Once again, E* asleep at the wheel

[Harry]

Another poor response from Dish concerning when we might get ESPN2-HD and ESPNU. D* already carries ESPNU and I'm willing to bet they will carry ESPN2-HD before E* does. I will give E* till August. If they do not add these channels then I will become a D* subscriber. If they do add these channels, I will re-subscribe to the HD package.

Dear Mr. XXXX,

Thank you for your e-mail. Specific information regarding your request
for ESPN 2 HD and ESPN U is not currently available.

(Well Duh! Why do you think I wrote you?)

We would like to add that channel, to make viewers like you happy, but we do not know if or when this will happen. We will gladly forward your request to our Programming Department for further consideration.

("We would like to add that channel, to make viewers like you happy" - but you won't...)

We thank you for your input as we continually review our options in
order to provide a compelling lineup for our viewers.

(Compelling channels? To whom? Try giving us the programming we ask for.)

Please stay tuned for consumer Charlie Chats that are broadcast monthly on Channel 101 or logon to our website for future programming announcements.

(No Thanks. If Charley actually answered any serious questions I might be "compelled" to watch.)

As a current customer, you may also use our website to view your current
or previous billing statements, add services, or make payments to your
account. Please use the link
https://customersupport.dishnetwork.com/customercare/UserManagement/logi
n.jsp to visit our Online Customer Support Center.

(Currently, I am not willing to utilize this service but I will forward it on to my financial advisor for future consideration. BTW, nice way of sneaking in a plug)

Your business is greatly appreciated and we thank you for allowing us to
be of assistance to you.

(What? You mean you actually helped me? I guess I missed it.)

If you have any further questions or concerns,
please refer to www.dishnetwork.com or reply to this email.

(No thanks, obviously a waste of time)

Sincerely,

Douglas G.
DISH Network eCare

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I doubt you will see these channels by August. They are waiting for MPEG4 before they add any new HD.

However I believe that late fall these channels could be available.

 

[Harry]

I doubt you will see these channels by August. They are waiting for MPEG4 before they add any new HD.

However I believe that late fall these channels could be available.

I can understand the HD part but adding ESPNU seems like it would be fairly easy to do so since they already carry ESPN(+HD) and ESPN2. Adding it to the sports package would be acceptable and I would subscribe to it. More and more, E* seems to be descending to the mind set level of cable. Granted, E*'s service is better and there are very few outages but the frustation level is approaching that of Cable. Makes you wonder what Charley does in the course of a day if he is not listening to his customers. Not sure D* would be any better but they do seem to be carrying channels that E* is dragging their feet on and has already fired the first shot in the mpeg4 conversion via your announced rumor.

(Please consider this a rumor until verified, but SatelliteGuys has learned from two seperate sources that DirecTV is planning on giving away it's HD equipment INCLUDING their new upcoming MPEG4 HD DVR's for FREE with a two year commitment.)


In September when college Football gets going in full swing, it is a crap shoot whether E* will carry ESPNU. What about CSTV? Another opportunity missed by E*? I should have said by the end of August. Come Sept 1st, if these channels are not added by then I will switch to D*.

 

[gutter]

Personally, I am happy that DISH has not added this channel just yet. To do so with this or other HD channels at this time would force DISH in to D* mode of HD lite. I would rather have the quality kept and add HD channles later when MPEG 4 is available and capacity will not strain bandwith. quality before quantity.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

I would be very, very surprised if E* added ESPN2-HD by August. I'm not even going to hold my breath on the chance of seeing it sometime this fall (technically, by Dec 21st).

I'm just hoping that the mpeg4 conversion goes well and that stable mpeg4 receivers, including a DVR, can be released this year, so that we can see some nice HD channel additions by Jan/Feb of next year.