What will you do when Sky Angel DBS ends?

[andrews777]

I have been gone for a while. They finally installed Verizon Fios in my area and I got a bundled package for Internet access, cable and phone for $110 per month. That saves me money on access costs, though the 2 TivoHD units I bought cost me a bit. (Once you have a DVR, you have to have a DVR. )

Brad

 

[Katybug]

I am a stay at home Mom with not much budget for TV, so I am still trying to decide what to when Sky Angel DBS ends at the end of the month. We have an SDTV, so we are able to get some OTA Digital Programming, but right now we just have a set top antenna, so I am researching antennas. According to some of the websites out there, there are several channels I could get, but currently don't get, such as a TBN station 53 miles away. I do get Ion, Qubo, Ion Life and Worship, which are awesome. I like what I am learning about Glorystar, but it would take saving for a while to get set up. I also like what I see on Dishfamily, but at $19.99/mo., that is more than I am paying for a yearly SkyAngel subscription (An average of $12.50/mo). Anyone else out there trying to find the best alternative for as little as possible? Has anyone tried Netflix? I have considered just using an antenna for OTA digital and using Netflix to fill in. They have a great selection of old TV shows for rent.

Thanks for any input.
Katybug

 

[chapelrun]

Katybug here are some thoughts

I also have SkyAngel and went with a generic FTA setup.

Anyway - OTA is a good option and as you mention; a better antenna on the roof will really increase the number of channels you can pull in. What part of the country do you live in? The reason I ask is the since you have a SDTV many OTA my be in the UHF range but of course 2-13 is VHF. (The number of stations and how close or far you are from a major city may help with antenna choice).

You may also want to get a voucher for the Digital to Analog converter in preparation for the 17 Feb 2009 cutover to all Digital. This way your new antenna will still work after 17 Feb 2009.

https://www.dtv2009.gov/

You may want to hold off on moving to DISH until Sky Angel goes dark because many have speculated that DISH may make some offer to SA customers after they go dark.

You could repoint your dish to 119 to pick up Angel One and NASA channel but again you may want to wait until SA goes dark to see what DISH does. DISH may even pickup some of the Sky Angel channels (I'm hoping for this, but DISH seems strangely silent right now)

I think if you could find an old PrimeStar dish (free) you could purchase a receiver for about $90 and do a generic GloryStar like setup.

I hope some of this is helpful. I'm sure all the smart folks on Satellite Guys will help.

 

[Mr Tony]

chapelrun

Sounds like katybug has a digital TV already. The fact that this person is getting all 4 Ion channels (ion, life, qubo & worship) means they have a digital tuner TV. Those other 3 channels are subchannels on the Ion network (we have the same thing in Minneapolis)

 

[chapelrun]

Your right

I missed that - she does have a digital tuner

So the voucher is not needed, but a good OTA antenna may really help unless she lives in a hollar'

 

[DarrenS]

I will leave because I am mostly unhappy with how they are handling their customers. I am a monthly sub and I just learned (because I inquired about the IPTV) that they won't offer the satellite option at all and I didn't know because they never informed me. I just thought it was a new option available. I didn't realize that that was going to be the only option. They should have told all their customers this was the plan when they started advertising the IPTV. The CSR wasn't even apologetic...just acted like "oh well" when I shared my surprise and disappointment about not being notified. That is not the way a christian business should run. That was very disappointing to me that they would handle it that way. So, no I won't subscribe to the IPTV, I'll get dish family package and maybe even get glorystar...I'm just learning about that here and will tell others about it now.

Thats is the same thing I thought to, that it was an option to try IPTV, I didnt fint out my Skyangel service was going down until March they gave me 30 days I got the small card in the mail the first week of march saying service was ending 03/31 that was the first i heard of this.

 

[Scroll]

Anyone else out there trying to find the best alternative for as little as possible?

Why no. That subject has never come up here before.



Just pulling your leg. I take it you haven't searched many threads yet.

 

[hankh]

I will just receive OTA, and with the bulk of my time, find something better to do than watch TV.

 

[Katybug]

Thanks for the replies everyone. We really don't watch much TV, but I like to have alternatives for my kids other than a lot of the junk on Networks these days. Sky Angel had some great stuff and we are going to miss it. I really like what I see with Glorystar. My husband and I are not very technical, but maybe we can keep reading the posts and maybe try an FTA system without Glorystar, but I really like the idea behind it. For now it looks like we enjoy the last days of Sky Angel.

Thanks,
Katybug

 

[jashobeam]

We loved Netflix. When we found out about SA leaving DBS, we stopped our Netflix and ordered DirecTV w/DVR. My DD loves it. We get several Christian channels and I DVR her favorite Christian kids shows that come on each week. We got a $20 off per month for 18 months deal which put us at $49 a month or so WITH the DVR and over 200 channels. Since I'm also a SAHM I think it's well worth it. It meant we had to cut back on other things, but it did fit in the budget.

 

[bangostrobe]

Josh

We are trying to decide what to do if we don’t do IPTV. What do they have for Christian channels on Direct? The primary content I am looking for is Familynet programming. Sometime other Christian channels add their programming to their lineup. My wife has two health programs that she watches which are Know the Cause (Kaufmann) and Your Health (Beckers). I currently have cable and SA but since SA is coming off Satellite we are considering going to Satellite and just get our local cannels from cable. I know if I go with Dish those programs are on Angel one. What I don’t like about Dish and Direct is all the Music channels. The Say Americas Top 250 but then 100+ a Music channels. If they had the Christian teaching that a Friend of mind said was on Sirius I would be interested or the Music that was good Praise and Worship but I don’t care for a 100 channels I would never listen to. The Reason I would go with their upper packages is that is the only place they have National Geographic HD.

 

[jashobeam]

We never listen to the secular music channels. There are 3 Christian music channels on Dish (radio, no video). As for religious channels we get:

GOD TV
World Harvest Television (WHT)
Daystar
EWTN (Catholic)
The Church Channel (TCC) affiliate of TBN
Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN)
Word Network (WORD) Targets urban young people
BYU (Mormon)
Tri-State Christian Television (TCT)
National Religious Broadcasters (NRB)- The best IMO

 

[bangostrobe]

Jashobeam

Thanks for the information. Have you seen any of the health shows on Direct. Both of these show are very good.

 

[catkoko]

The dish family pkg has angel one which shows know the cause. Daystar also has great childrens programming on sat morning. Personally don't care for some of the preachers. All in all they seem to have the most family friendly package with a few exceptions WE and some of the TV land shows. ID is a crime/murder channel so you may want to block it for younger viewers. the great thing about dish is that you can block by channel or rating, or even both.

You can also get 3 abn if you have a 1000 or use 2 dishes.

If you already have the equipment, its a matter of repointing the dish. Myself I have an older system, would need at least a new dish. dish is giving some SA customers a problem getting "new customer" packages. If you can't get dish to call you new, call your local installer. they seem to know the right people to speak to. down side is that you need to come up with 2 months payment as they bill in advance.

I hope in the future MOIPTV offers more channels. I would like IPTV but NOT from skyangel. My local phone co is working on high speed, low cost DSL. for now its going to have to be dish family or nothing.

 

[Scroll]

I don't think WE is actually in the Family Pak. It became available to me when AMC was removed, so I figure it's perhaps an extended free preview. I miss AMC.

But if you don't like seeing it in the guide just do what I do and use favorites lists.

dish is giving some SA customers a problem getting "new customer" packages.

You can thank Dominion for adding to that problem. If you'll recall back in June (I think) they made sure to get everybody's receiver id and updated the mailing addresses. I'm not sure you could say it was intentional to keep some with incomplete records from having first time status for promotions from Dish, but I don't think it is a coincidence that at that point Dominion KNEW it was dropping out of DBS to go to IPTV and just wasn't telling anyone. Yet even some level I Dish CSRs knew! I know (but thought the rep was misinformed), because I was told when I got cutoff when Dominion didn't receive my completed letter and I had to work for a week to get my service restored. It took a week to get through to SA on the phone and they never answered my emails.

 

[jashobeam]

Jashobeam

Thanks for the information. Have you seen any of the health shows on Direct. Both of these show are very good.

No, I don't trust Kaufmann, he seems like a quack. I've heard him make wrong statements about health. I haven't seen the other show.

 

[BabaLouie]

Well, I was perusing the net and found this interesting package now offered by Dish Network: Essential Service Package. It costs $9.99/month and includes:

Hallmark
HGTV
Food Network
The Weather Channel
Discovery Kids
Boomerang
The History Channel
MSNBC
Bloomberg
TLC
AMC
Comedy Central
CMT
We
Oxygen
TBS
MTV2
and several shopping channels

Locals may be added for $5.00/month.

The catch is that, besides locals, you can't add anything else to the package, and, should you ever upgrade, you won't be able to go back down to this package.

Of course, this is not "worry-free" TV; several of these channels will be blocked out at our house.

I assume you could add the PI channels and free channels, such as
Angel One. Don't know if Angel Two and KTV will be available with this package.


If you are interested in getting this package, you need to call 1-888-773-2162. You may have to ask for an account specialist, as regular CSRs may not know about it.

I'm now leaning toward going with this package as well as Glorystar, at least for the short term.

 

[catkoko]

Is that an HD package? Its an odd mix of channels....... price is god though. We can't get locals here, called 2x and got the same answer

 

[BabaLouie]

Is that an HD package? Its an odd mix of channels....... price is god though. We can't get locals here, called 2x and got the same answer

Not HD...standard def. channels only....

 

[Katybug]

When I read the post about the new Essential Service Package that Dishnetwork is adding for $9.99 per month without locals and $14.99 with locals, I googled it and looked on the Dishnetwork website and while it is not listed there, the channels that are included in the package have Essential Service listed as one of the packages in which it is offered. While the $9.99/month is closer to what I am paying for Sky Angel, has anyone noticed that there is NOT A SINGLE CHRISTIAN CHANNEL OFFERED?

My 11 year old son is a History Buff and we would love to have that channel and I would love to keep HGTV, but I am reluctant to jump on this. Has anyone else considered this offer? What are your thoughts?

Thanks for your input.
Katybug