# Charlie Chat Summary April 2002 (JIP)



## TNGTony (Mar 23, 2002)

Well, my real life interrupted my Dishly duties again. I just got home at
9:10pm and by the time I got ready to type the Charlie Chat Jim and Charlie
were talking about:

Signal levels will only improve slightly with E*7 and more with E*8 but they
will always require a larger dish.

Programming news!

ABC/Disney and E* have settled their problems. ABC Family will continue on
AT150 and ESPN Classic sill be coming back on April 17. We don't have to
raise price. We solidified our relationship. We kissed and made up. They
are the nicest people ever to do business with. We love them. Boy are they
nice people! Did I say we love them?

Jim says from time to time a programmer goes off the air. CNN SI will be
discontinuing service May 15 so it will be going off the air.

International programming: TV Polonia's contract is up at the end of April.
They haven't renewed that contract so they may be going off Dish's line-up.
We offered them the same deal and they haven't responded.

Charlie says they have other contractual issues we do not control. We want
a fair deal.

Jim sets up the question about YES Network.

Charlie is very disappointed that they could not come to a deal with YES.
We all worked hard but we could not come to a deal that made sense. We only
wanted to get the same deal as other cable systems. That didn't work. We
offered them a channel they would set the a la carte rate and they would
keep the money, Yes said no. The other option was to raise the national by
about a dollar or raise the NY Yankees areas prices by $4. Didn't make
sense so no Yankees for you! We want your business, but Time Warner
2523580900, Directv 8003573288 have the Yes network and we probably wont.
We're still open for negotiations but it doesn't look realistic.

They show a slate of all the Yankees games available without the YES
network.

Oregon zips 974xx-977xx will now get Fox Sports Northwest
Indiana zips 460xx-463xx and 465xx-479xx get a Fox Sports Midwest now.

AT150 $100,000 sweepstakes video runs.

Giveaway time!!! Lots of videos...over 100 video in all Jim says
First caller who can call and give the names of the Rat Pack win the prize.

Charlie says "As opposed to the Brat pack!"

Jim stumbles a little.

E-mail: How will the merger give affordable broadband?
Dish and Direct have expensive service and we lose money. When we combine
efforts with new satellite technology we can bring costs down along with
economies of scale. Only with the merger would there be a large enough
customer base to bring costs down and revenues up.

Ben Wolfer says I've had the distant networks since the beginning of time.
Now I get a letter that the FCC and SHVIA wont let me get the networks.
Databases changed and part of the settlement with Disney now you don't
qualify. Some cities anywhere in the DMA due to settlements with suits we
do not provide distant signals at all.

Call: When Dish was installed they used my old cable. Picture suxs. Dish
says it's the cable. The installer says "Nuts"
Charlie says 99% of the time it is NOT the cable. We're probably not using
enough bandwidth for the channel because of must carry we are squeezed fro
bandwidth. The new satellite in the next few weeks will help. Check back
May 13 for the Tech Chat.

John e-mails: Any chance of adding Canadian channels to the line-up and
more Audio channels like ESPN Radio.
We can't sell Canadian channels int he US due to lack of reciprocity between
US and Canada. They are working on that, but it's the government so don't
look for anything to happen for at least a year or more.

E-mail congratulates E* for the PVR new software but what about slow mo?
Ain't a gonna happen.

When is the 508 coming out?
In a month or two and will run about $100 more than the 501.

Call says Congratulations for getting channel 13 (Home of the Dodgers) on LA
locals but what about Fox Sports West 2?
Same problem as YES. We're still talking.

We can provide all the channels everyone is asking for, but then you
wouldn't be very happy about it when the bill comes. We have to strike a
balance for the programming. We are disappointed about YES and FSN West.

Bill knew the rat pack. Frankie, Dean, Sammy, Peter Lawford and Joey
Bishop.

Greg and Sharon Chamberlain are on the phone? No...Greg! There he is.
Greg won the $100,000 Club Dish referral sweepstakes giveaway prize. They
have a phone interview. Charlie says you get all the money at once, not
like the multi-million dollar state lotteries where you get a dollar a year
for a million years.

Jim starts to shill Club Dish referral program. Roll the video. Charlie
shows the selling materials for the referrals. They then go over the
benefits of Club Dish. Go to www.dishnetwork.com for the details.

Michelle is on the phone: Dish is great! Great pic...we love it. What do
you do with the Club Dish certificates? (Was this a planted question?)
They go over the club Dish referral procedure.

Speaking of loyal customers, lets look at the a video of the Kings one of
the most loyal customer. They show DishMAN! See the humor section at
http://echostar.swiki.net to see a picture of DishMAN! But then they sell
the service. Boy are they happy about the Dish! Love the service. Boy do
they love the service.

Jim says that's an interesting story. Giveaway time from Tribune. Home
theater system with DVD! Good prize!

Who is on the cover of last month's Dish Entertainment Magazine? Confusion
about the month then settles to March is what they are looking for.

More questions

Sy asks what equipment will be use and what PVR will we use after the
merger?
When we find out, we'll let you know. If you will need new equipment for
the SAME LEVEL of programming, we will replace it for free. PVR..we plan to
keep all the current contracts with TiVo Ultimate and our own PVRs.

Again Tech Chat is on May 13. They run the tape.

Last question: Frank wants to know if XM or Sirius will be on Dish?
We are evaluating the products now, and we hope to make the decision soon.
We'll let you know when we know.

Winner in Texas. answer was Jennifer Anniston.

Call the Tech Chat in May!

Jim says "We Appreciate your support" Was he playing Earnest or Julio? Oh
wait, that was "Thank you for your support!"

That's it. Next Charlie Chat in June!

See ya
Tony

Sorry I don't have a tardy slip!


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## bogi (Apr 3, 2002)

I wonder why they haven renewed their contract yet they have nowhere else to go. Its not worth the $20 but I know alot of people that subscribe to it.


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## Steve Mehs (Mar 21, 2002)

508 in a month or 2? Nah, I seriousley doubt that the 508 will ever be released.



> Sorry I don't have a tardy slip!


Well, for that your punishment will be watching every replay of this months Charlie Chat


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## TNGTony (Mar 23, 2002)

> _Originally posted by Steve Mehs _
> *Well, for that your punishment will be watching every replay of this months Charlie Chat  *


AHHHH! I'd rather clap the erasers clean after school! 

See ya
Tony


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## Chris Blount (Jun 22, 2001)

As usual another excellent recap. Thanks Tony!!!


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## Scott Greczkowski (Mar 21, 2002)

Hmm no mention of the 721.

Vaporware??? Hmmmmm.

Also if the Yes Network is charing all the cable systems and DBS providers $1.85 a month for the service, then why would Charlie have to raise the price $4 a month to NY subscribers? THats a nice mark up!

$100 more for the 508? Why not Discontinue the 501 sell only the 508's with the larger drives. It reminds me of the Dishplayer 7100 and 7200 ordeal they had a few years ago.

The video with the first Dish Network customers was laughable, how much did they pay them to say Dish Networks Picture quality beat the socks off of C Band? I almost fell on the floor laughing when they blamed the scratch on the TV screen as an accident the dog did trying to chase a bird on the TV (And the bird was really clear because of Dish Networks excellent picture quality!) HAHAHAHAHA

And why does Charlie talk about Starband like hes still doing business with them? Am I missing something here?


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## Scott Greczkowski (Mar 21, 2002)

And BTW an excelent write up of the Chat Tony! We will forgive the tardness this time but next time you do it, you will be forced to watch 8 hours of "The Best of Jim Ferguson"

Jim said that "The Best of" was so good he had to watch it again and again and again and .....

Thanks Tony!


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

Thanks, Tony... excellent work...



> And why does Charlie talk about Starband like hes still doing business with them? Am I missing something here?


He was asked about broadbanad and also, Charlie is the co-CEO of Starband. Dish still owns a VERY large portion of them. I suspect that Dish dropped selling them because Dish was losing a fortune on each one they sold. It is better to take those losses as an investment write off rather than have the whole loss in the parent corporation.


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## Guest (Apr 9, 2002)

> _Originally posted by Scott Greczkowski _
> *Also if the Yes Network is charing all the cable systems and DBS providers $1.85 a month for the service, then why would Charlie have to raise the price $4 a month to NY subscribers? THats a nice mark up!
> *


That is the standard profit margin that we are paying for all programming, and the thing that many are missing in the YES debate. E* and D* gross margins (sub revenue - programming cost) run between 50 and 55%. Selling YES for $1.85 = no profit for the distributor. D* and cable companies can pass on YES at cost, but they are giving up opportunity costs with other programming that could take its place.


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## John Corn (Mar 21, 2002)

Thanks Tony, I was off to work right in the middle of the CC, I'm always looking forward to coming home and reading the recap. 

*NO MENTION OF THE 721*................**SIGH**


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## Kevin (Mar 27, 2002)

Thanks for the recap because I missed the Charlie Chat. The recap is always better anyway.


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

Doesn't take nearly as much wasted time to read than it does to watch! Thanks Tony!


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## Guest (Apr 11, 2002)

Why doesnt Dish Network get rid of some of its crappy channels like WE and Lifetime channels (that I never watch but am paying for). And make room for the YES network.The whole reason i got dish was cause of the sport channels. I mean New York fans are getting screwed bigtime by both Yes and Dish network....Dam im gonna have to get Direct TV.


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## Kevin (Mar 27, 2002)

Unregistered, the reason that Dish Network doesn't carry YES is because Dish believes that YES is asking an unreasonable price to carry the channel. Dish wants to carry YES a la carte so that a price increase won't be forced on all customers (many of whom don't want the channel), but YES wants to be carried as a basic channel, which would give the channel more subscribers. That's why Dish refuses to carry YES.

I know it would be nice to be able to get rid of all the channels that you don't watch, but in reality, it wouldn't be fair to everyone for Dish to just remove channels whenever they want. WE and Lifetime are there for a reason because alot of women watch it. If Dish were to take those channels off, believe me, alot of people would be pissed. If I had a choice, I (and most men) would get rid of those channels too but it's just not gonna happen!


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## Steve Mehs (Mar 21, 2002)

Yeah, Lifetime, LMN, and WE do attract a lot of female viewers, but are a waste a space according to most males. Most of the movies are so corny and all have basically the same storyline. My mom watch alot of movies on Lifetime and LMN. Im just waiting for E* to add Lifetime Real Women and Oxygen, two more wastes of space, IMO. Anyhow, E* wont even think of dropping Life and WE, since it took 4 years to get contracts worked out with Rainbow on the IFC/WE split and Lifetime is partly owned by Disney and now according to Charlie E* and Disney are 'the best of friends'.


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## Guest (Apr 11, 2002)

Although I don't watch the LMN or Lifetime channels very much , I have watched several movies that I felt were good enough to watch and did enjoy them. 
I haven't watched the WE channel at all that I can remember. 
I am a male but don't base my viewing habits purely based on the fact that they call it the (womens channel).
Alot of the movies are corny, but then again I don't usually do alot of tv viewing on the IFC or the Sundance channel either.
I think some of them seem awfully low budget or not quite up to speed with the big boys, HBO, STARZ, CINEMAX, or SHOWTIME.
I am a YANKEE fan and have been one since I was 7 or 8 years old. I am 49 now. I feel the price is high for what they are asking. I would probably not even be able get the channel because I don't live in the DMA . or I'd be subject to blackout restrictions. There are alot of the channels that I have in the EVERYTHING pack that I don't watch hardly at all. There are alot of people that PROBABLY watch what I don't so OH WELL> to each his own. DIFFERENT STROKES FOR DIFFERENT FOLKS!
If YES got their way then I guess soon we'd all have a nice big fat increase for some other team that maybe you wouldn't get, or like, such as the UTAH JAZZ or the DENVER BRONCO'S .


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## Guest (Apr 11, 2002)

Ala carte to your hearts content.


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## Maniacal1 (Apr 9, 2002)

I read somewhere that some cable systems are thinking about putting the sports programming on a separate tier because of its rapidly rising cost compared to other programming.

If they do that, it's only fair to take Lifetime, WE, Oxygen, etc., and put them in a special Men Are Bad package so we don't have to pay for it.


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## Kevin (Mar 27, 2002)

LOL, wouldn't that be nice?


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