5 new channels

[rcwilcox]

OK here is what SA is saying they are going to do:

"Sky Angel is in the process of launching 5 new television channels in response to an overwhelming number of requests for more family-friendly programs, a movie channel, and general interest channels that offer important information to viewers such as news, weather, or home improvement."


Ok here our my questions
1 Assuming Fox is the News channel and Hallmark plus Hallmark movie are two more can we assume that maybe DIY and The Weather Channel will be the other 2?
2 Does this mean 4 more existing channels will be gone to make room for these 4?
3 If these are really adds where is the bandwidth to come from?

[mattb]

Interesting note. No one knows if FNC and the other 4 channels coming soon will be "included" in the current package. I got a feeling that the FNC on the old INSP spot is just a "teeser" and that either the skyangel package will go up in price for the 5 additonal channels or it will be billed seperately as a "family enterainment package"...

[rcwilcox]

Interesting note. No one knows if FNC and the other 4 channels coming soon will be "included" in the current package. I got a feeling that the FNC on the old INSP spot is just a "teeser" and that either the skyangel package will go up in price for the 5 additonal channels or it will be billed seperately as a "family enterainment package"...

In the survey where they mention the 5 channels they ask how much you will be willing to pay for a package with these extra channels in it. I wonder if that means there will only be one SA package or if they are still studying that.

[RJS1111111]

Maybe they're fixin' to stop leasing a transponder to DISH, so that they'll have enough bandwidth to carry the additional channels. Or maybe an unused former Rainbow transponder could be acquired? Could SA be planning to acquire R1 outright?

[James Long]

1 Assuming Fox is the News channel and Hallmark plus Hallmark movie are two more can we assume that maybe DIY and The Weather Channel will be the other 2?
2 Does this mean 4 more existing channels will be gone to make room for these 4?
3 If these are really adds where is the bandwidth to come from?
1 - fair assumption. Hope they are included (probably won't be)
2 - I hope not. I paid for 36 Christian oriented channels, not 35 plus FNC or (shudder) 31 plus 5 'secular' networks.
If they did pull channels, it would be 15 Christian video, 16 Christian audio and 5 secular video - and for those who get those secular channels elsewhere it is a complete waste of space.
I expect part of a third transponder will be opened to SkyAngel programs.
3 - The third transponder. :) SkyAngel holds license to 8 TPs and E3 can actually transmit on seven of the eight. As long as it is only 4 or 5 channels E* can squeeze them in.

$2 more for the new channels would be the highest acceptable price for me, and that is being generous. I believe annual subs should get them for free.

JL

[rcwilcox]

1 - fair assumption. Hope they are included (probably won't be)
2 - I hope not. I paid for 36 Christian oriented channels, not 35 plus FNC or (shudder) 31 plus 5 'secular' networks.
If they did pull channels, it would be 15 Christian video, 16 Christian audio and 5 secular video - and for those who get those secular channels elsewhere it is a complete waste of space.
I expect part of a third transponder will be opened to SkyAngel programs.
3 - The third transponder. :) SkyAngel holds license to 8 TPs and E3 can actually transmit on seven of the eight. As long as it is only 4 or 5 channels E* can squeeze them in.

$2 more for the new channels would be the highest acceptable price for me, and that is being generous. I believe annual subs should get them for free.

JL
All good points and I too think thet will not pull 4 channels to make room and hopefully they won't squeeze 4 more on the existing transponders. From their questionare where they asked how much would you consider fair and what number would stop you totally I am sure they plan on charging the monthly and annual folks--not sure about lifers like me

[mattb]

I doubt they will pull anything, I forsee DISH doing some shuffling, moving an xponders worth of programming to another R1 transponder and then letting skyangel use that.. I dont think E* and SA's relationship is going south anytime soon, they depend on each other too much, E* likes those transponders that SA is letting them use and SA likes the resources (Uplink and Bird)

[James Long]

I doubt they will pull anything,No need to doubt today ...

Daystar droppped -- Hallmark coming in its place! (http://dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=42470)
Gospel Music Television will be history soon -- Hallmark Movie Channel coming soon! (http://dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=42471)

And the next two channels to "agree to go away" will be ????????

JL

[tsrk30]

Does anyone know for sure what the 2 remaining new channels will be? I think the weather channel would be somewhat of a waste.

[rcwilcox]

Does anyone know for sure what the 2 remaining new channels will be? I think the weather channel would be somewhat of a waste.

These were the ones originally under consideration:

Animal Planet
TCM
Hallmark
Discovery
History
Southern Entertainment TV (3channel group)

Assuming when they (SA) found out about Hallmark movie channel (which apparently isn't even up and running yet) they abandoned TCM. In one of their (SA) postings they mentioned DIY and weather type programming. I too hope they don't add the weather channel but who knows for those who don't have dish or cable it might be a good add.

[James Long]

Interesting channel number choices as well. I expected that they would pick a new range (9740's ?) for 'family' programming but it seems they are just reusing old slots.

And why they havn't done anything to the channel names or EPG other than wiping 9713 and 9730 and putting "Special Programming" there is a good question - especially for 9718 which has been FNC for nearly three weeks (as New Channel Coming Soon).

JL

[JohnH]

Me thinks there is a problem with obtaining EPG info for these new channels. Probably costs some money for that service. Of course, EchoStar could not provide the info for free. :)

[BabaLouie]

I would love to have the Weather Channel added. In fact, I wrote Sky Angel suggesting that they add Fox News, The Weather Channel, and Hallmark, among other channels.

[tsrk30]

Have they ever considered adding the Disney channel?

[rcwilcox]

Have they ever considered adding the Disney channel?
these others they have added without raising the rates I suspect or rather I know Disney charges a fair amount for the Disney Channel so they would have to raise rates probably if they added Disney.

[JohnH]

Disney Channel is not likely to be one of the additions. Wouldn't want to start a Holy War.

[JeffH]

Me thinks there is a problem with obtaining EPG info for these new channels. Probably costs some money for that service. Of course, EchoStar could not provide the info for free. :)

Maybe they are waiting to change the EPG when all of the new channels are in place.

The promotional program will probably start at that time as well

[krazy k]

ive mentioned it before, and i will repeat myself.
Why force E, to remove 3 christian channels and then drop 3 more christian channels from the line up( insp, black gospel channel, daystar) to replace them with non christian programming that i already get from E.
It doesnt make sense,
But what do you expect from a christian organization,,,,
clark

[jegrant]

I thought it was INSP's idea to leave, not Sky Angel kicking them out. That's what was stated publicly anyway. See http://skyangel.com/insp/ - "... INSP found it necessary to discontinue ..."

[TNGTony]

I got this e-mail from a person at INSP
“For more than seven years, INSP-The Inspiration Network has been honored to be a part of the Sky Angel satellite system and Sky Angel has been honored to have INSP part of the Sky Angel family of networks. Recently INSP found it necessary to discontinue the distribution of INSP on Sky Angel. Sky Angel and INSP regret any inconvenience that this may cause to Sky Angel subscribers. Both ministries remain committed to reach the world with the Gospel through television and wish each other's God's best.”

So it was NOT Sky Angel that dumped INSP. It was INSP that dumped Sky Angel.

See ya
Tony

[BabaLouie]

I got this e-mail from a person at INSP
“For more than seven years, INSP-The Inspiration Network has been honored to be a part of the Sky Angel satellite system and Sky Angel has been honored to have INSP part of the Sky Angel family of networks. Recently INSP found it necessary to discontinue the distribution of INSP on Sky Angel. Sky Angel and INSP regret any inconvenience that this may cause to Sky Angel subscribers. Both ministries remain committed to reach the world with the Gospel through television and wish each other's God's best.”

So it was NOT Sky Angel that dumped INSP. It was INSP that dumped Sky Angel.

See ya
Tony

Wasn't it really the same with Daystar? They decided not to renew their contract with Sky Angel. I know about the problems with the Dish Network
carriage of Daystar, and how that might have soured Daystar on Sky Angel.
Still, it was Daystar that wanted off of Sky Angel, not Sky Angel that looked to dump Daystar. Am I correct?

[rcwilcox]

Wasn't it really the same with Daystar? They decided not to renew their contract with Sky Angel. I know about the problems with the Dish Network
carriage of Daystar, and how that might have soured Daystar on Sky Angel.
Still, it was Daystar that wanted off of Sky Angel, not Sky Angel that looked to dump Daystar. Am I correct?
You are correct

[krazy k]

Regardless it was still sky angel that force daystar and jctv off dish and know i dont get daystar,
Have you ever dealt with sky angels cs reps, if you think dishnet's are bad sa are 10 times worse,
anyways
I hope some how i can get daystar back...
clark

[JohnH]

Get a 30" dsih and point it at G10R with a KuFSS LNBF. Then get a cheap Mpeg2/DVB FTA receiver and get Daystar for free.

[JeffH]

Regardless it was still sky angel that force daystar and jctv off dish and know i dont get daystar,
Have you ever dealt with sky angels cs reps, if you think dishnet's are bad sa are 10 times worse,
anyways
I hope some how i can get daystar back...
clark

Both Daystar and TBN knew of the contract between Dominion Sky Angel and Echostar but went behind Sky Angel's back anyway.

I or those that I know and helped get Sky Angel haven't had any problems with SA reps., in fact they have been very helpful.

If you want Daystar, subscribe to DirectTv.

I never used Daystar, TBN (SCTBN) or INSP as selling points for Sky Angel, most people would just look at me funny, meaning, I'm not interested in those channels.

Jeff

[krazy k]

I dont want to pay direct tv when i have dish network.
for the free to air receivers, do any have pvr hard drives and where do you get them.

[JohnH]

You should change TBN to Familynet. TBN has been on DISH Network longer than the Sky Angel service has been in existance.

[krazy k]

EE shared there time with Jctv and Church Channel, anyway
is any thingelse on the free to air bird besides daystar?
clark

[JohnH]

Check the channels above 11700:
http://www.lyngsat.com/g10r.html

[Mike Richardson]

Could SA be planning to acquire R1 outright?


That's much too strong of a satellite. I don't think SA would even begin to use it to it's advantage.

[jegrant]

FWIW, if you want to go with a DVB FTA system, the satellite that TBN has been pointing people to is http://www.lyngsat.com/ia5.html - it contains the following:

-TBN USA
-Daystar
-JCTV
-TBN Enlace USA (Spanish-language TBN)
-The Church Channel
-JSTV (Korean-language Christian network)

As well as an assortment of other free & subscription foreign-language content - even a Korean shopping channel. World Radio Network also available in both English and native-language streams.

[RJS1111111]

That's much too strong of a satellite. I don't think SA would even begin to use it to it[]s advantage.

So they're not planning to acquire R1, but when you consider what they envision eventually doing, their first satellite had better have a full complement of spot beams. They intend to reach Africa and parts of Europe from the 61.5 location, along with North and South America. Native translators will be dubbing sermons, etc. from Naples, and the dubbed programs (audio at least) will be beamed toward various language groups. So they will need to have a very capable bird.

[BabaLouie]

Regardless it was still sky angel that force daystar and jctv off dish and know i dont get daystar,
Have you ever dealt with sky angels cs reps, if you think dishnet's are bad sa are 10 times worse,
anyways
I hope some how i can get daystar back...
clark

I have never had anything but positive experiences in dealing with SA reps.

[James Long]

their first satellite had better have a full complement of spot beams. They intend to reach Africa and parts of EuropeR1 is not the satellite to meet that need. It is too limited to reach all of those targets.

SkyAngel allegedly has a satellite under construction that will have the capability to reach other parts of the world than the US. Assuming that some other part of the world will grant them a license to transmit TO their country. The FCC licenses SkyAngel holds only allows US coverage and incidental out of country signals. Europe and Africa especially on spotbeams are not incidental.

They need to find friendly countries in Europe and Africa to allow their broadcast before they can 'incidentally' cover the rest of Europe and Africa.

BTW: Losing religious networks is nothing SkyAngel should be proud of, even if they can put out a press release claiming that the networks wanted to leave. In some ways, networks no longer wanting to be part of SkyAngel is as bad as SkyAngel booting off networks it no longer wants.

JL

[rcwilcox]

BTW: Losing religious networks is nothing SkyAngel should be proud of, even if they can put out a press release claiming that the networks wanted to leave. In some ways, networks no longer wanting to be part of SkyAngel is as bad as SkyAngel booting off networks it no longer wants.

JL

Don't know that they are proud of it. I am a little confused here. When a change is made everybody wants to "blame" somebody. I for one believe change is inevitable and sometimes it can be good. Maybe SA is just trying to find the right balance in what they are doing.

[James Long]

Don't know that they are proud of it. I am a little confused here. When a change is made everybody wants to "blame" somebody. I for one believe change is inevitable and sometimes it can be good. Maybe SA is just trying to find the right balance in what they are doing.If you like change, SkyAngel is the perfect satellite service! :D

Unless I missed something in TNGTony's notes, since 2001:
Added / Joined Lineup
9705 TVU (Feb '01)
9709 SuperChannel TBN (June '01)
9716 Liberty Network (Sep '01)
9708 FaithTV (Jun '02)
9707 Guardian TV (Nov '02)
9720 FeTV (Aug '03)
9706 Spirit TV (Mar '03)
9714 Total Living (Apr '05)
9718 Fox News (May '05)
9713 Hallmark Channel (May '05)
9730 Hallmark Movie Channel (Soon)

Removed / Left Lineup
9741/9742 Bob Jones University (May '01)
9716 FamilyNet (Sep '01)
9720 La Familia (Nov '01)
9714 The Dream Network (Mar '02)
9731 Praise TV (Aug '03)
9719 Harvest TV (Mar '03)
9718 Insp (Feb '05)
9713 Daystar (May '05)
9730 Gospel Music TV (Soon)

Come and Gone
9720 Enlance (Nov '01-Oct '02)
9708 Health and Healing - Benny Hinn (Nov '01-May '02)
9714 CTN Detroit (Mar '02-Apr '05)

Radio Stations
9772 - Voice of Jerusalem replaced WMMU (Aug '01)
9766 - Way Radio replaced Praise Broadcasting Radio (Feb '02)
9751 - K-Love replaced Air One (Dec '02)
9773 Z-73 replaced 9766 Way Radio (Dec '02)
9781 Totally Gospel Urban Radio replaced 9763 Family Radio (Jul '03)
9751 - Oasis replaced K-Love (Nov '03)
9781 - Bott replaced Totally Urban (Nov '03)
9752 - God Listens replaced PulseFM (Mar '04)
9755 Today's Christian Music replaced 9761 Bible Broadcasting (Aug '04)

Someone keeps changing the presets. :D

Consistant
9701 Angel 1
9702 Angel 2
9703 KTV
9710 Three Angels
9711 Safe TV
9712 Cornerstone TV
9715 Golden Eagle
9717 Catholic FamilyLand
9732 Worship

SkyAngel's '36 channels' seem to be drifting away from 'Christian' and into 'family'. I believe they are even removing some of the heavier Christian mentions from their website.

Nothing wrong with adding a few 'family channels' to the package, but losing Christian channels and the Christian emphasis isn't cool.

JL

[mwgiii]

Since SA is looking to add other programming, why not look at Ovation or GoodLife.

Neither Dish or Direct carry them, and they would provide good "family" programming and differentiate themselves from E & D.

[drfreeman]

[QUOTE=mwgiii]Since SA is looking to add other programming, why not look at Ovation or GoodLife.

i think goodlife is on the radar..........

[JeffH]

[QUOTE=mwgiii]Since SA is looking to add other programming, why not look at Ovation or GoodLife.

i think goodlife is on the radar..........


GoodLife/American Life looks good as well as DIY. :)

Also some weather service; I don't care about The Weather Channel but is there (still) a weather service that provides a 30 or 60 second forcast that stations can insert during breaks?

Jeff

[TNGTony]

Goodlife TV, which was the Nostagia Channel has changed its name again to American Life TV. The web site is still http://www.goodtv.com/

I would absolutelu LOVE to see this channel on Sky Angel or Dish. I have been asking for it for years!

Here are some of the shows on this channel:

The Courtship of Eddie's Father, The Home Front, I’ll Fly Away, Mayberry RFD, 77 Sunset Strip, Bourbon Street Beat, Harry O, Hawaiian Eye, Surfside 6, China Beach, Combat!, The Gallant Men, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., I Spy, Bronco, Cheyenne, Kung Fu, Maverick, Sugarfoot, The FBI, Chico & the Man, The Honeymooners (Colorized), Welcome Back Kotter, F Troop, My Favorite Martian.

Not a bad stable.

See ya
Tony

[jegrant]

Actually, I wondered if maybe an interactive weather service (but hopefully, one with a bit more content and a few less ads than DishNet's) would be suitable for SA. I don't know how many subscribers have new enough receivers, but there is a swap-out to MPEG-4 coming down the line anyway.

I think an interactive application with clear, informative, accurate weather combined with, say, news from a general service newswire (AP, Reuters, etc) and a few Christian oriented news sources (Christian Science Monitor, etc) would be a nice addition that hopefully wouldn't take up much bandwidth.

Failing that, how about something that just has a rotating set of slides on a standard (but very low bitrate) video stream, with the audio "borrowed" from God Listens/KSBJ (since it seems to be the "slide audio of choice" for SA)? I am imagining something akin to the old MSNBC Intellicast service on Primestar, but national rather than regional - or covering different regions on a rotating basis, perhaps.

[James Long]

OK here is what SA is saying they are going to do:

"Sky Angel is in the process of launching 5 new television channels in response to an overwhelming number of requests for more family-friendly programs, a movie channel, and general interest channels that offer important information to viewers such as news, weather, or home improvement."Looks like they scaled back a little -

Fox News Channels (News) - May 10th
Hallmark Channel (General Interest) - May 28th
Hallmark Movie Channel (Movie) - June 5th
Home and Garden TV (Home Improvement) - August 24th? (one post rumor)

SkyAngel has sent out a promotional card with these four channels and all other existing channels except FeTV (which is expected to be replaced by HGTV). No other new channels or missing channels on that card.

It looks like SkyAngel is giving up with four new television channels instead of five.

JL

[Geronimo]

Goodlife TV, which was the Nostagia Channel has changed its name again to American Life TV. The web site is still http://www.goodtv.com/

I would absolutelu LOVE to see this channel on Sky Angel or Dish. I have been asking for it for years!

Here are some of the shows on this channel:

The Courtship of Eddie's Father, The Home Front, I’ll Fly Away, Mayberry RFD, 77 Sunset Strip, Bourbon Street Beat, Harry O, Hawaiian Eye, Surfside 6, China Beach, Combat!, The Gallant Men, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., I Spy, Bronco, Cheyenne, Kung Fu, Maverick, Sugarfoot, The FBI, Chico & the Man, The Honeymooners (Colorized), Welcome Back Kotter, F Troop, My Favorite Martian.

Not a bad stable.

See ya
Tony




It isa n EXCELLENT stable. But I doubt that SA in particular would do business with a channel with that ownership.