[TNGTony]

Hello again folks! It's been a while since I provided the Charlie Chat
summaries due to my "real" life intruding on my activities here. But once
again, I am happy to be reporting the news that's fit to print...or at least
whatever they talk about on the Charlie Chat.

Tonight I expect lots of "Locals", Merger, and E*8 talk. So let's see what
Charlie and Jim have to say:

9pm EDT Do you know where your Satellite dishes are?

Charlie Chat begins with a new open and new Voice! No Jim Olsen?

Jim says hello!
New local cities coming
Guests and E*8 talk.

Programming News channels at no extra charge
WB in Indianapolis. IU and Pacer B-Ball
WB in Washington coming Thursday!
PBS (additional?) in Cleveland coming in Thursday

New cities added to the system since last chat?
Waco TX (5 Networks)
Reno Nev without WB for the 18th
Harrisburg no CBS, UPN or WB for $4.99 coming sept 26th. Retrans consent
problems with CBS. Sept 26
Fresno Calif for ABC NBC, UPN PBS Univision* and Telemundo* Free until one
other net added the $4.99 and then $5.99 if all nets added. *Unit and Tele
require dish aimed at 148°

Jims asks how come all these cities in the west?
Charlie says because there is room on spots in the area where we already
have spots.
Harrisburg, Reno and Fresno all added for the same reason. Some experiments
to see how many customers we can get on "unused" capacity. Of course if the
MERGER was approved we'd do all cities.

Charlie says there are 212 markets in the US (Is he counting PR and USVI?)

Jim asks about HDTV
Charlie says you have to have some critical mass for HD programming. We
have CBS. Some people can't get REGULAR networks and they have been in
business 60 years. 12 HD Channel will be added almost instantly when the
merger is approved. (ahem...sure...ahem)

E*8 gives us additional capacity...let's roll the videotape showing us all
about the satellite.

Joining Charlie and Jim is Dave ::hand covering mouth::::ahhehrehh) one of
the folks that put E*8 together and up in orbit.

They talk tech about the satellite and show a video on how the rocket was
put together and the satellite placed on it.

They talk about the delay in the launch and then the weather problems. The
winds at 38k feet were very high.

They show a graphic of the satellite itself and talk a little more tech
about it.

9:16pm

Satellite's lifespan is about 20 years. It should be in service from the
middle to the end of October.

Charlie says "It's amazing what you get for $250,000,000." It's not as good
as it could be without the merger! We have the New Echostar 1 ready to get
built, but we wont until the merger gets approved. You really want this
merger approved...you want this merger...merger..merger...look deeeeep into
my eyes....merger...merger...

E*9 is ready to go up and it has a KA band transponders, but we lost our
license because the FCC says we aren't building a KA satellite so now we
have to go back to the FCC to show them we have the KA satellite. E*9 is
for broadband.

More programming....

Let's sell the ESPN Gameplan! Roll the commercial! 1-877-PPV-DISH.

Charlie watched it this weekend. $14.99 a Saturday (went up $3 from last
year) or $99 a year.

DeLaHoya and Vargas Boxing on PPV...lets roll the commercial $49.95

Question Time!!!!
E-mails from Miles Rose...I see Dish moved the local channels to the local
numbers. But the distant channels are on the old numbers.
Well lets talk about channel mappings...the vast majority of people now have
receivers that place local channels on the correct channel numbers. But
Distant Network signals will still show up on the same numbers they always
have.

Ken Brown says that his son wants Dish and he live in Baltimore...why no
locals.
Charlie says...not enough capacity. After going though retransmission
consent deals we went with Washington but not Baltimore. With the merger,
we could do it...merger...merger...merger...merger.

Next question. I live in LA why no FS West 2. You may not know we have it
now. Got it September 4. Channel 411.

Richard asks about TV Polonia. Can you put it back or get Polsat 1.
TV Polonia told us to shove it so no TV Polonia. We are NOT in negotiation
and are NOT optimistic. We are looking at other polish channels.

James has been a Dish Net sub for 5 years. He had Albuquerque. When he
discontinued service and then reupped he couldn't get Albuquerque locals.
Why?
Could be you live outside the DMA, maybe spot beam doesn't reach. Stay on
the line and we'll look into it.

Are you getting the Oxygen Channel?
We are talking about it. But right now it's too expensive. When we can get
a better price, we will get it. Look at what happened with NGC and
Speedvision. We're working on it.

Ernie: When are you going to get HD-Net, What's up with the merger, and
what about the 921?
Charlie talks about HDNet being a 3 channel service. Not coming until we
get the capacity (Merger...merger...you want the merger...) The 921 is
coming in the middle of next year. The merger is taking forever.
Regulators are taking their time. Don't anticipate hearing anything for at
LEAST a month.

Charlie is still rambling about the merger....

Call from Chris...What does the FCC think about the merger and when are they
going to be done voting? (BEEP)
Okay....thanks for winding the spring....merger...merger...you want the
merger....you are going to call the FCC and want the merger!

Programming

Sun TV Tama language from southern India so at 61.5 and 148 on September
12th 14.99 a month. No channel number given.

Now let's look at a videotape of the National Geographic Channel.

Giveaway time! Camelback packs. They yammer back and forth about the
camelbacks... Here is the question...What type of camel has only one hump
and what is stored in the hump?

Exciting! Jim says...Sopranos coming this Sunday on HBO. They show
preview. and the Jim Olsen comes on with "Janice" Aida Turturro. Interview
time.... And NO JIM FERGUSON! Hurrah!!

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ......

OH The show's back on.... Get it on HBO only. $13.99 a month or less.
They show the package price...go to the EKB or Dish Network Web site for
pricing.

Another Giveaway time! Let's look at the sopranos dartboard....
What field of work does Janice work in...(She quit the Christian music
racquet so if they say that, they're wrong)...

Question time again
What do I need to get Discovery HD Theater?
the 6000 receiver with an enhancement adaptor ($99.95) and a dish pointed at
61.5 or 148.

Aaron calls in to ask: Who do we contact to push broadband in Rural
America?
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Did I mention

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And what would help would be the

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So call your congressman and ask them to approve the
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erMergerMergerMergerMergerMergerMergerMergerMergerMergerMergerMergerMergerMe
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Go to www.echostarmerger.com and send in a comment.

We have an NGC winner; Larry out of Florida...a dromedary is a one-humped
camel and Fat in stored in the hump.

New question...when the merger goes through, what will the company be
called.
The service will be DirecTV and the company will be Echostar.

More questions...NFL Sunday Ticket, NHL Center Ice?
Witht he merger you definitely get Hockey. This is the last year for NFL on
DirecTV so we don't know if it will be available on satellite next year.
Soccer, NBA will come

Fernando says the answer is a Christian Music singer and wins the dartboard
with the wrong answer.

G4 TV coming?

Don't know. We will have some gaming channels. But not G4.

Charlie introduces Michael Schwimmer senior VP of Programming. He says let
me know if you like this channel.

After the merger how long will it take to get new channels. 100 channels
immediately. 150 cities within a year. By the end of 2004 all 210 markets
(now it's 210...) Also will be able to add more regular channels later.

Time's up. Next Chat 10/14 9pm!

Disclaimer from hell rolls on the screen in a fashion NO ONE could possibly
read it if they want.

Damn! It's over and I didn't hear anything about the Merger!

--
See ya http://www.dishchannelchart.com
Tony http://www.echostaruser.com
http://echostar.swiki.net

 

[Chris Blount]

Excellent Job Tony and very quick. Thanks!

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Did I hear Charlie say Discovery HD was on one of their MAIN satellites? Could they be planning to move it soon? Or does Charlie not know whats going on at his own company.

And when Charlie says hes talking with a bunch of gaming channels besides G4, what are the other gaming channels besides G4? I don't know of any myself.

BTW Thanks Charlie for the great game tonight! If you weren't in the Chat we played the Charlie Chat Drinking Game, every time Charlie said the word merger you had to take a drink. I finished off almost 7 Smirnoff Ice's during the chat.

 

[TNGTony]

Damn! you must be happy!

 

[Steve Mehs]

As usual, great summary Tony! I don't know why I watch the chats anymore...

 

[STXJim]

Tony,
I thought you opted for self-retirement.
Great to see you back in action!

 

[Karl Foster]

Very interesting. No Baltimore becuase no room on the system, but Harrisburg? Wouldn't they be on the same spot?

BTW, is Charlie in favor of the merger?

You get Charlie, we get Tanya Memme - not a bad trade off!

 

[Geronimo]

In fairness he specifically mentioned that Harrisburg had fewer channels and was therefore chosen over citied with more ststions needing carriage. Don't get me wrong I still think it is lame.

 

[angiodan]

I had a great time in the chat last night. Even though I couldn't watch Charlie, which was probably a good thing, this chat was a lot of fun!

Tony, I think you missed one mention of merger in your summary.

Scott, how's your head this morning?

 

[Lurker]

"Satellite's lifespan is about 20 years. It should be in service from the middle to the end of October."

I got a chuckle out of this statement.

 

[Guest]

Geronimo writes:

In fairness he specifically mentioned that Harrisburg had fewer channels and was therefore chosen over citied with more ststions needing carriage. Don't get me wrong I still think it is lame.

There are seven stations in the Baltimore DMA. I think there are six in the Harrisburg DMA.

Too bad Charlie Ergen doesn't have Pinocchio's nose. The problem would be they couldn't move the TV cameras back far enough during a one hour Charlie Chat.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I got a laugh out of that myself.

I know most satellites "live" for about 7 years, this is the first time I have heard one lasting 20.

It sounds like Dish Network now has no growth plans to talk about until after the merger is approved. It seems as though they have put all their eggs in one basket. It will be a shame if the merger is not approved now.

Also Charlie said that they added all these new markets because of E*8 that is utter BS, E*8 is not even in service yet.

Also when he said that there is no room to add HD Net because of lack of space, did he forget that there is half a HD transponder that HD Net can share with Discovery HD?

And speaking of Discovery HD who in the hell is gonna pay $99 for the Enhanced HD Modulator then pay $97 more a year for Discovery HD? The channel is all repeats and is not worth the $97 a year for the channel alone, when you figure in the fact that Dish Network uses special compression so they can cram in Discovery HD, Dish should be paying you to take their modulator.

And speaking of HD Charlie said that as SOON as the merger is approved 12 HD Stations will be immediately available to all customers. How does he figure that? Are there even 12 HD stations out there?

And I still can swear that Charlie said Discovery HD is available from their "main satellite" does he know something we don't? Can someone confirm this for me?

My head is fine, the stuff I was drinking last night barely had enough alcohol to get a fly drunk.

 

[KeithLINY]

"Richard asks about TV Polonia. Can you put it back or get Polsat 1. TV Polonia told us to shove it so no TV Polonia. We are NOT in negotiation and are NOT optimistic. We are looking at other polish channels."

I thought it was interesting when Charlie mentioned that TV Polonia is offered by another provider that uses a larger Dish...

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Charlie didn't mention that if you get your equipment from that company then you get the TV Polonia channel free for an entire year. (Some how he forgot to mention that)

Forign channels are Cash Cows for Dish Network, its funny they have no room for real channels, yet these foriegn channels keep popping up every month.

 

[David_Levin]

Originally posted by Scott Greczkowski

It sounds like Dish Network now has no growth plans to talk about until after the merger is approved. It seems as though they have put all their eggs in one basket. It will be a shame if the merger is not approved now.

It's all marketing for the FCC and justice dept. His story is that the Satellite companies need the merger to compete with cable (and survive). Therefore, there is no growth without the merger.

If the merger doesn't happen, we'll immediately be bombarded with propaganda telling us E* us just fine!!!

Also Charlie said that they added all these new markets because of E*8 that is utter BS, E*8 is not even in service yet.

Yes, I also found this one funny. With E*8 they should either be able to add more locals, decrease compression, or move locals off the wings (at this point, I think they may still be on violation on this).

And I still can swear that Charlie said Discovery HD is available from their "main satellite" does he know something we don't? Can someone confirm this for me?

I don't think he said that. I thought he mentioned something about standard def discovery being on the Main Sat.

My head is fine, the stuff I was drinking last night barely had enough alcohol to get a fly drunk.

If you take a drink everytime Charlie says "merger" I think you'll need paramedics by the end of the hour.

 

[David_Levin]

Another thing I found is interesting was his comment about the merger allowing E* to immediately remove waste on the locals (go to 100 cities).

Since 1/2 of subs can received DTV and the other 1/2 E*, wouldn't they have to swap out a bunch of boxes for this to happen? Seems like that would take 6 months to a year.

 

[Guest]

David, I think it is entirely possible to go to 100 cities.

Right now, with the planned locals mentioned by Mr. Ergen last night, and the announced locals by DirecTV, but not yet in service, Dish Network and DirecTV will be at 59 distinct cities shortly.

That figure doesn't count the last DMA DirecTV plans on offering from the 119 slot, and that figure doesn't even touch what may be offered through Echostar 8 when it is fired up.

So, the uncombined DirecTV and Dish Network will probably have close to 75 or so DMA's by years end.

I don't think it is a stretch to change receivers out from the people that subscribe to locals. I read somewhere that out of the 17 million DBS subs, only 7 million have locals. So it wouldn't be long to switch some of these DMA's out.

 

[invaliduser88]

Hey, I missed the chat. Did Charlie mention anything about the merger?

 

[Mark Holtz]

I'm surprised that Reno, NV is being considered a local, since it's DMA is somewhere in the low 100s. OTOH, it's a great place for good buffets and 25 cents craps tables if you know where to look.

 

[Geronimo]

not that it means much but someone needs to tell Charlie that WJAL is NOT a WB affiliate. They were at one time but don't seem to show WB programming anymore.