# Disney HD/ABC Fam HD Speculation.



## Conway (Oct 29, 2002)

Would anyone like to Speculate when Dish might Get Disney HD and ABC Fam HD back?.. I thought they would be back by now considering the value of the channels.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

Conway said:


> Would anyone like to Speculate when Dish might Get Disney HD and ABC Fam HD back?.. I thought they would be back by now considering the value of the channels.


ABC/Disney/ESPN wants to be paid for the channels. DISH thought they could carry them for free. That is quite a difference of opinion. DISH never had permission to carry those four HD channels and did so anyways. I expect the negotiation will be more of a demand.


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## lparsons21 (Mar 4, 2006)

James Long said:


> ABC/Disney/ESPN wants to be paid for the channels. DISH thought they could carry them for free. That is quite a difference of opinion. DISH never had permission to carry those four HD channels and did so anyways. I expect the negotiation will be more of a demand.


Given the lack of real outrage except from a very small set of subscribers over losing the HD of these four channels, I expect Dish will say no thanks if you want more money for them.

IOW, Disney will demand payment for the HD, Dish will take a pass on them.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

Yeah... the problem here is the very clear lack of outrage over losing these HD feeds.

Disney wants money, Dish doesn't want to pay... IF there were demand, then the two companies would be forced to negotiate for carriage.

But there seems to be next to zero volume about this as time has gone...

The only monkeywrench that MIGHT help is there are sports fans who would like ESPNUHD... and it is unlikely Disney would negotiate for that while their other HD feeds are in limbo with Dish.


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## lparsons21 (Mar 4, 2006)

Stewart Vernon said:


> The only monkeywrench that MIGHT help is there are sports fans who would like ESPNUHD... and it is unlikely Disney would negotiate for that while their other HD feeds are in limbo with Dish.


I hadn't thought about ESPNUHD. You're right, that could be a sticking point. But even that might not be enough to make Dish (which means US) pay for it.


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## Conway (Oct 29, 2002)

I wonder when Dish's current contract with Disney is up for renewal?


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## Jim5506 (Jun 7, 2004)

Disney is aimed at the low teen and pre-teen demographic. This age group does not have any particular affinity for HD programming - SD is fine.

Only subs with HD Absolute are missing the Disney and ABC Family channels because they do not have them in SD and there are so few of us we are almost non-existent.

The demand for Disney in HD is so low as to also be almost no-existent.

It looks like it's a big
WHO CARES!


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

Now that the precedent has been set I expect that The Disney-ABC Television Group might just consider sitting back until the time comes for the ten ABC owned-and-operated stations to renegotiate their agreements.

Using Fox's value-to-viewers guideline of $5 a month per a station, ABC can probably only justify $20 a month per broadcast station based on ratings. But The Disney-ABC Television Group has ESPN and Disney, so they can probably get viewers to pay $35 a month for all their channels.

CBS has the most prime time TV sets tuned to their stations, so that will come next.:eek2:


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## lparsons21 (Mar 4, 2006)

Since neither your nor I are privy to exactly what deal Dish struck with Fox, we don't know what precedence has been set yet.

I think your numbers were typed with your 'sarcasm' hand...


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## BillJ (May 5, 2005)

I've been under the impression the Disney/ABC dispute had resulted in a court case, which means it could drag out for years. I'd much rather have these channels back in HD than FX but at least we still have the SD feeds.


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## KalebD (May 8, 2007)

I would like them too since my daughter insists I sit through the shows she wants to watch.


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## Paul Secic (Dec 16, 2003)

Jim5506 said:


> Disney is aimed at the low teen and pre-teen demographic. This age group does not have any particular affinity for HD programming - SD is fine.
> 
> Only subs with HD Absolute are missing the Disney and ABC Family channels because they do not have them in SD and there are so few of us we are almost non-existent.
> 
> ...


Disney should go back to the premium style, like they had in the 90's.


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

Conway said:


> I thought they would be back by now considering the value of the channels.


That value would be, ummmm, a big fat goose-egg, $0.00


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## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

SayWhat? said:


> That value would be, ummmm, a big fat goose-egg, $0.00


Yeah, the #2 (Disney) rated cable network is worth $0.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

sigma1914 said:


> Yeah, the #2 (Disney) rated cable network is worth $0.


What is the rating for the HD channel?

The #2 network, east and west feeds, is carried on DISH Network and is available to nearly every one of DISH Network's 14 million customers (some customers have chosen to subscribe to internationals only or a HD only package that does not include most SD feeds).

How much is the HD channel worth?


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

lparsons21 said:


> Since neither your nor I are privy to exactly what deal Dish struck with Fox, we don't know what precedence has been set yet.
> 
> I think your numbers were typed with your 'sarcasm' hand...


What, me sarcastic?:grin:


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## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

James Long said:


> What is the rating for the HD channel?
> 
> The #2 network, east and west feeds, is carried on DISH Network and is available to nearly every one of DISH Network's 14 million customers (some customers have chosen to subscribe to internationals only or a HD only package that does not include most SD feeds).
> 
> How much is the HD channel worth?


Not $0. They should be packaged with the SD feed, IMO, both or nothing.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

One thing I haven't seen addressed either by Dish or Disney...

What about their other HD feeds that weren't pulled?

Is Dish paying for them? OR does Disney/Dish have an agreement to give them for free?

This "we want money for the HD feeds" dispute seems to only apply to Disney, DisneyXD, ABC Family, and ESPNews HD feeds.

So... does that mean when the contract expires for the other carried channels Disney will be wanting a price hike on those for their HD feeds too?

IF so... then this current dispute will become hugely important at that time.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

sigma1914 said:


> Not $0. They should be packaged with the SD feed, IMO, both or nothing.


Perhaps when the SD contract expires they will be. DISH assumed that the SD subscription included HD for the four channels and carried them based on the assumption. They were wrong. ABC/Disney wanted more money for the HD channels and the contract DISH remains under does not include the HD channels of those networks.


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## Greg Bimson (May 5, 2003)

Stewart Vernon said:


> One thing I haven't seen addressed either by Dish or Disney...
> 
> What about their other HD feeds that weren't pulled?
> 
> ...


Well, along with James correct assessment of the current situation...

There are no other Disney-owned HD feeds that are being carried by Dish Network.

Here is what we know so far:

There is a contract with ESPN, for six SD and two HD channels. The assumption is that there is a fee for the HD channels. We also know that contract was amended to swap out ESPN Classic with ESPNU, because ESPN granted many carriers the ability to swap-out the two channels.

There is a contract with Disney for the Disney channels and SoapNet.

There is also a contract with ABC Family separately, as that channel is a full partnership between Disney/ABC and the people that own Power Rangers (Saban Entertainment?).

Which means there is a fourth contract that has to contain the carriage for the ABC owned-and-operated stations.

What else we know:

The channels were pulled because the courts said there wasn't a contract for the four disputed HD channels. Dish Network carried those channels for 25 months. Without a contract.

Because Dish Network took Disney to court over access for these four channels, Disney decided to countersue because Dish Network couldn't pay Disney in a timely manner. The $65 million awarded only covers interest on payments Disney was due to receive. That means Dish Network hadn't paid for the 25 months of carriage of the four HD channels.

Dish Network is currently suing ESPN over carriage fees and most-favored nation status regarding ESPN Classic and ESPNU. Who knows where that will end up?

But the point is correct: when the contracts come up for renewal, it will be time to negotiate carriage of the HD channels (again).


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

Greg Bimson said:


> There are no other Disney-owned HD feeds that are being carried by Dish Network.


What about ESPNHD and ESPN2HD?

Those are in HD and being carried by Dish... and are certainly Disney-owned HD feeds.

I don't know if there are any O&O locals, but surely there are somewhere out there.


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## Greg Bimson (May 5, 2003)

That's what I meant by the ESPN agreement, which is for six SD and two HD networks. It appears there is a charge for them, but that is only by inference, as shown in the lawsuit.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

Greg Bimson said:


> There are no other Disney-owned HD feeds that are being carried by Dish Network.


Considering the ABC/ESPN/Disney monster company as a whole ... the ESPN HD feeds are indeed carried by DISH Network but were specified in the ESPN carriage contract. At the time of the contract ESPN and ESPN2 HD were not simulcasts of the ESPN and ESPN2 HD. It made sense to call them separate feeds and write a contract that specified them separately from the SD versions.

With the ABC Family, Disney and ESPNews feeds they are not separate content feeds. It was wrong for DISH to assume they had permission to carry the HD feeds but I expect the next contract will have no choice. DISH will have to pay a higher price and get the HD feeds or drop the SD feeds.

(BTW: That is the point where I personally will consider this a dispute again. When the contract is up and SD carriage is threatened.)


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## inazsully (Oct 3, 2006)

We are eleven years into the 21st century for cryin out loud. It's an HD world and we're still screwin around with SD. Stop it, just stop it.


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## bnewt (Oct 2, 2003)

As a sports fan, I would like to see ESPN News return with the HD feed. I would also like to see ESPNU in HD. My family also likes to watch movies that are on Disney & ABC Family, so again I would prefer to watch in HD. So there are some of us that do care. I'm sure there are many others that are unhappy about these things, but just don't rant & rave on this forum.


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

inazsully said:


> We are eleven years into the 21st century for cryin out loud. It's an HD world and we're still screwin around with SD. Stop it, just stop it.


Couldn't care less about it. I get a few OTA programs in it, but I really can't tell the difference other than the file size on my drive for recorded programs. HD programs are 2 or 3 times the file size taking up a lot more dick space, but I don't see any visual difference at all when watching.


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## bnewt (Oct 2, 2003)

SayWhat? said:


> Couldn't care less about it. I get a few OTA programs in it, but I really can't tell the difference other than the file size on my drive for recorded programs. HD programs are 2 or 3 times the file size taking up a lot more dick space, but I don't see any visual difference at all when watching.


There is no way that you can't tell the difference if you have hd tv......no way:nono2::nono2:

If you can't see a difference, then something is wrong


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## dennispap (Feb 1, 2007)

SayWhat? said:


> Couldn't care less about it. I get a few OTA programs in it, but I really can't tell the difference other than the file size on my drive for recorded programs. HD programs are 2 or 3 times the file size taking up a lot more dick space, but I* don't see any visual difference* at all when watching.


You cant be serious..:nono2:


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## TulsaOK (Feb 24, 2004)

Probably not serious. Let's not turn that statement into a discussion, please.


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

Yeah, dead serious. That's why I'm not interested in paying for any from of upgrades or equipment from Dish or anyone else. And why I don't care if Dish ever carries these channels.

Maybe on a bigger set it would matter, but not on my 32".


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## projectorguru (Mar 5, 2007)

Jim5506 said:


> Disney is aimed at the low teen and pre-teen demographic. This age group does not have any particular affinity for HD programming - SD is fine.
> 
> Only subs with HD Absolute are missing the Disney and ABC Family channels because they do not have them in SD and there are so few of us we are almost non-existent.
> 
> ...


So says the guy with no kids, Disney and ABCFM are the one thing that will allow me to leave Dish when Fios is hooked up next month, my little girls loved the channels and so do us parents who like spendin time with our kids watchin all those great movies and shows for kids. I also have absolute, so I see none of them, so for me the deadline is Dec, then i'm going to fios


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

So - if Disney and ABCFM were really that important - you could change to a package that has them (although they would be in SD).


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## speedboat (Sep 22, 2009)

SayWhat? said:


> Yeah, dead serious. That's why I'm not interested in paying for any from of upgrades or equipment from Dish or anyone else. And why I don't care if Dish ever carries these channels.
> 
> Maybe on a bigger set it would matter, but not on my 32".


To make that statement, you have to have your TV connected incorrectly or don't have HD equipment to begin with. SD looks like crap, once you been watching HD.


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

projectorguru said:


> So says the guy with no kids, Disney and ABCFM are the one thing that will allow me to leave Dish when Fios is hooked up next month, my little girls loved the channels and so do us parents who like spendin time with our kids watchin all those great movies and shows for kids. I also have absolute, so I see none of them, so for me the deadline is Dec, then i'm going to fios


I don't get your point. Dish has those channels.


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## Conway (Oct 29, 2002)

The guy above has Dish Absolute...... He doesn't get Disney or ABC Family at all since he doesn't have SD.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

speedboat said:


> To make that statement, you have to have your TV connected incorrectly or don't have HD equipment to begin with. SD looks like crap, once you been watching HD.


On a smaller screen SD can look pretty good ... especially on channels that have not been bit starved. I saw one OTA ATSC station that used more bandwidth for a SD feed than most OTA ATSC stations use for their HD feeds ... it was as good quality as the best analog SD feeds I've ever seen. SD doesn't have to be crap.


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

Conway said:


> The guy above has Dish Absolute...... He doesn't get Disney or ABC Family at all since he doesn't have SD.


But Dish has the channels so he doesn't have to change providers, only programming packages.


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## projectorguru (Mar 5, 2007)

i will not watch it in SD, theres no point in paying more for another package to watch SD, I have Absolute, as stated above, which is cheap and all HD, to change packages, which I looked at, would cost me more money, as would going to Fios, but with fios its actually cheaper because of the bundle only


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## inazsully (Oct 3, 2006)

I live in a very large (35,00) retirement community and constantly help residents replace analog TV's with HD wide screen TV's. 100% of these folks, many in their 80's, are astounded with the stunning PQ difference provided by a HD feed to a HD TV. I've been doing this here for 8 years and the response is always the same.


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## Jim5506 (Jun 7, 2004)

My father-in-law loves his new 32 inch LCD HDTV especially since I showed him that the local cable co has major nets unenchrypted in HD, now he can watch the Cowboys lose in HD and loves the picture.

BTY - I have a 7 year old grand son living with me so we have had to make adjustments for Disney being off, but life goes on - he spends less time watching rude kids smart mouth their parents.


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

projectorguru said:


> i will not watch it in SD, theres no point in paying more for another package to watch SD, I have Absolute, as stated above, which is cheap and all HD, to change packages, which I looked at, would cost me more money, as would going to Fios, but with fios its actually cheaper because of the bundle only


Then don't gripe about the channels not being available.


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

projectorguru said:


> i will not watch it in SD,


Well, that's a personal choice. The channels are there, you CHOOSE not to get them.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

Jim5506 said:


> ... he spends less time watching rude kids smart mouth their parents.


"Kids smarter than parents" and "kids bossing parents without correction" are two major problems with children's programming today. The are teaching kids to disrespect their elders.


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

^^ Well, that isn't all that new (Alex Keaton, Samantha Micelli), but what is new is the parents are more like caricatures than they used to be, if they're shown at all. Some of the Disney shows with kids don't even show the parents.


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## dmspen (Dec 1, 2006)

SayWhat? said:


> Some of the Disney shows with kids don't even show the parents.


Ah, Disney and parents. This has been going on a long time.Look back at most of the Disney movies EVER made. How many have both parents?
Did Snow White? No, just a wicked Stepmother
Pinocchio?
Cinderella?

Even the current ones...
Litttle Mermaid - no mom
Beauty and the Beast - no Mom
Toy Story? No Dad

The two that come to mind that didn't follow this are Sleeping Beauty - although the parents went to sleep, and 101 Dalmations - again, 101 puppies with no parents.

Interesting, isn't it.


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## projectorguru (Mar 5, 2007)

SayWhat? said:


> Well, that's a personal choice. The channels are there, you CHOOSE not to get them.


You don't understand, as I have said already, again, I can't get the SD versions on HD absolute. I will not spend more money to get them in HD, so yeah its a choice, but not as easy as you make it seem


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

projectorguru said:


> You don't understand, as I have said already, again, I can't get the SD versions on HD absolute. I will not spend more money to get them in HD, so yeah its a choice, but not as easy as you make it seem


The point is you can get the channels. All you have to do is subscribe to a package that includes the channels.

If an AT 200 subscriber was constantly complaining about not being able to get National Geographic, National Geographic Wild and History International we would offer the same solution. Subscribe to a package that includes the channels you want.


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## projectorguru (Mar 5, 2007)

James Long said:


> The point is you can get the channels. All you have to do is subscribe to a package that includes the channels.
> 
> If an AT 200 subscriber was constantly complaining about not being able to get National Geographic, National Geographic Wild and History International we would offer the same solution. Subscribe to a package that includes the channels you want.


Actually I am right now, just signed up with a bundle through Verizon Fios, Dish is canceled as of tomorrow, YIPPEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!


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## smngm2 (Sep 9, 2008)

I keep seeing posts alluding to the loss of the Disney owned channels in the Absolute package. I have Dish America Gold and we've had the SD and HD Disney, Disney XD, and ABC Family channels since September 2008. When the dispute began and the HD channels were pulled, we lost the SD versions of those channels as well.

While I do have kids and they watched a few shows on those channels, we don't miss those channels tremendously. But to be totally honest, I do resent the HD package increases between 2009 and 2010 (from $48/mo to $68/mo currently) and the loss of channels promoted as part of the package from the very beginning. In this economy, we're about to downgrade because we cannot keep paying what we are for television. It's just not that important.


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## tcatdbs (Jul 10, 2008)

Yeah... I didn't think (or know) I was missing anything, until the grandkids came for Thanksgiving.... I was getting 4 HD kids channels (Toon, Cartoon, Disney, and ABC Fam)... now I get ONE (Toon)... not enough to keep the kids happy. Thank God for Netflix! At least as a Absolute customer I'm not paying anymore than I was 2 years ago, and actually getting a few more (better) HD channels. Still irritating when kids are here... it was a "lifetime guarantee" when I signed up for them!


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## inazsully (Oct 3, 2006)

Stewart Vernon said:


> Yeah... the problem here is the very clear lack of outrage over losing these HD feeds.
> 
> Disney wants money, Dish doesn't want to pay... IF there were demand, then the two companies would be forced to negotiate for carriage.
> 
> ...


The problem with that philosophy is two fold. #1 the vast majority of current subscribers are a quiet majority and even though they may show no outrage they do indeed notice and an unhappy sub could become a gone sub. #2 and more important, potential new subs will look at the offerings of Dish and its competitors and make their choice accordingly. I find it a logical assumption that families with children will choose the provider that offers these missing (from Dish) channels.


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## RasputinAXP (Jan 23, 2008)

Cartoon Network is in HD too, you just don't get it because you're on Absolute.


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## GrumpyBear (Feb 1, 2006)

inazsully said:


> The problem with that philosophy is two fold. #1 the vast majority of current subscribers are a quiet majority and even though they may show no outrage they do indeed notice and an unhappy sub could become a gone sub. #2 and more important, potential new subs will look at the offerings of Dish and its competitors and make their choice accordingly. I find it a logical assumption that families with children will choose the provider that offers these missing (from Dish) channels.


Were this site, is just a sample of Dish users, as is Satguys, people come here to complain and complain loudly, over anything and everything. Over these channels the complaints, aren't even a blip on the radar.

More people, myself included, have complained, in the past about what kind of HD bandwidth waste the channels in question are, more than people have come here to complain about the channels being just SD nowadays. People with families will want the channels, and since nobody offers a HD only package anymore, those people will see the ABC/Disney channels included in the packages they are looking at.


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## david_jr (Dec 10, 2006)

In my house I hate to watch any non HD channels if the HD channel is available. When we first got HD I "caught" my kids watching the SD version of Disney Channel (back when the HD version was available). I had walked into the room and noticed immediately on our 50 inch plasma that it was SD (It's a sickness). I asked, "Is this the HD channel?" The reply was no and when I told them they should be watching the HD version they said they didn't like the HD channel because they put the big black bars on the side. I found out they do the same thing for other channels like Nick and Toon because they don't like the black bars on the side. This may be part of the reason that the demand isn't there.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

david_jr said:


> I asked, "Is this the HD channel?" The reply was no and when I told them they should be watching the HD version they said they didn't like the HD channel because they put the big black bars on the side. I found out they do the same thing for other channels like Nick and Toon because they don't like the black bars on the side. This may be part of the reason that the demand isn't there.


And that is the reason some programmers use stretch-o-vision to fill every corner of the 16x9 screen with an image. "People want it."

Fortunately there is a SD version so the stretch does not have to be viewed, although these kids would rather stretch SD to fill the screen than watch a higher bit rate proportional image? They have chosen their distortion.


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## Jeff_DML (Feb 12, 2008)

RasputinAXP said:


> Cartoon Network is in HD too, you just don't get it because you're on Absolute.


is Cartoon different then Toon? I have young kids so Toon seems to have older kids/adult cartoons only. Plus I like how the early morning Disney stuff only had ads at the beginning of their programs


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## RasputinAXP (Jan 23, 2008)

Jeff_DML said:


> is Cartoon different then Toon? I have young kids so Toon seems to have older kids/adult cartoons only. Plus I like how the early morning Disney stuff only had ads at the beginning of their programs


I see Disney East, Disney West, Disney XD, Boomerang (old school cartoons, like Flintstones and Jetsons), Cartoon Network, Cartoon West, and Nicktoons.

Disney's what my kids are usually watching in the morning, mostly because it's ad-free (except for upcoming specials and DVDs). Cartoon Network does tend to be 'older' in the mornings (say 6-10 years old), and Disney XD tends to skew 10 year old boy.

When Disney switches over to afternoon programming, it's usually Nick Jr in my house, even though there's more advertising than I'd like.


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## inazsully (Oct 3, 2006)

GrumpyBear said:


> Were this site, is just a sample of Dish users, as is Satguys, people come here to complain and complain loudly, over anything and everything. Over these channels the complaints, aren't even a blip on the radar.
> 
> More people, myself included, have complained, in the past about what kind of HD bandwidth waste the channels in question are, more than people have come here to complain about the channels being just SD nowadays. People with families will want the channels, and since nobody offers a HD only package anymore, those people will see the ABC/Disney channels included in the packages they are looking at.


Granted that this site and sat guys represents a very small percentage of Dish subs keep in mind that the viewer to poster ratio on these sites is pretty big. 
Since almost every TV sold today is HD I think more and more subs are sensitive to getting HD for their new HD TV, even if it's only off air. I think both Dish and "D" offer free HD for life now.


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## Mike109 (Jun 28, 2010)

Is there any reason to even have any SD channels at this point in time? Not just Disney but any channel. Why not make everything HD?

Is it a marketing thing? However the sat providers are giving away free HD.

Or is there a problem with older receivers & DVRs being compatible? IOW they cannot receive HD signals, even if they output only SD.


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## purtman (Sep 19, 2006)

Mike109 said:


> Is there any reason to even have any SD channels at this point in time? Not just Disney but any channel. Why not make everything HD?
> 
> Is it a marketing thing? However the sat providers are giving away free HD.
> 
> Or is there a problem with older receivers & DVRs being compatible? IOW they cannot receive HD signals, even if they output only SD.


Why punish the elderly and those who can't afford HD?


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

Lots of legacy MPEG2 SD stuff out there yet. Can't turn it off until EVERYBODY has VIP receivers (or whatever follows them).


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## GrumpyBear (Feb 1, 2006)

Worthy Channels like Fox Movies(channel 133), doesn't even have a HD version, so it would be hard to show it in HD. 

It would be great to have everything in HD but, not all channels even have a HD version, and some channels may never have a HD version, just a digital SD version and that will be it.(which is very different than HD). Some channels shouldn't even worry about going HD, as all they would do is do stretch-o-vision, which is nastier than SD.


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## Mike109 (Jun 28, 2010)

purtman said:


> Why punish the elderly and those who can't afford HD?


Who said anything about punishing anyone? If HD is free then there is no additional cost for the programming.

That's also why I asked if the older receivers & DVRs were compatible. As others have responded they are not. That obviously answers the question why SD is still needed.


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## inazsully (Oct 3, 2006)

purtman said:


> Why punish the elderly and those who can't afford HD?


Punish the elderly? Are you serious? What a completely ignorant statement to make.


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## inazsully (Oct 3, 2006)

GrumpyBear said:


> Worthy Channels like Fox Movies(channel 133), doesn't even have a HD version, so it would be hard to show it in HD.
> 
> It would be great to have everything in HD but, not all channels even have a HD version, and some channels may never have a HD version, just a digital SD version and that will be it.(which is very different than HD). Some channels shouldn't even worry about going HD, as all they would do is do stretch-o-vision, which is nastier than SD.


Switching from SD to all HD would be less of a problem then turning off analog to go 100% digital broadcasts at the flip of a switch like we just did. We got over it quickly. Sure people would *****, just like they did for the switchover. They'll get over it and we'll all be better off for it. Just do it. It's like getting a injection. The anticipation is much worse then the actuality. You can't buy anything but HD displays now anyway. "D" and "E" both have HD for life for free so just pull the HD trigger.


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## david_jr (Dec 10, 2006)

inazsully said:


> Switching from SD to all HD would be less of a problem then turning off analog to go 100% digital broadcasts at the flip of a switch like we just did. We got over it quickly. Sure people would *****, just like they did for the switchover. They'll get over it and we'll all be better off for it. Just do it. It's like getting a injection. The anticipation is much worse then the actuality. You can't buy anything but HD displays now anyway. "D" and "E" both have HD for life for free so just pull the HD trigger.


The analog shutoff only affected a small percentage of people who were OTA only and the government gave everyone 2 $40 coupons for converters. Dish still has more than half their customers as SD only and would require a huge investment in new equipment to "flip the switch." Don't see it happening. I still know quite a few people who don't own HDTV's. I also know people who refuse to pay extra for a digital cable box. I even know people who say they can't see a difference between SD and HD (they're out there). These are luxuries many are unwilling to pay for. I beleive, sadly, we "HD only" people are in the minority. And the content providers aren't helping when they show most of their HD as upconverted pillarboxed SD or stretchovision.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

inazsully said:


> Switching from SD to all HD would be less of a problem then turning off analog to go 100% digital broadcasts at the flip of a switch like we just did. We got over it quickly. Sure people would *****, just like they did for the switchover. They'll get over it and we'll all be better off for it. Just do it. It's like getting a injection. The anticipation is much worse then the actuality. You can't buy anything but HD displays now anyway. "D" and "E" both have HD for life for free so just pull the HD trigger.


Apples and oranges.

People who were on cable or satellite were not effected by the analog-to-digital transition... Only OTA viewers were effected, and many of those already had HDTVs with built-in digital tuners... and the converter boxes were not expensive.

Dish still has many more SD than HD subscribers AND many HD subscribers still have SD receivers in other rooms of their homes. There is no other way to receive Dish than with a Dish receiver... so ALL SD receivers in the field would have to be replaced.

We are talking probably 10+ million receivers that have to be replaced before any kind of removal of SD channels could happen OR Dish would lose customers.

Part of the problem is cost either to Dish or to customers to upgrade to a newer receiver... the other problem is the sheer number of receivers and scheduling installations for people who need them since many of the receiver upgrades will require upgrades to legacy switches/LNBs too.


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## fraisa (Sep 6, 2010)

Stewart Vernon said:


> Apples and oranges.
> 
> People who were on cable or satellite were not effected by the analog-to-digital transition... Only OTA viewers were effected, and many of those already had HDTVs with built-in digital tuners... and the converter boxes were not expensive.
> 
> ...


I myself want these Channels back in HD.
Period .....
It sucks that this has gone on as long as it has...


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## tcatdbs (Jul 10, 2008)

I "HAD" Cartoon Network on Absolute... down on bottom row of image. How do I get it back?



RasputinAXP said:


> Cartoon Network is in HD too, you just don't get it because you're on Absolute.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

tcatdbs said:


> I "HAD" Cartoon Network on Absolute... down on bottom row of image. How do I get it back?


You might have had it during a free preview?

I am low on sleep... so I might be temporarily confused though... as to whether or not the channel is in the Absolute pack.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

Stewart Vernon said:


> You might have had it during a free preview?
> 
> I am low on sleep... so I might be temporarily confused though... as to whether or not the channel is in the Absolute pack.


The old screen cap shows the logo ...


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

James Long said:


> The old screen cap shows the logo ...


I was awake enough to guess I might be mistaken... but not awake enough to keep me from posting anyway


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## tcatdbs (Jul 10, 2008)

OK, I just noticed I do have Cartoon Network, but it's only the SD feed. I used to get it in HD, is HD off the air for that channel? So the only channels left on Absolute for Kids are Toon HD and Cartoon SD, right? Not a big deal for me.


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## david_jr (Dec 10, 2006)

Stewart Vernon said:


> Apples and oranges.
> 
> People who were on cable or satellite were not effected by the analog-to-digital transition... Only OTA viewers were effected, and many of those already had HDTVs with built-in digital tuners... and the converter boxes were not expensive.
> 
> ...


Jinx!


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## swallman (Nov 18, 2004)

Would've been nice to have ABC Family in HD all weekend for the Harry Potter marathon.


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## GrumpyBear (Feb 1, 2006)

swallman said:


> Would've been nice to have ABC Family in HD all weekend for the Harry Potter marathon.


For those of us with the DVD/Blu Ray's or access to rent the DVD's or Blu-Rays, its was better not to have ABC Family in HD, and have family bonding time watching the movies without all the commericals. ABC Family is notorious, for thier extremely LONG commerical breaks.

Just like in Weekends past, for Harry Potter marathon's, this weekends marathon had, just over 3 minutes of movie time followed by 1 minute of commercial time, a 3 to 1 ratio is horrible, in a family setting. Last years marathon, the HD version of the movies wasn't exactly great, one of many reasons, people have complained about ABC Family. Youngest daughter recorded them last year, and quickly deleted the movies as she was tired of having to fast forward every 10 minutes or so.


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## Paul Secic (Dec 16, 2003)

Conway said:


> Would anyone like to Speculate when Dish might Get Disney HD and ABC Fam HD back?.. I thought they would be back by now considering the value of the channels.


Any news?


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