OFFICIAL: Dish Network Not Enough New HD Complaint Thread

[rassilon5]

Notch another complaint here...

I sent an e-mail about a month ago questioning their HD content and plans... specifically mentioning Direct TV's new HD line up. The general response was that they were the leader in HD and had more channels... couldn't quite figure that one out.

I've been a loyal customer for a long time and have had an itch to leave Dish for awhile. It started with the out sourced Indian customer service or lack there of... my itch has gotten worse watching the constant HD content growth elsewhere.

As with others, the lack of SciFi and USA among other channels is irritating me... my itch is getting worse...

If Dish doesn't bring us new channels soon, in particular SCIFI CHANNEL by the time the new BATTLESTAR GALACTICA season starts up I may have to scratch this growing itch until it's gone...

The one thing keeping me from Direct TV right now is Dish's hardware... if Dish at least comes out and gives some kind of official news / plans it may help myself and others decide to stay...

A.

 

[jsanders]

I noticed that Battlestar Galatica is broadcast on UniversalHD. Are these just re-runs, or do they show new episodes too?

 

[rassilon5]

They are re-runs...

 

[rassilon5]

Oh... and another reason they're pissing me off... NO local FOX or PBS HD,although both locally broadcast in HD. I'm sure their response would be to capture it over the air, unfortunately I am in the Puget Sound (Seattle) area and the terrain and possibly the weather here heavily interferes with my HD over the air content.

 

[Buzzdar]

I think the dish 1000.2 should have a local hd antenna built into it. to make it easier for everyone to get local hd's since dish has no plans adding any new hd soon.

 

[Jim S.]

That is my point exactly! Get rid of the fashion channel among others, and replace them with something that has at least some compelling content.

I would enjoy watching stargate in HD!

The viewership of SciFi HD will be a whole lot higher than Voom Ultra!

Except space has ALREADY BEEN CLEARED for SciFi HD, so having the Voom channels has nothing to do with it.

(If Dish is being required to wait til they have room for Bravo HD and CNBC HD, then they need to get better lawyers, because the cable companies aren't. Besides, CNBC has no justification for occupying HD bandwidth whatsoever.)

 

[animalhouse]

Speed TV HD

With Dish being one of the sponsors of Roush-Fenway Racing, you would think that they would be eager to add Speed TV HD to their HD line-up.

Sure would be nice to see some NASCAR in HD on Speed.

So how about it Dish, add Speed TV HD ASAP. Aferall, they are going HD as of February 7th.

 

[billymac]

I find the outrage over SCI-FI amusing. I know that this is a "Sci-Fi"-ish site, but honestly, I do not personally know anyone that watches SCI-FI. I cannot imagine that it would be a priority before USA, FX, SPEED, etc.

I just think that the perception of the outrage over SCI-FI is skewed by the people on this site. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, I just saying...

 

[wetz73]

With Dish being one of the sponsors of Roush-Fenway Racing, you would think that they would be eager to add Speed TV HD to their HD line-up.

Sure would be nice to see some NASCAR in HD on Speed.

So how about it Dish, add Speed TV HD ASAP. Aferall, they are going HD as of February 7th.

This is the one that will set quite a few off. If the Gatorade Duels are not available in HD while at the same time the E* website shows the Dish Network car on the front page, people are going to be irate!

 

[jayn_j]

This is the one that will set quite a few off. If the Gatorade Duels are not available in HD while at the same time the E* website shows the Dish Network car on the front page, people are going to be irate!

Face it, people are going to be irate, no matter what. Somebody has been irate every single minute since this site launched.

For those irate about VOOM and wanting other HD channels to REPLACE the VOOM bandwidth: If you are a newbie or have the attention span of a gerbil, you probably don't remember that Charlie brought these on to become the HD leader at a time when the hottest thing around was the fish tank channel. Well, content comes with carriage agreements, and he can't simply dump the channels without being sued. Say what you will about content (and I like something on every one of ths channels occassionally), we are contractually stuck with them for some time.

For those who would like to dump HD content for other HD content in general: Just hope that NONE of your programming choices are niche. Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean there isn't an audience. I probably never watch a lot of what gets you off, yet I watch a lot of HD content.

If this were a vote and only the top rated channel got to be uploaded, a lot of viewers would be alienated with no voice. Oh wait, we already do that with presidential elections.

 

[Jim S.]

I find the outrage over SCI-FI amusing. I know that this is a "Sci-Fi"-ish site, but honestly, I do not personally know anyone that watches SCI-FI. I cannot imagine that it would be a priority before USA, FX, SPEED, etc.

I just think that the perception of the outrage over SCI-FI is skewed by the people on this site. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, I just saying...

A lot of Sci-Fi's programming is garbage, yes. I only watch Battlestar Galactica, Stargate, Dr. Who, and Ghost Hunters. But quite a few of those would benefit greatly from being in HD, because the level of compression that Dish inflicts on SD channels destroys all the detail in dark scenes and makes a blocky mess on large TVs. Today I downloaded from Usenet an episode that had been downsampled to widescreen 480 from HD. Not only was it 2/3 as good as 720 (which numerically it should be), it was better than some commercial DVDs! If Dish can't provide us with HD channels for whatever reason, they could at least think about what content the SD channels are most likely to show and increase the bitrate on the ones that need it!

 

[jimboeau]

Except space has ALREADY BEEN CLEARED for SciFi HD, so having the Voom channels has nothing to do with it.

(If Dish is being required to wait til they have room for Bravo HD and CNBC HD, then they need to get better lawyers, because the cable companies aren't. Besides, CNBC has no justification for occupying HD bandwidth whatsoever.)

Correct Voom has nothing to do with it. They have room RIGHT NOW for 12 - 15 HD channels. They could add SCIFI, USA, CNBC, Bravo, Speed as well as several more right now without doing anything. IMHO it has much more to do with $$ than it does space.

 

[mruk69]

Imho I think they will add a few HD channels in particular USA, SciFi , BBCA, Speed, FX and CNN. I don't think they can afford to be without these channels. But hey what the heck do I know, i'm only human or was.
Anyway, what idiot would raise the price and wait to add content. I am getting sick and tired of the Voom channels, all they do is repeat the same old $hit. Some of the crap they broadcast should be free for being so crap.

 

[wetz73]

Probably 99% of people on here are upset that certain channels are available elsewhere (D* or cable) and not available on E*. I like many went with E* because they offered the most HD, and in a few short months they have been almost doubled up in availability by D*. We are not upset that broadcasters in general are not upgrading to HD, we are upset that those who have are not available.

 

[rassilon5]

Half of my favorite shows are viewing on Sci Fi, BBCA and USA:
BSG, Stargate Atlantis, Doctor Who, Ghost Hunters, Monk, Psych, Gordon Ramsay, previously Life of Mars (hopefully Ashes to Ashes on BBCA if it comes to the U.S.), Torchwood...
Sara Conner Chronicles on Fox, I have to get over the air which is spotty in my area... so for me, it's not a minor amount of programming i'm missing in HD that I can now get elsewhere...

A.

 

[kstuart]

Half of my favorite shows are viewing on Sci Fi, BBCA and USA:
BSG, Stargate Atlantis, Doctor Who, Ghost Hunters, Monk, Psych, Gordon Ramsay, previously Life of Mars (hopefully Ashes to Ashes on BBCA if it comes to the U.S.), Torchwood...
Sara Conner Chronicles on Fox, I have to get over the air which is spotty in my area... so for me, it's not a minor amount of programming i'm missing in HD that I can now get elsewhere...

A.

Doctor Who has not been produced in HD so far, and Life of Mars was not either.

Torchwood has been showing in HD on Dish Network on HD-Net, they already showed the whole Season One in HD, and Season Two begins on HD-Net on February 11th (only a couple of weeks after the BBC America SD airing, and less than a month after the first airing on BBC-HD in England).

Most Dish customers have access to Fox in HD, so that is not really the issue of this thread.

 

[xb1]

Half of my favorite shows are viewing on Sci Fi, BBCA and USA:
BSG, Stargate Atlantis, Doctor Who, Ghost Hunters, Monk, Psych, Gordon Ramsay, previously Life of Mars (hopefully Ashes to Ashes on BBCA if it comes to the U.S.), Torchwood...
Sara Conner Chronicles on Fox, I have to get over the air which is spotty in my area... so for me, it's not a minor amount of programming i'm missing in HD that I can now get elsewhere...

I personally am interested in Scifi and BBCA more than USA, but USA is one of the higher rated traditional cable channels and, therefore, should be #1 or #2 on E*'s HD to-do list no matter how you slice it. I know that there is likely a boatload of stipulations that come with any USA HD deal, but E* needs to make it happen for their own sake. As more and more heavily rated shows start getting new episodes as the writers' strike gets worked out (which looks like it will be happening sooner rather than later), I know that D* will be offering heavy incentives for switching. I originally switched from being an equipment-owning-DIY-installation D* customer to E* b/c D* couldn't get me an MPEG4 HD dish before the last World Cup started , and I had even given them 2 months notice. After failing on my remote local petition, I called up E* and had HD locals in less than 48hrs. If D* can reverse the situation in the week or two leading up to the Battlestar Galactica premiere, then so be it.

Another gripe I have with the way E* is doing their HD programming has to do with the new HD-only package, which doesn't allow for any a la cart additions of network groups in SD. I would switch to that package today if I could ensure that I get BBCA and Scifi in SD (until the above outlined situation develops, that is).

 

[tomyo10]

I know most of you already has your locals in HD, but my biggest complaint is that I do not. Although these other nationals would be nice, I'd prefer the locals before anything.

 

[cparker]

I know most of you already has your locals in HD, but my biggest complaint is that I do not. Although these other nationals would be nice, I'd prefer the locals before anything.

Buffalo, NY doesn't have HD locals on E* either... so I hear ya down there in Erie. But I have to tell you they look AWESOME when you get 'em OTA.

D* advertises as having Buffalo locals in HD, but not only do they not have ALL of the locals (they are missing several PBS)... one of the ones they are missing is (I think) CBS. It's one of the "big three" nationals. I mean.... c'mon.

I don't care any more about locals in HD. If they aren't going to give me ALL of the locals, then there's no way to get rid of the OTA antenna. So I may as well keep it the way it is.

ANY new HD content would be cool. I love HD. But I'm not going to cry about not having *this* or *that*. I have enough trouble trying to decide what to watch now. MORE will only make that decision harder.

 

[tomyo10]

Buffalo, NY doesn't have HD locals on E* either... so I hear ya down there in Erie. But I have to tell you they look AWESOME when you get 'em OTA.

D* advertises as having Buffalo locals in HD, but not only do they not have ALL of the locals (they are missing several PBS)... one of the ones they are missing is (I think) CBS. It's one of the "big three" nationals. I mean.... c'mon.

I don't care any more about locals in HD. If they aren't going to give me ALL of the locals, then there's no way to get rid of the OTA antenna. So I may as well keep it the way it is.

ANY new HD content would be cool. I love HD. But I'm not going to cry about not having *this* or *that*. I have enough trouble trying to decide what to watch now. MORE will only make that decision harder.

We finally got our Fox in HD, but OTA from a low power antenna- I rarely get above 62 with the signal. Funny thing is that Time Warner picked it up within a month for their subscribers. NBC & ABC supposedly will be ready within a month. So that means Dish will pick up the Erie HD's SOON!