The Dish Network Blog

This Sunday, September 30th, Showtime on Dish Network is running the season premier of Dexter and Brotherhood. These two highly acclaimed series help round out Showtime’s Fall schedule.

Of course Dish Network has the Showtime Unlimited Movie Package which is 10 movie channels with the top Hollywood hits and great original shows like Dexter, Weeds, Brotherhood and Californication. Besides movies and their original series, Showtime Unlimited also has Blockbuster movies and great Boxing Events the first Saturday of every month

Showtime Unlimited on Dish Network is 10 Channels for only $12.99 per month. The Dish Network Showtime Unlimited Package includes Showtime East, Showtime West, Showtime Too, Showcase, Showtime Extreme, Showtime HDTV, Showtime Beyond, Flix, The Sundance Channel, The Movie Channel and The Movie Channel Extra

Showtime is also running a Free Preview weekend from September 28th thru October 1st. Below is the schedule of what you will see:

Friday 9/28
6:30 AM The Last Holiday
8:30 AM Camp
10:30 AM Legends Of The Fall
12:45 PM Mission: Impossible III
3:00 PM In The Line Of Fire
5:15 PM In The Mix
7:00 PM The Last Holiday
9:00 PM Weeds: He Taught Me How To Drive By
9:30 PM Californication: Girls, Interrupted
10:00 PM Mission: Impossible III

Saturday 9/29
6:55 AM Aeon Flux
8:30 AM Stepmom
10:40 AM Sleepless In Seattle
12:25 PM Pink Panther, The (2006)
2:00 PM EliteXC: 9/15/07
4:30 PM Longest Yard, The (2005)
6:30 PM Aeon Flux
8:15 PM Failure to Launch
10:00 PM Showtime Championship Boxing: Dawson vs. Mendoza

Sunday 9/30
7:05 AM Hockey Mom
8:45 AM Jumanji
10:30 AM Bad News Bears (2005)
12:30 PM Yours, Mine & Ours (2005)
2:00 PM Akeelah and the Bee
4:00 PM Failure to Launch
5:45 PM World Trade Center
8:00 PM Californication: Absinthe Makesv The Heart Grow Fonder
8:30 PM Californication: Girls, Interrupted
9:00 PM Dexter: It’s Alive!
10:00 PM Brotherhood: One Too Many Mornings 3:4-8
11:00 PM Dexter: It’s Alive!

Monday 10/1
7:00 AM Into The Blue
8:55 AM Madea’s Family Reunion
10:45 AM Dirty Dancing
12:30 PM Bud Greenspan Presents: Torino 2006 Olympics
2:00 PM Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector
3:30 PM The Honeymooners
5:00 PM Into The Blue
7:00 PM Madea’s Family Reunion
9:00 PM Brotherhood: One Too Many Mornings 3:4-8 v 10:00 PM Weeds: The Two Mrs. Scottsons
10:30 PM Californication: California Son
11:00 PM Dexter: It’s Alive!

Visit Dish-Network.com and read about Showtime on Dish Network

What is Sling Media and why is Dish Network buying them for $380M

As you might have heard, Dish Network is buying Sling Media, Inc. Sling Media defines themselves as a “a leading digital lifestyle company offering consumer services and products that are a natural extension of today’s digital way of life.”

So what products does Sling Media’s sell? They are mostly known for the Emmy award-winning Slingbox, which gives you the ability to watch and control your Dish Network receiver at any time at any place as long as you have a PC, Mac, PDA or Smart Phone.

With a Slingbox, you can be on vacation in Fiji and watch episodes of Grey’s Anatomy thru your laptop as long as your Fijian hut has broadband. Stuck in a airport? Stop playing Tetris on your Smart Phone and dial up your Slingbox to watch some TV. Sorry, Slingbox doesn’t prevent people from watching TV over your shoulder.

So Dish Network is going to pay $380 million in cash and stocks. Slingbox and Dish Network have been working together since the debut of SlingMedia since they launched in 2004. Sling Media’s technology could allow Dish Network to develop a better Video on Demand product or venture into IPTV.

For More Information visit www.dish-network.com

So if giving away DishHD free for 6 months didn’t get you to sign up for Dish Network, than will $800 off a Sharp TV get you to sign the dotted line?

Visit http://www.dish-network.comfor more details.

As sure as the leaves change in the fall, so do many cable companies rates. As leaves fall to the ground cable rates rise.  

Comcast said the cable rate bills are going up around 6.1%. The cable rate increase will be for all of the Houston subscribers. Reportedly, standard Comcast cable will now be $47.99 which is a $3 increase and Digital classic will be $60.99, a $5 increase. Comcast said that they are rasiing the rates to mirror rates in other markets through-out the US. 

But where will this money go? Comcast was reported saying the cable rate increase money will be for new HD channels and to upgrade their cable system, so we will be sure to keep tabs and see what happens. Even after they upgrade to the new HD channels they say are going to add, they still will have less than half the HD channels that Dish Network has.

Once again, as Dish Network has a price guarantee until 2008 and the cable companies raise their rates. The Cable Bundles are becoming like Sub-Prime Mortgage Loans….to good to be true.

As many of you might have read, Dish Network launched the Big Ten Network On September 6, 2007 and added the new sports channel to the America’s Top 100 package. The Big Ten now has a home at Channel 439 on Dish Network and Dish is giving all customers a sneak preview until early 2008. Then the channel will become a part of the America’s Top 100 Plus Package.

So hooray for those fans that finally got the channel they have been screaming about since the announcement of a Big Ten Conference Channel.

But at what cost does the addition of this channel do for the other 13 million Dish customers that will cruise on by channel 439? One can only think that with the money spent for the Big Ten Network, Dish Network could have added one more national HD channel or another local HD Market.

Once again Dish Network played chicken with a content programming provider (The Big Ten Network has support from Fox Cable Networks) and we can assume that got a sweet deal since it came down to the 11th hour.  However, if the channel is lumped into a basic inexpensive programming package like America’s Top 100, then one can assume that all 13 million of us that subscribe to Dish Network are footing the bill for a small percent of Big ten Conference Fans.

We love new content, but come-on EchoStar, stop with the “it’s about the principle” attitude when it comes to programming. Pay the price, make it an al la carte channel, or let the channel go.

For those of you who are fans of the 11 universities that make up The Big Ten, well, I guess we can say “your welcome”. Enjoy the channel and I will cheer on the additional HD sports channel the the Bog Ten Network will provide.

So Big Ten Fans, will you be as outraged and ready to foot the bill when Dish Network draws a battle line against other New College Conference’s Channels?

We hope so!

Please Visit Sky Report For The Best In Satellite News

Most analysts realize the crippling housing market is taking its toll on the pay-TV industry. The cable crowd seems to have survived the seasonal downturn, and DIRECTV took its lumps like most expected. But as for EchoStar’s DISH Network, some say the country’s second leading satellite provider got “squeezed.”

That’s according to Bernstein Research’s Craig Moffett, who said being the last of the multichannel video providers to report, expectations surrounding DISH’s Q2 were lowered in recent weeks.

DISH touted its 170,000 net new subscriber additions as pushing the satellite service past Time Warner Cable to become the nation’s third largest pay-TV provider with 13.585 million subs. But even with seasonally weak cable sub growth during Q2 - usually a boon for DBS - and a 25 percent year-over-year decrease in new housing additions, Moffett said DISH’s subscriber results are still “something of a disappointment.” The analyst said the 170K net adds are EchoStar’s lowest in 10 years, and are fully 30 percent below the 250K net adds Wall Street was expecting.

Still, Moffett said financially speaking, DISH’s results were stronger than many anticipated with EBITDA growing to $785 million - a 23 percent year-over-year growth rate. The analyst was also impressed by the company’s steady state cash flow growth of 21.5 percent during the period to $674 million. (It should be noted, however, that Bernstein’s SSCF numbers include other expenses not reported in EchoStar’s 10Q filing.) Moffett also said DISH’s $645 SAC was well below Street predictions.

Wedbush Morgan’s William Kidd said the firm was pleased with EchoStar’s earnings per share of 50 cents. The analyst also said DISH’s gross additions result is fairly impressive given the change in SAC and increasingly difficult consumer environment. Kidd said churn (1.68 percent) seemed to be the company’s biggest problem during the period, but the increase is related more to the consumer market and recent rate hike as opposed to increased competition.

And, not surprisingly, Oppenheimer’s Thomas Eagan said it will become increasingly difficult for DISH to continue sustaining its historical subscriber growth rate given changes in the competitive landscape. Most pressing being the sale of Adelphia systems, continued rollout of cable VoIP, and the slowing growth of AT&T’s DISH Network partnership subscriber base.

Attention Dish Network Subscribers, we need your help in stopping discriminatory taxes against direct broadcast satellite services. Dish Network is known for having the lowest all digital price for pay television and  the cable companies are always trying to raise satellite televisions prices by lobbing the state governments to apply an unfair sales tax to Dish Network subscribers.

Presently the Cable industry is lobbying several states to pass the Internet Tax Moratorium Bill which carries a stipulation that will make Dish Network customers pay higher sales taxes.  This bill will require states and municipalities to implement tax on satellite service.  Both DISH Network and DirecTV are supporting an amendment known as the DBS Amendment to the Internet Tax Moratorium Bill that will require states and municipalities to implement the same tax on satellite services as they do on cable services.

It’s known that Dish Network constantly wins over cable on price, quality, and customer service and Dish Network continues to be the benchmark disincentive against cable rate increases.  Because of Dish Networks low prices, the cable industry lobbies states to impose discriminatory DBS taxes. This tax that cable is trying to get passed will artificially inflate the cost of satellite-TV service.

We all are tired of taxes, especially those that are designed to restrain a consumer’s choice.  The cable industry can not compete in a fair market because of their huge costly infrastructure and overhead. So to level their playing field, they rather tax satellite customers and increase their bills.

Why doesn’t cable do as Dish Network does and negotiate cost effective carriage deals with programmers and look for efficient and cost-effective ways to deliver digital televisions? As the mandatory digital conversion approaches, which is only 18 months away, cable will be a in money crunch to switch their customers from analog to digital. So cable will do what they do best, raise rates and try to raise satellite customer’s rates.

If you’re a customer in a state with discriminatory sales taxes, the cable companies are attacking your right to choose a cheaper better alternative. Currently, these states with Discriminatory DBS Taxes are Florida, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee and Utah.

Its time to take action and let the cable companies that Satellite customers are not going to pay for their decaying and obsolete cable systems. Please tell Congress to support fair sales taxes for all pay television subscribers!

Please call Congress at (202) 225-3121 and ask to be transferred to your Member of Congress. Simply leave a message with your Member and then ask to be transferred to the staffer who handles Judiciary Committee issues.
 

Don’t let the cable companies use taxes to justify their outrageously high prices!

 Although the Big Ten Network and Dish Network continue to try to negotiate a fair deal for Dish Network subscribers, Dish Network has provided a great tool allowing Big Ten Fans to watch their favorite teams without having to subscribe to the Big Ten Network. This is great news that a large number of Big Ten football games will be available to qualifying subscribers on DISH Network channels this college football season.