Is Something Going To Happen?
I have banging my head against the wall for the last two days on what to write here in “The Satellite Dish” there is a strange kind of quiet going on in the industry and to me it feels strange because to me this calm also feels kind of exciting in a strange sort of way.
My bones are aching like there is something major coming down the pike, but for all I know it could just be the unusually cold October weather we have been having. Both satellite companies are being extremely quiet and to me that’s a sign.
DirecTV is getting read to launch its new DirecTV 12 satellite in December and lots of folks are getting excited about this launch. DirecTV is betting a lot of its future on this launch, the DirecTV 12 satellite is DirecTV’s key to giving customers more HD programming. The new DirecTV satellite when used in combination with the DirecTV 10 and 11 satellites will have the ability to deliver 210 national HD channels plus 1,200 local channels in HD.
Dish is being quiet as well, but they are sitting on all kinds of bandwidth on their “Eastern Arc” service as the NIMIQ 5 satellite is in full operation, besides the 16 transponders that Dish Network now has access to on January 1st they will gain control of the other 16 transponders on the satellite. NIMIQ 5 launched on September 17th and was put into use less then a month later, Dish Network moved the first signals to NIMIQ 5 on October 13th, the rest of the signals were moved over a few days later. Dish Network “Eastern Arc” customers are seeing great signal gains from the new satellite, signals that were in the low 50’s are now in the high 70’s. And even with the new space gained by the new satellite Dish Network is working to increase bandwidth as of last night Dish Network started reclaiming some bandwidth on the satellite by using 8PSK in addition to MPEG4 on their Eastern Arc transponders. The addition of 8PSK will give Dish about 25% more bandwidth to use.
The question now is what will they use it for?
If I had to guess I would say more national HD, and I would think that would be a safe guess. For me my big question is when. Will Dish start lighting up new national HD now or will they wait until CES to announce another big wave of new HD? The way they are rushing to do things now it is my opinion that we could see more HD sooner then later from Dish, but that’s just my opinion and I will be the first to admit I have been wrong.
Speaking of national HD I have received a huge wave of email over the past week asking me if Dish Network has plans to add EPIX at the end of the month. And honestly I don’t know but I feel that Dish is crazy if they don’t offer it at its official launch. I said it before but will say it again; DirecTV is the leader of HD sports, while Dish Network is the HD movie leader. The addition of EPIX would fit right in their lineup perfectly. Let’s hope Dish does not upset its movie fans. (DirecTV has stated they have no plan to add EPIX to their lineup at this time.)
So why do you think its so quiet and more importantly what do you think is going to happen? Please leave your comments below!
Barney Rubble commented:
Another example of Scott not knowing a thing.
PDQ commented:
No one here has any information on what is going on "behind the scenes." That includes the writer.
Me in FL commented:
The reason i ask this question is because ive searched many sites for info on mlb net and dish and there is nothing , is this because there really is nothing going on , or are there behind the scene negotiations taking place , thanks any info would be appreciated greatly
Me in Fl commented:
any word on dish adding mlb network
Julio commented:
Awesome column, I always enjoy the standard monthly "I have nothing to write about, so I am going to write about how I have nothing to write about, but that must mean something big is coming because I get paid to write" column. Never disappoints!
DirecTV sub commented:
"The FCC filings show two birds launching at the same time for DirecTV, S2796 which is DirecTV 12, and S2796, DirecTV RB-2. What is the difference?"
Those are actually both the same D12 satellite. DirecTV went ahead and put a couple reverse DBS spot beam transponders on D12 to cover some west coast areas.
KnowsAll commented:
I only show S2796 as Directv RB-2, the next generation of DBS satellite that will use a new band of frequencies to increase bandwidth for delivering various services.
More National HD Fan commented:
The FCC filings show two birds launching at the same time for DirecTV, S2796 which is DirecTV 12, and S2796, DirecTV RB-2. What is the difference?
Scott K commented:
As has been mentioned before, Dish uplinked a bunch of HD several months ago that has yet to be made available to customers. You would hope that sooner rather than later they would flip the switch.
