# Viacom HD (Comedy,Spike,CMT,MTV,VH1,Nick) Now Live



## space86

They are on

_(Moderator note: I updated your thread title to include the new channel names to help steer people to this thread instead of creating multiple others for each channel)_


----------



## space86

The N is on now channel 9576


----------



## garys

Where is Comedy Central?


----------



## space86

garys said:


> Where is Comedy Central?


9485 Comedy Central


----------



## garys

It wasn't there a couple of minutes ago, I have it now.


----------



## Stewart Vernon

Not sure if anything else is coming... but I can also tell you that CMTHD, SpikeHD, and Comedy Central HD seem to be live for AbsoluteHD customers.

Not sure if that's accident or intentional or if we'll get the rest or have to upgrade to get the others.


----------



## HiDefRev

Spike, CMT, Nick, all the rest are lit up !! O happy day !!


----------



## JeffN9

Stewart Vernon said:


> Not sure if anything else is coming... but I can also tell you that CMTHD, SpikeHD, and Comedy Central HD seem to be live for AbsoluteHD customers.
> 
> Not sure if that's accident or intentional or if we'll get the rest or have to upgrade to get the others.


Yes I can confirm that CMT, Spike and Comedy Central(HD channels) are working for me with HD Absolute. Nick, VH1 and MTV are in red, oh well can't have everything. If I had a choice I would have picked the first three anyway.

I'm just thrilled to get any new HD channels with this package.


----------



## clyde sauls

where is the BETHD? Is that the only one missing.


----------



## turey22

DIRECTV should be worried!


----------



## Stewart Vernon

JeffN9 said:


> Yes I can confirm that CMT, Spike and Comedy Central(HD channels) are working for me with HD Absolute. Nick, VH1 and MTV are in red, oh well can't have everything. If I had a choice I would have picked the first three anyway.
> 
> I'm just thrilled to get any new HD channels with this package.


Mostly agree with you there. Only difference, I'd probably take Nick over CMT sometimes... but maybe a few more channels and it'll be worth folks upgrading to the TurboHD packages from Absolute.

Meanwhile, very nice to not only see new HD today, but also new HD added to the AbsoluteHD folks!

I'm going to try and catch the repeat of last night's South Park on Comedy Central at 9:30pm and see how that looks in HD.


----------



## lbhskier37

WTF?!! Doesn't Nick, MTV, and VH1 come with Turbo Silver?


----------



## coldsteel

They come with no Turbo package so far.


----------



## jamieh1

turey22 said:


> DIRECTV should be worried!


Why be worried, we already have them.


----------



## JBT

Another Absolute with CMT, Comedy and Spike in HD.


----------



## lbhskier37

coldsteel said:


> They come with no Turbo package so far.


WTF did I get a Turbo package for then if I don't get new HD channels? I think U-verse is getting a new customer!


----------



## Young C

Thanks for the welcome.

Where is BET-HD? It was indeed technical issues?


----------



## turey22

jamieh1 said:


> Why be worried, we already have them.


Dish Network is catching up with the HD channels.


----------



## digitalfreak

turey22 said:


> Dish Network is catching up with the HD channels.


So?


----------



## turey22

digitalfreak said:


> So?


Damn why so rude? Can't make a comment?

If I was DIRECTV I would be worried of Dish getting more HD. A lot of people shopping for service go to DIRECTV because of the HD lineup and now with Dish getting more they might look into Dish.


----------



## ehb224

I just checked all the new channels and I did not see any HD content. At least it was not stretch o vision!


----------



## JohnH

ehb224 said:


> I just checked all the new channels and I did not see any HD content. At least it was not stretch o vision!


TNA Wrestling 

Couple of others.


----------



## JrVtecAccord

Nice, I have been waiting for NICK.


----------



## archer75

I have turboHD bronze and I have comedy central, CMT and spike.


----------



## GrumpyBear

I am not home yet, so I can't check. Does anybody know if the Map downs are working yet?


----------



## archer75

GrumpyBear said:


> I am not home yet, so I can't check. Does anybody know if the Map downs are working yet?


They are for me, for the channels I get.


----------



## CoolGui

The map downs are working for me too.

I have to admit I'm a little annoyed with myself for believing everything I read in these forums about them not adding any channels to HD Absolute and switched out of mine. On the other hand the main reason I did it is to get my RSN so I can't complain too much since I'm sure they will still never add that.


----------



## CoolGui

I'm getting some weird black artifacts/banding on Comedy Central HD. I guess they might not have worked out all the bugs yet. Anyone else seeing this?


----------



## MarcusInMD

Outstanding! The picture quality on all of the other HD channels took yet another hit. Can't wait to get more hd-lite channels.


----------



## ZBoomer

Looks like I'm getting them all with AEP + Gold HD.


----------



## archer75

CoolGui said:


> I'm getting some weird black artifacts/banding on Comedy Central HD. I guess they might not have worked out all the bugs yet. Anyone else seeing this?


Yes, I saw that too.



MarcusInMD said:


> Outstanding! The picture quality on all of the other HD channels took yet another hit. Can't wait to get more hd-lite channels.


I haven't seen any difference on other channels on my projector. Any specific channel that is most noticable?


----------



## Nonno

Do I have this right ..... Nick, MTV and VH1 aren't available in the Turbo packages? This will be the second time they have done this. First time was with Fox News channel. What is the sense in getting the Turbo Gold and the crappy Platiumn addon if you don't get HD channels as they add them. Well, I do enjoy the picture quality and the dvr but if this is what they tell me when I phone them tomarrow I will pay the early termination and go back to cable. This is deceptive and flat out wrong!


----------



## Stewart Vernon

South Park repeat was in HD earlier.. forgot to check out wrestling on Spike. I did see black speckles on Comedy Central, so I guess they are working some glitches out of the system still.


----------



## GrumpyBear

Looking forward to UFC on Spike.


----------



## Lincoln6Echo

Damn, here I am checking DBSTalk nearly everyday for new HD channels and stuff, and the day I didn't check it, new national channels go active. 

Just saw these new channels Thursday night as I had had my guide set to All HD and watching VS-HD and saw MTV-HD, VH1-HD, and Spike-HD there on the same page.


----------



## phrelin

Yeah, there they are. Get to substitute Comedy Central HD for Comedy Central SD in my favorites list. Big deal.

From what I understand from the posts so far is that Nick, MTV and VH1 aren't in the TurboHD packages? That can't be right as they are available in the Classic Bronze for the new customer six month introductory monthly price of $9.99 with HD added for $10.00 bring the total to $19.99. After six months it would be $44.99 as compared to TurboHD Bronze of $29.99. Hmmmm. Well, we'll see how this play out tomorrow.


----------



## MarcusInMD

I have seen more pixelation on just about every network I watch - FoodTV, History etc. Just a few months ago I thought that they had really improved on quality from a year ago but it was short lived.


----------



## James Long

phrelin said:


> From what I understand from the posts so far is that Nick, MTV and VH1 aren't in the TurboHD packages?


Many program providers require their channels to be bundled. Those channels are only available in packages that have the other channels Viacom wants sold together.

Thanks to Viacom's restrictions DISH cannot offer those HD channels without also providing the SD channels Viacom wants bundled. That restriction limits DISH to selling the channels only as part of a SD+HD package. The same situation applies to Fox News (a Classic Bronze+HD channel that is not in the Turbo packages).

It is one of the risks of offering a HD only package ... trying to get providers to allow the delivery of only the "HD" channels from a bundle. Sometimes a deal can be done.


----------



## kokomogator

turey22 said:


> DIRECTV should be worried!


Why? Direct has had these channels for quite some time We also don't require an elite package to get all of them.


----------



## david_jr

James Long said:


> Many program providers require their channels to be bundled. Those channels are only available in packages that have the other channels Viacom wants sold together.
> 
> Thanks to Viacom's restrictions DISH cannot offer those HD channels without also providing the SD channels Viacom wants bundled. That restriction limits DISH to selling the channels only as part of a SD+HD package. The same situation applies to Fox News (a Classic Bronze+HD channel that is not in the Turbo packages).
> 
> It is one of the risks of offering a HD only package ... trying to get providers to allow the delivery of only the "HD" channels from a bundle. Sometimes a deal can be done.


It seems to me that it also makes sense for DISH to keep some channels out of the cheaper packages otherwise no one would subscribe to the higher tiers. Obviously they have to weave this around the agreements they make with the content provider. When you decide what package you are going to buy you decide if it is worth the upgrade and what channels you definitely want to have. Sometimes it is the cheapest package and sometimes it isn't. I don't think it's fair to ask DISH to put all HD in the cheapest packages.


----------



## lbhskier37

david_jr said:


> I don't think it's fair to ask DISH to put all HD in the cheapest packages.


Yeah but the package that you advertise as being the HD package should have your HD channels! I was told when I switched to Turbo that I would get the new channels when they come online. Why don't they call the package Some HD instead of Turbo HD. This is total crap and they are losing a good customer.


----------



## snowcat

I was seriously considering switching from Classic 250+Turbo Gold to just Turbo Silver if Nick-HD had been added to the Turbo-only packages, but I guess that won't be possible now. 

Oh well, I am happy to get these HD channels. Better late than never.


----------



## tedb3rd

I don't know what makes me happier:
-The fact that these HD channels are now on.
-The fact that all the complainers have to shut up.


----------



## snowcat

I would like to see how Dish is going to update their site with their HD lists. Right now, they aren't showing the new HD channels anywhere (at least anywhere that I see). 

If they plan on being honest with their customers, they need to have two lists. One should show the channels that you get with a Classic+Turbo package, and one should show the channels you get with just a Turbo package.

So far, Dish hasn't done this.


----------



## miketorse

Congrats guys! Happy Festivus!


----------



## DustoMan

Excellent. I'll be recording GameTrailersTV in HD tonight.


----------



## turey22

kokomogator said:


> Why? Direct has had these channels for quite some time We also don't require an elite package to get all of them.


 I know...just saying that dish is getting more HD channels. Thats all.


----------



## Hunter Green

About the only SD I still watch is the CW now. Wonder if we'll ever see Reaper and Supernatural in HD out here.


----------



## ZBoomer

Hmm, I'm not convinced some of these channels are HD feeds at all. Been watching CMT/HD all morning, and have yet to see anything venture outside the 4x3 box on my 16x9 TV; they're showing videos now, all in glorious letterbox (16x9 programs with black on all sides which should really be HD and fill the screen.)

To me it appears Dish is passing on the SD version of this channel and flipping on the HD flag. I KNOW these videos should be HD, I see them on the late-night HD video show on Paladia.

Same thing on VH1 (I haven't watched the others yet.)

Anyone seen ANY HD on CMT or VH1?

Disappointing; a few months back someone posted that CMT was a high-percentage HD material now, but that's not what I'm seeing.


----------



## tcatdbs

Absolute customer here, happy I'm getting extra channels, but what is the logic, or what determines which ones I get. At 1st I was expecting them ALL (when I subscribed), after being on this forum I was expecting NOTHING... now the extras I get:
CMT, Spike, Comedy
and the ones I don't get:
Nick, MTV, and VH1

This is almost a complaint, just want to know what gives? I don't think Dish knows what they're doing... what else is new.


----------



## davethestalker

WOW, bars on the top and bars on the bottom!!!! I know some people wanted these channels so badly, but I really don't understand why.


----------



## phatal

ZBoomer said:


> Hmm, I'm not convinced some of these channels are HD feeds at all. Been watching CMT/HD all morning, and have yet to see anything venture outside the 4x3 box on my 16x9 TV; they're showing videos now, all in glorious letterbox (16x9 programs with black on all sides which should really be HD and fill the screen.)
> 
> To me it appears Dish is passing on the SD version of this channel and flipping on the HD flag. I KNOW these videos should be HD, I see them on the late-night HD video show on Paladia.
> 
> Same thing on VH1 (I haven't watched the others yet.)
> 
> Anyone seen ANY HD on CMT or VH1?
> 
> Disappointing; a few months back someone posted that CMT was a high-percentage HD material now, but that's not what I'm seeing.


Exactly.

There's been so much complaining lately about not enough HD channels, don't have this HD channel, don't have that HD channel.... 
The REAL issue is not enough HD CONTENT on the channels we have. We all think we're missing out on something. Truth is, we're really not.


----------



## lpmiller

ZBoomer said:


> Hmm, I'm not convinced some of these channels are HD feeds at all. Been watching CMT/HD all morning, and have yet to see anything venture outside the 4x3 box on my 16x9 TV; they're showing videos now, all in glorious letterbox (16x9 programs with black on all sides which should really be HD and fill the screen.)
> 
> To me it appears Dish is passing on the SD version of this channel and flipping on the HD flag. I KNOW these videos should be HD, I see them on the late-night HD video show on Paladia.
> 
> Same thing on VH1 (I haven't watched the others yet.)
> 
> Anyone seen ANY HD on CMT or VH1?
> 
> Disappointing; a few months back someone posted that CMT was a high-percentage HD material now, but that's not what I'm seeing.


16x9 is not the same as HD. Many 16x9 shows still SD. For example, Doctor Who or Top Gear are not filmed in HD or even a particularly high resolution, but are widescreen. HD is just better resolution, not an aspect ratio. Also, broadcasting in HD does not mean the station in question is quite ready to upconvert widescreen shows to fill an HD tv screen, which is why there is the Zoom button. It's pretty standard for that to take some time as the station gets it's head around HD broadcast. Heck, SciFi still does it on occasion, showing a widescreen show letterboxed instead of full screen, and they have been HD for awhile now. EncoreHD still shows some shows cropped, for that matter. I suspect it has a lot to do with the source they have for broadcast. If they don't have the HD source, they might not zoom it for you.


----------



## mstanka

Yes and Directv does not charge multiple prices for different HD packages. You pay one price you get them all (minus the premiums).

Directv has had these channels up for a while.

I don't understand Dish Network sometimes.


----------



## ImBack234

mstanka said:


> *Yes and Directv does not charge multiple prices for different HD packages.* You pay one price you get them all (minus the premiums).
> 
> Directv has had these channels up for a while.
> 
> I don't understand Dish Network sometimes.


They don't.
Well they better update their web site.
https://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/wizard/buildYourSystem1.jsp?footernavtype=-1

By the way did D* figure out how to get their DVR do a preset recording yet. :eek2: E* been able to do that for a while. 
New Reno 911 failed to record 3 times


----------



## garys

clyde sauls said:


> where is the BETHD? Is that the only one missing.


It now shows in red at 9510.


----------



## davethestalker

NIckelodeon has Dorba the Explorer on in 4:3, as it is supposed to be. But, the HD logo is down in the corner where it's supposed to be.


----------



## HarveyLA

ZBoomer said:


> Hmm, I'm not convinced some of these channels are HD feeds at all. Been watching CMT/HD all morning, and have yet to see anything venture outside the 4x3 box on my 16x9 TV; they're showing videos now, all in glorious letterbox (16x9 programs with black on all sides which should really be HD and fill the screen.)
> 
> To me it appears Dish is passing on the SD version of this channel and flipping on the HD flag. I KNOW these videos should be HD, I see them on the late-night HD video show on Paladia.
> 
> Same thing on VH1 (I haven't watched the others yet.)
> 
> Anyone seen ANY HD on CMT or VH1?
> 
> Disappointing; a few months back someone posted that CMT was a high-percentage HD material now, but that's not what I'm seeing.


The picture quality is much improved, even if it is not HD. (to my eyes, crisp and clean compared to blurry on my 46" screen). And sound quality is better. Try hot switching between the SD and HD versions of CMT or any other similar pair, and check it out. (easy to do on the all sub menu where SD and HD versions are adjacent channels.)


----------



## CoolGui

The black speckles were gone from Comedy Central HD when I woke up this morning. yay.


----------



## Paul Secic

I hope everyone is happy now.


space86 said:


> They are on


----------



## Paul Secic

garys said:


> Where is Comedy Central?


I guess TVLAND wasn't part of the deal. CC is a better channel anyway.


----------



## Paul Secic

lbhskier37 said:


> Yeah but the package that you advertise as being the HD package should have your HD channels! I was told when I switched to Turbo that I would get the new channels when they come online. Why don't they call the package Some HD instead of Turbo HD. This is total crap and they are losing a good customer.


U-verse is useless!


----------



## Paul Secic

ZBoomer said:


> Hmm, I'm not convinced some of these channels are HD feeds at all. Been watching CMT/HD all morning, and have yet to see anything venture outside the 4x3 box on my 16x9 TV; they're showing videos now, all in glorious letterbox (16x9 programs with black on all sides which should really be HD and fill the screen.)
> 
> To me it appears Dish is passing on the SD version of this channel and flipping on the HD flag. I KNOW these videos should be HD, I see them on the late-night HD video show on Paladia.
> 
> Same thing on VH1 (I haven't watched the others yet.)
> 
> Anyone seen ANY HD on CMT or VH1?
> 
> Disappointing; a few months back someone posted that CMT was a high-percentage HD material now, but that's not what I'm seeing.


CMT has another called CMT Pure Country which plays coiunty video. I had that channel when I had U-verse. No HD. Just alerting. I've never watched CMT. They changed formats too much for me.


----------



## Suriel

HD channels available at 61.5° and 129°:

* Spike 9506/5303/168 
* CMT 9493/5318/166 
* MTV 9484/5321/160 
* CMDY 9485/5317/107
* NICK 9416/5340/170
* VH1 9507/5319/162


----------



## dennispap

Vh1 has Rock of love in Hd, saw it in Hd last night.
They also have " I love money " in hd on right now. Nice quality video.


----------



## AFH

If you guys watch MTVHD, you'll see 'The Real World', 'Real World/Road Rules Challenge' and a couple of their newer shows in HD and look quite nice. They still don't show 'The Hills' or 'The City' in HD which is dissappointing but I still record those shows from the MTVHD.


----------



## phrelin

So many think that folks will stop complaining.:sure:

To begin with, I didn't see the point of adding the Viacom/MTV channels as they don't offer much HD programming. Then I thought that adding Nick and MTV to the TurboHD packages would make them more marketable, so it makes some sense. Now I find out they aren't available to the TurboHD packages!

Yeah Jon Stewart and SpongBob are somewhat sharper in the upverted 4:3 SD format. But I haven't seen any digital surround sound from MTV, VH1, or CMT, so its back to Palladia for music lovers right now.

What, again, was the point of adding to Dish Network's net loss for this right now?

EDIT: I found the answer to my question on another thread. The point was to p*ss off this customer and many more like him:


kwik said:


> I am new to TurboHD (Silver) and I saw many posts on the new HD channels which are of interest to my family (NICK, VH1, MTV). I see the new channels on my guide, but they are all red. These seem like basic enough channels to be added to the bronze level. I attempted to ask a CSR why I wasn't getting them, but got nothing. Am I just impatient or what is going on??
> 
> (03) Tom H: Thank you for being a valued DISH Network customer. How may I assist you?
> me: I understand you've just added some channels NICK, MTV, VH1 in HD and I was wondering what TurboHD packages they are part of
> (03) Tom H: I'd be happy to assist you with that.
> (03) Tom H: We are constantly adding channels on a regular basis to our line-up and continue to provide the widest variety of HD programming options available anywhere.
> (03) Tom H: Unfortunately, we are unable to disclose what package,channels will be added or when due to legalities.
> (03) Tom H: As you have been a wonderful customer of Dish Network for a long time, I will pass on your feedback to the concerned department on your behalf.
> (03) Tom H: It will updated on the website soon.
> (03) Tom H: Do not worry.
> (03) Tom H: You are all set. Have I handled everything to your satisfaction?
> me: I'm not asking about the future, but the present
> me: I see NICK for example on my guide, but it is RED
> me: so no you haven't
> (03) Tom H: It will be updated on the website, what package the channels belong to.
> me: 9416 = NICK
> me: so you don't know who is allowed to get it?
> (03) Tom H: Unfortunately, we are unable to disclose what package,channels will be added or when due to legalities.
> (03) Tom H: It will updated on the website soon.
> (03) Tom H: Your patience is greatly appreciated.


----------



## coldsteel

phrelin said:


> EDIT: I found the answer to my question on another thread. The point was to p*ss off this customer and many more like him:


Yeah, that was Charlie's sole reason for existing...


----------



## phrelin

coldsteel said:


> Yeah, that was Charlie's sole reason for existing...


Well, it certainly isn't smart retail marketing.

Yeah, I know....:beatdeadhorse:


----------



## Stewart Vernon

_Friendly Moderator reminder... This is not the Dish vs DirecTV thread. Be happy about Viacom HD channels, or complain about the lack of actual HD on them instead... but let's not have the 1001st Dish vs DirecTV thread._


----------



## CoolGui

Stewart Vernon said:


> _Friendly Moderator reminder... This is not the Dish vs DirecTV thread. Be happy about Viacom HD channels, or complain about the lack of actual HD on them instead... but let's not have the 1001st Dish vs DirecTV thread._


aww.. but they are so much fun!


----------



## ZBoomer

Paul Secic said:


> CMT has another called CMT Pure Country which plays coiunty video. I had that channel when I had U-verse. No HD. Just alerting. I've never watched CMT. They changed formats too much for me.


I totally agree that CMT sucks now; they've gone the way of MTV and basically are not even a music channel any more; they just play ******* variety shows. HOWEVER, they do still have top-20 countdown, a few hours of videos each day etc. Sadly these are NOT in HD even though this is supposedly an HD channel.

Maybe a little clearer than the SD channel, but not HD. What I've seen is a 4x3 SD channel being transmitted digitally is all, not 16x9 and not HD resolution. I've not yet seen anything except 4x3. (And yes, I understand HD is not just 16x9, thank you very much.)

I really don't care much about all this "new HD" hoopla and who has the most HD, and am 99% happy with what we already have, but I like watching HD videos often, and was really excited about CMT HD. Alas, I'll have to stick to recording Paladia at 3am, and fast forwarding through the 90% crap to get to the few good videos. Thank God for Paladia, still the only channel that really shows music in HD.

I wish GAC would go HD, but I don't think that's even in the cards right now.


----------



## RTE

Well you got the stations, you yelled about, little HD content as you might expect. I don't think you can blame Charlie for that.:shrug:


----------



## Stewart Vernon

I posted the press release *here*.

Since we already had a good discussion in this thread, I closed the press release thread and put a link to this discussion.

I created the press release thread on its own, since it also mentioned the launch of BET HD as well today.. though I can't say as I've seen that one live on my receiver.


----------



## phrelin

It's amusing that whatever it is we didn't know about this (when and what packages) seems to be true for Darryl and his other brother Darryl who handle the web site and didn't know it either as there is no mention of, say, Comedy Central in the TurboHD web page.

Survival is all about marketing.:nono2:


----------



## BillJ

Is BET HD active? It shows in my guide but it's in red. I have Everything Package plus Gold and Platium HD.


----------



## space86

BillJ said:


> Is BET HD active? It shows in my guide but it's in red. I have Everything Package plus Gold and Platium HD.


On satellite guys some one wrote that they are getting
BET HD and it is StretchoVision, thinks Dish is just upconverting
BET SD and that BET HD does not exist yet.


----------



## inazsully

Hunter Green said:


> About the only SD I still watch is the CW now. Wonder if we'll ever see Reaper and Supernatural in HD out here.


Supernatural and Smallville are fantastic in HD. Some of the best PQ I've seen. I love my antenna and my 722.


----------



## space86

Now getting BET HD after I had a tech chat


----------



## emathis

space86 said:


> Now getting BET HD after I had a tech chat


What did the Tech say? Because mine still shows as red.


----------



## DustoMan

phrelin said:


> It's amusing that whatever it is we didn't know about this (when and what packages) seems to be true for Darryl and his other brother Darryl who handle the web site and didn't know it either as there is no mention of, say, Comedy Central in the TurboHD web page.
> 
> Survival is all about marketing.:nono2:


You wanta give them a day or so to get the website synced up? Ya know, if the site said that the channels were in HD and they actually weren't then people would be *****ing too.


----------



## phrelin

DustoMan said:


> You wanta give them a day or so to get the website synced up? Ya know, if the site said that the channels were in HD and they actually weren't then people would be *****ing too.


True, but the channels are working and it would take...what...a minute to upload the corrected pages which are sitting on Darryl's hard drive ready to go?:sure:

It's all about marketing.:soapbox:


----------



## angiecopus

9510 shows up in red, and i don't have a 124 in hd. after i did a reset. i have every hd channel except for bet hd.


----------



## garys

angiecopus said:


> 9510 shows up in red, and i don't have a 124 in hd. after i did a reset. i have every hd channel except for bet hd.


I still had the same thing this morning with BET HD in red. I called Tech support and had the channel after about 5 minutes.


----------



## rjruby

garys said:


> I still had the same thing this morning with BET HD in red. I called Tech support and had the channel after about 5 minutes.


Did an on-line chat this morning to get BET HD. Also took about 5 minutes.


----------



## tnsprin

rjruby said:


> Did an on-line chat this morning to get BET HD. Also took about 5 minutes.


Since I only occasionally watch BET, its not worth my time to contact them. But are the techs/CSRs being talked to acknowledging that this is a problem they will be fixed?


----------



## CoolGui

I'm seeing the BET HD fine without having to talk to dish. It doesn't look like any of the content is HD. I'm not saying Dish is doing the upconverting, it looks like TBS before they finally put any HD content in. I would have ideally like another channel in HD, but I guess you take what they give you at this point.


----------



## BillJ

Called tech support and he didn't seem to have any info on the problem. After a while he said he would send a programming authorization signal which he hoped would cure the problem. He told me to wait 15 minutes and then do a reboot of the receiver. 

Since I was watching something I waited over 40 minutes. Before rebooting I checked the guide and BET HD was okay and mapping down to 124 on both my 622s. So judging from other posts it appears DISH authorized some, or most, receivers for the new HD channel but missed others. The easy solution for DISH would be to resend an authorization to everyone but since it's a weekend that probably won't happen. Just allow yourself plenty of time if you have to call tech support.


----------



## grog

Bet HD is red here is well.

I think I will wait to see if it goes green.

I am part of the 'never really watch it' crowd.

Now if Bet played older soul music and or good Jazz I would be on the phone right now.


----------



## GrumpyBear

grog said:


> Bet HD is red here is well.
> 
> I think I will wait to see if it goes green.
> 
> I am part of the 'never really watch it' crowd.
> 
> Now if Bet played older soul music and or good Jazz I would be on the phone right now.


Have you tried a reboot of the system?


----------



## grog

OK. I am game. I ran the check-switch already but let's try the power cycle for kicks.

Pressing Power Button on VIP622 now....
Fan spin......
VIP622.. all lights out...
Wait........wait......wait.....
....Led's on...
..Attention...Acquiring satellite signal...
..Satellite 129
..Transponder 17
..Progress 1 or 5
..Progress 2 of 5
..Progress 3 of 5
..Progress 4 of 5
..Progress 5 of 5

9510 (BET HD) -- It is in RED
124 ( No map down )

Like I said. Would call if I watched the channel.



GrumpyBear said:


> Have you tried a reboot of the system?


----------



## phrelin

I don't usually watch BET either. But I checked it out this morning. Just shut off a Maria Carey music video in extremely sharp *Stretch-O-Vision*!

Checked all the other newly added what Dish's senior vice president of Programming Dave Shull calls "top-rated high definition channels". Not one HD 16:9 show among them. I guess some are "top-rated" channels and they are chewing up HD bandwidth....


----------



## Paul Secic

grog said:


> Bet HD is red here is well.
> 
> I think I will wait to see if it goes green.
> 
> I am part of the 'never really watch it' crowd.
> 
> Now if Bet played older soul music and or good Jazz I would be on the phone right now.


They have MTV SOUL which plays videos from the 60's & up. It's good but wasn't in HD on U-verse.


----------



## garys

grog said:


> Bet HD is red here is well.
> 
> I think I will wait to see if it goes green.
> 
> I am part of the 'never really watch it' crowd.
> 
> Now if Bet played older soul music and or good Jazz I would be on the phone right now.


It may eventually fix itself, reboot did not help. Had to call Dish to have them send a hit to all three of my HD receivers to get the channel activated.


----------



## tcatdbs

Anyone figured out the "Absolute Code"? I see all the HD channels that have 3 little "HD"'s stacked in the channel selection menu are channels Absolute customers seem to be getting (Comedy, Spike, CMT). Any channel with only one "HD" on top (VH1, MTV, Nick, BET, Fox News), are not part of the package. Does this correlate to and of the current packages? Be nice to know what we might get and won't get, or what we should call in and complain about (or not).


----------



## mraif

grog said:


> OK. I am game. I ran the check-switch already but let's try the power cycle for kicks.
> 
> Pressing Power Button on VIP622 now....
> Fan spin......
> VIP622.. all lights out...
> Wait........wait......wait.....
> ....Led's on...
> ..Attention...Acquiring satellite signal...
> ..Satellite 129
> ..Transponder 17
> ..Progress 1 or 5
> ..Progress 2 of 5
> ..Progress 3 of 5
> ..Progress 4 of 5
> ..Progress 5 of 5
> 
> 9510 (BET HD) -- It is in RED
> 124 ( No map down )
> 
> Like I said. Would call if I watched the channel.


Do a tech chat online, it took me all of five minutes. Tell them that you don't have BET HD, you did a check switch and nothing happened. They'll tell you to go to channel 101 while they send you a hit.

Boom, you're done.


----------



## grog

As I said... It is more fun just to see if the channel shows up by itself.

After all, the majority of those who watch BET would never think to call in.

If you have your DVR Guide Mode set to 'List: All Sub' then you would never even see the 'BET HD' at 9510. You would only see it if you set your guide to 'List: All HD' or 'List: All Chan'. 'BET HD' at Channel 124 would not show up at all. So unless you were looking for it you would not know it was missing.

I think this is an issue as Dish would be requiring those who want the channel to call in for the hit. Now if over time it shows up then this is a non-issue.

So I will report this channel as an issue as I still see it in Red and I will not call in for the hit.

I am not missing out on this channel as I don't watch it normally anyway.



mraif said:


> Do a tech chat online, it took me all of five minutes. Tell them that you don't have BET HD, you did a check switch and nothing happened. They'll tell you to go to channel 101 while they send you a hit.
> 
> Boom, you're done.


----------



## mspace

tcatdbs said:


> Anyone figured out the "Absolute Code"? I see all the HD channels that have 3 little "HD"'s stacked in the channel selection menu are channels Absolute customers seem to be getting (Comedy, Spike, CMT). Any channel with only one "HD" on top (VH1, MTV, Nick, BET, Fox News), are not part of the package. Does this correlate to and of the current packages? Be nice to know what we might get and won't get, or what we should call in and complain about (or not).


Absolute seems to correspond with Turbo Bronze HD and the Platinum add on for any of the "new" channels after 2008.

-Space


----------



## nataraj

Great. I now get Stewart and Colbert in "HD". Now I'm set for life on the HD Absolute.

On the whole bundling excuse .... isn't forced bundling illegal anyway ? It is high time FCC cracked their whip on this. A La Carte is the answer to all this turbo/non-turbo/absolute silliness. Channels are a dying idea anyway - just a holdover of the 50's technology. Any channel not getting enough revenues on its own should die ...


----------



## James Long

kokomogator said:


> Why? Direct has had these channels for quite some time We also don't require an elite package to get all of them.


Where is DirecTV's "HD Only" package?

DirecTV is offering the channels being complained about at the same terms as DISH (or worse). You MUST subscribe to DirecTV SD to get any channels in HD. (The "worse" part is that DirecTV has no "Bronze" level package - the initial buy in price for DirecTV is much higher than DISH Network.)


----------



## CoolGui

mspace said:


> Absolute seems to correspond with Turbo Bronze HD and the Platinum add on for any of the "new" channels after 2008.
> 
> -Space


Makes sense... they are the same price minus the HD Platinum.


----------



## Henry

My BET HD is red, too. Think I'll follow _grog's_ lead (for the same reasons he states) and see just how thorough E* housekeeping is.


----------



## koji68

grog said:


> After all, the majority of those who watch BET would never think to call in.


??? :scratch:


----------



## grog

Guess I should explain:

This thread for example is called: "Viacom HD Comedy,Spike,CMT,MTV,VH1,Nick) Now Live "
BET HD is not in the list.

Oh... And we already have BET JAZZ HD which means a lot of users think they are already getting BET in HD.

Also; Unless you set your guide to show 'ALL-HD' or you set the guide for 'ALL-Channels' you would not even see 'BET HD' in RED and the 124 HD map down just would not be there.

So... if you can not see it 'BET HD' you might not ever notice you did not have it!



koji68 said:


> ??? :scratch:


----------



## DustoMan

grog said:


> Guess I should explain:
> 
> This thread for example is called: "Viacom HD Comedy,Spike,CMT,MTV,VH1,Nick) Now Live "
> BET HD is not in the list.
> 
> Oh... And we already have BET JAZZ HD which means a lot of users think they are already getting BET in HD.
> 
> Also; Unless you set your guide to show 'ALL-HD' or you set the guide for 'ALL-Channels' you would not even see 'BET HD' in RED and the 124 HD map down just would not be there.
> 
> So... if you can not see it 'BET HD' you might not ever notice you did not have it!


Yes, but if you already get BET shouldn't you get BET HD as well? It's like that with every other HD station that has a SD counterpart.


----------



## Henry

DustoMan said:


> Yes, but if you already get BET shouldn't you get BET HD as well? It's like that with every other HD station that has a SD counterpart.


Yes ... that's the point of it. We're waiting to see how long it takes E* to realize it only threw half a switch. Even if you now get the SD version (like I do), you still have to bring the HD version into your Favorites, otherwise you'll never know it's there unless you call up to edit your Favorites or view the All Subs listing.


----------



## Dario33

Watched last week's South Park last night in glorious HD.

Life is good.


----------



## Bob Ketcham

Regardless of the HD content on the channels, count me among the happy. 

I called up Dish today and cut my programming to TurboHD Bronze + HBO + Starz. Now that Comedy Central (Daily Show / Colbert) is available in a base HD package, I can quit paying for SD channels. 

In the past three months, I've dropped from AEP + 4 premium packages + Platinum HD. I've lost less than 5% of the programming I used to watch and cut my costs nearly in half.

It is nice to be able to pay less per year for programming than I paid for the HD set.

As a bonus, I'm no longer making a monthly donation to Fox News.


----------



## david_jr

Bob Ketcham said:


> Regardless of the HD content on the channels, count me among the happy.
> 
> I called up Dish today and cut my programming to TurboHD Bronze + HBO + Starz. Now that Comedy Central (Daily Show / Colbert) is available in a base HD package, I can quit paying for SD channels.
> 
> In the past three months, I've dropped from AEP + 4 premium packages + Platinum HD. I've lost less than 5% of the programming I used to watch and cut my costs nearly in half.
> 
> It is nice to be able to pay less per year for programming than I paid for the HD set.
> 
> As a bonus, I'm no longer making a monthly donation to Fox News.


Ironically, watching Fox News as I type this..... People wonder why DISH doesn't put all new HD in the lowest packages? It would be that large sucking sound of all customers leaving the higher priced packages for the lowest priced package.


----------



## Jeff_DML

Dario33 said:


> Watched last week's South Park last night in glorious HD.
> 
> Life is good.


yep plus UFC on spike

i have absolute so happy I got even a few channels comedy and spike seem worthwhile, my wife would of liked mtv and vh1, oh well


----------



## CoolGui

Bob Ketcham said:


> ...As a bonus, I'm no longer making a monthly donation to Fox News.


That is a pretty good goal I think. My problem is, Dish still doesn't show Fox News or Business in HD anywhere on it's list: http://dishnetwork.com/turbohd/programming

From reading the forums I think I have an idea what's right, but it seems incredible to me that they have added the new Comedy Central and others but somehow the two Fox additions are nowhere on that page.


----------



## snowcat

CoolGui said:


> That is a pretty good goal I think. My problem is, Dish still doesn't show Fox News or Business in HD anywhere on it's list: http://dishnetwork.com/turbohd/programming
> 
> From reading the forums I think I have an idea what's right, but it seems incredible to me that they have added the new Comedy Central and others but somehow the two Fox additions are nowhere on that page.


It's on their other list, which shows the HD channels you get with the "Classic" packages: http://dishnetwork.com/turbohd/thd_AT_and_THD_programming/default.aspx


----------



## tcatdbs

Odd, VH1, MTV, and Nick show up in Bronze on that chart, so I guess there's no logic at all as to what Absolute customers get...


----------



## Jeff_DML

tcatdbs said:


> Odd, VH1, MTV, and Nick show up in Bronze on that chart, so I guess there's no logic at all as to what Absolute customers get...


yeah I saw that too but then noticed that link is sd package plus bronze, not just hd bronze


----------



## phrelin

tcatdbs said:


> Odd, VH1, MTV, and Nick show up in Bronze on that chart, so I guess there's no logic at all as to what Absolute customers get...


They are not available to any TurboHd package regardless of the metal. They are available to all Classic metal packages with the $10 HD overlay.

I try to keep track of this stuff on a spreadsheet which be seen here. Someday when FX, AMC, BBCA and PBS are HD I'll go turbo. Of course, by then I may be dead.


----------



## grog

Update: BET HD 9510 is still RED. 

Still waiting to see if Dish makes it go green without calling. 

Some things in life are fun!


----------



## JWeavis

phrelin said:


> They are not available to any TurboHd package regardless of the metal. They are available to all Classic metal packages with the $10 HD overlay.
> 
> I try to keep track of this stuff on a spreadsheet which be seen here. Someday when FX, AMC, BBCA and PBS are HD I'll go turbo. Of course, by then I may be dead.


Nice, I just spent an hour putting together a xlsx adding in the HD-Absolute package to the list. Now I'll erase it and use your's. I haven't wanted to let go of my HD-Absolute, but might have to if the new channels will not be added.


----------



## dbrakob

Nice job phrelin.


----------



## phrelin

JWeavis said:


> Nice, I just spent an hour putting together a xlsx adding in the HD-Absolute package to the list. Now I'll erase it and use your's. I haven't wanted to let go of my HD-Absolute, but might have to if the new channels will not be added.


:welcome_s



dbrakob said:


> Nice job phrelin.


Thanks.

Dish was driving me nuts with these package configurations. I don't want to pay a dime more than I have too to get the channels I want. So I just gave up trying to figure it out by looking and created a spreadsheet which I had to update with the Viacom channel additions.

Sometimes I think my brain became organized by rows and columns since I started using Visicalc in 1980.:sure:


----------



## nmetro

I just spent a bit with technical support to get BET HD turned on. Apparently, DISH Network has not gotten the news yet that some customers who are suppose to receive BET HD; are not receiving the channel. Customer Service also did not have any iknowledge about the issue, either.

With all the different tiers in HD and SD; plus all the different gold, silver, platinum, ultimate, HD only, etc.; the confusing array of program package names are now resulting in at least one "programming error". 

To fix the problem, effectively, technical support reset my VIP622 to a "new installation state" and then sent the proper code to install my programming. 

So, waiting to BET HD just to show up is not going to work. Also, if DISH adds new HD programming at the same level of BET HD's tier, whatever that is, technical support may be getting future calls.

And what do I have? AT 200 with Gold Plus Premium (Encore), HD Silver, HD Gold and HD Platinum. At least that is what is listed when I look at my account. Effectively, everything (no international) but HBO, Cinemax, Showtime and The Movie Channel.


----------



## Henry

grog said:


> Update: BET HD 9510 is still RED.
> 
> Still waiting to see if Dish makes it go green without calling.
> 
> Some things in life are fun!


*Same here, grog.*


----------



## MarcusInMD

Quality on most HD channels including these new channels is really poor now. I really wish Dish would give us REAL HD.


----------



## coldsteel

Don't blame Dish here. Blame the channels.


----------



## bobned

Did an online chat tonight to get BET HD activated:



> Please wait while we find a representative to assist you. In order to ensure we are providing you with the highest level of customer satisfaction, this conversation will be recorded.
> You have been connected to Darren H. ***.
> (24DrDcb) Darren H. ***: Thank you for being a valued DISH Network customer; My name is Darren, Operator *** I will be happy to assist you today. Please give me 2-3 minutes to access your account and review the information you have already provided. Your response to this greeting is not necessary.
> (24DrDcb) Darren H. ***: I understand your concern, please be assured that I'm here to assist you and do my best to resolve this issue. For account security purposes, can I please verify the first and last name and full physical address with zip code that is on the account?
> Bob *****: Robert ***** *****, Bothell WA 98011
> (24DrDcb) Darren H. ***: To better serve you, can I verify the E-mail address that we should have on file for your account?
> Bob *****: bob*****@***.net
> (24DrDcb) Darren H. ***: Thank you.
> (24DrDcb) Darren H. ***: The BET HD channel is only available in the Classic Silver or Gold Package with Dish HD, it is not offered in the HD Turbo or Absolute packages.
> Bob *****: Well, since I have everything, I think I qualify.
> (24DrDcb) Darren H. ***: Is this the only new HD channel that has launched within the last week that you appear to be missing?
> Bob *****: yes it is the only channel missing
> (24DrDcb) Darren H. ***: OK, have you upgraded your package to a higher tier within the last 2 or 3 weeks?
> Bob *****: no, no changes. I currently subscribe to: Classic Silver 200, GoldHD
> Local Channels: Seattle, WA DMA Package
> Premium Channels: 1 Yr Cinemax for a Penny with Autopay Participation, HBO, Showtime Unlimited, Starz!, PlatinumHD
> International or Ala Carte Add-ons: Fox Sports Northwest, DISH'n It Up 1st HD AO, DISH Network DVR Service Fee, Classic Gold 250 BONUS PAK
> (24DrDcb) Darren H. ***: All right, has this channel been missing since it was launched last Wednesday?
> Bob *****: that is correct
> (24DrDcb) Darren H. ***: OK
> (24DrDcb) Darren H. ***: Go to channel 101, do you get that channel?
> Bob *****: yes
> (24DrDcb) Darren H. ***: Try 9900.
> Bob *****: yes, i get that too
> (24DrDcb) Darren H. ***: All right, lastly, try channel 9901.
> Bob *****: yes, 129 orbital location
> (24DrDcb) Darren H. ***: All right.
> (24DrDcb) Darren H. ***: Have you gotten a replacement or an updated smart card in the mail for any of your receivers in the last 2 or 3 weeks?
> Bob *****: no, it was probably 8 weeks ago i got a new smart card
> (24DrDcb) Darren H. ***: OK
> Bob *****: I have read online in a forum that this is very common and you need to reset my receiver to fix it.
> (24DrDcb) Darren H. ***: Can you do me a favor, remove the card from the 622 and it flip it over, post the bar code number that you see there for me. It should be an S193 #.
> Bob *****: sure, one sec
> (24DrDcb) Darren H. ***: I understand where that forum is going with that suggestion. I needed to make sure that there was not anything wrong with any of your other channels or signals before I sent out the command from my end that fixes that.
> Bob *****: s193*********
> (24DrDcb) Darren H. ***: Thank you, that is the smart card number that I have for you on the account.
> (24DrDcb) Darren H. ***: Just so I am clear where you are trying to view this channel, what is the actual channel number for BET - HD that is showing red in your guide? How do you see it listed?
> (24DrDcb) Darren H. ***: How do you see it in the guide listed, channel number-wise?
> Bob *****: Receiver still rebooting after re-inserting smart card; if I recall it says I am not subscribed to this channel, standard def comes in on 124 and HD is not mapped down. It is on 9510 in red.
> (24DrDcb) Darren H. ***: All right. Any issues with the standard feed from 124?
> Bob *****: no, none at all
> (24DrDcb) Darren H. ***: All right. I have reset your receiver.
> Bob *****: Receiver is back; hang on one second
> (24DrDcb) Darren H. ***: All right, the HD feed should be on channel 9510.
> Bob *****: And, it is now on 9510. It was red in the guide, but when I selected it, it is now on.
> (24DrDcb) Darren H. ***: All right.
> Bob *****: Guide is no longer in red
> (24DrDcb) Darren H. ***: Can I help you with anything else.
> Bob *****: no, thanks
> (24DrDcb) Darren H. ***: I'm glad we were able to take care of that for you. Thank you for being a DISH Network customer, have a great day.
> Thank you for visiting Dish Network. You may now close this window.
> Your session has ended. You may now close this window.


----------



## BillJ

Your script sounds pretty much like my phone conversation on Saturday. Wouldn't you think DISH would have a tech support tracking system that would have identified a common problem by now? Of course, as someone mentioned a few days ago, if you don't read this forum, and you don't look at the 'all channel' guide, you'd never know the channel was activated at all. Maybe they haven't had many calls.

Off topic: DISH did find time last night to send both my DVR's a commercial for Dish on Demand. This morning I found tuner 2 was on channel 101 instead of the channel I set it to before bed so I would be ready to switch between the tuners this morning.


----------



## grog

My DVR was also on channel 101 this morning, interesting.

BET-HD 9510 is still in RED.



BillJ said:


> Your script sounds pretty much like my phone conversation on Saturday. Wouldn't you think DISH would have a tech support tracking system that would have identified a common problem by now? Of course, as someone mentioned a few days ago, if you don't read this forum, and you don't look at the 'all channel' guide, you'd never know the channel was activated at all. Maybe they haven't had many calls.
> 
> Off topic: DISH did find time last night to send both my DVR's a commercial for Dish on Demand. This morning I found tuner 2 was on channel 101 instead of the channel I set it to before bed so I would be ready to switch between the tuners this morning.


----------



## MarcusInMD

coldsteel said:


> Don't blame Dish here. Blame the channels.


It's not the channels, it's dish network bit starving all of the HD channels to shove the rest of this crap down everyone's throats. Quality > Quantity.


----------



## DustoMan

BillJ said:


> Off topic: DISH did find time last night to send both my DVR's a commercial for Dish on Demand. This morning I found tuner 2 was on channel 101 instead of the channel I set it to before bed so I would be ready to switch between the tuners this morning.


I was checking my timers last night and saw that too. "I don't think so, DISH!" :nono2: I deleted it before it had the chance to record.


----------



## Jeff_DML

MarcusInMD said:


> Quality on most HD channels including these new channels is really poor now. I really wish Dish would give us REAL HD.


UFC on spike looks good to me


----------



## 722921

Powerblock on Spike looks fine also, including Courtney.


----------



## mayce4

I have turbo HD and the only new HD channels I get are Spike and Comedy Central. The only other ones I care about are Nick and VH1. Where are they? What is the point of the HD package then!!


----------



## CoolGui

DustoMan said:


> I was checking my timers last night and saw that too. "I don't think so, DISH!" :nono2: I deleted it before it had the chance to record.


Me too... Just a coincidence that I found it though, I was cleaning off some other shows that were finished/canceled.


----------



## djlong

I got that AND some religious stuff that spontaneously-generated timers recorded.


----------



## DustoMan

Jeff_DML said:


> UFC on spike looks good to me


No issues on Comedy Central or any other HD channels for that matter. It all looks fine to me.


----------



## ImBack234

DustoMan said:


> No issues on Comedy Central or any other HD channels for that matter. It all looks fine to me.


:righton:
In fact I find my NY locals look sharper.


----------



## jclewter79

MarcusInMD said:


> It's not the channels, it's dish network bit starving all of the HD channels to shove the rest of this crap down everyone's throats. Quality > Quantity.


I don't think that they are bit starving. I have noticed no change in quality since these channels have been added.


----------



## CoolGui

djlong said:


> I got that AND some religious stuff that spontaneously-generated timers recorded.


Well I hope Dish isn't trying to push religion on us now! :eek2:


----------



## Lostinspace

Have faith in Charlie


----------



## gargoyle8

i was so excited to see the new hd channels that i decided to upgrade from classic silver+hd to turbo gold hd. imagine my surprise when it turned out to be a net loss in hd channels. i lost cmt, vh1, mtv, nick and fnc and payed a higher cost. what is the point of the turbo hd packages? i quickly called back and cancelled my dish subscription all together. i will return when dish gets its act together. i figure dish will either have to change its package descriptions or face a class action law suit. i still do not know what package i need to get to recieve fox business hd. as it is now, in order to get the hd channels, you must subscribe to the classic package, and if you subscribe to just the classic package, you lose all the hd channels. my bad, you can't subscribe to just the classic package if you have an hd reciever. the reason none of this is explained on the dish website is because it is deception and illegal. dish knows this, but they have not yet figured out a way to keep people from down grading from classic+hd package to turbo hd package and still make you pay more for the new hd channels. my 14 OTA DTV channels will do just fine until directv rolls out its hd tivo.


----------



## grog

Update: BET-HD 9510 is still in RED. :lol:


----------



## mcss1985

ok quick version of my experience with these channels.

I few days ago (I think it was wed.) I decided to switch to TurboHD silver from Classic silver 200 w/ SilverHD addon. I did this on Dish's site and stared at the packages for quite a while trying to figure out which one is(scratch that - *was*) better for me. I swear I saw all the new Viacom HD channels on all 3 turboHD packages. So I chose the Silver and then proceeded to the living room to make sure everything was working and it seems fine. I saw the SD channels w/o an HD feed were removed and I still got all the SD and HD feeds I was supposed to including MTVHD, NICKHD, and VH1HD (I don't even know about BET and I'm not worried about that for this post. That appears to be a seperate issue).

Then I get on here this morning and read some of these posts and think "wow that sucks for those people, I have all the channels with TurboHD, I wonder what's wrong with thier boxes". Needless to say I was eating crow as I walked back to the living room and pushed guide and saw the channels in question now in red.

This doesn't make any sense to me, that I would get these channels and now I don't. Now this is how I recall the whole sitiuation and I'm pretty darn sure this is how it went down, but I guess it is possible that I'm confusing dates and I was viewing the MTV, NICK, VH1 HD feeds while I still had Classic Silver and not since I switched to Turbo. Anyone else experience this? or am I getting senial at 30 

Anywho not too big of a deal for me since I can just switch back to classic if I really need those channels (which believe me I don't and won't). it just really does seem pretty crooked that one can't get those channels in any Turbo package now, not even Turbo Gold.

Ok maybe that wasn't such a quick version huh? sorry :grin:


----------



## Paul Secic

gargoyle8 said:


> i was so excited to see the new hd channels that i decided to upgrade from classic silver+hd to turbo gold hd. imagine my surprise when it turned out to be a net loss in hd channels. i lost cmt, vh1, mtv, nick and fnc and payed a higher cost. what is the point of the turbo hd packages? i quickly called back and cancelled my dish subscription all together. i will return when dish gets its act together. i figure dish will either have to change its package descriptions or face a class action law suit. i still do not know what package i need to get to recieve fox business hd. as it is now, in order to get the hd channels, you must subscribe to the classic package, and if you subscribe to just the classic package, you lose all the hd channels. my bad, you can't subscribe to just the classic package if you have an hd reciever. the reason none of this is explained on the dish website is because it is deception and illegal. dish knows this, but they have not yet figured out a way to keep people from down grading from classic+hd package to turbo hd package and still make you pay more for the new hd channels. my 14 OTA DTV channels will do just fine until directv rolls out its hd tivo.


I couldn't figure the stupid Turbo packs so I upgraded to Classic AEP. I got all of the new HD channels.


----------



## gargoyle8

i am pretty sure that it wont amount to a hill of beans, but i just filed a complaint with the FCC. they have a real nice website, that is easy to navigate and they give you a chace to state your case. i recommend everybody pissed off over this to check it out. do not bother you congressman or senators. they were paid off long ago by dish. it will take a political appointee to do it. p.s. i am not only an hd fan, but a cspan junkie too.


----------



## tsmacro

gargoyle8 said:


> i was so excited to see the new hd channels that i decided to upgrade from classic silver+hd to turbo gold hd. imagine my surprise when it turned out to be a net loss in hd channels. i lost cmt, vh1, mtv, nick and fnc and payed a higher cost.


Actually no if you had classic silver plus hd you were paying 47.99 + 10.00 for that total of 57.99. If you switched to Gold HD that only costs 49.99 so you were paying less money for a package with fewer channels in it, seems to make sense to me.



gargoyle8 said:


> what is the point of the turbo hd packages? i quickly called back and cancelled my dish subscription all together. i will return when dish gets its act together. i figure dish will either have to change its package descriptions or face a class action law suit.


huh why?



gargoyle8 said:


> i still do not know what package i need to get to recieve fox business hd. as it is now, in order to get the hd channels, you must subscribe to the classic package, and if you subscribe to just the classic package, you lose all the hd channels. my bad, you can't subscribe to just the classic package if you have an hd reciever.


Actually you are allowed to subscribe to just SD programming if you have have an HD receiver.



gargoyle8 said:


> the reason none of this is explained on the dish website is because it is deception and illegal.


Once again huh? Just because it's confusing and you don't like it doesn't make it "illegal".



gargoyle8 said:


> dish knows this, but they have not yet figured out a way to keep people from down grading from classic+hd package to turbo hd package and still make you pay more for the new hd channels. my 14 OTA DTV channels will do just fine until directv rolls out its hd tivo.


Anyway i'm in complete agreement that I don't like the fact that they don't include all the HD channels in the Turbo packages and that they should or just do away with the packages all together. If for no other reason it's just too confusing to try to keep track of for both customers and your average CSR and apparently those who maintain the website. However while it's not good business IMO, suggesting that's it's illegal, grounds for lawsuits and complaints to the fcc seems a bit ludicrous to me, but hey that's just me.


----------



## ImBack234

tsmacro said:


> However while it's not good business IMO, suggesting that's it's illegal, grounds for lawsuits and complaints to the fcc seems a bit ludicrous to me, but hey that's just me.


+1


----------



## HDftw

tsmacro said:


> Anyway i'm in complete agreement that I don't like the fact that they don't include all the HD channels in the Turbo packages and that they should or just do away with the packages all together. If for no other reason it's just too confusing to try to keep track of for both customers and your average CSR and apparently those who maintain the website. However while it's not good business IMO, suggesting that's it's illegal, grounds for lawsuits and complaints to the fcc seems a bit ludicrous to me, but hey that's just me.


I heard that some stations require you to have the SD version to air the HD version, so why don't they just give the Turbo packages the SD version(to have the HD one)?


----------



## gargoyle8

we can argue the spirit of the law vs the letter all day. your points are taken. however, unless dish has changed the rules, if you have an HD reciever, you must subscribe to an HD package. it can be a turbo HD package or a classic plus hd package. as for cancelling my subscription. it makes perfect sense. as a consumer, my wallet is my only voice. would you suggest we vote on the issue? take a look at dish networks stock and quarterly earnings. why do you think they are doing what they are. to increase their earnings and profits. i will concied that i alone will not change dish's practices, i was only stating what i am doing to be proactive and i am sure many others that do not visit this forum are doing the same. if you can afford to roll over and let dish rob you with their symantics, that is your choice. i watch my OTA DTV HD locals 90% of the time. i am not about to accept what amounts to a rate increase if i want these new HD channels, just to satisfy my 10% viewing pleasures. maybe the economy in booming in you area, but i have taken a 30% cut in my pay, and while in all ares of the economy we are seeing a deflation of prices, dish is jacking up their rates again. how much do you expect us to take? i have heard your argument. believe me, there are many people in my house hold that do not agree with me standing on principal. funny thing is, none of them are willing to take on my dish bill. this is not an issue of out dated website or viacom bundles, it is 100% about corporate profits. if it was a matter of viacom requiring its channels to be bundled, than offer them all together in any one of the turbo hd packages. problem solved! but that is not the issue, otherwise i would not be able to get comedy central hd and bet hd only in the turbo hd packages but none of the others. not to mention they break these channels up through out all the tiers anyway.


----------



## gargoyle8

if not the FCC, than please tell me who. that is the job of the FCC. the FCC is fully aware that directv and dish have a strangle hold on rural customers. he dont have several cable or phone companies to pick from. the FCC is also very aware that satellite providers, if left to their own devices, will inevitabley rape these rural customers. thats why dish is regulated by them. i would like to suggest you watch "the communicaters" on cspan1 every sunday night at 7:00 pm. all these issues are discussed and this issue is very much relevent to the role of the FCC.


----------



## James Long

HDftw said:


> I heard that some stations require you to have the SD version to air the HD version, so why don't they just give the Turbo packages the SD version(to have the HD one)?


They generally do ... but the bigger issue is when a provider requires package carriage and does not allow a satellite carrier to pick the channels being carried.

For example ... imagine a provider with 10 channels, label them A through J. So far A through D are available in full HD, E and F are "HD" in name only. The provider wants A through J made available to all viewers - even if G through J are not HD feeds at all.

So extending your suggestion DISH would appease the provider by putting G through J ... 100% SD only channels with NO HD equivalent ... in their "TurboHD" package. This leads to three problems: One, it further breaks the definition of "HD Only". Two, it raises the cost of the package without adding HD channels (unless you're counting A through D ... and even then, DISH is paying for 10 channels to get four and two halves). And three, it encourages other providers to ask for the same treatment.

So after provider 1 gets 10 channels of SD in Turbo HD in order to have their four HD channels carried provider 2 wants the same treatment. Eventually there is no HD Only package as all providers make the same demand.

You end up with the Classic packages +$10 HD being the only options instead of having a "I'm not paying for SD" discount package saving you $15-$18 per month.

The Classic Bronze level package is a good example of DISH pushing back against bundling on the SD side. DirecTV has not had a comparable package for years ... their lowest regular tier compares to DISH's 2nd tier. DirecTV has given in to more providers and can't offer a Bronze level package (or an HD Only package).

While the customer may be "hurt" by DISH pushing back and not carrying a channel because of the terms the provider demands it is a smaller hurt than not offering TurboHD "HD Only" packages at all and/or dropping the Bronze packages and basically becoming DirecTV with their higher package prices.


----------



## puckwithahalo

> Anyway i'm in complete agreement that I don't like the fact that they don't include all the HD channels in the Turbo packages and that they should or just do away with the packages all together. If for no other reason it's just too confusing to try to keep track of for both customers and your average CSR and apparently those who maintain the website. However while it's not good business IMO, suggesting that's it's illegal, grounds for lawsuits and complaints to the fcc seems a bit ludicrous to me, but hey that's just me.


The reason that some of the HD channels are not in the Turbo HD packages has to do with licensing agreements and certain channels being required to be together.

Example :

Contract for channel A says that it can only be in packages that include Channel B

Channel A is available in HD

Channel B is not.

Thus the HD version of A cannot be included in an HD Turbo package because B is not in them.


----------



## puckwithahalo

Doh, James beat me to it. And in more detail too


----------



## tsmacro

puckwithahalo said:


> The reason that some of the HD channels are not in the Turbo HD packages has to do with licensing agreements and certain channels being required to be together.
> 
> Example :
> 
> Contract for channel A says that it can only be in packages that include Channel B
> 
> Channel A is available in HD
> 
> Channel B is not.
> 
> Thus the HD version of A cannot be included in an HD Turbo package because B is not in them.


I understand the reasons behind not all the HD channels being in the Turbo packages but it doesn't make it any less confusing for the customers trying to figure out how to get the channels they want for the best deal. They've reached the point where you need some kind of flow chart to explain what channels are in which packages, they've got so many different packages and what's in them doesn't necessarily make sense to the average customer who don't understand the contract requirements behind them that they're in dire need of simplifying the whole mess. If they can't negotiate the rights to get all the HD channels carried into the same corresponding turbo package that the SD version is in then maybe they just need to do away with the turbo packages all together to save on the confusion, it's just upsetting customers and that's never good business stategy.


----------



## puckwithahalo

tsmacro said:


> I understand the reasons behind not all the HD channels being in the Turbo packages but it doesn't make it any less confusing for the customers trying to figure out how to get the channels they want for the best deal. They've reached the point where you need some kind of flow chart to explain what channels are in which packages, they've got so many different packages and what's in them doesn't necessarily make sense to the average customer who don't understand the contract requirements behind them that they're in dire need of simplifying the whole mess. If they can't negotiate the rights to get all the HD channels carried into the same corresponding turbo package that the SD version is in then maybe they just need to do away with the turbo packages all together to save on the confusion, it's just upsetting customers and that's never good business stategy.


Even though they can be confusing, I would say more options is always better than less.


----------



## James Long

Yes ... the option for DISH seems to be to do what they are doing and try to offer a discount HD Only package or give up and force people to pay more money.


----------



## Paul Secic

gargoyle8 said:


> i am pretty sure that it wont amount to a hill of beans, but i just filed a complaint with the FCC. they have a real nice website, that is easy to navigate and they give you a chace to state your case. i recommend everybody pissed off over this to check it out. do not bother you congressman or senators. they were paid off long ago by dish. it will take a political appointee to do it. p.s. i am not only an hd fan, but a cspan junkie too.


I don't think the FCC has any power over websites.


----------



## Henry

"grog" said:


> Update: BET-HD 9510 is still in RED. :lol:


Ditto.


----------



## Paul Secic

tsmacro said:


> I understand the reasons behind not all the HD channels being in the Turbo packages but it doesn't make it any less confusing for the customers trying to figure out how to get the channels they want for the best deal. They've reached the point where you need some kind of flow chart to explain what channels are in which packages, they've got so many different packages and what's in them doesn't necessarily make sense to the average customer who don't understand the contract requirements behind them that they're in dire need of simplifying the whole mess. If they can't negotiate the rights to get all the HD channels carried into the same corresponding turbo package that the SD version is in then maybe they just need to do away with the turbo packages all together to save on the confusion, it's just upsetting customers and that's never good business stategy.


AMEN!


----------



## Stewart Vernon

We probably should be talking about apples when we've been talking about oranges.

Look at this from a different perspective.

Dish doesn't have to offer the TurboHD "HD only" packages at all. Nobody else does. So the fact that they offer these options at all is something no other provider does, and should be viewed as more choice.

On some level complaining about a channel not being in TurboHD Gold but being in Classic Gold + HD is like... complaining that a Large french fry at McDonald's has more fries in it than a medium fry! You pay more, you get more. It could be more of an argument, actually, if the Classic Gold + HD didn't get something more in their package for the extra money they spend.

Not saying I like it.. and I wish the HD-only packages had all the HD channels in them... but there's always another way to look at things.


----------



## matt8200

The problem is that many people including myself signed up for the Turbo HD packages under the assumption that the missing HD channels were in the process of being added and we would receive them soon without an additional cost. It may not have been in contract which channels would be added, at the very least their advertising was misleading. Denying these channels to Turbo HD subscribers is going to anger many of them and turn them off from Dish Network. If they can't add the channels because of bundling requirements then the simple solution is to add the required SD channels to the Turbo packages.

I am sending an email to Dish expressing my dissatisfaction about not receiving the new channels.


----------



## James Long

Paul Secic said:


> I don't think the FCC has any power over websites.


I believe he was complimenting the FCC's website.


----------



## phrelin

As I said on another thread:


phrelin said:


> Let's remember that not only is TurboHD unique to Dish, it was introduced as a marketing scheme to get new customers and wasn't available to current customers for six months. It is what it is - a less expensive alternative. In the end, if you pay less you usually get less.


----------



## Stewart Vernon

Thing is, channels are being added (and dropped) all the time. The Terms of Service pretty much give the "out" clause that channels are subject to change.

As for the "maybe Dish is greedy" camp, that doesn't explain why they actually added some channels to the HDAbsolute package that has been unavailable since last August.

IF this were just about greed or trickery, then I doubt HDAbsolute customers would have seen BETJ, Comedy Central, CMT, and Spike added in HD recently.

I'm leaning towards the suspicion that some channels might have binding contracts that are keeping them out of the HD-only packages for some reason.

IF it were just about money, Dish would add the channels to all packages and would raise the rates to cover it. So I doubt it's about package price, unless that relates to the piece-of-the-pie owed to a channel provider.

I always understand disappointment in not getting new channels because of the package you have... but is it really different than if they added something new to Platinum and you don't subscribe to that? Or added to Gold but you are in Silver?

Unless Dish happens to add the channel to whatever package I already subscribe to, I have to make a change to get the channel... so this ia a truism no matter how they slice things.

I, for one, never expected HDAbsolute to always get all the new HD.

I did think maybe TurboHD would transition into eventually being the only package maybe in 10 years if everything goes HD by then... but I also expected the price to slowly creep up (as it took a jump this year) as more and more channels were added.

This time next year people would be complaining "why did Dish raise my rates and not add channels" if Dish added these channels now to the TurboHD... people forget channels were added unless they come with a price hike... so maybe Dish is going to start holding back until the next price increase to keep that noise down?


----------



## space86

Anybody still have BET HD in red in the guide?


----------



## Henry

space86 said:


> Anybody still have BET HD in red in the guide?


Yes.


----------



## JohnH

Yes.


----------



## coldsteel

space86 said:


> Anybody still have BET HD in red in the guide?


So call in and request an authorization hit... :nono2:


----------



## Henry

coldsteel said:


> So call in and request an authorization hit... :nono2:


You might want to go back a few pages for some background on why some of us won't call.


----------



## grog

No way am I calling and yes I still see BET-HD in RED.

Too much risk for so little gain.


----------



## coldsteel

grog said:


> No way am I calling and yes I still see BET-HD in RED.
> 
> Too much risk for so little gain.


Then why whine and complain? :icon_lame:beatdeadhorse::icon_dumm


----------



## HDftw

grog said:


> No way am I calling and yes I still see BET-HD in RED.
> 
> Too much risk for so little gain.


What is there to lose?


----------



## jimborst

Last Thursday I did the online chat, and I turned the channel on for a couple minutes and haven't been back. But at least it's there if I ever feel the urge.


----------



## grog

I am not whining or complaining. 
Since I don't watch BET I just want to see if the channel will ever go green on it's own. Seems fun! 



coldsteel said:


> Then why whine and complain? :icon_lame:beatdeadhorse::icon_dumm


----------



## grog

Time. 

We are talking about CSR's are we not? :lol:



HDftw said:


> What is there to lose?


----------



## leftheaded

mspace said:


> Absolute seems to correspond with Turbo Bronze HD and the Platinum add on for any of the "new" channels after 2008.
> 
> -Space


i think Absolute matches up with Turbo Gold + the Platinum addon. I'm paying $34.99 for "dishHD Absolute With Locals".

maybe not 1:1 on all channels, but i know i get: "all" Turbo Bronze channels, biography, national geographic, science channel, versus, golf channel, animal planet, hdnet movies, nba tv, mgm hd...


----------



## CoolGui

grog said:


> I am not whining or complaining.
> Since I don't watch BET I just want to see if the channel will ever go green on it's own. Seems fun!


Well green would mean that it's an ala carte channel you haven't purchased.... Unless you are color blind I suppose. :lol:


----------



## grog

Good catch!
By 'green' I meant 'going live'.

FYI: BET-HD is still RED. 



CoolGui said:


> Well green would mean that it's an ala carte channel you haven't purchased.... Unless you are color blind I suppose. :lol:


----------



## Paul Secic

grog said:


> Good catch!
> By 'green' I meant 'going live'.
> 
> FYI: BET-HD is still RED.


You're not missing much bud!


----------



## Henry

Paul Secic said:


> You're not missing much bud!


We know. :nono2:


----------



## Henry

Still red. :sure:


----------



## space86

BET HD still red?


----------



## Henry

Yep.


----------



## grog

YEP!


----------

