Why no international news channels on Dish?

[alebowgm]

I would love to see ABC (australia), BBC, DWTV English, Al Jazeera (English), EuroNews, and CBC News channel in an "International news package.

I think the issue with CBC Newsworld is that at times they pay for BBC documentaries and other news related programming. Otherwise CBC is all first run programming and it's a shame that we can't get it, especially considering they report a lot on American news stories since they are the neighboor to the north.

And such a package would be something I know I would subscribe too, although I would like CNNi to be added to that package.

 

[DishSubLA]

Others have listed several international channels to which you may subscribe to get your dose of international news. My favorite was TV5 France. It has several newscasts throughout the day along with their daily newscast for international distribution. There is a lot of foreign based newscasts avaialble on Dish, you just have to be willing to pay for them.

BBC America airs 3 full hours of BBC World each weekday from 6AM-9AM Eastern (I believe the first 30 minutes of the first hour is allowed to PBS stations). There is quite a bit of international news NOT focused on the U.S. along with the business report and sports. The 2nd hour of the block includes the daily BBC World Today. DVR this 3Hr. block and see what you think. I can't stand BBC World News America, as it focuses too much on the U.S. I need to know what is going on OUTSIDE our great country. Also, there are two BBC World newscasts one in the morning and one in the evening that, while available world-wide, are tailored for the U.S. PBS stations that focus too much on U.S. news.


However, I for one wish (I've already sent emails) Dish would provide BBC World--24/7. There are a lot of other programs on BBC World besides the newscasts. AFAIK, Verizon FiOS is the only service providing BBC World (24/7). I think I had read where the BBC plans to send BBC World out in HD. Yes, BBC World. That would be a great HD addition.

 

[kstuart]

I think I had read where the BBC plans to send BBC World out in HD. Yes, BBC World. That would be a great HD addition.

This seems highly dubious for two reasons:

* BBC-UK-HD only broadcasts a limited schedule, and fails to broadcast in HD many programs available in HD (such as the recent Stephen Fry series).

* BBC-World-HD would likely be an HD camera in the room with the anchor, with all the segments, stories and features still in SD. This is exactly what many local and national "HD" newcasts in the US still do. It seems unlikely that suddenly their reporters in rural Africa or Asia will suddenly be outfitted with new HD cameras.

 

[DishSubLA]

This seems highly dubious for two reasons:

* BBC-UK-HD only broadcasts a limited schedule, and fails to broadcast in HD many programs available in HD (such as the recent Stephen Fry series).

* BBC-World-HD would likely be an HD camera in the room with the anchor, with all the segments, stories and features still in SD. This is exactly what many local and national "HD" newcasts in the US still do. It seems unlikely that suddenly their reporters in rural Africa or Asia will suddenly be outfitted with new HD cameras.

You're points are reasonable, but BBC World (24/7) is NOT intended for domestic U.K. airing. In fact, BBC World is a commercial venture of the BBC. It was originally designed for Africa and southeast Asia. However, in recent years this was expanded to North America. The point of the BBC World HD feed is not for reasons of content, but for reasons of marketing. Right now, none of the cable or satellite services are interested in carrying new channels unless they are in HD. HD is it right now, the key to keeping or wooing customers. BBC World does, in fact, stand a much better chance of carriage if it is offered in HD. Look at CNN. While in true HD, it looks great, but it consists of Lou Dobbs' head and all the other "talking heads" at CNN with a lot of SD content, including Larry King Live in SD. Please, there is absolutely no compelling content on CNN that cries out for HD. CNN did it to keep the HDTV subscribers tuned to their news network. That is why ALL the news networks provide HD feeds. So, BBC World would be doing just the same for the same reasons.

 

[Juan]

I have come to the conclusion that the government/media complex here have control of what the public see and hear, and don't want anything unfiltered to be readily available to the average viewer.

You do realize that most of the european news channels ARE CONTROLLED BY THEIR GOVERNMENTS(ie BBC)

 

[anonymouse99]

Oodles of international news on Dish but you have to look for it.

Thanks, TNGTony for publishing this ... I am aware of these channels - I was specifically requesting CNNi and BBC World - two of the networks that seem to offer somewhat of a global news coverage/perspective in English.

I am not expecting Dish to add this to any package, although having that would be great - I am willing to pay for them. I am assuming that there are many like me that are willing to do the same. Strangely enough, sometime back I believe that Dish may have carried CNNi but decided to drop it.

 

[alebowgm]

Strangely enough, sometime back I believe that Dish may have carried CNNi but decided to drop it.

I made reference to this earlier in the thread. Dish Network used to carry CNNfn until the channel was discontinued a few years ago. At the time, after midnight ET and on the weekends, CNNfn would simulcast CNNi. It was great for the overnight hour because one could get live anchoured news telecasts until about 6am every day, and there was speculation at the time that when the channel was discontinued Dish would just replace CNNfn with CNNi, but instead nothing ever appeared.

 

[DishSubLA]

You do realize that most of the european news channels ARE CONTROLLED BY THEIR GOVERNMENTS(ie BBC)

Yeah, but BBC keeps getting their government pissed at them, including the Royal family. Just like NPR here does a much better job of news and negative government reporting than the commercial networks, whose commercial interests sway them more than BBC or NPR fear of the hand that feeds them. Although when the Republicans were in control, it was kiss their butts or NPR and PBS would have suffered massive cuts. So, the worst can happen, as well.

 

[TNGTony]

BBC is government FUNDED, not Government run. There is a big difference.
CCTV is Government Run!

See ya
Tony

 

[Juan]

BBC is government FUNDED, not Government run. There is a big difference.
CCTV is Government Run!

See ya
Tony

You might want to google that . The English government has been "stepping on toes"lately Censorship in the United Kingdom - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[ramonv]

I get BBC World on Cablevision in NYC and on SAP (secondary Audio) you can hear when they give instructions to those at BBC America.
Here's a video with the secondary audio:
[ame="http://www.dailymotion.com/Ramonv79/video/x5t3df_bbc-world-news-secondary-audio_news"]Dailymotion - BBC World NEWS Secondary Audio, a video from Ramonv79. BBC, NEWS, Secondary, Audio@@AMEPARAM@@http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/x5t3df@@AMEPARAM@@x5t3df[/ame]

 

[kstuart]

BBC is government FUNDED, not Government run. There is a big difference.
CCTV is Government Run!

Any particular working group of humans has a bias. In order for the group to work together effectively, they need to have the same viewpoint, even if only for social reasons. If you do a web search about the BBC, you can find very well documentead anti-American bias and even more clear-cut anti-Israel bias.

There are, of course, biases at various other news organizations - just different ones ( anti-immigrant bias at Fox News, anti-regulation bias at CNBC, etc. ).

The fact that E* added EuroNews shows there is no bias against international news channels it is undoubtedly a cost versus customer demand issue. Due to the BBC World presence on BBC America and PBS, I expect that the channel is excessively priced in order to protect the revenue from those sources...