Scott, are you backing off NBA statement?

[Ronmort]

I just noticed the announcement of the NBA LP on Dish has been removed. Just wondering, if you folks are less confident about it coming on, or have you heard anything else from your Dish contacts?

[Scott Greczkowski]

Im not backing off at all, I am however a little disapointed.

I origially found out about the NBA coming to Dish the day the NHL was announced, when I was talking to someone from Echostar I was told that they were announcing NHL today and would be announcing NBA in a few weeks.

I have talked to various people over the past few days from Echostar and all have said it's coming.

With the Channels being uplinked complete with how to order Info Screens, with the Dish Network website having a holding place for the NBA page and from all the diffrent folks at Echostar telling me its going to be there it all adds up to me.

Now the question becomes why haven't they announced it yet?

[jeffwtux]

Scott, when are they going to announce ESPN Full Court?

[Scott Greczkowski]

I have not heard anything about ESPN Full Court for this year.

[jeffwtux]

Well, if they can't renew Full Court, there's no way they're going to get NBA League Pass. College Hoops season is only a couple of weeks away as well. There must be a reason why they took it off their website after having it the last 3+ years

[Reverend Ike]

Just guessing, but perhaps they are running late on all the sports packages and have just decided to setup, offer and promote them one at a time (NHL, then NBA, then ESPN FC)? On DirecTV, the early-bird signup for NBA LP is through Nov 5, and early-bird signup for ESPN FC is through Nov 30, so it doesn't appear that Dish is horribly late on the ESPN package yet. DirecTV also does not have the schedules listed for either package, so I'm not sure when the ESPN FC package games are actually supposed to start.

On the other hand, I think auto-renewal for ESPN FC should have taken place by Sep 30 - did any Dish customers have a renewal charge billed to their accounts in September? If not, then there might be some doubt, since companies almost always "bill first and ask questions later".

[Ronmort]

I could be wrong, but I don't think Dish has auto-renewal. As far as the NBA LP is concerned, I bet it will be offered Monday or Tuesday. The NHL had been offered for several weeks before the announcement on Dish. Maybe there's some contractual agreement that DTV has exclusive rights up to a certain time. I just hope some last minute problem didn't arise.

[jeffwtux]

i just found out from customer service that ESPN FC will be annunced and offered starting Nov 4 for $99/season. The early bird date was undecided. Nothing to worry about. I just think it's stupid to not have it on your website even if it isn't the right season. If you're a prospective customer debating between Dish and Direct in like July, and you're a big college hoops fan. You might decide on Direc because ESPN FC isn't listed on Dish's website.

[John Corn]

Ronmort, I'm with you, I'm keeping my fingers crossed in hopes we hear something next week regarding the NBA. :)

[JeffP]

Well Tivo added the NBA channels from 560-571 last night so obviously Dish has told them something. 560 is NBA TV, while 561-571 are the League Pass channels. Hopefully we will get an announcement tomorrow.

[John Corn]

I'm hoping we hear something about the NBA today. :)

[JohnH]

The channels are listed on Gist.com with 560 being NBATV and the rest being NBA1 - NBA11. :)

There is a channel on Tp 7 at 110 which is well hidden. It could be the Channel 560 after the announcement. DISH Logo and Muzak. :)

[Reverend Ike]

As of 7:20 AM (Pacific Time), a Dish CSR was still doing his best impression of Sergeant Hans Schultz: "I know nothing! Nothing!"

[TNGTony]

When I came home at 9:30PM EST, I was surprised to see the NBA channels (561-571) in red on my 4000's EPG.

See ya
Tony

[Ronmort]

Tony: Is that good or bad? What does that mean-in red??? Sorry, for my lack of understanding of these things.

[Geronimo]

It is good if they are there., Red just means he does not subscribe

[Ronmort]

OK Thanks Geronimo. I had sort of given up. A CSR told me about 7PM, it was a definite "NO" on NBA LP.

[Geronimo]

Well that's weird. I guess they want to keep us guessing.

[AllenW]

I see them too! This is great news, I guess this is official as it gets. Has anyone called to subscribe yet?

[SParker]

It would be suicide for Dish now if they don't offer this especially with it showing up in the guide for all to see.

[jeffwtux]

I was just told by a CSR that had a memo on NBA LP, that it is a done deal and will be offered tomorrow.

[Karl Foster]

Give the subs one day to sign up before the season starts on Wednesday!? I guess they have their reasons, but why the delay?

[Reverend Ike]

I just got off the phone with a CSR who initially told me they didn't have it. After I made him look further, he found the memo and then I asked him about pricing, free preview period, etc. He said the memo sets the price at $159 (or 3 payments of $53.00) but does not specify whether this is an "early-bird signup" price. It would appear that it is, since DirecTV's early-bird price is $159 (although they have a 4-payment plan), rising to $179 on Nov 6. I'm guessing Dish will use the same timeframe.

He didn't have any confirmation of the free preview, although he acknowledged that it is normally offered for these types of packages (I guess we'll know about that in the morning).

I'm assuming that they just need to "unlock" channels 561-571 for the free preview period. I forgot to ask him about the NBA TV channel (560) and I will have to go and see if it is even appearing in the program guide.

This whole roll-out has been handled ridiculously. I just called Dish about 4 hours ago, talked to a very helpful CSR (for a change) and she searched everywhere. They did not have a scrap of information for her to pass on at that time.

P.S. - Karl, the season actually starts tomorrow (Tuesday) ...

[AllenW]

Ike, if you go to the Sacramento/Cleveland game in the guide tomorrow at 10 it says NBA League Pass(Free Preview) so there will definitely be one.

[Reverend Ike]

Cool. Thanks, Allen. My upstairs receiver is broke, and the downstairs receiver was being used, so I hadn't yet had a chance to see exactly what the program info said.

[JohnH]

Even the DISHPlayer has the game listed as a free preview. :)

[Mark Holtz]

Heh. I wonder if the game will be blacked out in Sacramento since it will be broadcast on KMAX-31.

[TimL]

Probably, since it is a Sacramento home game The game appears to be blacked out in the Cleveland area since WUAB-43 is showing it.