SBS Korea Takedown October 1, 2005

[Sarang]

Well, again no drama channel. Even though my wife and I watch Korean TV thru Dish,
I am not interested in MBN, Wow, Arirang (not really for Korean), JSTV (Please !!), Buddhist, YTN, video game, music, etc.

Loosing MBC has become a trigger for us to jump ship.
Getting other satellite is out of the question since we need HD DVR.
(even though I don't do HD, my TV is a plasma and I want 480p output to TV and DVR is an absolute must).

I have talked to a Korean customer service in Dish Network a few days back, and he told me to get either KIBS or TAN. He hasn't really heard anything about any new Korean channels at all.

Since no one at Dish cares about Korean channels (from the mouth of the Korean customer service person) they don't really care about content. JSTV quickly saw the chance to get on board with Dish since they lost SBS and Dish thought JSTV could be a good-enough-substitute for SBS (the customer service said this).

With that attitude, I don't think Dish will ever get any channel Korean customers want.
As you said, they will simply play number game, which will never ever work out.

In one word, I will get DirecTV if they offer both SBS and MBC even if Dish Network carries 1000 Korean channels.

ps. I want CJmall or GSeshop homeshopping channel

What's the size of the satellite for KISB or TAN and where do I have to place it? I really hate this option because these jerks won't give me MBC in HD. Won't any damn content providers in the U.S. give me MBC in HD?! Shoot I'd like all 3. TAN has all those satellites and that's all they offer so they should get off their asses and accommodate me and others who are interested in it.
I really hate this. All Dish has to do is say the one or two magic words, MBC-HD or International Channel, and that they'll carry those in addition and pay more and I think International Channel networks will jump on it. Why is Charlie being so blind here?!
Just take CCTV9 and dump it and put International Channel in it's place since I'm sure the programming would be a LOT better on that too. Seriously though I repeat. Even though everyone here is giving up hope send him e-mail's and say that you're cancelling account # XXY whatever because they dropped SBS and MBC and THAT'LL get the ball rolling when he sees the sheer # of people that are pissed.

 

[stevelite]

<<ps. I want CJmall or GSeshop homeshopping channel >>
Do they ship international?

 

[Sarang]

Summit can you post Charlie's paper mail address so people can write letters to him?

 

[SummitAdvantageRetailer]

Well, again no drama channel. Even though my wife and I watch Korean TV thru Dish,
I am not interested in MBN, Wow, Arirang (not really for Korean), JSTV (Please !!), Buddhist, YTN, video game, music, etc.

Loosing MBC has become a trigger for us to jump ship.
Getting other satellite is out of the question since we need HD DVR.
(even though I don't do HD, my TV is a plasma and I want 480p output to TV and DVR is an absolute must).

I have talked to a Korean customer service in Dish Network a few days back, and he told me to get either KIBS or TAN. He hasn't really heard anything about any new Korean channels at all.

Since no one at Dish cares about Korean channels (from the mouth of the Korean customer service person) they don't really care about content. JSTV quickly saw the chance to get on board with Dish since they lost SBS and Dish thought JSTV could be a good-enough-substitute for SBS (the customer service said this).

With that attitude, I don't think Dish will ever get any channel Korean customers want.
As you said, they will simply play number game, which will never ever work out.

In one word, I will get DirecTV if they offer both SBS and MBC even if Dish Network carries 1000 Korean channels.

ps. I want CJmall or GSeshop homeshopping channel

Which phone # did you dial to get Korean customer service? You sure you didn't call a retailer that speaks Korean instead of dealing with DISH Korean customer service? Why would they refer customers to their competitors? I don't think they're that dumb.

Anyway, don't jump ship YET. I said prepare to. MBC will probably come around November and pricing for the package has yet to be announced. Who knows if they're going to charge $39.99 instead of $29.99 or so? Also, if you're getting HD, prepare to pay around $100 to get a 6x8 switch that'll combine HD and Internationals off the 95. Tell me what city you live in because if you're in the top 12 locals market, they'll switch to MPEG4 HD for locals by end of this year. When that happens, you can get it for free as a new customer. Right now, HD receiver is $199 and no rebate. They're probably going to do a $200 rebate when the new HD receiver launches and you'll need a diff. 6x8 switch as well. So wait when MBC and HD locals launch in about a month or two.

TAN and KISB is FTA, which is about 1 m in diameter with a Ku-band LNBF. The receiver will be very basic and have cryptic menus. You'll need to have them face West (97 W for IA-5 for KISB and 101 W for AMC 4 for TAN) depending on where you live.

 

[SummitAdvantageRetailer]

Summit can you post Charlie's paper mail address so people can write letters to him?

Actually, the best way to reach him is by: ceo@echostar.com. The reason is that they read these much quicker and you usually get a response in 2-3 days. The emails are read by an executive team and as a result this email address is seldomly given to customers. But it's the best way to address to Charlie. I don't work for DISH Network but you can bet that he has people read his mails and correspondences. Just bombard him with emails requesting what you want!

 

[Sarang]

I'm confused. First you posted ceo@echostar.com and now this. Which is it Summit?
Sorry but now you're posting a different one.
Looks like I'm screwed on FTA since that Dish is too honking big.

 

[SummitAdvantageRetailer]

I'm confused. First you posted ceo@echostar.com and now this. Which is it Summit?
Sorry but now you're posting a different one.
Looks like I'm screwed on FTA since that Dish is too honking big.

Oops! Sorry. Try all three of the following. I'm not sure if they're forwarded anyway or not.

charlie.ergen@echostar.com
ceo@echostar.com
ceo@dishnetwork.com

Please provide your name, phone number, and account number in the email. And get to the point as they may get many of these emails that know it.

 

[Sarang]

Thanks Summit. So it could be any one of those?

 

[SummitAdvantageRetailer]

Just send an email to all three by doing CC: on two of them. I believe all of them work.

 

[Trotski99]

You can order the whole thing from KISBTV by calling their web site. You can either have them ship you the system and install the dish and receiver yourself (which doesn't cost you anything beyond the shipping charge) or you can have someone install it for you. In my case, because I didn't want to have to deal with the headache of installing the system properly and make sure it was positioned right (I'm not a professional satellite installer), I just had a local installer put it up for me. In my case, the installer charged me $150. That $150 charge included the dish antenna, the receiver and an hour's labor to set up the dish. Actually, the guy was fantastic. Not only did he put the dish up on the roof, but he even cut down a couple offending branches from a tree that might have interferred with the signal! (And these "branches" weren't pruning-sheer-type branches, but chainsaw thickness!)

The people at KISBTV were equally polite and helpful. http://www.kisbtv.com/ You should be warned, however, that because so many people are jumping ship from E* now that SBS is gone, you might have trouble getting a hold of one of their receivers. In which case you might have to wait a few weeks to have it shipped to you (or to the local installer).

 

[BobaBird]

Summit can you post Charlie's paper mail address so people can write letters to him?

address for correspondence

EchoStar Communications
Attn: Customer Care
PO Box 33577
Northglenn, CO 80233

 

[SummitAdvantageRetailer]

Update:

WOW TV now available to subs on Ch. 655 on 61.5/148 and Ch. 661 on 121. I see it on our retailer receiver. I'd think that it's now available in the Korean Basic and Variety packages. The EPG info. seems to show that this is a business-related channel, but a little different than MBN? Just thought I'd share. No other news related to other channels or MBC yet. If you care for South Asian channels, B4U Music is also available now.

 

[tru64ufs]

Reply to some comments

First, no, CJmall and GSeshop doesn't ship overseas. Just that it is fun to watch for killing time.

i don't want to bad-mouth Korean Dish Network customer service since there aren't many if not 1 person. But it really is true. Not a retailer. He actually speaks on the side of Korean Dish customers not the company he works for.
He knows that many Koreans including husbands of Koreans complain outloud about the recent SBS takedown. But they think Korean market for Dish Network is small enough to take too seriously.

I recently started downloading HD versions of MBC/SBS dramas like "Lovers in Prague" from Korean file sharing web sites. Even though their sizes are more than 700MB, it was worth it. Connected my PC to my Plasma even using S-video cable not DVI or DHMI, it was much much better screen quality. I think those who uploaded the drama encoded those drama off SBS HD or MBC HD broadcast.

You can do that way and pay some fees (I think about $15 for the whole months of downloading anything from the file sharing sites), and watch whatever you want, drama, movies, anime, etc. Well lots more work needed, but another option.

DIrecTV told me that in the middle of November, there will be $200 rebate promotion toward any receiver, so I'll wait and then jump ship.

Update:

WOW TV now available to subs on Ch. 655 on 61.5/148 and Ch. 661 on 121. I see it on our retailer receiver. I'd think that it's now available in the Korean Basic and Variety packages. The EPG info. seems to show that this is a business-related channel, but a little different than MBN? Just thought I'd share. No other news related to other channels or MBC yet. If you care for South Asian channels, B4U Music is also available now.

 

[tru64ufs]

Thanks

Thanks for sharing, Summit.

Wow is, I think, Han-Gyung, which is Hangook Gyungjae, business news.
So it is almost like MBN (Maeil Gyungjae News).

YTN (on DIrecTV), will be incorporated into $15 SBS package, is Yunhap Tongshin, 24 hour News channel like CNN, is currently free on DirecTV.

My wife usually recorded dramas and news off Dish Channels into DVR, the ratio was about 75% SBS, 20% KBS and 5% off MBN, so you see $10 off the Korean package just doesn't cut it.

Taking SBS was like taking 3/4 of Korean pacakge, so Dish needs to reimburse $22.
Well that's for me.

Dish needs to think about this. We are not talking about regular US channels where they have hundreds to choose from. We are talking about only several Korean channels in America. What would you watch if you were a Korean when you have only few choices?

it is the content and what customers want. Otherwise it is another MBA graudates trying to prove himeself that he got an expensive education and justifying his/her high paying job. I have seen too many of them and I am sick of it now.

I think that's enough complaining from me.

Update:

WOW TV now available to subs on Ch. 655 on 61.5/148 and Ch. 661 on 121. I see it on our retailer receiver. I'd think that it's now available in the Korean Basic and Variety packages. The EPG info. seems to show that this is a business-related channel, but a little different than MBN? Just thought I'd share. No other news related to other channels or MBC yet. If you care for South Asian channels, B4U Music is also available now.

 

[stevelite]

Yeah, another news channel.. WOW appears to be very similar to MBN.
Although more news is good, I prefer to day dream about dramas.

 

[SummitAdvantageRetailer]

Update:

MBN is off-air and is replaced by WOW TV. I guess it wasn't to have both at the same time. It was really nice getting a notice from DISH before this happened, though. That was a sarcastic remark as we got bombarded by callers again saying that MBN is off-air. DISH is doing a good job letting the retailers know beforehand.

Anyway, let me know if you guys like or dislike the new WOW TV. I hear it's like Bloomberg, a niche financial channel related to the world of finance. DISH wants some feedback on whether subscribers like it better or worse than MBN. I hope for the better. ;-) Thanks.

 

[stevelite]

<<DISH wants some feedback on whether subscribers like it better or worse than MBN. I hope for the better>>

ooooo, if feedbacks say WOW TV is better, they will take away MBN.

 

[tru64ufs]

Wow vs. MBN

Well, I noticed this yesterday.

if you asked me, I didn't watch either channel when I was in Korea.
WoW is, as you said, for nich market (shall we say too vertical?).
MBN is better for me. WoW takes away my 5% chance of watching MBN.
at least MBN has some medical related programs and comedic commentaries).

Wow is like Bloomberg, and how many of you watch Bloomberg?
Again niche.

Now my wife is really mad.

Update:

MBN is off-air and is replaced by WOW TV. I guess it wasn't to have both at the same time. It was really nice getting a notice from DISH before this happened, though. That was a sarcastic remark as we got bombarded by callers again saying that MBN is off-air. DISH is doing a good job letting the retailers know beforehand.

Anyway, let me know if you guys like or dislike the new WOW TV. I hear it's like Bloomberg, a niche financial channel related to the world of finance. DISH wants some feedback on whether subscribers like it better or worse than MBN. I hope for the better. ;-) Thanks.

 

[stevelite]

I am keep getting tired of adding/removing from my favorite list.
Thank you E* for letting all of us know in advance !!

 

[pearl15_1999]

WOW and MBN and JSTV

This has to be a joke, right? We watch Korean TV for the dramas. 90% of the Korean - Americans want dramas so what does *E do, satisfy the 10% that want news, finance and religion - give me a break! Where are the ENTERTAINMENT channels??????????

Tell *E to do something for the other 90% of their Korean subscribers. Also, take that JSTV off the air, I don't like people preaching to me on TV. I already have 3-4 religious channels that I don't watch, I don't need another one. Keep it on the air for the other people that want it - FREE!

Can't they get any entertainment channels besides KBS and Airang? I like these two but not for $36.99 a month.

Sorry that I'm upset but we pay good money for *E ($70-$80) a month and I expect Entertainment programming.