Unless there is a merger, the 2 line ups will remain in tact unless there are agreement changes between the DBS and content providers. DirecTV has a habbit of everyonce in a while moving channels down into lower tiers, but Dish doesn't, the only channel that I know of that moved to a lower tier was MTV2, when it moved from AT 100 to AT50 last year. So it is very unlikely Halmark will be moved into AT100.
Halmark on DISH
I noticed that the Halmark Channel is available in the $31.99 package at DirecTV but is not available w/ DISH unless you do the $40.99+ package. I realize this shouldn't constitute a dilemna while trying to decide to DISH vs. DirecTV, BUT... There are also similar issues with the FOX Movie Channel and several others.
Do you think DISH will make this channel available in the cheaper packages as DirecTV has done? Or will the channel line-ups become more similar due to the merger?
Do you think DISH will make this channel available in the cheaper packages as DirecTV has done? Or will the channel line-ups become more similar due to the merger?
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I think Speed did too. D* has the better prices on packages but not as many channels in the Premium lineup. (except having themed Encores in Super Pak)
In Dish's defense, I will say that if I had my own DBS company, I would market my channels the same way that both D* and E* do. If you get the base package, you get a smattering of channels, but not all channels of a particular interest. An example is people who are history buffs. If you want all of the history channels (History, History International, Discovery Civilization, National Geographic) you have to subscribe to the either TC+ or AT150. This isn't by accident. Family stations are the same, as are home improvement stations. They are in business to make money and scattering all the stations of a particular interest over all packages is a good moneymaker for both companies.
Correct ToomuchTV, I forgot about Speed moving into AT100 earlier this year.
Dish has a real problem moving stuff into the AT50 or AT100. They do not have the satellite capacity to make additions to these plans unless they drop another channel. Which they usually do before adding a channel to the package.
The problem is that you only need 119 to get AT50 or AT100. 119 has been jam packed for a while. Dish only has 21 transponders on 119, 5 of which are spot LIL. So, they only have 16 transponders to play with. Direct TV has all 32 on 101, using 8 for LIL spots, gives them 24 or 50% more capacity for national programming than dish has.
If Dish really wanted to improve PQ they should require dish500 for AT100, or distants. Or move E7 to 110 with E8 and move E5 to 119, giving them 5 more transponders back from LIL to use for PQ. If they were going to do this they would have to do it next month, so I doubt that they ever would. They would have to do it by moving E8 into place at 110, move the LIL from 119-E7 to 110-E8, move E5 to 119, turn on E5, turn off E7, then move E7 to 110 and turn it back on. Then they would have 10 spot beam frequencies at 110, and none at 119. 119 would have 21 national beams.
They may be planning on doing this anyways if the merger goes through. They are planning on building a new E1 and putting it at 110 with more spots. They changed E8 from 1-9 odd to 2-10 even spots so that it could work with E7 in the same slot. 119 is a good slot for national programming because it hits Hawaii and AK well and does not get too low for the east coast.
The problem is that you only need 119 to get AT50 or AT100. 119 has been jam packed for a while. Dish only has 21 transponders on 119, 5 of which are spot LIL. So, they only have 16 transponders to play with. Direct TV has all 32 on 101, using 8 for LIL spots, gives them 24 or 50% more capacity for national programming than dish has.
If Dish really wanted to improve PQ they should require dish500 for AT100, or distants. Or move E7 to 110 with E8 and move E5 to 119, giving them 5 more transponders back from LIL to use for PQ. If they were going to do this they would have to do it next month, so I doubt that they ever would. They would have to do it by moving E8 into place at 110, move the LIL from 119-E7 to 110-E8, move E5 to 119, turn on E5, turn off E7, then move E7 to 110 and turn it back on. Then they would have 10 spot beam frequencies at 110, and none at 119. 119 would have 21 national beams.
They may be planning on doing this anyways if the merger goes through. They are planning on building a new E1 and putting it at 110 with more spots. They changed E8 from 1-9 odd to 2-10 even spots so that it could work with E7 in the same slot. 119 is a good slot for national programming because it hits Hawaii and AK well and does not get too low for the east coast.
I would not dare say that Dish does not move some programming from the bigger packages into the smaller ones. They moved the Speed Channel from top 150 to top 100, moved mtv 2 from top 100 to top 50, so that is not fair to say.
Yeah but thats only 2 channels compared to D*, a quck look over all my old D* literature shows at least 10 channels that have been moved into lower tiers. Not to mention the 8 channels that used to be in the family pack,which was $5 extra, that moved into TC Premier when the price went down from $83 to $82.
I don't think that anyone said that... In fact the two channels you cited were mentioned as having moved down in posts before yours. The also cancelled ESPN/SI, ESPN classic, and ABC Family.Originally posted by Jacob S
I would not dare say that Dish does not move some programming from the bigger packages into the smaller ones. They moved the Speed Channel from top 150 to top 100, moved mtv 2 from top 100 to top 50, so that is not fair to say.
DISH also restored ESPN classic and ABC Family. As for CNN/SI (there is no ESPN/SI) it no longer exists.
I suspect if the merger goes through at least AT100 channels will relocate to 110 at least until the platforms are consolidated, this will allow for common programing packages in both DVB and DSS formats. If the merger is not approved I believe it would still be in E* best interest to move AT100 channels to 110 to have more flexibility in adding channels to AT100 from AT150 to strengthen AT100 and make it more competitive with TC and this should still leave room for a handful of future additions to AT150.
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