Launch Date announced for Directv 7s....

[DCSholtis]

http://ast.faa.gov/linfo_vsite/launch_info.cfm

[Wolffpack]

I just hope that it is used for HD. Where's it going to be "floating"? ie. what degrees?

[DCSholtis]

Its going to 119 and will be used for locals....its a spot beam. Some other locals will also be moved to 7s. And the room off the other satellites will be used for more core programming and HD.

[Wolffpack]

Cool. I don't know anything about the SATs, but I didn't know they could have 2 sats at 119. I suppose since it's 22,000 miles away that leaves some space.

[DS0816]

Yeah, but will there be any channel additions? Or is the usual just locals? The January additions of TV Guide Channel and NickToons were nothing by which to be impressed. In fact, it seems DirecTV -- which I signed up for six years ago -- is becoming wanting. Not only is Great American Country and Style Network -- both offered by competitor Dish Network -- unavailable on DirecTV, it appears Ovation and Goodlife Television and the International Channel aren't on DirecTV's radar at all. Sometimes I wonder if I should have C-Band.

[reddice]

Yeah, but will there be any channel additions? Or is the usual just locals? The January additions of TV Guide Channel and NickToons were nothing by which to be impressed. In fact, it seems DirecTV -- which I signed up for six years ago -- is becoming wanting. Not only is Great American Country and Style Network -- both offered by competitor Dish Network -- unavailable on DirecTV, it appears Ovation and Goodlife Television and the International Channel aren't on DirecTV's radar at all. Sometimes I wonder if I should have C-Band.

Wierld, for me it is the opposite. Except for TV Guide channel I got it for Nicktoons, PBS Kids and also we get Oxygen and Trio which I have not watched much of. I agree we need Great Amercian Country even though it is not great with way to many commercials and stupid informercials in the middle of the night. XM is the way to go for country.

[DS0816]

Wierld, for me it is the opposite. Except for TV Guide channel I got it for Nicktoons, PBS Kids and also we get Oxygen and Trio which I have not watched much of. I agree we need Great Amercian Country even though it is not great with way to many commercials and stupid informercials in the middle of the night. XM is the way to go for country.


Perfectly understandable.

I think part of what motivates what I've written is the fact that there is most recently a $3 increase in Total Choice Plus with Locals ($42.95, from a previous $39.95). I'm thinking, in reaction to this, will be there channel additions to justify this. Wanting is the word I used to describe my feelings about how only locals are steadily added, and that TVGC and NTOONS are no big deal (I'm in my 30s, single without kids). So I'm wanting a number of channel additions -- premium and nonpremium. Eventually I think it'll happen, but it's a matter of when.

[jpoklop]

I vote for more HD. Bravo, TNT, more network feeds for O&O markets, etc. As a recent Dish convert, I also miss HBO-Comedy.

[DCSholtis]

There will supposedly be more core channels and HD coming soon but unlike E* you wont hear rumors of them. Until a press release comes out about a week or so before they come online.

[Greg Bimson]

Once DirecTV 7S is in service it will clear about five transponders from 101 and maybe one transponder from 119. So, draw your conclusions about any new services that could be added.

[Wolffpack]

Once DirecTV 7S is in service it will clear about five transponders from 101 and maybe one transponder from 119. So, draw your conclusions about any new services that could be added.
My mouth is watering now.

Although my wallet is not.

This will not come without a price.

[Mark Holtz]

You can guess what I want added. In all likelihood, however, my best guess would be to expand the premium movie channels to make them better than dish.

[ramcm7]

There was some discussion/speculation that channels from the other Fox/Sky systems from around the world would be added.
Wanted:
1. UK - Sky Sports channels (Interactive on Sky Sports Extra to choose camera angles. Cricket stumps camera, baby!)
2. NZ - Rugby Channel
3. AUS - Fox Sports (Australia) channels (and any other network carrying Australian cricket!)

[TNGTony]

What? No one complaining that the raft of local markets planned for April on DirecTV will not come to be until at least June? :D

You people are too kind. I the Dish forum, there would have been a flaming effigy of Charlie right now and about how "he lied" to everyone! LOL!

Really, this is not a troll...just an observation on the realities of the differences in expectations for each provider by its subs.

See ya
Tony

[DCSholtis]

What? No one complaining that the raft of local markets planned for April on DirecTV will not come to be until at least June? :D

You people are too kind. I the Dish forum, there would have been a flaming effigy of Charlie right now and about how "he lied" to everyone! LOL!

Really, this is not a troll...just an observation on the realities of the differences in expectations for each provider by its subs.

See ya
Tony

That stuffs happening over at DBS Forums...check those threads...:D

[SamC]

What? No one complaining that the raft of local markets planned for April on DirecTV will not come to be until at least June?




OK, here you go.

- Not only did DirecTV promise these markets in April, it has a chain of broken promises back to last Summer. Irresponsible.

- Only the above link lists a date. Neither DirecTV, nor Sea Launch, nor Loral, have a date.

- DirecTV's list of LRFs does NOT list all of the promised markets.

- DirecTV p***ed away a lead in these markets that it took it nearly a decade to build. Only DISH's inepitutde in doing "super dish" installs and its Viacom idiocy keep DirecTV going at all.

- DirecTV has done NOTHING for the customer in these markets. A few free PPVs should be a minimum. Insted, we get "one month of locals for free", which they GIVE EVERYBODY IN A NEW MARKET ANYWAY.

- I guarentee that when/if ever launched that DirecTV will have markets they won't add, (otherwise why is the LRF list wrong?) and will have stations that they are playing brinksmanship with and won't have.

- Current deadline is "Spring 04". The last day of Spring is June 22nd. I will lay any amount that DirecTV will NOT have local up in all of these markets and be finished with system swap outs by that time.

- In fact my best gamble is that on June 22nd, DirecTV will have none of the promised locals up. If you took that line on each of their promises up til now, you would have won 8 times.

There you go.

[dswallow]

We're simply forgiving of technical reasons out of the control of DirecTV causing a delay.

It's not like DirecTV and the new satellite couldn't come to terms and DirecTV stomped out of negotiations and made ludicrous comments to the press about the satellites demands.

[Greg Bimson]

What? No one complaining that the raft of local markets planned for April on DirecTV will not come to be until at least June?As SamC points out, it isn't necessarily true that people aren't unhappy. As a matter of fact, I remember that people weren't happy with Dish Network, because of the amount of time it took to launch Echostar 7 and Echostar 8. The fact that both of those satellites were delayed in manufacturing (also built by SS/Loral) caused some slight issues with putting must-carry stations on Echostar's side slots.

However, some slack was given, because the building of satellites are not in either Dish Network's or DirecTV's control.

The one thing we have noticed about DirecTV's local receive facilities page is that DirecTV has LRF's for Toledo, Syracuse, and Wausau/Rhinelander. These markets have not been announced by DirecTV, yet.

[WanMan]

The 7s is being used for locals, this is true. How many can say that the D* locals PQ is the up to standard compared to digital OTA locals, though?

[dswallow]

The 7s is being used for locals, this is true. How many can say that the D* locals PQ is the up to standard compared to digital OTA locals, though?
Only people in some podunk area where the station is broadcast digitally but using chicken wire to get the signal to the MPEG2 encoder could say that.

Digital OTA is usually better than anything put out by Dish Network or DirecTV. Dish Network samples a 480x480 pixel image from the station before encoding, DirecTV preprocesses the image to reduce pixels along the outer image edges before encoding. Right off the bat both are starting with a signal of reduced resolution over what the station transmits. Even if compression and decompression were totally lossless, they'd both be worse than digital OTA. And when the OTA station is broadcasting HD, there's absolutely no comparison... except maybe to the CBS-HD feeds available via satellite.

[tsranga]

There was some discussion/speculation that channels from the other Fox/Sky systems from around the world would be added.
Wanted:
1. UK - Sky Sports channels (Interactive on Sky Sports Extra to choose camera angles. Cricket stumps camera, baby!)
2. NZ - Rugby Channel
3. AUS - Fox Sports (Australia) channels (and any other network carrying Australian cricket!)

Hi ramcm7,

Did you subcribe to the Aus-SL series package? I had a horrowing experience with Dish - there was only one $69.95 package (for the entier series) when I ordered but they revised their pricing and made it $79.95 for all the games and $69.95 only for the ODIs.

Ranga

[ramcm7]

Hi ramcm7,

Did you subcribe to the Aus-SL series package? I had a horrowing experience with Dish - there was only one $69.95 package (for the entier series) when I ordered but they revised their pricing and made it $79.95 for all the games and $69.95 only for the ODIs.

Ranga

Ranga:

At this point I am still a D* subscriber. A friend taped the ODI's for himself. (I stored some for him temporarily and tested them to confirm they were in working order.) I have been a long time NFL Sunday Ticket customer, but am considering dropping for next season. This would allow for the possibility of a switch to E*. However, I am hearing that all(?) NFL games will be in HD on NFLST. Tempting to stay...

I wish E* would publish a longer calendar of the series they plan to air. I am first an Aussie fan (obvious) and second a WIndies fan. Of course, I will cheer for the USA in their uphill battles against Australia and New Zealand in the ICC Champions Trophy in September. Most of the series broadcast on PPV involve South Asian teams. Australia's upcoming tour to Zimbabwe and the Sri Lanka return series in Australia in July I do not expect to air on PPV (I Would not subscribe to the South Asian channels which carried them last year), but the ICC Champions Trophy and the series in India are likely broadcasts. The current WIndies-England series is not being broadcast, and I have seen nothing regarding the Bangladesh tour to follow. I doubt the WI-NZ-England tri-series this summer will be aired.

As for your pricing comment, I did think that a bit odd. A different teammate complained last summer about the elimination of per-match purchase offerings. One of the ODI's I "tested" had terrible blackouts. It appeared to be a sat transmission from Sri Lanka issue, as the DISH logo remained on the black screen.

[ddobson]

Here's some info direct for Sea-Launch regarding S7. It's official I beleive althought there page doesn't have an exact date. I've seen it listed at May 2nd elsewhere.

http://www.sea-launch.com/current_launch.htm