Satellite Companies to Customers “April Fools!”
Today was the day a lot of satellite customers have been looking forward to. The word from both companies was that customers would be getting more HD today.
And while the day might not be over yet it appears both companies are saying “April Fools” to their customers.
DirecTV did manage to launch two regional sports networks (MASN HD& STO HD) today. But for many this was not considered the “HD Festivus” that was talked about by a known DirecTV employee online over the weekend. So while DirecTV didn’t deliver a “festivus” they did deliver two new HD channels.
Dish Network on the other hand went all out and played a huge April fools joke on their customers by failing to launch seven national HD channels by Viacom.
On the Dish Network “Charlie Chat” that aired live on March 9th, Dish Network CEO Charlie Ergen announced the suite of Viacom HD channels that would be launched on Dish Network “by April 1st.”
The channels that were supposed to launch were NICK HD, Comedy Central HD, MTV HD, VH1 HD, CMT HD, BET HD and SPIKE HD.
No word on why these channels were not launched or when Dish Network customers can expect to see them, but a lot of customers are upset and are feeling lied to by Dish Network and their CEO by not delivering the new HD channels as promised.
There are still a few hours left to April 1st, so there is still a chance that Dish customers might feel better before they head to bed. But at the moment I wrote this many feel like April Fools for being taken by Dish Network.
Sling Sadness
Many Slingbox owners have been waiting for what feels like forever for the Slingbox Client for the iPhone.
After today many of these fans might not be as happy in waiting for the new iPhone software especially after they find out that the Slingbox they own might not work with the new iPhone software.
Today at the Cable Show Sling Media announced that only the Slingbox Solo, Slingbox Pro and Slingbox Pro HD will work with the upcoming iPhone client. Older Slingbox units such as the original Slingbox Classic, Slingbox AV and Slingbox tuner will not work with the new iPhone client.
Also today Sling Media announced a trade in program so that people with the older Slingbox units can upgrade to newer Sling technology and get $50 off in the process. For more information on upgrading your Slingbox you can visit http://www.slingmedia.com/upgrade.
The Slingplayer Mobile application for the iPhone was submitted by Sling Media last week for approval by Apple. No word on when this application will be available to the general public.
dankuk commented:
Am a satellite technician from west Africa,who want information on either robber or aluminum dishes for my country.
Rover123 commented:
Dish is better than Direct? You might argue programming but the picture quality is not even close. Dish compresses far more than Direct.Anyone with a fairly new TV can see the difference immediately.This is especially true on larger screens.
Tom commented:
Dish Network must of had a problem with the quality and hd channels.
hd commented:
I couldn\’t care less if the HD feed isn\’t HD 24/7. The fact that they do air some HD content is enough, I rather see what they DO have in HD instead of not seeing ANY of their content in HD. Besides, the odds are most HD channels that are simulcasts of basic cable channels won\’t have 24/7 HD anytime in the near future, unless they decide to drop every single show that was cancelled several years ago and were never produced in HD.
chaffmeister commented:
if it is available in your area get either uverse or fios. they offer over 100 hd channels including lots of premium channels, with both east and west feeds. i was with directv for 12 years; glad i switched.
Craig commented:
I have noticed a bunch of channels listed in the guide as \”moving\” as of April 8th, my guess is that the new channels will appear on that day.
Enough Already commented:
All you people need to stop crying. ALL sat/cable providers have lied/are lying/will lie in the future about when and what channels will become available and when. The channels will eventually come online and wont air more than 20% HD content anyway. Instead of complaining, go watch one of the other 100 HD channels that you all have that arent airing HD content half of the time.
IGFOTH commented:
I would guess it is happening on the 8th too after I saw the channel changes happen on that day, still Dish is better then Direct and Comcast.
Sling Beta Tester commented:
BTW the sling Iphone app, works great with the older sling boxes, there is not a thing wrong. Looks like its Echostar trying force sling coustomers to upgrade as if they do this it creates a new revenue stream.
grizzleyadams commented:
I just talked to Disk support and was informed they are still finalizing details, and hope to have a resolution within the week
ysf commented:
I dumped them with 12 months contract left, though they assessed the penalty, I have not paid monthly bill from later Oct, and before they assesed the penalty, my balance was negative 85, so eventually I paid very little!
Bob commented:
I swear that at some point last night, or possibly technically this morning, I noticed BET HD in the guide on Dish, which I had never seen before.
RAD commented:
I'm still waiting for the HBO and Cinemax HD channels that DirecTV said they'd have in 2007 and still don't have.
rey commented:
charlie has a great sense of humor.maybe they'll be up by this Friday.
HTNplus commented:
I called Dish and spoke with one of their techs about where were the new HD channels and he had absolutely no idea what I was talking about. I told him that it was announced on the last Charlie Chat. He said he would look into it and call me back. He actually did call me back and told me that he was sorry about the channels not launching today, but that they would launch sometime later this month. He gave me no reason for the delay.p I am pissed! I hope that Dish Network did not intend this as an April Fools joke!
Bob commented:
Is it possible that ol' Charles may have committed an act of fraud?
DishDunce commented:
Charlie now has less credibility on HD than George W. Bush has on WMDs.
dishnet commented:
I feel "Taken" since i am only getting 4 of my hd channels out of the 15 i had 3 days ago... and dish reps say nothing...
Oh and i notice several channels is Moving on the 8th of april..according to the guide