Program Dispute Avoided
Dish Network customers almost woke up on September 1st to find that they were missing two more HD channels over another programming dispute. Luckily at the last moment this one was avoided.
I was sick for most of the weekend so I wasn’t checking my email as much as I normally do, when I got back into my office on Wednesday I was going through my junk mail folder and saw a programming alert from Dish Network in my junk mail box.
I opened it and saw the following message
“Takedown of HDNet and HDNet Movies
Effective Sunday, August 31, 2008 (11:59pm PT), HDNet and HDNet Movies have discontinued delivery of their channel to DISH Network customers. DISH Network deeply regrets the disruption of service, but prior to the loss of HDNet and HDNet Movies, the networks refused to negotiate a fair and reasonable price that fairly reflected the channels’ overall ratings, performance, and value for continued carriage.
DISH Network continues to have the lowest all digital price everyday for our customers. In order to remain the best value for our customers and offer competitive pricing for their programming, we, at times, have to have an interruption of service while we negotiate for low pricing.
In the meantime, DISH Network recommends programming similar to HDNet on the ESPN HD (Ch. 140) and MHD (Ch. 369, name changing to Palladia on 9/3/08), while comparable programming for HDNet Movies can be found on Universal HD (Ch. 366) and MGM HD (Ch.385).”
An announcement of the takedown was also posted on the Dish Network retailer website letting retailers know of the takedown.
August 31st came and went and yet both HDNet and HDNet Movies have remained on Dish Network as both companies came to an agreement on continued carriage on Dish Network before the takedown was to take place. A spokesperson for HDNet confirmed to me that an agreement was reached for continued coverage of the HDNet channels on Dish Network.
Losing HDNet and HDNet movies would have been another programming black eye from Dish which has already lost 15 VOOM HD channels, GolTV and a number of local channels due to contract disputes. This is one dispute that I am very happy there was a quick resolution.
dishshmish commented:
I keep telling you people, give it up! it's over! dish doesn't care about you anymore. they care about the number that appears after the "DISH" designation on the CNBC ticker. nothing more, nothing less...
Bubba commented:
Wayne says "So lighten up and watch something from the other 250+ channels out there." That's easy to say if it's not one of your very favorite channels that is disappearing...maybe for a just a few days (no big deal), maybe for quite a while and maybe (like Voom) for good. Comcast has been negotiating for years with HDNet and just recently come to an agreement for carriage.
After the loss of Voom there are very few places left outside of the premium tiers where you can uncut and uncensored films...sorry but the commercial and "bug" loaded TNT HD, TBS HD and Universal HD are hardly adequate replacements. As for MGM HD it's not too bad except there are more repeats than Voom and a rather prominent 24/7 "bug". Nope if HDNet is gone even for a short time we have the right to complain...but again I'm glad that didn't happen...this time.
MikeD-C05 commented:
I just wonder how much money Charlie Ergen has really saved over the years by having these retransmission arguments with local channels, national channels etc, vs how many subs he has lost by taking down these channels or refusing to transmit them. I am sure that somebody is getting that money but it isn't the subs. I pay about the same for DISH as I would for DIRECTV . So I would have to conclude that the money saved is going into CHarlie's pocket. Especially since DISH always shows a profit ,even when they lose subs like they did last quarter.
Wayne commented:
I for one am glad Dish has these diputes. They help all carriers keep price increase in check. I'm sure other carriers do their best to find out what others are paying and if Dish is paying less then others will demand it too. My biggest complaint with those who want Dish to give in to price increases or moving channels to a more popular tier is what's the big deal if you loose a channel for a few days. Most of the time the dispute is resolved. Voom was an unusual situation and some channels just don't have enough viewers to justify it even being on the air. So lighten up and watch something from the other 250+ channels out there.
vurbano commented:
This is a major reason why I will not touch DISH.
Kyle Luna commented:
What he thinks he's doing is keeping prices "low", but all the customers see and care about for the most part is that at any moment they can lose one or more of their favorite channels for an indefinite length of time and still pay the same ammount each month they're gone.
EWB commented:
What Charles Ergen and company has been doing per these programming disputes--and frankly I am growing sick and tired of those--is trying to please their shareholders and Wall Street. But then, with their long history of disputes with programmers----Viacom, Disney (Lifetime), GOL TV, Citadel Communications (Midwest broadcast TV stations)---the lastest episode would have simply been par for the course for Charlie and Co.
James commented:
If DishNetwork wasn't CHEAP, there would not be any channel disputes!
Bubba commented:
I would have been highly p.o.'d if we lost HDNet Movies. It is my absolute favorite movie channel! Great selection of films, all shown in HD in their original aspect ratio. I wouldn't trade that one channel for the whole HBO package! HD Net has some nice music, sports and special interest programs too with almost no commercial interruption. Losing these channels would have been the final straw (after the Voom loss) for me...hello Direct TV...or maybe back to cable (Ugh!). So glad Charlie and Mark Cuban finally came to terms!