The Game of Leapfrog Continues!
On Monday DirecTV announced that by the end of the year they would be carrying 130 national HD channels and would also be offering 1080p HD moves by the end of the year.
This morning Dish Network played a game of leapfrog with DirecTV by announcing that by the end of the year they will have 150 HD channels and in addition they will be offering customers full 1080p movies in August.
Like I said Tuesday in my last edition of “The Satellite Dish” the satellite industry is getting exciting again. There has never been a better time to be a satellite customer as things for satellite customers keep getting better and better. I also said in Tuesday’s edition that I didn’t expect Dish Networks CEO Charlie Ergen to take DirecTV’s announcement lying down. He has shown his willingness to fight back and the game of leapfrog with DirecTV continues!
The magic HD number is now 150 and I would be surprised to see DirecTV raise it’s HD channel count to match Dish Network at 150.
Dish Network will beat DirecTV to the 1080p race by offering their customers the movies “I am Legend” in 1080 and I am told the quality will be comparable to Blu-ray. Dish Network surprised me by announcing all of it’s MPEG4 HD DVR’s would be upgraded (or “Turbo Charged”) via a software download in August to be able to display 1080p. I personally thought that in order to see these resolutions a customer would need a new receiver such as the upcoming Dish Network 722k MPEG4 HD DVR that will be available to customers later this year. This surprise announcement shows me how well thought out the Dish Network receivers really are, as I never expected them to be able to support 1080p resolutions.
DirecTV also gets a nod for upgradeability for its MPEG4 HD DVR line, its HR line will get a software upgrade later this year which will also let them dsplay 1080p content. While Dish Network may beat DirecTV to the 1080p race, I would expect DirecTV to have more 1080p content available because of its vast DirecTV On Demand network which is already setup and is in wide use by customers nationwide. DirecTV’s 1080p offerings are expected to be offered both via satellite and via broadband connections. One can only imagine how broadband providers are going to react to those customers downloading 1080p movies using their broadband services. Most Blu-ray 1080p movies are anywhere between 20 and 50 gigabytes in size, so it will be interesting to see how this all works for DirecTV customers.
As I have said before, but will say it again… no matter who your satellite provider is this is an exciting time if you are a fan of high definition! The only problem I see with having 150 HD channels is finding the time to watch them all!
Michael commented:
Hey I read your article about the dish tv and it was good to read it. Do you know that satellite TV has become one of the greatest technological inventions of today. Only few years back cable tv operators had a monopoly in the pay television industry
Stop the Lies commented:
Hey Scott are you going to moderate posts here as well as on your site? I guess your sick of hearing the truth and the only way you can make a point is by hiding the truth from the world.
Dont worry though Scott there is a site where the truth can be heard. www.CrazyAmerica.org
vurbano commented:
Pure Charlie Ergen Propoganda. IMO He shouls put up and shut up until you become king.
Sam commented:
Dodger, several people have pointed it out, and he hasn't corrected it.
Included in Dish's channel count.
24 part-time game only RSNs
14 VODs
DodgerKing commented:
Scott,
Just for clarity you may want to edit your article. Direct said 150 by the end of the year. The 130 is by August 14th.
Sam Roberts commented:
When one observes almost all the trash-talk responses filled with apocryphal complaints, one can surely hear the tapping fingers of the competitor's paid staff of minimum wage email assassins hard at work posting posting trash. Since the competitors can't say the same as Dish, the competition release the hounds.
And as for the supposed "
B!tchers commented:
What a bunch of whiny b!tches. Pull your heads out of your asses and accept that fact that more from each provider is good for ALL subscribers. Dumbass fan boys.
Guy commented:
DirecTV has always said they'd have 150 channels by year's end. They'll have 130 by mid month.
Dish is playing game with their channel count, by including part-time game only RSNs. They will add even more part time channels, and keep down rezzing, and added compression to claim 150.
Scott Greczkowski commented:
Anyone can post anything under any name.
SS commented:
Dish Network didn't do anything special to get 1080p. They just pulled down the 1080p24 signal from the existing 1080i60 feed (see 3:2 pulldown). Most modern 1080p TVs do this anyway.
It is likely not costing Dish Network any bandwidth to do this - its simply something they are doing on their receivers.
JLong commented:
Hey Scott good to know your becoming just like me and DBStalk.. Keep up the good work!
Rob commented:
Dish is getting ahead of itself. Until they can provide HD-Locals to every medium & large city, all those other channels are just a waste of space. The average viewer spends 80-90% of their time watching major network TV, and until those channels are available in HD to Dish customers, there's no reason to leave cable behind.
C'mon Dish! Columbus, OH is just one of the major cities that you still have no HD local service available. Shame.
Rob commented:
Dish has already resorted to uber compression on their existing channels. I guess it's only going to get worse.
Correction commented:
DirecTV said they would have 130 HD channels by the August 14th. I'm sure they'll have 150 before the end of the year.