SBS Korea Takedown October 1, 2005

[Trotski99]

Yes, you're right MBC. Sorry typo I would stick around with Dish if they are working on bringing MBC (although its not quite as good as SBS in my opinion) or even if they did a better job of saying why the channel is gone. Can you imagine the outrage if they suddenly unplugged ESPN or HBO with no explanation? Obviously if someone pays $$$ for a premium channel they might want to know what's going on...

 

[stevelite]

<<What did we hear from Dish? Nothing.>>

As this person has pointed out. KVP subscribers were blind sided by this. No advanced warning or any information until the date of disconnect.

I would have to say there are two parties for blame.. One is Dishnetwork not notifying customers, and 2nd is SBS international. They could have notified viewers with programming content.

Can you image what would have happen if one of most popular channels disappeared without warning say on America's channel.. like ESPN.. I would say h*ll will break loose.

 

[SummitAdvantageRetailer]

<<What did we hear from Dish? Nothing.>>

As this person has pointed out. KVP subscribers were blind sided by this. No advanced warning or any information until the date of disconnect.

I would have to say there are two parties for blame.. One is Dishnetwork not notifying customers, and 2nd is SBS international. They could have notified viewers with programming content.

Can you image what would have happen if one of most popular channels disappeared without warning say on America's channel.. like ESPN.. I would say h*ll will break loose.

Absolutely. You usually see a banner crawl (at least a week in advance) on top of the channel to persuade either Dish or the programmers to get a new contract like with the Viacom and Turner channels (was it Turner?). But nada for this SBS channel. That gives bad name for retailers such as myself and DISH. I'm sure they'd known this for some time. They had that graphic ready when the channel went off-air.

 

[stevelite]

My wife is not happy that SBS is not on.
That was the channel that she watched the most.
I'm not happy that they want the same price for the pac when 1/4 of the channels is not there.

LOL. if your wife is not happy then that means you are not happy?
what can we do about it?

 

[Trotski99]

Wife here is also not happy...

Update: When I called this morning to DishNetwork to find out what was wrong the customer support person didn't even know what SBS was. This evening for sh*ts and giggles I decided to pester Dish again to see what the company line was. As soon as I mentioned "SBS" I could hear that the representative had already had an ear-full of complaints today.

You have to know that they knew this was coming because not only did SBS drop off of Dish, but the very same day they went up on the air with D*. I can understand perhaps that Dish wasn't going to promote their arch-rival with a scroll or any warning ahead of time, but you'd think they'd have an action plan as to what to tell the angry callers to keep them from ripping their dishes off the roofs immediately. As of this evening the company line is that they don't have any replacement in the works and yes, they're still going to charge $36 per month for only 3 channels now...

 

[Juan]

Wife here is also not happy...

Update: When I called this morning to DishNetwork to find out what was wrong the customer support person didn't even know what SBS was. This evening for sh*ts and giggles I decided to pester Dish again to see what the company line was. As soon as I mentioned "SBS" I could hear that the representative had already had an ear-full of complaints today.

You have to know that they knew this was coming because not only did SBS drop off of Dish, but the very same day they went up on the air with D*. I can understand perhaps that Dish wasn't going to promote their arch-rival with a scroll or any warning ahead of time, but you'd think they'd have an action plan as to what to tell the angry callers to keep them from ripping their dishes off the roofs immediately. As of this evening the company line is that they don't have any replacement in the works and yes, they're still going to charge $36 per month for only 3 channels now...

I guess you don't remeber the cbs mess!!! They didnt even have time to make slate up..They got blindsided!!!!

 

[stevelite]

FYI,
DirectTV has SBS for $14.99. I could't find it at the main website, but you can sign up by calling the customer #.

Also I called DN for credit or something.. I was told sorry, no credit..

 

[SummitAdvantageRetailer]

FYI,
DirectTV has SBS for $14.99. I could't find it at the main website, but you can sign up by calling the customer #.

Also I called DN for credit or something.. I was told sorry, no credit..

Yep, it's on DirecTV's retailer site and shows that it's up and running on 10/3.

 

[rkrenicki]

According to the press release, SBS made the decision to pull away from Dish, not Echostar themselves.

If you all want to be mad, be mad at SBS in this case. there is even a phone number in the OP to voice your concerns. If you are concerned about this, then call them.

 

[leejp]

This is just absolutely sucks... Can you imagine the outrage is if were one of the popular Dish Latino channels that were pulled? Bottom line is Dish is simply taking advantage of the politically complacent and unorganized asian minority group. For now I am consideting my options (cable...) but it'll will probably end up with me vote with my feet if they don't quickly correct this situation.

 

[SummitAdvantageRetailer]

This is just absolutely sucks... Can you imagine the outrage is if were one of the popular Dish Latino channels that were pulled? Bottom line is Dish is simply taking advantage of the politically complacent and unorganized asian minority group. For now I am consideting my options (cable...) but it'll will probably end up with me vote with my feet if they don't quickly correct this situation.

Why are you blaming DISH Network? DirecTV has it now so obviously SBS preferred what DirecTV offered in their contracts. I don't understand how DISH is taking advantage in this situation. They're about to lose subs to DirecTV. Are you a SBS employee?

 

[PC Doctor]

Download?

Is there any way to output by USB? Using DISH Player-DVR 625/522.

I know that I can hookup using video in on my tuner card. I want to save files (Video) and arcive to DVD using the USB port. This is all still new to me.

 

[SummitAdvantageRetailer]

Wrong thread there, buddy.

 

[Trotski99]

Why are you blaming DISH Network? DirecTV has it now so obviously SBS preferred what DirecTV offered in their contracts. I don't understand how DISH is taking advantage in this situation. They're about to lose subs to DirecTV. Are you a SBS employee?

Here's why I think people are so frustrated with Dish Network. We subscribers to their "Korean Variety Pack" have essentially been paying exhorbident fees for basically one channel -- SBS. Two of the other channels, KBS and Arirang, are state-sponsored (and are more-or-less the equivalent of a PBS station) and the other channel is basically CNBC in Korean. Every month we fork over not only $37.00 for the KVP but also MUST subscribe to basic American programming or be charged a $5.00 "Service Access Fee". So that means Koreans living in the U.S. who are interested in watching some programming in their native language had to fork over $41.00 (before taxes and other fees) to watch SBS.

With this kind of money you'd think Dish Network could have worked out some sort of arrangement to keep SBS. If it were having some sort of difficulty in negotiations with SBS before the disconnection date, it could have notified subscribers to mount its grass roots campaign that it is supposedly currently espousing on its on-line message on the otherwise blank SBS channel.

Instead, the subscribers have lost the channel and are still being stuck with the bill. This channel has been disconnected since Monday and yet Dish Network still plans on charging the full $37.00 for the 3 remaining channels instead of 4. I called again today to ask what Dish's plans are for new channels and the representative said there are none. I asked if there would be a discount because SBS is no longer being provided and was once again told, "No."

I am not an SBS employee, but I can only imagine that Dish has been paying a nominal fee for SBS all this time ($5 subscriber) and pocketing the difference. I don't blame SBS for seeking a better deal with DirecTV (if it got one). I blame Dish for charging high prices for something in the first place and then trying to charge the equally high price for next to nothing.

I called today to cancel my Korean package and am debating switching to DirecTV.

 

[stevelite]

Man, I have 3 DP 311 receivers (all paid for) and 1 3x4 switch... What do i do what do i do... I am seriously thinking about Ebaying, and goto Direct to sign up.

Anyone interested in buying???

 

[SummitAdvantageRetailer]

Steve,

Here's a bit of news. KBS is now available for FREE for AT60 and higher subs if you have the SuperDish121. Does this make it harder for you?

If anything, I'd keep DISH for America's Top 60 and higher while getting FTA for your other Korean needs. We sell DirecTV too but they only have SBS. One channel. FTA services seem to have SBS with others as well. Try here for the FTA services: http://www.globecast.com

 

[SummitAdvantageRetailer]

http://www.globecastworldtv.com/ actually.

 

[red hazard]

Echo Star Korean Programming

This is truly HORRIBLE news to me since I would've been interested in picking up the Korean pack if they just dumped MBN and replaced it with MBC then all the major Korean networks would've been covered plus hopefully "Music Camp" would return at some date. GOD this sucks. Dish better hold onto this and HD like a life raft because while I like the flexibility in pricing structure and the full HD International is the BIG market for Dish as compared to AmericanTV.

The best deal I've found is The Asian Network (TAN) that packages SBC, MBC, KBS, and CGN-TV on the AMC-4 satellite at 101 for $320 a year. You need a so-called FTA (Free To Air) set up with requires a 30 inch Dish in most parts of CONUS. It's was free until about 6 months ago when it was encrypted with VIACESS technology. You will need a receiver like the PANSAT 2000V which accepts the SIM card TAN will send you. Of course you can pay an affililated dealer to provide and install the equipment at considerable expense. At about $26.67 month with 4 decent Korean channels, it's not a bad deal; much better than E*though you have to pay the $320 up front. See http://www.tantv.com/ if you speak korean.

P.S. Saying FTA for Fixed Satellite Service KU-band got to be a terrible label as most of the good free programming is now scrambled.

 

[Trotski99]

I'm fed up with Dish Network completely. I've always hated their hardware. I've only had Dish for about 18 months, but I've had so many more problems with it than I ever had in 4 years with D*.

I'm going back to D*, but not for their meager offering of SBS for $15. I actually tried to get their new international dish installed on my roof this past week, but the installer said that the dish needed to point at two satellites simultaneously 85 & 101 and unfortunately there is a tree in the way of the international sat. I'm just going to get the U.S. programming from D* (I need my NHL Center Ice!) using their standard 18" dish.

For Korean programming I'm going to go with KISB. ( w3,kisbtv,c0m ) Their deal sounds like the best: 5 channels for $250/year. The only thing I don't like is that I probably won't be able to get this to work with my TiVo (unless I just use it like a VCR). It used to be convenient with my Dish system in that I could have TiVo record my favorite shows on SBS every week. Oh well, its a small sacrifice considering that I'll now be able to get SBS and MBC from the same service. With all my changes I'll still only have two dishes on the roof.

Has anyone here gotten service from KISB or used any of their equipment? I'd be interested to know what kind of box they use and whether there is any guide data that comes with the feed (I assume there isn't).

 

[SummitAdvantageRetailer]

One of our oldest employee in our company used to install Free to Air systems that included TAN and KISB, I think. The only difference being that the smart card in these receivers weren't from KISB or TAN and you didn't pay the monthly fees. Back then they weren't encrypted. But from that experience, it was a royal pain because Ku-band dishes are sensitive and low-powered. They're more susceptible to rain fade and being that they're around 3 ft in diameter, the wind loads were a major factor for mis-alignment.

You'll get more rain fade and signal loss with KISB. Plus, they sometimes use aging satellites to beam down the content and get retransmitted to another satellite. When that happens, good luck in getting an installer out to re-point the dish. We honored the re-points in our company but there were a bunch of customers served by other companies (mom & pop variety) that wouldn't answer the phones or went out of business. After that, we stuck to doing DISH Network for ALL international programming. From time to time, we do FTA but mainly for Arabic programming as they seem to be stable on ONE satellite and not move around.

So when you order KISB or TAN, ask them to write to you in writing that they'll guarantee to repoint your dish in the event the transmitting satellite goes from one to another. And forget getting a refund if you're planning to cancel services or move within the year.