Retailer Chat, May 26, 2005: some details, locals, etc...

[Darkman]

Jim and Amir in Studio... Promotions Discussion.....

Promotional Videos.... (DISH DVR, AT Package promotions, etc)

Locals - 2 Puerto Rico one's were added recently - WPRU ABC and WSJP UPN/WB
("and we are working on Univision" .. Amir said)

(as of today - 158 local markets)

Upcoming ones: Casper-Riverton, WY, ..Fairbanks, AK, ..Great Falls, MT, ..Juneau, AK, ..Minot-Bismarck, ND - "so that's all great news" ..Amir said

Voom:
They added some now.. some will be added in Stage 2 later on...
I noticed some logos.. in the advertizing.. the ones that were added now...
But then they showed the AD that others will be added in Stage 2.. and different logos were on screen (different from the first AD) .. Here what i was able to make out:

... - Action, HD Cinema 10, ha ha HD, Film Fest, Vice, Lab, World Cinema, Divine, Family something, maybe World Sports..maybe, etc..( can't make out the rest).. but i don't see Tennis TV logo :)

Bridges TV is launched only about a week ago.. ch 578, 14.95 a month (or i think it's 14.95 anyhow.. from what i recall hearing)

[Darkman]

they talked about this at Team Summit - Effective on June 9th .. Retailers ONLY need to enter Last 4 Digits of Social SN .. instead of full string..

So now they can do both.. 4 or the Full one...

[Darkman]

I must have missed it .. but according to Scott from satelliteguys .. if you want 4 #s only instead of Full string.. - gotto pay $50 bucks for it.... ?? .. hmm... (i would not) ;)
And this is only for New Customers .. obviously

[Darkman]

and according to Scott's recap: "As of May 5th customers doing Dish Mover are not required to give a credit card number anymore."

Phone calls now...

[Darkman]

Phone call: "Any plans to put Voom also to 148" (many customer enquires about this)

Jims answer: "We understand this.. we understand the need.. but 148 is pretty much occupied now.. But we are looking at the long term solutions.. and we ll let you know soon"
(so.. - Basically a possibilty .. but who knows "if" or "when") ;)

[Darkman]

Chat is over...

P.S... In a near future.. (not sure exactly when), my connection to be able to view Live or Pre-recorded Retailer Chats will be over.. - so obviously i ll retire from these recaps... Just figured to let you all know...
Not a big deal though.. - that's Life.. and it continues ;)

[chelsea]

Getting warm in Alaska, another Fairbanks - Juneau mention.
We can speculate which sat to Alaska.

[Darkman]

Speculation is fine of course, but the Best is just to "wait and see" .. i guess :)

[Darkman]

at this Chat.. by the way, was absolutely NO mention at all about that Fox Reality channel

[chelsea]

Speculation is the new correct word.

I like Tony's guess of doubling up & fitting all on the same spotbeam.

[Scott Greczkowski]

Good recap Darkman, No mention of Fox Reality and also more surprisingly no mention of the Sinclair Troubles.

I also fiund it interesting when they mentioned they were looking into using the VOOM equipment people have in their omes. I am surprised they would try to open that can of worms.

[Darkman]

Well .. gotto remember that was a Retailer Chat, and not the Consumer one after all , to mention stuff like Sinclair..and even some Fox Reality channel...

Retailer Chats are mostly about strategies on how to make money after all :D

P.S. I thought you said - next Wednsday.. (Fox Reality on DISH).. - Is that still on or you are NOT sure any longer now?

[Scott Greczkowski]

I was told by two seperate folks at Dish yesterday that Fox Reality was coming on June 2nd.

The really should let retailers know whats going on with the Sinclir stuff as it affects them big time, especially if the stations do go dark, as their phones start ringing with angry customers who want to cancel their service because their favorite channel is missing. If the customer cancels service because of this it also may cost the dealer money because of Chargeback and lost residuals.

The sinclair situation is VERY important to dealers.

[Darkman]

Maybe they know that they will make some sort of a deal with Sinclair .. for sure somehow.. regardless.. even if quietly or behind the closed doors..

... and just do not want to "make waves" :)

Who knows what IS in their heads though... lol :rolleyes:

[Paul Secic]

at this Chat.. by the way, was absolutely NO mention at all about that Fox Reality channel
Fox Reality channel is being added in late Summer I read in MediaWeek

Link:http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/cabletv/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000936329

I guess June 2nd can be Summer. :D

[Darkman]

Hehe .. well .. someone is wrong then.. (..cuz Scott said June 2nd ) :D

[TNGTony]

I've also heard June 2nd, but the channel is not uplinked to any satellite at this time.

As to the Alaska locals, I can see 1 market being put on the same spot beam as Anchorage IF they double up on repeaters and just mirror the channel. But both Juneau and Fairmanks will not fit on the same transponder as Anchorage if all the eligible stations are carried.

See ya
Tony

[Scott Greczkowski]

FYI I just found out the deadline with Sinclair has been extended for 2 more months. (And I asked again and my contact is still saying June 2nd for FOX Reality. I could care less if they added it or not)

From Sinclair's website:

Status of Negotiations With the DISH Network

The agreement between Echostar and Sinclair, which allows Sinclair's television stations to be carried by the DISH satellite network, is scheduled to expire on Tuesday, May 31, 2005. That agreement has been extended for an additional two months as contract negotiations continue. Although there can be no assurance that these negotiations will be successful, it is our hope to reach a long-term agreement. We will keep you informed of any change in the status of our negotiations.

[juan ellitinez]

I've also heard June 2nd, but the channel is not uplinked to any satellite at this time.

As to the Alaska locals, I can see 1 market being put on the same spot beam as Anchorage IF they double up on repeaters and just mirror the channel. But both Juneau and Fairmanks will not fit on the same transponder as Anchorage if all the eligible stations are carried.

See ya
TonyArent most of Alaskan Channels just repeaters of the Anchorage stations?

[TNGTony]

Many are, but I count a total of 15 or 16 eligible or at least likely TV stations that are not repeaters. Add the government channel and you have 16 ot 17 total stations. WAY too many for 1 transponder.

See ya
Tony

[juan ellitinez]

Many are, but I count a total of 15 or 16 eligible or at least likely TV stations that are not repeaters. Add the government channel and you have 16 ot 17 total stations. WAY too many for 1 transponder.

See ya
Tony
How many channels per transmitter when they switch everybody to mpeg 4?

[Darkman]

FYI I just found out the deadline with Sinclair has been extended for 2 more months.
See, i was right when i said, that they could be talking.. behind the scenes or "behind closed doors" ;)

[Darkman]

How many channels per transmitter when they switch everybody to mpeg 4?
I think about Double.. isn't it...

[Jacob S]

Yeah, it would affect the retailer with lost commissions because of something that is not their fault, if the Sinclair channels are removed, especially in a market where Sinclair owns two major networks (ABC and FOX) which I hear is illegal. Bad unfair advantage. Who is going to pay for all the loss of commissions and customers if they had an unfair illegal advantage? The FCC for not enforcing the law? Sinclair for not following the law?

[TNGTony]

How many channels per transmitter when they switch everybody to mpeg 4?

Don't know but these locals are scheduled to become available well before MPEG4 receivers are widely available.

Just for the record here are the unique Alaska stations in question:

Already Oh Dish-
KTUU TV 2 Anchorage, AK NBC Available 119° 10/18/03
KTBY TV 4 Anchorage, AK FOX Available 119° 8/26/03
KYES TV 5 Anchorage, AK UPN Available 119° 8/26/03
KAKM TV 7 Anchorage, AK PBS Available 119° 8/26/03
KTVA TV 11 Anchorage, AK CBS Available 119° 8/26/03
KIMO TV 13 Anchorage, AK ABC Available 119° 8/28/03
KDMD TV 33 Anchorage, AK PAX/HSN Available 119° 8/26/03

Still to come:
Fairbanks---
KJNP TV 4 North Pole, AK TBN (Not an O&O therefore not subject to TBN deal)
KFXF TV 7 Fairbanks, AK Fox/UPN
KUAC TV 9 Fairbanks, AK PBS
KTVF TV 11 Fairbanks, AK NBC
K13XD 13 Fairbanks, AK CBS (owned by Fox affiliate which insists on this stations carriage)

Juneau---
KTOO TV 3 Juneau, AK PBS
KUBD TV 4 Ketchikan, AK CBS/Pax
KATH-LP 5 Juneau, AK NBC/UPN Unique program schedule
KSCT-LP 5 Sitka, AK NBC Unique program schedule
KTNL TV 13 Sitka, AK CBS/Pax

Repeaters:
KATN TV 2 Fairbanks, AK ABC Repeater of KIMO TV 13 Anchorage
KDMD LP 32 Fairbanks, AK Pax HSN repeater of KDMD 33 Anchorage
KJUD TV 8 Juneau, AK Repeater of KIMO TV 13 Anchorage

And eventually KYUK Bethel, which is outside any DMA will be a must carry station when the FCC finishes rule-making on the SHVERA.

So if only 1 NBC is picked up in Juneau, I see a total of 16 channels in AK with 3 mirrors of Anchorage ABC. Count the government channel, that's 17 + Bethel as soon as must carry kicks in for the last remaining true white area in the country, that's 18. Something's gotta give.

See ya
Tony

[larrystotler]

I must have missed it .. but according to Scott from satelliteguys .. if you want 4 #s only instead of Full string.. - gotto pay $50 bucks for it.... ?? .. hmm... (i would not) ;)
And this is only for New Customers .. obviously

This is old. They used to let us run a claim with only the last 4 digits, but the customer had to pay a $50 fee to be eligible to do it. It's considered an account set up fee. They removed that option a few months ago. What's curious is that the DHA requires a credit check. I just looked and that is available for DHA promos. Weird.

[Darkman]

on the Latino Retailer Chat .. from 5/24/2005 - they advertized promotion for Dish Latino packages.. (for new customers more likely.. but not sure now) .. i think it is running till End of July (or something like that) :

$12 dollars off any of the 3 packages for 3 months, example:

29.99 - 12 = You pay 17.99 (for the first 3 months)
39.99 - 12 = 27.99 ( you pay that - first 3 months)
49.99 - 12 = 37.99 ( you pay that - first 3 months)

hehe - i see on the least expensive package - 29.99 .. you d get the biggerst percentage of the discount ;)

[Mikey]

...$12 dollars off any of the 3 packages for 3 months, example:

29.99 - 12 = You pay 17.99 (for the first 3 months)
39.99 - 12 = 27.99 ( you pay that - first 3 months)
49.99 - 12 = 37.99 ( you pay that - first 3 months)

hehe - i see on the least expensive package - 29.99 .. you d get the biggerst percentage of the discount ;)Well DUH! Take a fixed amount away from each, and the biggest percentage drop is for the lowest original number.

[Darkman]

12 .. more of a percentage from 29.99

12/29.99 = 0.40013337779259753251083694564855 (40% off basically)

12/39.99 = 0.30007501875468867216804201050263 (30% off basically)

12/49.99 = 0.24004800960192038407681536307261 (24% of basically)

Best percentage of discount (or a VALUE) ..would be for someone with 29.99 package... easily understandable of course.. - i just wanted to Note the fact :D

[Darkman]

Next Consumer Charlie Chat - June 13, 9 PM Eastern time, ch 101

Next Retailer Chat - June 16, 12 Noon, Eastern time

[Darkman]

...Effective on June 9th .. Retailers ONLY need to enter Last 4 Digits of Social SN .. instead of full string..

So now they can do both.. 4 or the Full one...

I must have missed it .. but according to Scott from satelliteguys .. if you want 4 #s only instead of Full string.. - gotto pay $50 bucks for it.... ?? .. hmm... (i would not)
And this is only for New Customers .. obviously
Well.. I knew something was fishy about this 50 bucks charge if want 4 #s only instead of the Full String...

So i rewatched that part..
And sure thing.. - Scott, you provided wrong info there...

Cuz, vice versa.. .. it's like that - before if Customer wanted to provide only 4 numbers, he would have to pay 50 dollars fee for that..

But now it changed!

Here are details .. right from screen:

"Effective June 9, 2005 Retailers will be able to qualify a customer WITHOUT additional 50 dollars fee, if customer doesn't want to provide the entire string of #s"

"Only 4 #s will do, WITHOUT a 50 dollar extra fee" .. "Win Win situation for everyone now" (as lots of customers do NOT like to reveal their SSN)

Here is the info from screen:

Social Security Requirements
-- Effective June 9, 2005
-- Only Need last 4 digits of SSN
-- Eliminating the $49.99 Charge (that was previously unavoidable) :)
:D

[Darkman]

This is old. They used to let us run a claim with only the last 4 digits, but the customer had to pay a $50 fee to be eligible to do it. It's considered an account set up fee. They removed that option a few months ago. What's curious is that the DHA requires a credit check. I just looked and that is available for DHA promos. Weird.
Was Scott's mistake.. (as i just pointed above)