Retailer Chat Recap, November 27, 2007

[technoguy]

Come on guys, leave Poke alone.... He did change his signature from reading something about Dish being the "HD leader" so he realizes something !

Something everybody should admire from Poke is how positive he is for everything around,For that I respect Him.

 

[Tyralak]

I have a question...I have AEP with hd and locals. If I drop the HD pack and pay the $6 hd access fee, will I still get my locals in hd and, will I still get the HBO, SHO, MAX & Strz HD channels?

Yep. That's what I do until they get Sci-Fi HD.

 

[RealityCheck]

Something everybody should admire from Poke is how positive he is for everything around,For that I respect Him.

What I do admire is his loyalty. He is perhaps the largest DISH fanboy here.

I would add respect if his posts were based on the reality of DIRECTVS HD channel lead.

 

[RandallA]

I have a question...I have AEP with hd and locals. If I drop the HD pack and pay the $6 hd access fee, will I still get my locals in hd and, will I still get the HBO, SHO, MAX & Strz HD channels?

Yes. I did that for a while and still got my locals and HBO and Starz since I kept them.

 

[mikesd]

Yep. That's what I do until they get Sci-Fi HD.

After paying the $6 access fee is the monthly savings only $14 ?

Thanks

 

[Fitzie]

"Few" is sort of a relative term. General Custer, at the battle of the Big Horn, was probably thinking "I'd like to have a few more men" when he was down to his last dozen soldiers or so. He was probably also thinking, "...that indian guy has a few more men than I do..."

The real question for Charlie E. will be this: Is the 17 or so HD D* channels both seductive and predictive? Maybe for some. A few.

Regards, Fitzie

 

[rad]

"Few" is sort of a relative term. General Custer, at the battle of the Big Horn, was probably thinking "I'd like to have a few more men" when he was down to his last dozen soldiers or so. He was probably also thinking, "...that indian guy has a few more men than I do..."

The real question for Charlie E. will be this: Is the 17 or so HD D* channels both seductive and predictive? Maybe for some. A few.

Regards, Fitzie

True, but when we're talking about having 34 national HD channels now in their Dish 100 DishHD package I think having 13 to 17 HD channels 'missing' is more then a few.

 

[MikeD-C05]

Mike - some irony in your post - although I feel you are pretty much dead on.

The loyalty to DIRECTV did come in large part to the fact that they revealed what they were working on, and it made sense. It was a bandwidth issue and they presented their solution. To buy and launch new satellites that could give them just that BANDWIDTH.

The timetable was reasonable, they continued to put out announcements about new channels and agreements - the type of things that a customer wants to hear. Even during this timeframe, DISH put out relatively few regarding its own 2007+ future plans.

But the most ironic part is, so many DISH subscribers continued to RIDICULE the plan that DIRECTV was working on as just promises. Funny how they did just what they said they would, and now DISH customers like you wish that their beloved Charlie would just provide the same type of info - a plan that is reasonable, makes sense to its customers and gives them the feeling that they are concerned and working to get BANDWIDTH. 180 degrees I dare say.

You are so right in how well it worked for DIRECTV, didn't Charlie notice that?

I admit that most DISH subs, including myself , felt that the plans that DIRECTV announced two years ago seemed vague and desperate. At the time DISH subs were getting more hd than anyone and they kept adding more while DIRECTV sat idly by adding no new hd. But they did do what they said they were going to do - a week late on their origional announcement but they did come through. Now most DISH subs are suffering from HD envy.

AS to Charlie I don't know what he is thinking. He is either waiting for an ATT buyout deal to be concluded and he is in full negotiation mode, or he is just plain arrogant in his belief that DISH has the best deal and the most hd. Either way he is hurting his company and its future by staying mum. HE really should of kept communicating the way he used to via his Charlie CHats and Tech chats and yes, retailer chats. This worked well all these years to get DISH where it is; the #2 sat provider in the world with over 13 million subs. It seems that DIRECTV is now following his forthrightness and is now communicating as well as CHarlie Used to do. He should of learned from his own history and copy what works well for the competition. In this case FACTUAL Communication & better advertising.

 

[NpaulTodd]

wow , $300 off for DTV , & Intaller Beyonce sings "let me Upgrade U" is just getting more tempting , I wonder if DIsh wants to keep my Business ( Long time Customer) will they, A. give me 2 HD PVR for FREE or B. Credit me$300 on my billing for sticking with them , while DTV Pounces them in HD , Not very happy hear How long are we looking before Dish catches up in HD with DTV . 3 months,6months , 9months ??? what is the time frame looking like!

 

[air.jason]

This all makes me wonder if Charlie has burnt out the content providers by his shrewd bargaining in the past. The whole Court TV thing and such. Perhaps this hold out is all about negotiation and keeping the prices reasonable. Still I am pretty impatient about both Sci-FI and USA HD since the SD channels are so overcompressed.

 

[Hall]

This all makes me wonder if Charlie has burnt out the content providers by his shrewd bargaining in the past.

In case you didn't know, the content providers send their signal up to a satellite in space and Dish, DirecTV, and all of the cable companies receive the *same* signal. They can't add DRM such that it only affects Dish. It WILL affect DirecTV, Time Warner, Comcast, etc, etc too.

 

[Smith P.]

Hall, I concur - as we see how it is done in stream, it is pure E* implementation !

 

[mike123abc]

In case you didn't know, the content providers send their signal up to a satellite in space and Dish, DirecTV, and all of the cable companies receive the *same* signal. They can't add DRM such that it only affects Dish. It WILL affect DirecTV, Time Warner, Comcast, etc, etc too.

Actually all they have to do is tell Dish you get 10 cents off your package price if you put in DRM and suddenly every reciever downconverts unless HDCP.

 

[Smith P.]

DRM implementation is different for each provider because of variety of proprietary HW and SW.

 

[jacmyoung]

wow , $300 off for DTV , & Intaller Beyonce sings "let me Upgrade U" is just getting more tempting , I wonder if DIsh wants to keep my Business ( Long time Customer) will they, A. give me 2 HD PVR for FREE or B. Credit me$300 on my billing for sticking with them , while DTV Pounces them in HD , Not very happy hear How long are we looking before Dish catches up in HD with DTV . 3 months,6months , 9months ??? what is the time frame looking like!

Now where is this DirecTV $300 from? I only read a $100 rebate, with $10/mo. off for 12 months, it is still only $220 if you really push it. Are you counting all the free HBO/Showtime programming?

If the rebate has increased to $300 that will make my switch to D* much easier.

On the other hand, it is not difficult to lease two E* 622's for no upfront fees, I did so over 15 months ago. It is getting the 3rd 622 that is giving me a lot of grief now.

 

[dishcomm]

The motto for Team Summit is "Decision Dish"

Team Summit will be held on May 15 - 17th in Nashville

Now after a long talk about Team Summit we are on to NEW HD PROGRAMMING.

They tell us about NBA Network HD which launched on October 29th, in AT100 and higher with Dish HD. (Boo thats not new HD Programming)

And thats the end of New HD Programming news. (BOO!!!)

A promo is shown for the upcoming Meyweather Fight on Pay Per View

No mention of NHL net coming to us SD subs ,huh? That's real great.

 

[dishcomm]

Oh, so their going to talk about all their decisions to absolutely nothing? LOL What kind of motto is that? I'm thinking of my own decission.

apparently they have decided not to decide

 

[Hall]

Hall, I concur - as we see how it is done in stream, it is pure E* implementation !

No, what I meant is *ALL* providers will be affected by this potential DRM implementation. It's only Dish that's made it public at this point.

 

[dlsnyder]

After paying the $6 access fee is the monthly savings only $14 ?

Thanks

They could have said something about how you can get HD programming for only $4 a month. How you ask?

1. Get an HD-capable DVR. Of course you want that HD feature activated so you pay the $6 HD access fee each month.

2. Sign up for DVR advantage. You can get AT250 for an additional $10 a month. You can also get the HD pack for another $10 a month.

3. Once you sign up for the HD pack they stop charging the HD access fee. The difference is $4, so in effect you are only paying $4 per month for all those HD channels.

At least that is the way it was explained to me. That customer service rep I spoke with was quite sure that AT250 was $10 more on top of DVR advantage, then I could add either a movie pack (except HBO) or the HD pack for another $10 a month.

 

[mattopia]

At least that is the way it was explained to me. That customer service rep I spoke with was quite sure that AT250 was $10 more on top of DVR advantage, then I could add either a movie pack (except HBO) or the HD pack for another $10 a month.

That's not how it was explained to me. I am paying for the DVR Advantage with AT200. I pay $20 for the HD package, and when I asked what discounts I would get with the AT250, I was told that there were no discounts -- my price would go up $10 for the additional channels, but the other fees would remain the same.

I was also briefly told that the DVR fee is waived on AT250 altogether, then the CSR who took my order quickly changed his mind on that.