Distant Network Price Changes / MLB / Catch It Keep It
Back on June 15th I wrote a column asking you how much you would pay for Distant Network services. In that article I wrote that some Dish Network customers were going to be able to order HD Distant Networks from AllAmericanDirect for $24.99 a month.
Many Dish customers who were excited about being able to receive Distant Networks went from being excited to angry when they heard the pricing.
Today it appears that the viewer’s voices have been heard. The pricing page at mydistantnetworks.com have been updated and the costs for HD distant networks have dropped to $18.99 a month for all 4 HD networks.
The cost of individual distant networks has also dropped as well and is now just $4.99 a month per individual distant network.
To me the prices are still high, but at least they are a little more palatable.
MLB Extra Innings Preview
Last nights MLB All Star Game wasn’t too bad and I was one of the folks who watch at home who enjoyed Joe Buck’s announcing on the game. He managed to give the game a feeling that this game was special and indeed it was.
I enjoyed watching the President go out there and throw the first pitch, it was there that it looked like he wasn’t just the president he was one of the guys.
To kick off the second half of the season DirecTV and many cable operators are presenting a free preview of the MLB Extra Innings package. This preview will be from July 16th through July 22nd.
On DirecTV viewers can enjoy up to 40 games a week in full high definition. Play Ball!
Catch It Keep It To Bow on Science Channel
The folks at SCIENCE CHANNEL have a brand new show called “Catch It Keep It” that is hitting the air this Friday at 10 PM ET.
The folks from SCIENCE CHANNEL were kind enough to send me a screener of the first episode and after watching it I got to admit I like it.
The premise of Catch It Keep It is simple. You catch it, you keep it!
It sounds simple but it’s not! In the first episode the contestants need to save an Il Bello scooter. The contestants have 48 hours to come up with a contraption to catch this scooter when it’s launched off the roof of a two-story office building.
Sounds easy right? No not exactly especially when you take 3 different contestants and group them together and each one of them has a different idea of how things should be done. For the first episode tempers flared and one segment had more bleeps of the audio then an edition of the Jerry Springer Show. And while the contestants were second-guessing each other’s moves I also found myself second-guessing them too.
Hosted by Zach Selwyn and assisted by engineer Mike Senese, this hour long show is filled with science that will have you thinking on your couch. The show reminds me closely to the show called “Master Blasters” which has aired both on SCIENCE CHANNEL and DISCOVERY.
After the contestants work together (cough… cough) for 48 hours they let the scooter fly. As they were getting ready to launch it part of me were hoping the contestants contraption would work, while the other part of me wanted to see the scooter smash into the ground.
Did they Catch It and Keep It? You will need to tune in Friday night and find out.
CELTICPRIDE commented:
i USE TO GET THE DISTANT NETWORKS IN hd FROM DIRECTV FOR $1.99 A MONTH,BUT THEY CHANGED THAT ABOUT A YEAR AGO AND ONLY GIVE ME THE STANDARD DNS CHANNELS OUT OF NEW YORK FOR $2.50 EACH!.i'VE HAD THE DNS CHANNELS SINCE 1995 BECAUSE THEY DIDNT HAVE THE LOCAL CHANNELS BACK THEN. i WISH WE COULD GET THE HD DNS CHANNELS ALSO!
KyL commented:
Distant Networks are meant for people who live in markets where the provider doesn't carry their locals (excluding retransmission dispute situations that Dish is famous for), and they can't get a Grade B signal over the air with an outdor antenna. However Grade B doesn't exist with digital as you either get a signal or you don't, so since no rules have been enacted yet, All American Direct is basically using a loophole to give it to everyone where Dish doesn't carry their HD locals. As for PBS HD, All American Direct doesn't provide a distant PBS HD, they just provide the big 4 in HD.
DirecTV on the other hand is sticking to the previous rules until the new rules for distants is settled with the FCC and congress. Which is kind of smart because Dish Network basically shot themselves in the foot by handing out distant networks left and right without going through the wavier process which resulted in them being fined and forfeiting the right to directly provide distant networks a few years ago. All American Direct in turn leased transponders from Echostar to provide a replacement distant network service, similar to how Sky Angel was operating back in the day. However they will likely be forced to stop their current practice of determining who's eligible once the rules are enacted.
hookc commented:
Scott, the notion is more than appealing to have an option to a network’s local affiliate whose news-sports programming leaves a lot to be desired. However, in going to mydistantnetworks.com and listing my zip, I got an ”ineligible reply." True, all net signals are available but not PBS-HD on Dish. Am I missing something or is this just for under-served rural areas?
Ned commented:
Why doesn't Directv have the same distant network policy?