New locals to be delayed

[shilton]

I get so frustrated with Dish when they announce a "target date" for anything as they always miss the mark. Remember all those locals they promised in quarters 2, 3 and 4??? Well, I bet not a one goes off as planned. My DMA, Johnstown Altoona was originally promised in August/September. Now, I finally get word from Dish that we are now talking about Late October/November at the earliest which means nothing is hapenning till Superdish is ready. Just be warned...if your locals are on that list, plan on them being at least a quarter later than originally thought. If I worked that way, I'd be heading down the pike by now. Why can't their techs seems to meet a promised deadline?

[Darkman]

hehe - i hear ya :)

At least some internationals looks like going up somewhat though :)

Both Internationals and Locals are "money makers" though, to keep existing customers happy, and to attract some new ones....

[Mike123abc]

I bet they were counting on 121 launching about now... but it has not even approached the launching area... Locals are going to be crimped unless they can get 121 up. Of course now they are saying they will put locals on 105... But 105 is not moved yet either.

[JohnH]

I'll just point the BUD where G Star 4 was and see what is going on after AMC 2 goes Geostationary there. :)

I guess they will be doing some 8PSK there for the HD. That will present a problem for the run-of-the-mill FTA receiver. But, there will probably be some QPSK for locals.

[TNGTony]

Shilton:

This is why for about a year there Dish NEVER said anything official about new channel. All they would say is, "We're in negotiations." Posts JUST like yours. People hear ONLY what they want to hear and bitch like crazy when their perception of what was said doesn't come to pass. The press realease said:
With New SuperDish Technology, DISH Network Plans(notice, not "promises"-ed) to Deliver Local
Channels Via Satellite to 106 Markets Nationwide by Year End

EchoStar Communications Corporation (Nasdaq:DISH) and its DISH Network(TM), a leading provider of satellite television entertainment services, announced today 42 new designated market areas where it plans to launch local TV channels, provided retransmission agreements with local TV stations can be formalized in each of the markets.

In the Charlie Chat, they were VERY clear to say that THESE ARE TARGET DATES AND THAT UNFORESEEABLE EVENTS MAY DELAY THE LAUNCH DATES. Charlie said this at least three times. He spent a good two or three minutes explaining what could happen to delay the launch dates.

As to Altoona/Johnstown, in the Charlie Chat, they said that this market was being PLANNED (notice...not promised) for Third Quarter 2003. Third quarter 2003 is from July 31 to October 31.

As no other markets making the target dates announced on the same Charlie Chat: Jackson, Knoxville, Little Rock, Shreveport and Tallahassee were promised by the end of the second quarter and they have all been added.

According to the Charlie Chat, they PLANNED (not promised) Anchorage, Green Bay/Appleton and Yakima by the end of the second quarter (That's JULY 31).

Well, Anchorage locals want to have nothing to do with Dish. All four nets still refuse to allow their signals to be used. So throw that market out the window until the nets and Dish can come to a deal.

Green Bay is warming up in the wings. All the locals are uplinked and testing right now. Expect it to go up without one of the nets. That's the hold-up now. Last minute wrangling to get all the stations up at once.

No word about Yakima, Washington yet...

So 5 out of the 8 planned markets for Q1 are available right now and one is uplinked and ready to go. We still have 15 days in the quarter too.

So calm down and take a valium. :) Relax...

See ya
Tony

[Mike123abc]

I think trying to keep up with Dish Network's local markets and strategies has finally pushed THGTony over the edge... He calls out local station call signs in his sleep while having nightmares of transponders being turned off and on randomly by Charlie.

[shilton]

Shilton:

This is why for about a year there Dish NEVER said anything official about new channel. All they would say is, "We're in negotiations." Posts JUST like yours. People hear ONLY what they want to hear and bitch like crazy when their perception of what was said doesn't come to pass. The press realease said:


As to Altoona/Johnstown, in the Charlie Chat, they said that this market was being PLANNED (notice...not promised) for Third Quarter 2003. Third quarter 2003 is from July 31 to October 31.

So calm down and take a valium. :) Relax...

See ya
Tony
As for my "bitching" and hearing what I want to hear...I'd like to point out that I received official written communication from Dish's programming department and a few of the local broadcasters I had talked to a while ago that said that AUGUST WAS THE TIMEFRAME. My expectations had nothing to do with Charlie's comments or press releases, etc but rather things that were said directly to me by representatives of Dish's programming department via email communication. I understand that timelines can be tentative and things can change, but I think we all know by now that Dish cannot be counted on to meet deadlines. Do I see a Superdish in the future??? Not as soon as one was told to expect it! How long had the new receivers been in development witbout so much as a working model? Heck, even the software for models like the 501 is so buggy its disgusting and no one has fixed it yet. Even on the Charlie Chats Charlie himself jokes as to the fact that his tekkies seem to promise things far sooner than what can actually be delivered. I don't make that up....it is fact.
I certainly appreciate the fact that Dish made announcements as to new planned markets...but whenever they originally say "August" and I learn from local broadcasters that it is now nearly the end of July and no one from Dish has even visited the market yet let alone begin anything technical to retransmit the signals. I simply grow frustrated with the fact that Dish has slowed its additions of anything new quite a bit lately...NO TRIO, NO PBS KIDS, NO NEW CHANNELS AT ALL and then they start missing planned dates for rollouts of locals. It does get discouraging. But of course, I still love them more than Cable TV and I CAN'T STAND RUPERT SO I DON'T SEE DIRECTV IN MY FUTURE EITHER!

[TNGTony]

Notice the words in your post...the word "promise" isn't there either. The words "time frame" are no where NEAR "promise". Also you talked to folks at Dish that were trying to be nice and tell you what they knew of their PLANS. The official information comes from elsewhere...like the press release. The folks you pin down on the phone are only giving you the information as they know it at the time and sometimes is nothing more than conjecture. From years of working in customer service and retail, this bites you in the ass every time. Again, a customer can be told from the person on the phone the word plan, timeframe and working towards and he understands "promise". "for sure" and "you can bet on it".

The people at the TV stations, they have only an idea what Dish PLANS to do. They have no insight as to the other possible issues at Dish. This information is also to be considered well founded rumor. But rumor none-the-less.

As to the rest of your post, it is irrelevant to this conversation. Changing the subject and adding paramaters to an initial statement is a standard tactic used by some one who wishes just to argue until the other person gives up so that the original poster can declare himself the winner. I don't play that game unless I'm part of a Monte Python skit.


Mike...WHAT TRANSPONDER WENT DARK??? ::::searching maniacally through the internet for scraps of info:::: Charlie is after me, man. He's out to get me... :D

See ya
Tony

See ya
Tony

[Jacob S]

Thats what I have been noticing, no promises, just target dates, because they promised in the past before and got slammed for it so now they do not want to promise anything because they know how things can get. The SuperDish is not going to be vaporware, it is going to be a reality.

[Darkman]

I'll just point the BUD where G Star 4 was and see what is going on after AMC 2 goes Geostationary there. :)

I guess they will be doing some 8PSK there for the HD. That will present a problem for the run-of-the-mill FTA receiver. But, there will probably be some QPSK for locals.

John - You're da Man! :)

What would we do without you... Always can count on you and your good ol' BUD :)

This BUD is for you...
Cheers... :hurah:

[Jacob S]

Tell us when and what you see when it shows up on the BUD. I was wanting to get into FTA and BUD a while back but have been getting busy with other things this past year.

[Msguy]

I'm glad I have Direc Tv. When they say Locals are coming to an area on a certain date. BY GOD THEY ARE ON THERE BUDDY! We Just Got our Columbus- Tupelo, Mississippi Locals 2 weeks ago. YEE HAWWW

[Darkman]

YEE HAWWWW, Baby!!!!!!

[JohnWonderly]

Tony-In what world does the Second Quarter end July 31st?

[Greg Bimson]

1st quarter ends March 31
2nd quarter ends June 30
3rd quarter ends September 30
4th quarter ends December 31

...at least according to how Dish Network reports numbers.

[Doug E]

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Originally Posted by JohnH
I'll just point the BUD where G Star 4 was and see what is going on after AMC 2 goes Geostationary there.

I guess they will be doing some 8PSK there for the HD. That will present a problem for the run-of-the-mill FTA receiver. But, there will probably be some QPSK for locals.

John, is G Star 4 still up? I have not programmed my dish for a 105º position. Is there anything currently on G Star 4 so I can aim my BUD?

[Darkman]

Tony-In what world does the Second Quarter end July 31st?

"Wayne's world"? :)
(I mean Tony's world) :hurah:

Actually i should add - maybe in "fiscal" world..

Tony happens to think that Dishnet was talking along "fiscal" lines when they've mentioned those quarters...
And he thinks their quarters are one extra month to the Standard quarters...

All this could be irrelavant anyhow - cuz after all each quarter clearly stated "Subject to Change" :D

I guess - Dish just put it out as an approximate "compas" and in no way as something that was "written in stone" :grin:

[Jacob S]

Delay of satellite launch and satellite move seems to be the only reason that I can see delaying these local launches. This is going to hurt Dish's sub count when DirecTv starts getting those customers in those markets first if Dish does not get them up sooner. The longer they wait the more it will cost them.

[Jacob S]

Before year's end we could be looking at a mostly new line of new receivers (except for 508 and 721) and a new dish (unless the 522 is released in which would be another version for 508 as well - not its replacement though).

[TNGTony]

John,

In MANY businesses, the fiscal quarters lag one month behind the calandar year. I've worked for 4 such businesses.

I was mistaken when I assumed that Echostar did the same. But as Greg posted, E* does echo the calandar year in their fiscal year. I've gone back and taken a look at the quarterly reports for 2002 and 2003.

I stand corrected and I apologize for the misinformation.

See ya
Tony

[JohnH]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally Posted by JohnH
I'll just point the BUD where G Star 4 was and see what is going on after AMC 2 goes Geostationary there.

I guess they will be doing some 8PSK there for the HD. That will present a problem for the run-of-the-mill FTA receiver. But, there will probably be some QPSK for locals.

John, is G Star 4 still up? I have not programmed my dish for a 105º position. Is there anything currently on G Star 4 so I can aim my BUD?

It is inclined about .7 degrees. Have not seen anything from it in months.

[Darkman]

OK...So Echo echos then... :)

[Chris Freeland]

Take it for what it is worth, but a salesman at a local RS store here claimed that Chattanooga locals where scheduled to go up in September, if this were to happen Chattanooga locals would actually be up a little early because Chattanooga is on the E* list for Q4. I normally take RS salespeople with a grain of salt, however AMC2 should be in place by August, which means that a September time period could technically happen. The speed in which E* can get the SuperDish to market is the big question? It is fine and good if E* can have channels turned on AMC2 by September, but without the SuperDish available for instillation, it is a mute point. The same sales person claims E* will also upgrade to the SuperDish for free, for all those who sub to locals. I do not get excited by what RS sales people claim, however I suspect this will be the case, it makes since, I suspect the same will apply for those who sub to the new ATHD package as well. I also suspect their will be a one year commitment to these packages combined with one of the AT or DL packages as well.

[Eyedox]

The word PLANNED above was so big I had to go buy a second monitor to read the rest of the post ... hahahaha :D

[rowdymon]

hehe - i hear ya :)

At least some internationals looks like going up somewhat though :)

Both Internationals and Locals are "money makers" though, to keep existing customers happy, and to attract some new ones....


Which internationals are u referring to?

[Darkman]

it has been reported that 4 international channel are in testing now by Echostar...
I think - ch 595 (Russian one - going to Free preview mode on July 24 i think)
and I think channels 650, 651 and 652 (or something like that) - 3 new Korean channels that are being tested by Echostar now...

[EDIT] from kbs... site - They changed the official launch/Free preview's date (1 week ahead) for upcoming Russian ch 595..

I am pretty sure Free preview is now July 31 - Aug 13 (or something close to that)