1/9 Charlie Chat Recap

[dfergie]

DishNet Charlie Chat Jan 9, 2006​

Tonight - Everything you ever wanted to know about HD!
With Charlie Ergen and Jim DeFranco

Lifetime Discussion
Unfortunately we were unable to come to an agreement with them.
No acceptable offer, they wanted a 76% increase….
Lifetime replaced by We and Lifetime movies by Encore love.
Lifetime was invited to send reps to this chat.
We have made meaningful progress in negotiations.
However there are still Issues…
Go to www.fairsatellite.com for updates.

Price Increase next month
AT 60 $34.99 (Prices locked in for 2 years.)
AT120 $44.99
AT180 $54.99
AEP $89.99
Average Dish Network pricing increase only 4%


Video from CES

Video with Leslie Harper on HDTV's
howstuffworks.com and digital advisor.com good places to go information

Eric Sahl video

Added 5 more Voom Channels in addition to Espn2HD and UHD and we will carry a special Olympics Channel.

Also coming up later this year, second quarter, Home and Garden HD and Food Network HD

We plan to add 5-10 more during the year…

HBOHD and SHOHD ava with sub to their packages…
For additional channels you will need Mpeg4… Olympics will be ava free of charge to all Subscribers in HD…

Voom Guest
Josh Sapan CEO, Rainbow Media explains the 15 channels that will be ava on Dish Network:
Animania
EquatorHD
Family Room
Film Fest
GamePlay
Gallery
HD News
Fu
Monsters
Rave
Rush
Treasure
Ultra
World Cinema
World sport

Local Networks HD
Los Angeles
Denver
Chicago
Atlanta
New York
Minneapolis
Launch by March 31st

Dish HD Prices & Packages
DishHD Bronze $49.99 w/o locals $54.99 with locals
DishHD Silver $59.99 $64.99
DishHD Gold $69.99 $74.99
DishHD Platinum $99.99 $104.99

Dish HD Email Blast!
1 Sign up today.
2 Get frequent updates on our DishHD programming.
3 Learn about upgrade packages for you.


Upgrade Offers

Return any receiver
Lease ViP211 HD Receiver
Lease Upgrade Fee: $49
Standard Professional Installation: $49 (Includes dish antenna if needed)
Total: $98

Lease ViP622 DVR Receiver
Promotional Price Avaliable to New & Existing Customers: $299
Includes Standard Professional Installation and Dish antenna (if applicalble)

Current Customers that have a DISH 811 or a 6000u HD Receiver
Upgrade Offer: Lease ViP 211 HD receiver
Lease Upgrade Fee: Free
Professsional Instal: $49
Total Upgrade Price :$49

Current Customers that have a DishPlayer DVR 921 or 942
Special REBATE Available for Purcahses After April 1st: $200
Total Upgrade Price:$99

Upcoming Chats

Tech Forum Monday February 13th 2006
9PM ET
Channel 101

Charlie Chat
Monday March 13th 2006
9PM ET
Channel 101

 

[dfergie]

Charlie Chat Recap

Screen shots , more to come...

 

[Tom Bombadil]

I cracked up when they were showing the $49 upgrade for an 811 to the 211 and Charlie said, "That's fair ... that's fair .... That's better than fair!"

And when he saw the $99.99 AEP w/HD price and acted like 'Who set that price? That's low.' or something to that effect.

I always get at least a couple of good chuckles when watching a chat.

 

[ptech]

Screen shots , more to come...

These are really nice examples of HD-Lite broadcast,

 

[hpman247]

WOW. Boy am I happy. That 811 will be traded in for a lovely 622 for only $299. I think those deals are extremely fair, except making those 942 owners wait until Apr if they want to trade up for only $99. Loved the chat. AEP and HD for$99. AMAZING. Even my mom was happy. Too bad I'll be at college a lot, but now i can record my fav shows in HD. Again Loved this chat.

 

[jsanders]

What is the deal with all of this hoopla about DishHD Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum packages?? There is nothing precious about having to order that SD stuff with the HD. I don't subscribe even to AT60. Who wants SD to pay for SD when they can watch HD??
My question is, then, "Can we just order the HD stuff by itself, or are they going to try to force us to buy the SD packages with it now????" I don't want these stupid price increases every year with the SD packages, it is rediculas. I like paying only for the HD Pack and Voom, along with OTA HD local channels. The price is what I like, small!

 

[gammadude]

What happened to the Boston HD LIL? Atlanta is back in and...poof...Boston is off the map for the year? I wonder what happened?

 

[korsjs]

thanks dfergie.

 

[Dave1997]

WOW....I'm glad I don't have to come up with another $700 for HD DVR. But I have to wait until April for the Rebate.

 

[CJPC]

Yeah, same here, Im very confused (In boston, OTA = fine, sometimes, need to move antenna to get fox/abc = its a pain)

Not to mention it dies everytime a plane lands (it gets in LOS :/

 

[Sean Mota]

Charlie Chat Summary​

CES Video with Eric Sahl, Sr. VP of Programming
Welcome to the Special HD Edition of the Charlie Chat.
Charlie and Jim Defranco. No audio but it came back.

Calls from Customers about LIFETIME.
Charlie Ergen: 180 contracts that came up on December 2005. 170 contracts have been done. LIFETIME and LIFETIME movie Network contract expired 12/31/05. We have to apologize to our viewers. We are trying to get a deal done. Main sticking point that they want a 76% price increase over three years. We have replaced those channels with Women's Entertainment and LMN with Encore. This is a temporary replacement until we get the contract done with LIFETIME. We have invited the senior executives of LIFETIME to come on the show and explain their side but they did not.

Current status of negotiation.
1- Negotiation over the past few days
2- Meaningful Progress. Both sides have Compromised
3- Significant Issues Remain
4- If not resolved will replace service
We will continue to work hard to get the contract done.
For uPdates www.fairsatellite.com
Examples of Price Changes
Dish Network will have a rate increas of 4%.

America's Top Package Prices
CES Video
Jim DeFranco: Three stages of HD customers.
1- No HDTV
3- HDTV but no programming
4- Have HDTV and have HD Programming
If you do not have an HDTV, you need:
HD Monitor that will display 720p or 1080i. (Leslie Harper) [Video]
Eric Sahl: I was at CES. HDTV was at the front center. [Video]

Dish HD no other Provider comes close. The Video displays the following HD channels:
HBO HD
Rush HD
Rave HD
Discovery HD Theater
FilmFest HD
Fu HD
WorldCinenam HD
Family Room HD
WorldSport HD
HDnet Movies
Treasure HD
Animania HD
HDnet
Gameplay HD
Equator HD
Gallery HD
HDnews
Monsters HD
Ultra HD
Universal HD
Starz HD
Showtime HD
TNT HD
ESPN HD
ESPN2 HD
Dish PPV HD

VIP211 VIP622 DVR

If you are a current HD subscriber you may have an 811, 921, and 942 and you are receiving the current HD services through MPEG-2. All new HD services, except for the special HD Olympic Feed, will require a new MPEG-4 equipment - a 211 or 622 DVR. We just another 5 VOOM HD channels and this will put us over 1700 hours a week of HD programing. We will carry a special HD feed just for the olympics.


The HD Pak
15 Voom HD channels
Discovery HD Theater
TNT HD
FHG TV
Food Network
ESPN HD
ESPN2 HD
Universal HD
HDnet
HDnet Movies
Dish PVV HD

This will begin Feb 1. In addition to 5 more Voom channels, Universal HD, ESpn2 HD, HGTV HD and Food Network HD. Both HGTV HD and Food Network HD will come out later probably in the second quarter of 2006. We've got 25 HD channels at a $19.95 price and this establish us firmly as the HD leader. We also carry HBO HD and Showtime HD and are planning to add more 5-10 HD channels through the end of the year. This does not include the Locals HD that Jim will talk about. Subscribers that want HBO HD or Showtime HD will need to subscribe to those packages.

Charlie: If you do not want to upgrade, we will keep the current HD Pak and VOOM channels. But if you want to get the additional HD services, you will need to upgrade. Winter Olympics will be broadcast in MPEG-2 in HD free of charge. Olympic Channel will availabe Feb 1st.

Guest John Suppan - President of Rainbow Media. Rainbow media has been in business for 25 years. We now have 15 Voom HD channels. We now have the largest postproduction in the country in HD. It is HD 100%. We shoot everything in 100% native HD. We are making a big commitment through production and acquisition.

Giveaway: VIP211.

John Suppan: The New service has already launched. If you purchase the receiver you can receive the service right away. Voom is not done. Voom has what is today the largest library of HD Movies outlet in the country or the world. We have production facility producing material in the world of sports, kids, arts, etc. We are about to begin production of our own HD movies. There will an evolution with brand new programming every week.

Charlie: 15 channels that can grow.

Jim Defranco:
Local HD Networks that will be launching between now and March 13th chat: Atlanta, chicago, Mineapolis, Denver, LA, NY---major networks Fox, NBC, ABC, CBS.

Upcoming HD Local Markets... all cities will be in MPEG-4. The majority of these cities will be done in 2006.

DishHD Programming Premium Prices.
Current Customers: Upgrade offer
Lease VIP211
Lease Upgrade $49
Profesional Installation $49
Total $98


DVR Upgrade
Lease VIP622
Promotional Price
available to New & Existing Customers $299
Total Upgrade Price $299.
Includes Professional Installation and Dish Antena(if applicable).
DishHD Email Blast. Www.dishnetwork.com/hd if you want to be kept up today in what Dish Network is doing in terms of HD.


Upgrade 811 Offer
Dish 811 HD receiver
Upgrade to Lease VIP211 HD Receiver
Lease upgrade fee: Free
Prof. Install: $49
*If swapping, requires return of existing receiver.

921/942 Upgrade Offer.
Upgrade offer: Lease VIP622DVR receiver
Promo $299
Special Rebate $200
Total Upgrade $99
Includes prof. installation and dish antenna (if applicable)
Rebate is available April 1st. We do not have all the details but we will have it all worked out soon.

 

[Lucky]

If you lease an 811, can you upgrade it to the 211 for the $ 49 and continue leasing it ?

 

[downriver]

Dang that has to be one of the most poorly produced programs since Mr Jones' 6th grade audio/visual course. almost unwatchable. To think I give that outfit about $100 bucks a month!

Where the heck is Starz HD?????

 

[gredneck]

a little clarification on the lease deal......
I've never leased before always bought my receivers, on top of the $99 upgrade fee is there a monthly charge also for leasing or is it there way of saying it's our receiver we want it back when your done?

 

[The Big Wood]

I OWN my 811, so I can trade it in for a LEASE for a 211 and pay $49!!! If I want the 622 I can pay $299 for a lease!!! What bull@#$% I can sell my 811 for $200+ (until the end of this month anyway...).

Sorry Charlie, but you are missing the boat. Why would I do this when you offer the same HD-Lite crap that D* does, but charge those prices for LEASED units to those of us that own their equipment. I can own D* version of the 211 for free (yeah, it is a 2 year commitment but supposedly you can reduce the commitment if you return the hardware). I would be $200+ in my wallet versus $49 less. $250 goes a long way!

I hope he rethinks this and considers what D* offers against E*'s crappy offers. He did mention he wanted to get emails about the offer for current 921/942 owners/leasers if they weren't pleased. Well, he will be getting emails on my displeasure for us 6000/811 owners wanting to go with the 622.

Blah

 

[SatinKzo]

might want to fix your link dfergie, you misspelled it and it takes you to VMC satellite.

 

[dfergie]

Ok, thanks, just looked here

 

[mmdieter]

Do we know what birds we have to see to get all these HD stations? My installer tried to install a 129 and doesn't think he can see it through the trees...

 

[kyblue]

I was told by a csr that if you do not upgrade you will not have an HD price increase because they will not charge you for services that you can not recieve.

 

[BFG]

great recaps guys, don why are the shapes of your screen caps all screwy?