I believe the cable systems subscribe to a service (possibly intellistar) to provide them with their Local on the 8's graphics. Apparently this Intellistar can provide the cable systems a local on the 8's forecast by zip code. It seems that Dish should easily be able to this as well.. Maybe Charlie thinks the price he would have to pay is too high or there is some other technical issue.
Why doesn't Dish Network have Local on the 8's?
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Well it seems to me they are kinda restricted?,you know offering the cheapest programming price in America and all.But what Dish Network does offer besides the cheapest programming prices and all impresses me and my friends.Especially when I show friends what their 722k/w MT2 can do.
If you browse to the "Investor Relations" section of DISH's website, you can query the press release regarding a "new" weather channel with local information. It was issued May 24, 2010. There is a "Send as Email To" field with each press release, and I sent that with a "What happened to this?" message to several Dish officials with whom I have email addresses. I got a reply last week, but I don't have permission to copy/paste the email here per the official use disclaimer at the foot of the email. But, here's a summary of the reply:
I was thanked for my follow up of this press release. They stated they are "wokring hard" to implement the localized weather in "selected" areas. This new channel/feature will be called "WeatherScan" and they plan to do a 3-market test over the next 3 months. The official said to keep checking the Dish website for updates.
I was thanked for my follow up of this press release. They stated they are "wokring hard" to implement the localized weather in "selected" areas. This new channel/feature will be called "WeatherScan" and they plan to do a 3-market test over the next 3 months. The official said to keep checking the Dish website for updates.
Because Dish is using satellite technology they would have to implement this in one of two ways:
1. Assign a transponder to each zip code in the country so they could insert the "on the 8's, location specific weather" into the correct transponder so each zip code would receive the correct weather forecast.
2. use the current "press select for your local weather now" - which currently uses the dial-up feature to access a weather service and provide graphics at the bottom of the screen - requiring a lot of setup and really slow.
3. use the high-speed internet services connectors on set-top boxes so equipped to make option #2 happen.
Since the "press select for your local weather" requires that the interactive features of the receiver be enabled - and we have ours permanently disabled so we do not have to watch all of the pop-up advertising which was showing up on almost every channel - including non-commercial channels - neither options #2 or #3 will work for us.
Since Dish does not have enough bandwidth to carry all of the content demanded by the subscribers now, with that bandwidth requirement only being exacerbated as they try to implement the new standards in HD and 3D programming, which will require two, three, four, and even ten times the amount of bandwidth now in use for "HD LITE" programming provided by Dish on most HD channels, I do not see otion #1 working and I doubt we will ever see "weather on the 8's" being fully functional on Dish.
Dish can't use the local on the 8s technology that cable companies use for one simple reason: Satellite is broadcast to the entire country. They would have to have a channel for each and every local area, which even if they did one per state--which wouldn't satisfy anyone--then they'd have to have 50-52 channels (DC & PR). Considering that they don't even have PBS in HD everywhere, I think we can all agree this would be a gross waste of space.
Someone said that they can't stick us with the interactive way of doing things forever. I've got news for you--that is the only way that it will ever work. That's how it works on DirecTV. When the locals start, TWC/DirecTV signals the receivers to start the interactive app showing the local weather info. Then when the locals are over they send another signal to exit the interactive app.
IMO it's really a waste of time. And you should be careful what you wish for. DirecTV has been working to expand the technology they used for the local on the 8s to insert local ads into programming, along with flooding boxes with ads in the guide and tv mail. There are plenty of other improvements that Dish/Echostar should be working on in their boxes. If you need the weather, try weather.com or even better...go to weather.gov/zipcode replacing zipcode with your actual zip code. Get it straight from the source.
Someone said that they can't stick us with the interactive way of doing things forever. I've got news for you--that is the only way that it will ever work. That's how it works on DirecTV. When the locals start, TWC/DirecTV signals the receivers to start the interactive app showing the local weather info. Then when the locals are over they send another signal to exit the interactive app.
IMO it's really a waste of time. And you should be careful what you wish for. DirecTV has been working to expand the technology they used for the local on the 8s to insert local ads into programming, along with flooding boxes with ads in the guide and tv mail. There are plenty of other improvements that Dish/Echostar should be working on in their boxes. If you need the weather, try weather.com or even better...go to weather.gov/zipcode replacing zipcode with your actual zip code. Get it straight from the source.
That should be relatively easy to implement. In fact, they're part way there already... They already pull in, via satellite, regional/local weather based on zip code. Extend it to use HIGH-QUALITY graphics and the broadband connection. Don't have a new enough receiver or broadband connected, you're SOL.
Have you ? It looks like early-90s, CGA graphics, IMO !Have you ever checked The Weather Channel application in Dish Home?.
And the question I always ask: Have you seen TWC's Weather on the 8's on cable ? There's NO comparison.
Yes - I check it every morning - in NYC metro today, totally useless - I knew temp would go down in some point of time today from a high of 54, but Dish app doesn't have every 3-hour details, like the local on the 8s on cable does. I ended up having to turn on my computer to check.Have you ever checked The Weather Channel application in Dish Home?.
It's an ok app for a regular weather day, but if there's a sudden change in temp in a day, then it isn't.
Just in case you didn't realize, the machine that the cable companies use to insert local weather information costs on the order of $10,000 or more. Your set top box cost much less and has other responsibilities besides creating weather graphics. Be careful what you wish for. DirecTV DVRs are sooooo slow they make you wish you had cable. Dish receivers are so much faster. Pile a bunch of crap like this into them and they'll crawl.
Yes I use it often,loads quick on my 722k/wMT2 gives me my local doppler radar and what the temp is,humidity and five day forecasts.
Maybe Charlie needs to raise his prices to cable's price so we can have a better weather channel?.
Yes I use it often,loads quick on my 722k/wMT2 gives me my local doppler radar and what the temp is,humidity and five day forecasts.
Maybe Charlie needs to raise his prices to cable's price so we can have a better weather channel?.
Forgive my ignorance, but what does "MT2" mean in "my 722k/wMT2"?
Thank you,
Ghpr13
Exactly,I get 3 24 hour Weather Channels OTA(over the air?).
We don't in Boston and really, nobody is really pitching a fit about. There are so many ways to get weather forecasts these days. That's why TWC went with a more entertainment lean.
What does your OTA module have to do with anything ? I have the same, by the way... As for "local doppler radar", your definition of "local" varies from most people's... My "local" weather on Dish/TWC includes Cleveland, Detroit, Louisville, etc, etc. Your "local" weather probably includes Sacramento, Fresno, Carson City, etc.
Again, go to someone's home who has cable and look at TWC there. You're reaction will be, "Oh, that's a lot different...".
Just went to TWC's website and found this: weather.com - Large Maps That looks very similar to what they show on Dish.
People on cable see something more like this: 45410 Weather Forecast and Conditions
Forgive my ignorance, but what does "MT2" mean in "my 722k/wMT2"?
Thank you,
Ghpr13
MT2 is Dish Network's Dual Over the Air Tuner Module ID.
I list it separate because the VIP722k does not come with it,even though I think it should?.
MT2 is Dish Network's Dual Over the Air Tuner Module ID.
I list it separate because the VIP722k does not come with it,even though I think it should?.
I once that the same way and then I thought it out. My 722 has one built in OTA tuner. I have an antenna and use it all the time. I have 3 neighbors who also have 722s, none of them have antennas and all get their locals via satellite alone. So, Dish has now made the 722K with an optional OTA tuner module that has 2 tuners. If every one of them had two built in tuners the price of the box would go up. I believe the majority of users have satellite locals only. Why should they have to pay for OTA tuners they would never use. Makes sense to me.
I agree with you up to a point,and that point is with all these extra digital channels that are being broadcast right now.The chance of seeing these channels up on satellite right now is slim to none,where with the Over The Air Dual Tuners we have them right now available.
Plus to be able to record 4 programs at once(2 OTA and 2 satellite) would not be possible without the MT2.
MT2 is Dish Network's Dual Over the Air Tuner Module ID.
I list it separate because the VIP722k does not come with it,even though I think it should?.
Thanks! You would have thought I would know that being I bought one just a few months ago! Duh!
Ghpr13
That is a question that would be hard to answer. I tend to think that more use OTA than you think I would think that around half use it.
I highly doubt that half of the customers would use the OTA if they had the tuner built in. MAYBE if they lived close enough that rabbit ears or a dish-clipped-on antenna would pick up the channels, AND Dish provided such an antenna for free. However, that's not going to happen, and for 90% of the customers, they just want their main networks. The MT2 costs $50. I'm sure that there's probably a 10% profit margin there to make it worth their time, but still that's $40-45 cost on the thing. How many 722/222s do they ship? Say they ship a million..that is $40-50 million more that those boxes cost. Either they have to raise prices on customers, or, they have to eat it. Since they're a public company in America, they're not going to eat it. I bought two MT2s, one for my 722k and 222k, and I have no problem with the need to do that in order to keep overall costs down. DirecTV does the same thing with their external AM21 OTA tuner for their HD DVRs
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