Show Number 66 - The Satelliteguys.us Podcast.

[goaliebob99]

Scott and Bob are back with another new edition of the Satelliteguys.us Podcast. In this episode we talk about the surprising numbers that came out of the earnings call from both satellite company's this week. We continue the show with some new VOD offerings by both satellite companies's and bid farewell to Leslie. Until, next time don't forget to vote for us at Podcast Alley and we'll see you real soon!

 

[sundude90]

Speaking on Ski Channel On Demand for Dish. I was unable to find it also, so I contacted Dish & they knew nothing about it.

So then I contacted Steve Bellamy CEO/ Founder of Ski Channel. I talked with him for a long time. He gave me programs that he knew was on and I tried to find them. So bottom line- there is NO Ski Channel on DISH right now.

Steve is looking into it with Dish right now, and I will let you know if I hear anything.

Thanks,

Josh

 

[rad]

A couple comments about the podcast:

- On DirecTV growth, IIRC a couple quarters ago DirecTV said that they wanted to slow down their growth a bit?

- DirecTV says they continue to pick the 'higher end' consumers, looking at credit scores to deny service to customers they feel might be a risk going forward. Dish on the other hand appers to have loosed up their requirements, you don't even need a credit card to get some services.

- I agree about DirecTV putting out the press release saying here's all the HBO and Cinemax HD channels we'll be adding and then not doing it. Having them mess that up big time might be why we're back to not getting any preannouncements of what new HD channels they will be adding once D12 goes up.

- Sorry, but I don't understand why Bob keeps ragging on DirecTV not adding any more HD channels. Doesn't he understand that they just don't have the capacity at this time to add anymore. Sixto over at DBS has a very extensive thread that maps out the capacity on D10 and D11 and what it's being used for and they just don't have the room when you review the needs for the Sports Subscription packages, especially NFL-ST on Sundays. Guess they could downrez the HD channels like on Dish to get some more capacity

- Scott, too bad you don't have DirecTV anymore, you might be surprised with what the last few CE's have done with the search engine, that you are so impressed with on the 922.

 

[goaliebob99]

Rad they do, Get rid of the 22 HD PPV channels. The problem with D* is that they reley heavely on the sporting packages. Not everyone out there is a sports fan. The NFL ST is the only sporting package that eats up bandwidth like crazy. All the other packages are mirrors of the RSNs during the time frame that the game is on. I think directv should have allocated their launch schedule to meet market demands more effectivly. In that reguards, D* failed.

But you also bring up very valid points from a diffrent perspective

 

[rad]

Rad they do, Get rid of the 22 HD PPV channels. The problem with D* is that they reley heavely on the sporting packages. Not everyone out there is a sports fan. The NFL ST is the only sporting package that eats up bandwidth like crazy. All the other packages are mirrors of the RSNs during the time frame that the game is on. I think directv should have allocated their launch schedule to meet market demands more effectivly. In that reguards, D* failed.

But you also bring up very valid points from a diffrent perspective

Bob, not completly true. Besides NFL-ST there are a number of part time RSN's that still need to pull from the HD PPV channels. You also seem to forget about NASCAR HotPass, that's another four HD channels that need to pull bandwitdh from somewhere. If this site, which claims to be the #1 for satellite information, did the same tracking of DirecTV bandwidht as the other site, like Sixto does in a thread he has, you'd see that what you're saying is not accurate. They could do what Dish has decided to do and not provide all the HD RSN games that are available and have their customers upset like Dish folks are when they can't watch a game in HD when it's being produced in HD.

As for your comment about allocating their launch schedule to meet market demands, please prove that they haven't? They are still the #1 USA DBS service and contine to add subscribers, they have not had a net loss like until recently Dish had done for a few quarters in a row. You want movie channels and looks like you've gone with U-Verse to meet those needs which is fine. But I don't care that much for the movie channels, I have NetFlix so I get to see them earlier and in better video and audio quailty via Blu-Ray then any provider has available now. It appears that DirecTV has placed a higher priority on sports then movies and since they're still #1 DBS company maybe that was a good choice.