Dishnetwork sucks!!!

[crfpilot]

They pulled the plug on all of Viacom's channels, CBS, MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, and Comedy Central. I am sooooo pissed right now! I am cancelling if it is not back on by tomorrow. I also wrote a letter to the ceo at ceoofdishnetwork@dishnetwork.com The jokers are giving a $1 credit, I don't think that's going to make up for the lack of 5 or more channels.

[krwlz]

I like my direct tv...

[erion]

Now in all fairness, Viacom did actually ask for $.06 / month per customer more to allow Dish network to continue to have access to its channels.

That, BTW, is exactly 2% of the monthly fee increase DN network recently slapped onto its customes. . .

[clavus]

Involving customers in a vendor dispute?

If one of my employees did that, I'd fire his ass.

[Dano069]

Originally posted by krwlz
I like my direct tv...

Ditto

[gilada]

Originally posted by krwlz
I like my direct tv...

Ding ding ding... I'm with ya on that....

[rocinante2003]

It sucks royally. This is the last straw, I have been through the hoops with these guys regarding the 921 HD receiver.

[erion]

Originally posted by clavus
Involving customers in a vendor dispute?

If one of my employees did that, I'd fire his ass.

That's kind of my point. Dish network has decided to use its customer base as a bargaining chip. Viacom stands to lose ad revenue if it doesn't get this resolved quickly, and DN stands to lose many customers quickly who can't get their daily dose of The Daily Show or MTV Live or whatever. It's a pretty big gamble on both sides.

[punx1325]

Honestly I hate all cable/sat providers. They give you hundreds of shit channels and charge you up the ass. I don't need 5 lifetime channels, 1 is too many! I have just basic cable to avoid the pain of rabbit ears. Cable companies have been jacking up prices forever and I am getting sick of this shit. TV providers should let you pick the channels you want and only pay for those. And DN is just retarded, everyone knows DirecTV is does a better job.

[Cynthetiq]

Originally posted by punx1325
Honestly I hate all cable/sat providers. They give you hundreds of shit channels and charge you up the ass. I don't need 5 lifetime channels, 1 is too many! I have just basic cable to avoid the pain of rabbit ears. Cable companies have been jacking up prices forever and I am getting sick of this shit. TV providers should let you pick the channels you want and only pay for those. And DN is just retarded, everyone knows DirecTV is does a better job.

You can select channels ala carte, but because of the EXTRA lifetime, HBO, MTV, etc, it brings down the price of the channel subs. Thus you get more for your dollar, even if you don't want it. I'm sure that there are some components or options on many products you own, from your computer to your VCR, that you don't ever use, because it's cheaper to include it,

As far as the "war" I hated seeing the chyron crawl come across my screen telling me that Dishnetwork is going to kill off it's channels. WTF.

Cable companies have been jacking up prices by offering newer and different products such as digital channels, HD, DVR, cable modem, VoIP telephony. You can still get basic cable for a very modest price. You want all the options then you'll be paying for it, which IMO is only fair.

[Charlatan]

LINK

Viacom Channels Pulled Off DISH Network

ENGLEWOOD/NEW YORK, March 9: EchoStar’s DISH Network has pulled from its offerings 16 of Viacom’s owned-and-operated CBS stations, along with the company’s 10 cable channels.

In a statement, EchoStar said it had no choice, citing Viacom’s "strong-arm" tactics and arguing that the company wanted DISH to carry "Viacom-owned channels of little or no measurable appeal" in exchange for the rights to carry the 16 owned-and-operated CBS stations.

"DISH Network customers in the cities with CBS owned-and-operated stations are entitled to keep up with local news and events distributed over publicly owned airwaves, and Viacom is interfering with that right," said Charles Ergen, chairman and CEO of EchoStar. "DISH Network will always have a place for CBS and we’re willing to pay for retransmission rights, but Viacom is holding the public airwaves hostage, trying to extract concessions and higher rates on programming unrelated to CBS."

Ergen continued, "Our goal is to remain the best value for our customers for the lowest price. To do this, we need fair contracts with competitive pricing that allow DISH Network to select the channels most compatible with the interests of our customers."

The platform, which serves 9 million subscribers, is offering its customers in those 16 owned-and-operated markets a $1 monthly credit. A $1 credit is also being given to subscribers of America’s Top 60, America’s Top 120, America’s Top 180, America’s Everything Pak, and DISH Latino Max, as a result of the loss of channels like MTV, MTV Espanol, Nickelodeon and BET, among others.

Viacom responded by saying that it was "dismayed and disappointed" by the move. "We tried for months to reach an accommodation that would allow them to continue carrying CBS, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Comedy Central, MTV, BET and many of our other channels, but EchoStar/DISH Network refused to entertain a reasonable proposal or to negotiate in earnest."



The statement went on to note that DISH had recently upped its subscriber fees by some $3 a month, "Yet they are unwilling to consider paying an additional six cents a month per subscriber for the right to carry our channels," the statement said. "Our networks are some of the most popular on television and when Americans watch TV, they spend more than 20% of their time with our networks; nonetheless, we are asking for less than 5% of what EchoStar/DISH Network currently generates from the average customer."

Viacom went on to "urge" DISH subscribers to switch to another, "reputable" platform.

[H12]

I would be furious, but I have Direct TV...so I got lucky, I guess.

[Chingal0]

DirectTV > all

[Cujo]

Originally posted by Dano069
Ditto

Double Ditto. Especially since I don't pay a freakin cent for it.

[Xell101]

I love movies. I really love movies. Despite the infuriatingly stupid ads...

The Bearer of 'On Demand' > Direct TV > the remainder

[shakran]

I see it a bit differently. CBS/Viacom is trying to strongarm Dish into accepting a, frankly, bullshit price increase just because they think they can. Dish is responding by telling them, hell no you can't, because we aren't going to make our customers pay for your greed. Give it a week and I bet the channels are back because Viacom will fold. It worked last year when Dish used the same tactics, and they ended up saving me money. I can't be too upset about that!

[Church]

I have basic cable at the moment, and I saw something scroll across the bottom of Fox during Cops the other day telling people to call Dishnetwork and complain about that. Based on the various spelling mistakes and abundant exclamation marks, I came to the conclusion that it was most likely a signal hack by a pissed off customer.

[theusername]

I use to have Dishnetwork and i switched to Direct Tv. I recommend others to do it as well.

[Plan9Senior]

I just switched from Dishnetwork to Direct TV. In addition, the new Direct TV deal includes free Tivo! I am a happy man

[guthmund]

Originally posted by shakran
I see it a bit differently. CBS/Viacom is trying to strongarm Dish into accepting a, frankly, bullshit price increase just because they think they can. Dish is responding by telling them, hell no you can't, because we aren't going to make our customers pay for your greed. Give it a week and I bet the channels are back because Viacom will fold. It worked last year when Dish used the same tactics, and they ended up saving me money. I can't be too upset about that!

I agree. You're absolutely right in thinking that Viacom is going to fold first. With 9.5 million households now Viacom free, it just seems like Viacom has more to lose and faster. It's not about the 6 cents, it's a matter of principle and that I can understand.


(Warning: Gratuitous use of the punctuation below. Beware!?!?!?)


I'll miss The Daily Show and nothing else. MTV? VH1? MTV....2!?!?!?

Egads, man!
What will I do for my "Road Rules/Real World Lost in Cancun Spring Break hip hop video countdown of the worlds' greatest bling videos" fix?!?!!?!

[mastboyx]

hooray for directv !!!

[Reese]

Spongebob Squarepants! Fairly odd Parents! NO!!!!!!!!!!!! I wish I had Nickelodeon! Damnit! damnit! argh!!!

I'll give them a little while to fix this because I think Viacom is more at fault and I don't want to dump a company that's working hard to keep costs down, that's not to say that dishnetwork is a totally "for the costomer" company. They're not the good guy, They're just the less bad one if that makes any sense....

One Dollar a month credit is an insult though, They could give me wrestlemania XX free and I'd forgive them though, as long as it gets worked out soon :P :P

[agball]

I agree, they blow!! switched off of them 3 mos. ago to go with Hi Def through cable

[agball]

I agree, they blow!! I switched to HiDef Cable 3 mos ago for less $$

[kutulu]

Three things here fore me, Dish Network should not be using their customers as a bargaining chip. If I had DN, I would have already cancelled and called the cable company. Second, Viacom is only asking for 6 cents/customer. I think it's reasonable since they just jacked up their customers for an extra few bucks a month.

Someone mentioned haveing it set up where you pick the channels. Ideally, that would work, but the truth is that you'd probably end up paying more per channel and overall than you were before.

[brandon11983]

Dish Network is by far a superior company than DirecTV. If they weren't, DirecTV wouldn't be hurting like they are. Dish has also given more customers to Viacom and MTV than everyone else COMBINED. Dish has continued to stomp the living daylights out of DirecTV over the past several years. Over the last 2 years (eight business quarters), Dish trounced DirecTV seven of those eight quarters. The reason? Their customer service is better, promotions for new customers are better, more options for new customers, they have promotions in place for existing customers, flexible payment options, more options in programming, less expensive programming, and a million other things. Dish is also offering an additional 4 channels (one of which an Encore movie channel) to their customers during the dispute. In my opinion, as a Dish retailer, Viacom is the greedy one here. Dish has done nothing unreasonable. Dish has CBS affiliates in over 100 markets around the US, 15 of which are owned by Viacom. Dish even offered to pay Viacom as much as Dish was paying the most expensive CBS affiliate, and Viacom refused. Dish is not trying to make enemies with anyone. They are a very generous company. On and around 9/11, when the CBS tower on the WTC was taken out and New York cable customers were left without a CBS, Dish Network offered up their feed to the cable system for FREE.

Originally posted by Plan9
I just switched from Dishnetwork to Direct TV. In addition, the new Direct TV deal includes free Tivo! I am a happy man

Dish has been giving hi def receivers and DVR's away long before DirecTV. Why do you suppose DirecTV is giving TiVo away now? Because they would like to gain some ground on Dish, who currently has more DVR units in homes than anyone else.

Originally posted by agball
I agree, they blow!! I switched to HiDef Cable 3 mos ago for less $$

What do you pay per month for the HD package, and what do you get as part of it?

Originally posted by erion
Now in all fairness, Viacom did actually ask for $.06 / month per customer more to allow Dish network to continue to have access to its channels.

Incorrect. Viacom actually asked somewhere between 2 and 3 dollars more per customer. The exact number is not known, but I do know that is slighly less than ESPN, which is between 2 and 3 dollars per customer. Charlie Ergen, CEO of Dish, publicly announced that if Viacom would accept an increase of $.06, that he would sign the contract tomorrow.

[Shady]

i understand neither company wanted to go for a bullshit contract, but isn't that better than losing tons of customers by shutting off their favorite channels? Personally if my bill went up by a few dollars a month, i'd be pissed, and might consider switching... but going without my favorite few channels would make my ass switch services pretty damn quick.

[santafe5000]

I luv my Direct TV. In all the years i have had it, not one problem.
I get the channels i want, so i have no complaints.
It is disturbing tho, that the two companies are using the customer base to try to squeeze each other. In the long run, Dish and Viacom will both lose.

[InTeGrA77]

God damn dish...

So they take away almost 10 channels and give us one in return(WAM), without lowering our bills...=BULLSHIT!!!

[punx1325]

Originally posted by Cynthetiq
You can select channels ala carte, but because of the EXTRA lifetime, HBO, MTV, etc, it brings down the price of the channel subs. Thus you get more for your dollar, even if you don't want it. I'm sure that there are some components or options on many products you own, from your computer to your VCR, that you don't ever use, because it's cheaper to include it,

Cable companies have been jacking up prices by offering newer and different products such as digital channels, HD, DVR, cable modem, VoIP telephony. You can still get basic cable for a very modest price. You want all the options then you'll be paying for it, which IMO is only fair.

I understand what you are saying, but I what I meant was just pay for each individual channel. I know it will never happen. But it would be nice to pay, say 50 cents each for the channels that you want. There are only about 15 channels (mostly local) I watch, so in therory I would have a cable bill of $7.50 versus the 42.90 I pay now for basic cable. And about 10 years ago my parents were paying 28 bucks with premium channels. So it obviously cable companies are making huge profits without much extra service provided.

[Cynthetiq]

here's what came across my desk while I was out of the office...

-----Original Message-----
From: Freston, Tom
Sent: Tuesday, March 09, 2004 6:00 PM
To: M_MTVN__ALL
Subject: EchoStar Update

MTVNETWORKS
A VIACOM COMPANY


DATE: March 9, 2004 COPY:

TO: MTV Networks Staff and Freelancers

FROM: Tom Freston

SUBJECT: ECHOSTAR



By now you’ve probably read or heard the news about EchoStar/Dish Network and its president, Charlie Ergen, yanking our channels plus CBS and BET, our “sister” networks, off of his satellite service last night. This is an unprecedented level of “channel yanking” in our business.

So what’s going on?

Well, the first thing you already know. Our relationship with our viewers is the most important thing to all of us at MTV Networks. We are very sad to see that relationship severed by EchoStar.

You should also know that over the years we have successfully partnered with virtually all the other cable and satellite distributors who deliver our channels to their subscribers – except EchoStar.

Like DirecTV, EchoStar/Dish Network delivers television programming by satellite to a large chunk of the country’s television viewers – about nine million of them. We’ve been trying to do a deal with them for months, they have repeatedly smacked down our efforts. Instead of reaching an agreement, they chose to sue us and remove our channels, as well as CBS and BET. The bottom line, if you subscribe to The Dish, you’re missing a LOT of your favorite channels today. (CMT, TV Land and Spike TV are still up because their deals have not expired.)

We’re confused and dismayed by this situation. EchoStar recently raised its rates to subscribers by as much as $3.00 a month. But they refuse to pay us a less than 6 cent increase per month we were asking for ALL of our channels including CBS and BET. When Americans watch TV, they spend over 20% of their time with the affected networks -- yet our fees are less than 5% of what EchoStar gets from its average customer. Consider that distributors pay over $2.00 a month to ESPN for that ONE service. MTV Networks spends over $1 billion on programming each year. Our increases in programming costs go way above the increases in license fees that we ask from our distributors.

EchoStar is a particularly contentious customer. We did have a deal negotiated in January but they reneged on it. We have not been able to subsequently negotiate a deal that made sense for us. A few other things about EchoStar:

• They’ve been found liable for copyright infringement and for stealing CBS’s signal for five years.

• They have a long history of filing frivolous lawsuits, and spent much of their time in court the last several months instead of joining us at the bargaining table. They tried to get a court to issue an injunction against MTVN – and they lost.

• EchoStar pays its bills long after their due date. They are, probably, our “latest” payer.

• EchoStar likes to play the role of the “mom and pop” operator against the big programming giant. In reality they are huge and powerful. With almost 9 million customers, they are the 4th biggest distribution company in the U.S.

DirecTV and the major cable companies are actively working to get EchoStar subscribers onto a service where they can see our networks.

We have strong networks with loyal audiences and we feel confident that the viewers who lost us will find us shortly elsewhere.

I just wanted you to know the facts behind this situation and to know that we are working hard to connect with our EchoStar/Dish network viewers in any way we can.

In the meantime, if you get any calls from EchoStar subscribers looking for their favorite channels, please let them know that we have set up a call center to help them and transfer them to ext. 2608.

[punx1325]

I think Dish Network is fucked... Does anyone know how many people have switched from Dish since this event started?

[Cynthetiq]

and here's what just came down the pike...

Viacom and Dish Network Reach Long-Term Agreement; CBS, MTV Networks and BET Restored



NEW YORK, N.Y., and ENGLEWOOD, Colo., March 11, 2004 -- Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B) and EchoStar Communications Corporation (Nasdaq: DISH) and its DISH Network today announced that they have reached a long-term, multi-channel agreement that provides for the satellite TV distribution of CBS, BET, and the MTV Networks channels previously carried by DISH Network.

”It’s great to have our networks back in front of all our viewers, and to bring a new service, Nicktoons, to DISH Network subscribers,” said Mel Karmazin, President and Chief Operating Officer of Viacom. "We apologize to our viewers for the disruption in their service, and want to thank them for their patience and support. We look forward to continuing to serve our viewers through DISH Network well into the future.”



”This agreement with Viacom allows DISH Network to remain the lowest-cost, all digital TV provider in the country,” said Charles Ergen, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of EchoStar. “We understand that this has been a difficult few days for our customers, and we thank them for all the encouragement they have given us throughout. We also look forward to a long relationship with Viacom in which we can provide their quality channels to our viewers.”


The multi-year agreement restores full service of CBS in 16 markets as well as Comedy Central, MTV, MTV2, Nickelodeon, Noggin, GAS, VH1, VH1 Classic, MTV Espanol and BET in all markets. Additionally, the agreement extends the term of the carriage for CBS HD (East and West) channels, as well as Spike TV, CMT and TV Land. DISH Network will also launch Nicktoons on its America’s Top 180 package this spring.

As part of the agreement, Viacom and DISH Network have settled all litigation between the two companies.





About Viacom

Viacom is a leading global media company, with preeminent positions in broadcast and cable television, radio, outdoor advertising, and online. With programming that appeals to audiences in every demographic category across virtually all media, the company is a leader in the creation, promotion, and distribution of entertainment, news, sports, music, and comedy. Viacom’s well-known brands include CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, VH1, BET, Paramount Pictures, Infinity Broadcasting, Viacom Outdoor, UPN, TV Land, Comedy Central, CMT: Country Music Television, Spike TV, Showtime, Blockbuster, and Simon & Schuster. More information about Viacom and its businesses is available at www.viacom.com.



About EchoStar Communications

EchoStar Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH) serves over 9 million satellite TV customers through its DISH Network, and is a leading U.S. provider of advanced digital television services. DISH Network’s services include hundreds of video and audio channels, Interactive TV, HDTV, sports and international programming, together with professional installation and 24-hour customer service. DISH Network is the leader in the sale of digital video recorders (DVRs). Visit EchoStar's DISH Network at www.dishnetwork.com or call 1-800-333-DISH (3474).



###

[brandon11983]

Originally posted by punx1325
I think Dish Network is fucked... Does anyone know how many people have switched from Dish since this event started?

I don't think many have. 3 days without the channels. They gave you a dollar credit on your bill, two dollars in some cases, a few extra channels until March 14, and a free pay per view movie... get the fuck over it.

[Cynthetiq]

Dish it out: Federal regulators told EchoStar it may have to restate its 2001 results to reverse $17 million of liability accruals, the company disclosed. Reversing the accrual may increase reported earnings, EchoStar said.

The company said it would delay filing its fourth-quarter results while it talks with the Securities and Exchange Commission over the next several days.

EchoStar said it hopes that any required reaudit of its 2001 results can be completed by March 30. Results for other years also might be affected.

[J.R.V.A.]

Originally posted by Cujo
Double Ditto. Especially since I don't pay a freakin cent for it.

Is your name O.J. ?

[p0thead]

direct tv rules! well, if you program the cards although i wouldn't recommend it. OJ got caught, and so can you. i hope nobody here lectures me about stealing airwaves.