[Ray Trautman]

Hello,

I was one of the first DirecTV customers and have had it since. A buddy of mine told me that Dish Network was better then DirecTV and I should give it a try (he's never had DirecTV). Foolishly I took his advice and signed up for Dish's new Digital Home Plan with a 301 & 501. After being quoted the wrong price on the phone (was told my bill would be $72.99/month when I ordered on the phone but come to find out they tack on $10 and it will be $82.99/month) the installer comes, rips out my old DirecTV antenna and installs the Dish Network one. I'm initially impressed by the 501 and the PVR portion but soon discover Dish Networks shortcomings. First, I've never seen so much "Paid Programming". After midnight almost every channel is "Paid Programming". This was never the case on DirecTV, they had some but it was no where near as bad as on Dish. The Discovery Channel switches to "Paid Programming" at midnight and on DirecTV I could watch the discovery channel well into the morning.

Secondly, there is a quarter of the pay per view movie channels that DirecTV had. Pay per view movies was one of the biggest reasons for having DBS now we're severely limited in the movies and times they show.

So far I'm not impressed with Dish Network. Am I missing something? I guess it's my fault for listening to a friend without researching it myself.

 

[brmann]

Secondly, there is a quarter of the pay per view movie channels that DirecTV had. Pay per view movies was one of the biggest reasons for having DBS now we're severely limited in the movies and times they show.

Hi Ray,

I subscribed to DTV the first day it was available in Florida, Then I subscribed to E* the first month it was available (6 years ago this month). At that time there was a definite price advantage with Dish, but suspect now they're both rather competitive. I do remember that at one time it was almost impossible to get DTV on the phone with a complaint or question, but that has probably also changed. And if you follow some of these threads you'll soon discover that many dbs lurkers seem to think of dbs provider preference as sort of a religion. In general I prefer Dish but I think it's a little like asking which is a better truck, Ford or Chevy? They're both pretty damn good.

As to the PPV selection, I agree DTV always has outclassed Dish in that category. But, with the 501 (it totally changed the way I watch tv) it's not really import what time something comes on - you simply record it whenever - then watch at your leisure ... again and again and again if you're so inclined.

The same also goes for those channels with paid announcements - what do you care? Record what you want and ignore the rest. In short, with PRV, with the exception of special events (news, sports, etc) I seldom watch live tv. Come night fall you'll find me watching last nights best, while recording tonights best.

Stick with it a bit and I predict that soon you'll agree that it makes little difference weather you say toe-may-toe or tah-mah-toe. They're both juicy and tasty.

Burt

 

[dvdguyjt]

**After being quoted the wrong price on the phone (was told my bill would be $72.99/month when I ordered on the phone but come to find out they tack on $10 and it will be $82.99/month)**

What was the extra $10 for? I'm about to subscibe to dish, and I would like to make sure this does not happen to me!

**I've never seen so much "Paid Programming". After midnight almost every channel is "Paid Programming". This was never the case on DirecTV, they had some but it was no where near as bad as on Dish.**

Does Dish insert paid programming, or was it just a fluke that there was lots of paid programming on that particular night you watched. I'd be curious to check a program guide of Dish vs. DTV to see what the deal is.
JT

 

[MarkA]

DISH doesn't modify the channel's programming. You are seeing the exact same channels. However DirecTV is still better, because DISH has a worse picture and their receivers are buggier tan those of DirecTV

 

[Ray Trautman]

Originally posted by Mark
DISH doesn't modify the channel's programming. You are seeing the exact same channels. However DirecTV is still better, because DISH has a worse picture and their receivers are buggier tan those of DirecTV

Mark,

Are you sure about this? I thought the same thing until I got Dish Network and seen that almost every channel is "Paid Programming" after midnight. Like I said, I never had trouble finding something to watch on DirecTV in the early morning but on Dish there is nothing but advertisments. It looks to me that Dish Network is selling channel space to advertisers after midnight. I may be completely wrong but that is what it appears like to me. Anyone have more information on this?

 

[Ray Trautman]

Originally posted by dvdguyjt
**After being quoted the wrong price on the phone (was told my bill would be $72.99/month when I ordered on the phone but come to find out they tack on $10 and it will be $82.99/month)**

What was the extra $10 for? I'm about to subscibe to dish, and I would like to make sure this does not happen to me!

**I've never seen so much "Paid Programming". After midnight almost every channel is "Paid Programming". This was never the case on DirecTV, they had some but it was no where near as bad as on Dish.**

Does Dish insert paid programming, or was it just a fluke that there was lots of paid programming on that particular night you watched. I'd be curious to check a program guide of Dish vs. DTV to see what the deal is.
JT

The extra $10 is....$5 for the second reciever and $5 for the Digital Home Plan Warranty (they will replace your reciever if it goes bad). When I ordered Dish Network I was specifically told on the phone that my monthly bill would be $72.99 + tax. When I called back to inquire about locals and the superstations I was told my bill was already up to $82.99. I also thought I was getting new equiptment when I ordered but that's not the case either, they send you remanufactured equipment (which is not that big of deal).

As far as the paid programing...I never noticed the amount of paid programing on DTV as there is on Dish. After midnight you'll be hard pressed to find something to watch on Dish where I could always find something on DTV. It doesn't matter what night it is, every night it's nothing but paid programming after midnight. Even some of the premium movie channels go "off air" after midnight, this NEVER happened on DTV.

 

[Neil Derryberry]

"Even some of the premium movie channels go "off air" after midnight, this NEVER happened on DTV."

I've never seen that - I have AEP and I wtch HBO, etc. quite late. E* doesn't generate programming, so the times you see it are when the programmers want you to see it. E* just retransmits what they recieve.

 

[Ray Trautman]

Originally posted by Neil Derryberry
"Even some of the premium movie channels go "off air" after midnight, this NEVER happened on DTV."

I've never seen that - I have AEP and I wtch HBO, etc. quite late. E* doesn't generate programming, so the times you see it are when the programmers want you to see it. E* just retransmits what they recieve.

Thursday night I was up late watching TV and two premium movie channels (showtime extreme was one of them I don't remember the other one) were both "off air". I just looked over the next two days and they have programing all night. Thursday was the second night I had Dish and I wasnt impressed by finding channels "off air".

 

[Guest]

Here's some possible answers... as to the Paid Programming, I'm going to guess you live on the west coast. Dish carries the East Coast feeds of most channels like Discovery, so actually, the Paid Programming comes on at 3am ET, which is Midnight PT. If Direct carries West Coast Feeds, that would be the difference. As to the Premiums going off air, I too have noticed this phenomenon, and belive it may have something to do with the new Satellite that was launched,and realigning what channels are on what birds. That being said, most of the time if the EPG says off air, there is actually still a movie on. Again, this seems to affect us West Coast types more, since more of us are awake at Midnight our time, or 3 am ET.

Pat in Spokane

 

[EricG]

Ray-

The DirecTV equipment theat the installer "ripped off" your house was yours, you should not have let him take it.

It's unfortunate you found this forum AFTER you made the switch, I agree. You could learn a great deal from others' mistakes.

Your buddy didn't let you watch his TV before you made the jump to Dish? I'd say "ex-buddy".

 

[Charles Oliva]

Ray,
The reason those channels were off the air is due to Dish moving from one satellite to a new one. Dish has been doing these changes between 3-6am ET when viewership is low, over that last week. Most of the changes have been completed, so these late night interupts should be minimal as they finish tuning the new satellite.

 

[Mark Holtz]

Your timing is just bad, that's all.

Echostar 7 went on-line last week, and Dish is migrating programming over to that satellite. The best time to do that is during the overnight hours when very few people are watching, thus some of the off-air notices in the program guides. Compression is also turned up at the moment.

With the exception of the home shopping zones, the paid programming is inserted by the channel provider. This kinda sucks since most of Dish's feeds are east coast and I'm on the west coast, so starting at 9 PM, paid programming goes up.

As for Pay-Per-View programming, there is a tie-in between DirecTV and Blockbuster, so there are more PPV channels. Dish also had to drop a few PPV channels and combine some barker (promotional) channels to make space for the must-carry locals at the beginning of the year.

 

[Ray Trautman]

Originally posted by Pat
Here's some possible answers... as to the Paid Programming, I'm going to guess you live on the west coast. Dish carries the East Coast feeds of most channels like Discovery, so actually, the Paid Programming comes on at 3am ET, which is Midnight PT. If Direct carries West Coast Feeds, that would be the difference. As to the Premiums going off air, I too have noticed this phenomenon, and belive it may have something to do with the new Satellite that was launched,and realigning what channels are on what birds. That being said, most of the time if the EPG says off air, there is actually still a movie on. Again, this seems to affect us West Coast types more, since more of us are awake at Midnight our time, or 3 am ET.

Pat in Spokane

Pat,

I'm your neighbor, I live in Lewiston Idaho.

What you say may in fact be the case, I didn't think of that. Also, I was told by the installer that Spokane locals are suppose to be available any day now. He said they were suppose to be available a week or so ago but they had a satellite issue they were working on and we would have them any day. Do you or anyone else have information on this? This would make up for any shortcommings if I could get network TV from the DBS and I could get rid of cable all together.

Thanks,

 

[Ray Trautman]

Originally posted by EricG
Ray-

The DirecTV equipment theat the installer "ripped off" your house was yours, you should not have let him take it.

It's unfortunate you found this forum AFTER you made the switch, I agree. You could learn a great deal from others' mistakes.

Your buddy didn't let you watch his TV before you made the jump to Dish? I'd say "ex-buddy".

EricG,

Maybe a bad choice of words on my part. I didn't mean he "ripped off" as in stole my equipment, he just removed it from my house leaving six large holes in the siding that I'll have to repair. I had hoped he could use the same mounthing pole for the Dish Network antenna but he said he could not get the Dish signal from there so he mounted his antenna in a different spot. He left my equipment when he was done. Sorry about the confusion.

 

[MarkA]

Ray, the DirecTV installer was LIKELY making up nonsense to make his install (aiming the dish) easier. If you could see DISH from that spot it's most unlikely you couldn't see DirecTV (though it is possible, I'd have to see the situation to tell you for sure).

Second, I highly doubt you'll see Spokane locals until sometime after the DirecTV-DISH Network merger.

AFAIK DirecTV and DISH share the same feeds so the west coast thing I don't think would be the issue. Did you check what programming was actually on where it claimed paid programming? There could have been a mistake

 

[Steve Mehs]

Dish Network and DirecTV use the same program feeds so whats ever on Dish Network on ESPN at 3AM is the same exact thing that on ESPN at 3AM on DirecTV. Most programming providers (Viacom, TW, Disney) put paid programming on in the middel of the night to reduce their costs by not showing reruns that most people arent watching since theyre sleeping. On some channel in the middle of the night it says 'Off air' on the guide, but did you ever tune to these channels? Most are on air but dish isnt passing along the programming information for some reason. As for PPVs its my rough guess DirecTV and Dish are showing the same movies its just that DirecTV shows the same movie on 5 or 6 different channels to maximize start times.

 

[Guest]

You mention Showtime Extreme going off the air... I did not think that channel was on DTV? Maybe things have changed?

 

[Kevin]

Showtime Extreme is going off the air? I didn't hear anything about that, and it would be a shame because it's a good channel.

 

[Ray Trautman]

Originally posted by Bowling For Soup
Showtime Extreme is going off the air? I didn't hear anything about that, and it would be a shame because it's a good channel.

It's not going off the air, you need to reread what was said. I was flipping through the channels Thursday (on Dish Network) and it said it was "off air". This channel was not on DTV, I'm talking about it on Dish Network.

 

[Karl Foster]

Originally posted by Guest
You mention Showtime Extreme going off the air... I did not think that channel was on DTV? Maybe things have changed?

Showtime Extreme is on channel 542 on Directv.

My Discovery Channel and History Channel both have paid programming in the middle of the night on Directv, but the other Discovery Channels - Discovery Civilization, Science, Discovery Home & Leisure, Discovery Health, Animal Planet, and Discovery Wings all have 24-hour programming, as does History International.