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Dish Network to Offer 1080p VOD?!
July 22, 2008
Last night Dish Network updated it’s website to let the world know that TurboHD is coming soon to Dish Network. This new website didn't stay online long, but it sure had some interesting information that had me going hmmm!
It appears as though the site was put up by mistake as by mid morning today the new site was gone. One of the most telling (and to me exciting) things on this special page was an announcement that Dish Network will soon be offering VOD in full 1080p resolution.
I was surprised to see them say that their 1080p VOD movies will offer “Blu-ray disc quality” I can see another lawsuit brewing here for Dish Network from Sony and the Blu-ray folks if the quality of the material is even just a little less then Blu-ray quality. Those guys will not want Dish bringing their name down if the quality isn’t on par (or even if it is on par would the Blu-ray folks rather have Dish Network customers watching VOD on Dish Network or buying their Blu-ray discs?)
Another roadblock for 1080p on Dish Network is that I don’t know of any existing Dish Network HD receiver that can output 1080p signals. I don't know the hardware in the existing boxes, or if its possible for them to put out a software update that can enable 1080p output. What I do know that Dish Network is working is working on a new line of receivers such as the 722k, which I have heard rumored can output full 1080p video. However these receivers will not be available until the fall at the earliest.
One can only wonder what this means for HD VOD upstart XStreamHD who was gunning to be the first satellite provider to provide video on demand in full 1080p resolution. This news may throw some water on their fire and could cause the new company to fold before it even launches it’s service. XStreamHD was a great idea, but since being announced it has had one major flaw and that is they had no content. When you’re in the content providing business then content is king. Dish Network has a major leg up on XStreamHD in this area as Dish already has deals with all the major content providers. Plus Dish Network has shown the industry that they can abide by their guidelines including providing full digital rights management. XStreamHD on the other hand hasn’t really established themselves to anyone. In addition who would want to add another satellite dish on their house just to get VOD movies? The nice part about the Dish Network idea is if you have the service and equipment then you to can enjoy the 1080p VOD content.
Another thing that the Dish Network TurboHD web page points out is something that I can see turning into a PR department problem for the company. And that problem is all of the new TurboHD packages announced this month are for “new, first time customers” only. Seems as though that is a Dish Network customer wants HD that they need to pay $10 more a month to get HD and Dish will not let them downgrade to an HD only TurboHD package. Dish needs to change this policy and do it before August 1st or there are going to be a lot of angry Dish Network customers out there. For new customers the new TurboHD packages qualify as minimum programming packages so why can’t existing customers sign up for those packages? After all they do qualify as minimum packages, switching to the TurboHD packages should be no different then a customer calling up and downgrading from the America’s Top 250 package to the America’s Top 100 package. The customer gets the programming they want and Dish keeps the customer. My thought is they shouldn’t be forcing current customers to keep the standard definition packages if they want only the HD packages. Both new and current customers should be able to move between any packages they want, in the end Dish should only be worried that they have income coming in from their customers. This new policy of excluding existing customers from new programming packages could end up hurting the company instead of helping it to grow. Again I urge Dish Network to rethink this policy and make the changes before the new packages roll out on August 1st. If they don’t then I expect to see a large outcry, which to me is not a good thing.
It seems like Dish put up this new TurboHD website by mistake it appeared unfinished and seemed to cause more questions then it answered. However even though the site didn’t seem ready for viewing it looks like we will definately be seeing some exciting press releases coming down the line from Dish Network.
Posted by Scott Greczkowski on July 22, 2008 | Comments (1)
