and got sued for doing it by SA

Also we don't know the legality of the agreement between Dish & SA when it comes to Religious channels. If the agreement says "during DBS broadcasting", then Dish could add some channels if one of the two things happen above.

SA kept us in the loop during the whole Daystar debacle through a non-advertised/linked web page. SA won the injunction & case because the agreement with E* was a "non-compete" clause. Daystar did a few unethical things as well as trying to claim to be "educational" as opposed to "religeous". The only reason Daystar is being aired now is due to the transponder failure. SA had to humble themselves to E* in order to get some of their channels lit back up.

E* could add all of the religeous channels they wanted to right now without repercussion. With their very limited TP space right now, I don't expect that to happen.

 

[catkoko]

I was not questioning spirituallity, rather accessibility to tv, and IPTV in particular. Rural areas have limited access to the technology that big cities have, especially affordable technology.

sky Angel also kept subs informed during their LAWSUIT? So why was it execting too much to be informed of lifetime changes, IPTV and the demise of DBS?

 

[Mr Tony]

E* could add all of the religeous channels they wanted to right now without repercussion. With their very limited TP space right now, I don't expect that to happen.

There's room for them to add it on the main satellites (110/119). Otherwise they could leave them on 61.5 and mirror on 129...maybe have a couple packages

 

[digiblur]

Yep... I figured once we knew AMC-14 was going up around March that Echostar III would be gone ending their contract.

 

[digiblur]

There's room for them to add it on the main satellites (110/119). Otherwise they could leave them on 61.5 and mirror on 129...maybe have a couple packages

110/119 are jammed pack enough as it is.

 

[Dah-Henny]

sky Angel also kept subs informed during their LAWSUIT? So why was it execting too much to be informed of lifetime changes, IPTV and the demise of DBS?

+1

Reason...loss of revenue.

 

[Orvsat]

Notice received

I received my 3 page notice in the mail on Wednesday (1/8).

I have mixed emotions about seeing my lifetime membership end on March 31, but I will move on. By the way, I have read a few comments that implied lifetimers were freeloaders. In reality we accepted a deal that SkyAngel developed in its early days. That early investment helped SkyAngel survive to this point and in some ways will continue with it as it pursues IPTV.

In the coming weeks I figure God will provide direction on my TV options and which one is best. (I don't have high speed internet at home.) I am somewhat relieved to finally receive official confirmation on what is going to happen and when it will occur.

I used to watch the weekly SkyAngel updates with Bob, Pele & Evie. They had many great dreams to expand their satellite ministry to cover the whole world and beam the gospel into countries that were closed to other methods. It was a great vision. Only time will tell if the move to Internet will help those dreams be realized.

This decision was made with financial realities bearing down on them. In order for them to survive and send the gospel out in any form they must have a financial support plan that will cover their needs. Hopefully IPTV will work for them. Come March 31 I and SkyAngel will go our separate ways. I wish them the best as they proclaim God's Word to a lost world.

 

[Bill R]

I received my 3 page notice in the mail on Wednesday (1/8).

I have mixed emotions about seeing my lifetime membership end on March 31, but I will move on. By the way, I have read a few comments that implied lifetimers were freeloaders. In reality we accepted a deal that SkyAngel developed in its early days. That early investment helped SkyAngel survive to this point and in some ways will continue with it as it pursues IPTV.

In the coming weeks I figure God will provide direction on my TV options and which one is best.

I don't think that your God is going to get involved in this (are some of you people really that naive?). Its up to you to decide what you are going to do and I already know what I am going to do. My lawyer has been asking for months about something in writing from Sky Angel about cancelation of our lifetime subscription (he has had a copy of my lifetime contract). As soon as I get the letter, a copy goes to him. Depending on what he suggests depends on what I'll do but right now I do expect this whole mess to result in a class action lawsuit.

Sky Angel could "fix" this easily. All that they have to do is honor our lifetime subscriptions (or give us a very good discount on monthly service). Its bad enough that we have to buy new equipment and subscribe to hi-speed internet service now to get the service that we already paid for. For some of us that have multiple satellite receivers. I have Sky Angel on four TVs (that would be very expensive just for the IPTV boxes).

Whoever is running Sky Angel (and I'm sure that it really isn't the Johnsons) is really making some dumb decisions. Their IPTV service will NOT suceed if they screw over all their lifetime subscribers. That should be clear to everyone at Sky Angel. There is going to be so much bad press and "word of mouth" that no one is going to trust them again.

 

[andrews777]

catkoko, I think it's interesting that you bash SkyAngel for using IPTV that is not widely available everywhere, when the similar arguments could have been said way back when Bob was proposing that everyone could have their own satellite dish.. the technology was not as widespread as it is now... just like Highspeed internet will be in another 5-10 years. You're missing the boat here on this issue..internet broadcast can already reach billions more people around the world than a single satellite hanging over the USA can... and highspeed internet is reaching everywhere very quickly due to community projects/etc bringing highspeed into a variety of previously unreachable areas.. it will be there, don't doubt that.

That's her job!

I agree that high-speed access will spread to many more places. In fact, it will allow much more interactivity since it won't have to be based on a single satellite sending a signal down, but it will allow signals to go all over.

Just as electricity and phone service has hit almost every rural area, so will Internet access at fast speeds. It will take a while, but the distributed nature of the Internet will likely make things even better that way. We may even find many rural areas having their own wireless systems, with ground-based links at points.

We aren't there yet, but it is much more likely to happen than having a "pay once" satellite service be successful.

Brad

 

[andrews777]

until one of two things happen, Dish can't
-SA gives up their "exclusive" rights to some channels NOW, not when it dies
-they (SA) cease broadcasting on DBS

Dish tried to add Daystar a while back and got sued for doing it by SA

Also we don't know the legality of the agreement between Dish & SA when it comes to Religious channels. If the agreement says "during DBS broadcasting", then Dish could add some channels if one of the two things happen above.

I would expect that SA is no longer an issue since they don't own any transponders.

Brad

 

[andrews777]

I don't think that your God is going to get involved in this (are some of you people really that naive?).

Yes Bill, some of us are really that naive! And quite proud of it I will add!

This is the SkyAngel forum, and since SA had a focus on Christian programming, it is quite reasonable to expect Christians to post on this forum, including those that take God seriously. He wouldn't be much of a God if He couldn't handle things like that, would He? You may not believe in him, but I believe belittling the beliefs of others doesn't belong in this form. (Perhaps it goes in the Pit, but I don't believe I have ever posted there.)

You might want to wake up and realize that many people, in a wide range of areas, really do have a personal relationship with God!

Brad

 

[Scroll]

Just as electricity and phone service has hit almost every rural area, so will Internet access at fast speeds.

There is satellite broadband, but other than that rural areas will more likely get WiFi broadband, neither of which will work with IPTV.

There is a HUGE technical issue with running cable or DSL broadband to the boonies. For example my block has had DSL for years now but because I'm right in the middle of the block I still can't get it.

 

[andrews777]

So? Who says DSL is the way high speed Internet will come? It took a long time to get everyone hooked up to the electrical and phone grids, with some serious challenges along the way.

I don't follow it closely, but I have heard WiFi is struggling a bit too. Who knows what technology will finally "win"? The key is that things advance and what was "the way" one day, is not necessarily it the next.

Brad

 

[JeffH]

Just as electricity and phone service has hit almost every rural area, so will Internet access at fast speeds.

There is satellite broadband, but other than that rural areas will more likely get WiFi broadband, neither of which will work with IPTV.

There is a HUGE technical issue with running cable or DSL broadband to the boonies. For example my block has had DSL for years now but because I'm right in the middle of the block I still can't get it.

What about WiMAX and BPL?

WiMAX - Google Image Search

WiMAX & IPTV — WIMAX

WiMAX - TVover.net

Just Google and you'll find many links to IPTV, BPL and WiMAX.
Broadband will grow as more and more people will demand it, and IPTV will grow with it.
I chose to automatically receive daily Google updates on IPTV, BPL and WiMAX; I'm very interested in what's happening in these emerging technologies.
Sky Angel has a future, and I'm glad to be a part of it!

Jeff

 

[Scroll]

I'm only going by what Dominion says on it's website that it won't work with their box.

 

[Bill R]

Yes Bill, some of us are really that naive! And quite proud of it I will add!

This is the SkyAngel forum, and since SA had a focus on Christian programming, it is quite reasonable to expect Christians to post on this forum, including those that take God seriously. He wouldn't be much of a God if He couldn't handle things like that, would He? You may not believe in him, but I believe belittling the beliefs of others doesn't belong in this form. (Perhaps it goes in the Pit, but I don't believe I have ever posted there.)

You might want to wake up and realize that many people, in a wide range of areas, really do have a personal relationship with God!

Brad

Brad,

I have been a Christian longer than you have likely been alive. On top of that I am a better Christian than you will EVER be!

To me, some of the views of God that I seen posted here are just plain silly. Nothing personal, just some views from the real world.

 

[andrews777]

Brad,

I have been a Christian longer than you have likely been alive. On top of that I am a better Christian than you will EVER be!

To me, some of the views of God that I seen posted here are just plain silly. Nothing personal, just some views from the real world.

I am a bit more shy about proclaiming I am better than anyone else Bill. Sounds a bit like pride in this case....

If your statement is true, you are certainly not staying faithful to the "love your brother" command, especially for those "in the faith".

You are certainly free to believe what you want, but mocking is not becoming, nor is it consistent with having a personal relationship with the God you claim will not do anything. What good is a personal relationship in that case?

Brad

 

[Bill R]

Sounds a bit like pride in this case....

If your statement is true, you are certainly not staying faithful to the "love your brother" command, especially for those "in the faith".

You are certainly free to believe what you want, but mocking is not becoming, nor is it consistent with having a personal relationship with the God you claim will not do anything. What good is a personal relationship in that case?

Brad

Brad,

You come across as one of the "know it all" Christians. Telling me that I am "not right" because I don't believe a Christian is the same as what you do and that I should not say what I said.

I learned a great deal about Christanity in the military and it is far different from yours (I'm sure). A Christian can be a lot different than what you THINK one SHOULD be. Don't preach to me about being a Christian - you CLEARLY aren't qualified.