Satellite Blog » Satellite TV

Dish Network Cuts Service to nearly 1m Customers

Administrator — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 22:54:58 +0000

Dish Network shut off access to out-of-local-market network stations to 900,000 people nationwide this week. For many, morning rituals of watching New York City morning news, or catching tidbits from ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox stations from outside their local markets.

DirecTV is Up 60% This Year and Still Going Strong

Administrator — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 22:53:50 +0000

DirecTV generated about $1 billion of free cash flow before interest and taxes this year, doubling last year’s output, and analysts expect earnings per share to jump 21% next year, to $1.31.

In the 2006 third quarter, DirecTV’s customer churn rate was a higher-than-expected 1.8%, and the company added fewer new subscribers than expected. But it was able to boost its percentage of higher-quality customers while containing subscriber-acquisition costs. Also, satellite-TV players continue to win “eyeballs,” despite intensifying competition from cable. DirecTV has 15.68 million subscribers, up from 14.9 million last spring.

Barron’s noted the stock is up more than 60% this year — and argues investors still might not sell, despite the run-up in price. I’ve kept my entire position intact, thinking we’ve got more upside.

Dish’s new tricks

Administrator — Mon, 11 Jul 2005 20:05:49 +0000

Dish’s new tricks

Dish Network has long been seen as the Wal-Mart of home TV services, offering a cheaper package of cable-type channels than either the local cable service or its main satellite competitor, DirecTV.

But over the past two years, Dish also has built a reputation for delivering advanced technology and new features. Last year, it became the first satellite service to offer a receiver with a built-in digital video recorder (DVR) capable of recording programs in high definition.

This spring, Dish began selling the DVR 942 ($699), an upgraded version of the receiver, which comes with even more new tricks. Two in particular stand out:

Multiple recording. The 942 has three built-in tuners — two for satellite channels and one that works with an over-the-air antenna. That means you can record three different programs at once, with one in high-definition.

Remote delivery. Other satellite services make you buy separate receivers and sometimes pay a monthly surcharge if you want to watch different programs in different rooms. The 942 can service two TVs in different parts of the house with just a simple coaxial cable connection. The extension TV gets its own remote control that can order up live or recorded programs, but not high-definition.

The 942 has other features that make it compare favorably to digital cable or DirecTV.

The unit has a 250GB hard drive, which can hold up to 25 hours of HD programming or 180 hours of standard broadcasts.

A look at Dish Network’s HD receiver/recorder and Toshiba’s tunerless TVs

Administrator — Mon, 11 Jul 2005 19:58:47 +0000

A look at Dish Network’s HD receiver/recorder and Toshiba’s tunerless TVs

What’s the richest source for programming to show off your super-grade, high-definition TV? At present, that honor goes to satellite TV provider Dish Network and its second-generation HD receiver/recorder, the Dish Player-DVR 942.

While broadcast networks reserve most high-def shows for prime time or weekend afternoons, there’s always something super-sharp and sparkly playing on this box – live on Dish’s (unrivaled-in-quantity) 19 satellite-fed HD channels or waiting in reserve on its hard-disk-drive video recorder.

Dish Network is the “we try harder” brand in pay TV, and the DVR 942 is quite the technological statement. It features two high-definition and two standard-definition satellite TV tuners, plus high-def and standard-def broadcast tuners.

Working this box to the max, you can record from any two sources simultaneously while watching something previously captured on the hard drive. (The 250 GB drive holds about 25 hours of HD content, 120 hours in standard def, or combinations thereof.)

In typical tech guy fashion, I pretty much figured out how to run the show just from fiddling around with the logically laid-out remote control and on-screen menu/program guide, without reading that pesky owner’s manual.

Read the rest of this review…

Bridges TV Launches Nationwide on DISH Network at Ceremony at Islamic Center

Administrator — Mon, 13 Jun 2005 11:57:51 +0000

Bridges TV Launches Nationwide on DISH Network at Ceremony at Islamic Center

Muslims of America now have a new venue for television programming with the announcement today that Bridges TV, the American Muslim lifestyle network in English, is now available nationwide on DISH Network. EchoStar Communications Corporation’s (NASDAQ: DISH) DISH Network(TM) satellite television service has added Bridges TV to its programming lineup on channel 578.

DirecTV Pulls Mega Project Together

Administrator — Tue, 31 May 2005 13:59:59 +0000

DirecTV Pulls Mega Project Together

DirecTV Group kicked off its enterprise architecture project last July with the idea of putting silos of information into a uniformed system.

The provider of digital satellite television launched its service in 1994, and since grew from 1 million customers to more than 14 million. News Corp. owns a 34-percent share of DirecTV, which has 6,000 employees nationwide.

DirecTV owns eight satellites with more than 225 channels in more than 135 markets nationwide. The company is launching five more satellites for 1,500 high-definition channels. Programming includes NFL Sunday Ticket, Mega March Madness, pay-per-view and DirecTV DVR with TiVo.

DIRECTV 8 Satellite Successfully Launched

Administrator — Tue, 24 May 2005 12:56:57 +0000

DIRECTV 8 Satellite Successfully Launched

DIRECTV 8, a high-power Ku/Ka-band, direct broadcast satellite built by Space Systems/Loral (SS/L), was successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard a Proton M/Breeze M launch vehicle provided by International Launch Services (ILS).

The satellite will provide selectable medium- and high-power Ku-band broadcast services to the U.S. on up to 16 high-power transponders. The Ka-band payload will use the full 1,000 MHz of Ka-band communications bandwidth available to link DIRECTV facilities as part of DIRECTV’s infrastructure development for the upcoming launch of local digital and high-definition services in the Ka-band.

Look at the big picture when deciding on cable or satellite

Administrator — Mon, 23 May 2005 19:43:29 +0000

Look at the big picture when deciding on cable or satellite

Q: I am thinking of changing from cable TV to satellite and would like to know what you think about Dish Network versus Comcast. I’ve seen a lot of advertisement spam and snail mail about Dish that promises the world, and I need the real word from someone I trust.

– Barry Werber, Pittsburgh

A: Subscription TV has become quite complicated, but I can tell you a bit about the industry in general and relate my own experiences with both vendors. I subscribe to both Comcast (cable TV and high-speed Internet) and Dish Network (satellite TV).

First, how many services do you want, and how important are they to you? Cable companies offer high-speed Internet service and, increasingly, phone service. You can bundle them together in packages to save money.

Satellite TV is pretty much a television-only service, but what great television! I have had Dish Network for eight years and could not be more pleased. For the serious audio/videophile, I think satellite is the way to go. The picture is 100 percent digital, unlike digital cable, which is a hybrid analog/digital system. Satellite picture quality is exceptional, and I can recommend Dish unhesitatingly based on my own experiences. Friends who have DirecTV tell me they are a great choice, too.

DirecTV 8 Launch Details Revealed

Administrator — Tue, 17 May 2005 19:07:35 +0000

DirecTV 8 Launch Details Revealed

International Launch Services (ILS) said the window for its May 21 launch of the DirecTV 8 satellite from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan will open at 1:59 p.m. EDT. The satellite will be delivered to orbit on a Proton M/Breeze M rocket.

Space System/Loral built the DirecTV 8 satellite based on its 1300 platform for DirecTV Inc. The spacecraft, which will reside at 101 degrees West, carries 16 Ku- band transponders and a Ka-band payload to link broadcast facilities. It will be used to support the expansion of new digital and high-definition services. The satellite has an expected service life of 12 years.

Dish Network to Pay $50,000 for Violating State No Call Law

Administrator — Tue, 10 May 2005 18:47:29 +0000

Dish Network to Pay $50,000 for Violating State No Call Law

Satellite television provider EchoStar Communications – which does business as Dish Network – will pay a civil penalty of $50,000 for telemarketing calls made to Missourians on the state’s No Call list in an agreement reached with Attorney General Jay Nixon. Dish Network is the nation’s second-largest satellite television company.

The assurance of voluntary compliance, filed in St. Charles County Circuit Court, alleges that EchoStar and its authorized dealers placed telemarketing calls soliciting the sale of satellite television services since July 2001 to consumers on Missouri’s No Call list. As part of the agreement approved Wednesday by Circuit Court Judge Lucy D. Rauch, EchoStar and its authorized dealers will cease calling Missourians on the list, and will provide Nixon’s office with a report of measures the company has taken to assure future compliance with state law.