DISH Deals Direct Weblog

DISH Network Reaches 100 HD National Channels Ahead of Schedule

Jim Taylor — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 04:37:02 +0000

Last week, DISH Network announced plans to launch 17 national high definition (HD) channels on August 1st, surpassing its goal of reaching 100 national channels by the end of the year. In January, DISH Network announced plans to increase its national HD channel count to 100 in 2008. The new channels will further DISH Network’s position as the leader in HD programming.

Eric Sahl, senior vice president of Programming for DISH Network, said:

In January, we promised our customers that DISH Network would boost our national HD channel lineup to 100 by year’s end. Today, we are proud to say that in less than one year, not only did we deliver on our commitment, but we exceeded it. We continue our pledge to DISH Network subscribers to add more national channels and local HD markets, as well as offer the best sports and movies in HD.

The 17 national HD channels launched this month include:

ActionMax HD (Ch. 313)
CBS College Sports HD (Ch. 152)
HBO Family HD (Ch. 305)
HBO Latino HD (Ch. 309)
HBO Signature HD (Ch. 302)
HBO West HD (Ch. 303)
HBO Zone HD (Ch. 308)
HBO Comedy HD (Ch. 307)
HBO 2 HD (Ch. 301)
Lifetime HD (Ch. 108)
Lifetime Movie Network HD (Ch. 109)
Planet Green HD (Ch. 194)
Encore HD (Ch. 340)
Starz Comedy HD (Ch. 354)
Starz Edge HD (Ch. 352)
Starz Kids & Family HD (Ch. 356)
Starz West HD (Ch. 351)

Order DISH Network from DISH Deals Direct and get the most HD programming available anywhere!

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DISH Network’s DTVPal Now Available

Jim Taylor — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 05:43:28 +0000

Last week, DISH Network’s DTVPal, was made available for purchase. DTVPal is an affordable digital-to-analog converter box required to watch broadcast TV with an analog TV after the Digital Transition on February 17, 2009. For those not familiar with the term, the Digital Transition is when digital TV broadcasts will replace analog TV broadcasts. If you use an antenna to pickup broadcast television, you’ll need a digital-to-analog converter box.

DTVPal has some great features:

Easy to connect
Analog pass-through
On-screen program guide
Compact size
Eligible for $40 discount with coupon

The DTVPal was rated “Very good” by CNET. The review’s bottom line said:

Network DTVPal is a great DTV converter box with a best-in-class electronic program guide and should be your top choice, unless you value the simplicity and superior remote of the RCA DTA800.

Read the full CNET review.

Of note, the DTVPal features a fast electronic program guide (EPG), similar to that of a digital cable or TiVo box. It provides several days of data in a grid layout. Other DTVPal features include an event timer, programming search, parental controls, stereo audio output and a setup wizard.

The DTVPal can be purchased online directly through DISH Network.

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Controversy Over DISH Network Caliendo Ad Campaign

Jim Taylor — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 02:14:53 +0000

Back in February, we wrote about DISH Network’s ad campaign featuring comedian Frank Caliendo. In the ads, Caliendo promotes the company while impersonating the President, John Madden, Charles Barkley and others.

Evidently, the ads didn’t sit well with Madden and Barkley, who threatened to take legal action against EchoStar. In response, the company went to court, asking for a declaratory judgement that the ad spots were legal and didn’t infringe on any trademark or privacy rights of either Madden or Barkley.

EchoStar’s complaint, in part, said:

Mr. Caliendo’s impressions of Mr. Madden and Mr. Barkley are intended to be, and are, obvious and humorous parodies and caricatures of some of the traits of Mr. Madden and Mr. Barkley.

Mr. Caliendo’s parodies and caricatures of Mr. Madden and Mr. Barkley do not create any likelihood of confusion, or suggest or imply that Mr. Madden or Mr. Barkley sponsor or promote Dish Network.

There’s been no word since an apparent settlement earlier this month when EchoStar filed for dismissal of its February 14 filing. It’s not known if DISH Network will continue to run the ad campaign.

Did you see the ads? Did they infringe on any trademark or privacy rights? What do you think?

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April Brings New DISH Network HDTV Stations

Jim Taylor — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 00:37:39 +0000

Over the past two weeks, DISH Network has been launching a number of new HDTV channels. Last week, the DBS provider launched three new national networks: CNN HD, Sci Fi HD and USA HD. These stations are available to customers who subscribe to AT100 and Essentials HD or higher.

CNN HD — channel 200 HD
Sci Fi HD — channel 122 HD
USA HD — channel 105 HD

Additionally, over the past two weeks DISH Network has added local HDTV service in seven additional markets:

Baltimore, Maryland
Columbia, South Carolina
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Cleveland — Akron, Ohio
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Richmond — Petersburg, Virginia
Tampa — St. Petersburg, Florida

DISH Network announced in a press release last month that, over the next two months, they will increase their local HD offerings by more than 60%. Eric Sahl, DISH Network’s Senior Vice President of programming, said:

Dish Network’s local HD market rollout continues as we charge toward our goal of reaching 100 local HD markets by the end of 2008. We are excited that Dish Network customers in these new HD markets can enjoy their favorite primetime programming in stunning high definition.

Order DISH Network from DISH Deals Direct today and you won’t watch TV the same way again!

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DISH Network Purchases Radio Spectrum

Jim Taylor — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 05:32:32 +0000

You may have heard about Verizon and AT&T paying billions for airwaves in the recent government auction for radio spectrum. However, you may not have heard about the purchase made by DISH Network. The company made an aggressive bid, winning a near nationwide channel and surprising the pay-TV industry in the process. Most cable TV companies as well as DirecTV didn’t bid at the auction.

Paying $712 million, DISH Network won the old UHF channel 56 across the whole country (168 licenses), excluding New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Qualcomm purchased the remaining channel 56 licenses in the auction.

What’s DISH Network thinking? Interactive services? Mobile video service? The spectrum doesn’t allow for two-way communication, so it’s hard to make any conclusions. Here’s an interesting thought … Satellite companies currently have partnerships with various phone companies to bundle their services. However, the market is getting more and more competitive as cable companies offer competing digital phone service. DISH Network may simply be positioning itself to offer it’s own telecom service.

Stay tuned … DISH Network is barred from talking about its plans until after April 3rd. Here at DISH Deals Direct, we can’t wait to see what the company has up its sleeve!

UPDATE: Checkout the ongoing discussion and speculation in a tread over at SatelliteGuys.

FCC: Echostar Nearly Has National Reach For Wireless Broadband

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DISH Network Ad Campaign Features Comedian Frank Caliendo

Jim Taylor — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 04:59:44 +0000

Have you seen the latest DISH Network ads? They feature comedian Frank Caliendo promoting the company while impersonating the President, John Madden, Al Pacino and others. There’s a great YouTube video of out-take clips from Frank Caliendo’s DISH Network commercial shoot.

DISH Network launched the multimillion-dollar advertising campaign this month, highlighting its standalone HD package, new promotions and “DVR leadership”.

According to Jessica Insalaco, chief marketing officer for DISH Network:

Frank Caliendo is not only one of the funniest comedians out there, but also his incredible talent offers DISH Network with a creative and entertaining way to communicate to consumers why we offer the best TV viewing experience of any pay-TV provider. These ads are not only humorous, but they also bring awareness to the fact that DISH Network is more than TV — it offers the best DVRs and HD programming, and allows consumers to control what they want to watch and when they watch it — all for the same unparalleled value DISH Network is known for.

As part of the campaign, DISH Network features the introduction of its new products while:

Freezing the price on the most popular programming packages
Three months free on any qualifying programming package
Free activation and the Dish Home Protection Plan free for up to 9 months

Altogether, DISH Network is offering a savings of up to $200. The standalone HD package features more than 40 HD channels for the low price of $29.99 per month. Sign up for DISH Network from DISH Deals Direct and we’ll add free installation to these already great deals.

DISH Deals Direct - Deal direct and save on DISH Network HDTV!

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DISH Network Expands to 100 HD Channels

Jim Taylor — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 12:53:50 +0000

Earlier this month, DISH Network announced plans to increase its national HD channel count from 76 to 100 in 2008. Additionally, the company plans to add local HD channels in 65 new cities, bringing its HD local market total to 100.

Eric Sahl, senior vice president of Programming for DISH Network, said:

The addition of new HD national and local channels is a testament to DISH Network’s unwavering focus on providing the best HD offerings. We at DISH Network will continue to not only be a leader in the number of HD channels, but also in quality in value.

DISH Network begins its HD launches with 11 local markets, including:

Austin, Texas
Baltimore, Maryland
Cleveland, Ohio
Columbia, South Carolina
Flint, Michigan
Greenville, South Carolina
Huntsville, Alabama
Jackson, Mississippi
Knoxville, Tennessee
Orlando, Florida
Richmond, Virginia

To provide the company with additional bandwidth, DISH Network plans to launch three new satellites this year.

With the additional HD programming, DISH Network is offering more choices for customers, including HD packages as low as $10 per month for more than 20 of the most popular HD channels.

Interested? Sign up for DISH Network from DISH Deals Direct today and you won’t watch TV the same way again!

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Surviving the American Writers Guild Strike

Jim Taylor — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 04:33:19 +0000

With the continuation of the American Writers Guild strike into 2008, earlier this month TVGuide.com launched a new channel called the Strike Survival Guide to help viewers discover new programming options.

The channel uses TVGuide.com’s Online Video Guide to provide previews of new and returning shows, as well as highlighting full episodes of returning shows such as Prison Break, Jericho and Kyle XY. The Online Video Guide pulls content from 55 broadcast, cable and websites.

The Strike Survival Guide covers:

Returning scripted and reality shows
New shows premiering in winter 2008
Movies on TV and highlights of TV Shows on DVD
Editor’s favorite undiscovered and underappreciated shows

TV Guide executives said that the idea is to present various options for TV fans, including original series or shows they’ve ignored in the past. Kirsten Rasanen, TV Guide Online’s director of video products said:

With TVGuide.com’s extensive Online Video Guide, you will be able to catch up on past episodes of series that are new to you while other scripted shows are off the air.

You can also survive the American Writers Guild strike by ordering DISH Network from DISH Deals Direct. DISH Network offers hundreds of channels, so you’ll never have to watch the same program twice again!

Are you tired of broadcast network re-runs?
Check out TVGuide’s Strike Survival Guide.

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Programs Recorded to DVR Tend to be Viewed Soon After

Jim Taylor — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 02:05:47 +0000

We reported earlier this month about a study on DVR usage by Palisades MediaGroup and The Nielsen Company. Here’s some more findings from the study.

The study found, on average, DVR owners watch almost 75% of all programs recorded within 24 hours. The company analyzed Fall 2007 Nielsen Company data, finding that less than half of DVR users skipped ads during playback.

Within 3 days, over 90% of all time-shifted primetime television programming had been viewed. Thus, DVR usage isn’t making a significant impact on ratings — at least not yet. According to Susie Thomas, Senior Vice President, Director of Research and Insights at Palisades MediaGroup:

Nielsen estimates DVR penetration to be at 20%, up from 12% in January of this year [2007]. While this is a good-sized increase, the impact on viewership remains minor.

What’s surprising is that viewing in DVR households varies by programming type. Syndicated (full day) and Cable (primetime) programs are watched live 84% and 85% of the time, respectively, compared to just 58% of the time for Broadcast (primetime) television. Those numbers increase to 93% and 94% for Cable and Syndicated programming when viewing is “live and same day”. For Broadcast TV, “live and same day” viewing is still lower, coming in at 79%.

It’s interesting that there’s so much live Cable and Syndicated program viewing in DVR households as opposed to Broadcast (primetime) television. What’s remarkable is the lack of commercial skipping reported.

How many DVR-recorded shows do you watch within 24 hours?
Do you skip ads during playback?

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Top 10 Most DVR’d Primetime Programs for October 2007

Jim Taylor — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 01:50:14 +0000

According to a report by Palisades MediaGroup and The Nielsen Company, the Top 10 Most DVR-recorded Primetime Programs for October 2007 are:

Broadcast primetime 9/24/2007 to 10/21/2007, adult viewers age 18-49.

Smallville and Survior: China ranked the highest for programs that were recorded and watched the same day (55% and 58%, respectively).

Do you use a DVR? Are any of your programs in the list?

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