Dish vs. Cox
Brian Batt writes:
I have been on Cox HD for about 4 months now & I have been very disappointed with the HD offering. I was told to expect a lot of HD additions from Cox, but there’s only been 1 (National Geographic) since I’ve been a customer. When I look at what satellite has to offer, I can’t help but get excited. It seems like Dish Network offers the most HD now & will in the future. I have heard that they expect 200 HD channels to be added within the next year.
So, do you think that Dish Network will offer me the best bang for my buck in HD? Or is there a reason I should hold out for Cox? Has there been any recent press releases concerning Cox’s HD offering?
Thanks,
Brian
200 channels? Dish? I think you’re getting your DBS providers confused. DirecTV is well on its way to adding at least 70, if not 100 national HD channels by the end of 2007, but I’ve never heard Dish claim to add double that amount.
Neither Dish nor Direct have added any substatial HD channel in quite a while. Direct is putting satellites in place to add capacity, but most of the channels they intend to add haven’t even started broadcasting in HD yet.
Whenever those channels do launch, Dish has some capacity they haven’t used yet (mostly at 118.7 on Anik-F3), but it will require a new satellite dish for everyone who wants to use it.
Cox will be limited in their capacity until they give everyone a digital STB, and drop the analog channels. Then, who knows, it might explode with HD.
Bottom line - if somebody out there has the channels you want in HD now, go for it.
DirecTV and Dish, to a lesser extent, is wasting all their bandwidth on local channels for every market. They’ll have hundreds of channels, but most of those will be channels that the average person can’t get because they are outside of their local market.
The cable channels are beginning to deploy STBs that have antenna inputs so people can get all the OTA channels. In theory, that will add some extra capacity to cable’s ability to add channels.
Right now, Dish is offering more channels than any other provider. There are lots of people who complain about the Voom channels, but that’s 15 channels no one else has at all. Personally, I’m not willing to pay more for HD so I only have 21 channels that I pay $22.49 a month for; to get more, my bill would balloon over $50. Cable would be slightly cheaper, but with substantially fewer channels.
I switched from Cox to Dish last October after having Cox HD for over 2 years, and have been very satisfied. My main reason for leaving: I DVR almost everything that I watch, and Cox did not have a solution for getting Fox (and later ABC) in HD through their DVR box. With Dish’s HD DVR, along with the dual satellite tuners, you get an OTA tuner, so you can actually record 3 different HD programs simultaneously while watching 2 others on two different TV’s. Also, over the last 2 weeks, the local Oklahoma City HD stations have been uplinked to Dish, so hopefully they will go live soon, which will add even more options for local HD on the DVR. The functionality of the DVR is also miles ahead of the Cox Scientific Atlanta box. All in all, it has been a great switch and I would recommend it to anyone.
wha? I cant record Fox in HD on my Cox DVR. This must be some problem with Fox in the OKC market.
I second what stevvot said. I too switched to dish around the same time he did, about the time Cox dropped ABC-DT from their lineup, after being a long-time Cox customer. I can honestly say I have no regrets and have been very pleased as a first-time sattelite customer. Dish’s dvr is indeed miles ahead of the Cox dvr, especially since I can pick up all the locals and they’re integrated into the guide along side all the other sattelite channels, and once our locals go live through Dish it will open up even more options, since you can currently only record one ota channel at a time. Feel free to ask any more questions you have about Dish. I’m not a Cox basher, as I still have them for phone and internet, I’m just much happier with what Dish has to offer as opposed to Cox.
I dropped DIRECTV for DISH for the same reasons; they were long on talk and short on delivery. Times may actually be changing; being an “early adopter” is not without its fruastrations. Dish has recently added some channels in the 9000s but they are SD and nothing to brag about. Since I get all the locals without any problems I too am cool about the local additions; but I see how many will like them since they are to so easily able to receive local HD. I have not heard DISH make claims of a lot of coming HD channels but I don’t think that they are going to allow DIRECTV to simply take the lead away from them. How many more channels can they provide right now? I heard of OUTDOOR HD and there is INHD and some premium movie channels they have not picked up. I think HD is the way of the future and wonder if in the end PAX will have to yield to public demand for HD.
Just my 2 cents worth.
I am also a Dish subscriber who came from Cox. Dish has the most HD channels right now. I love the Voom channels personally, although some of them are kind of silly (MonsterHD anyone?). Any way, most of the claims of Dish and DTV about hundreds of HD channels are the locals for various markets. I will never go back to Cable and the 3 people I have convinced to switch feel the same way. My neighbor has DTV and IMO, Dish beats it hands down. Don’t hesitate to jump to Dish and if you do, call All Digital - they advertise here and are just great.
It looks like Dish is adding Cinemax HD this Friday, so that’s one more HD channel to enjoy.
Yeah been with Dish now for about two years and it ROCKS! Will never go back to cable seems cable has fallen behind the times. Right now Dish is by far the HD leader their receivers are great. Dish seems to be more aggressive about getting more channels and staying in tune with what the customers want. Oh like someone said Dish will be adding Cinemax HD soon as well. Also word as it that Dish might be adding all 4 Oklahoma City locals in HD soon as well. Either way in my opinion Dish by far is the best TV Provider in the U.S.
Their 622 DVR I think is the best on the market before too long Dish is going to let you hook up a Extreanl Hard Drive through the USB Port. Which will increase your driver space of your DVR. I had several friends go from cable and Direct and they all tell me the same thing. That they wished they switched to Dish sooner. If anyone want’s HD Dish is the best choice out there right now they have more HD than anyone else.
Cant Beat The Dish just my 2 cents.
Thanks! Poke
From what I can glean from the National Cable Co-Op’s satellite chart, there are approximately 20 HD channels currently available, now broadcasting, not counting the VOOM channels (I’m sure I’ve missed a few but this is the best list I could find):
FoodHD, HGTVHD, National GeographicHD, InHD (now MojoHD) TNT, ESPN, ESPN2, A&E, Fox Sports, NFL, HDNet 1/2, MTV, HBO, Showtime, Movie Channel, UniversalHD, and WealthHD.
The following new channels have been announced already and will supposedly begin broadcasting this year:
History Channel, CNN, Weather Channel, Starz, SciFi, Lifetime Movie Network, and TBN.
There will surely be a few more next week during the National Cable Television Association convention in Las Vegas. As you can see, this is NOWHERE near 100 channels, maybe 30-40 tops, so what Dish and DirecTV are spouting is pure hype, including HD sports pay-per-view and local HD signals to pad the number.
looks like something to look forward to; especially the history channel and the others — weather channnel in HD???? Wow. Poor DIRECTV I remember they use to lower the res a bit for it.
I read that DirecTV is counting all of the NFL Sunday Ticket HD channels as part of the 100 channels in HD campaign. DirecTV and Dish have both been shaving the resolution of the picture for a while now.
I don’t think Cox is messing around with the compression very much but to me there just seems to be more upside with DirecTV will all the satellites going up.
To Dennis Whiteman:
DirecTV is most assuredly NOT wasting bandwidth by providing all the different local markets in HD. DirecTV’s HD local channel satellites broadcast in a band above the Ku band and their new HD national channel satellites will broadcast in a band below the Ku band, which means DirecTV has the space for HD locals, HD national and more SD local and national channels.
Don’t confuse the addition of transponders to handle channels with actually adding channels. DirecTV is boasting the capacity. There just aren’t enough channels to fill the capacity yet unless you consider the locals which have mostly the same Prime Time content across the country.
The key reason that cable hasn’t added many more HD channels is that most available bandwidth is taken. In the 750mHz plant that Cox offers in OKC, there are about 125 analog channels worth of bandwidth. FCC still mandates that 60 analog channels must be carried until the analog cutoff. That leaves 65 channel slots available for digital channels, VoD, telephone, and Internet. To have telephone over cable, you have to guarantee response time to certify for 911 and e911. That takes a hefty chunk. VoD is BIG in the OKC market and takes a big chunk of the remaining bandwidth. The rest gives you Internet and the digital channels including. You can have 1 HD (20mBit slightly compressed) for 4 SD (5mBit non compressed) digital channels. You can vary the ratio by compressing some where quality isn’t as important. Adding capacity without dropping channels is hard without substantial plant upgrades and Cox has done a good job balancing demand with capacity while staying true to FCC regulations. They actually put the bandwidth where it is needed most. We HDers may be frustrated with that but it’s the truth.
Fast forward 22 months and we cut off analog signals. WOW! 65 analog channels of bandwidth we can use! Now there is a different landscape and Cox can offer almost as many channels as Dish and DirecTV. This is especially true if we start using IPTV on the Cox network which WILL happen when the bandwidth is available. Hopfully we’ll have enough good HD channels to add by then.
Just to add a little more spice to my opinion, I also thought it was a waste of bandwidth to add most of the SD channels in the more than 200 markets in the US.
There are those who think that satellite can’t survive without local channels because people don’t want to put up antennas. In fact, I used to think that way, but the DTV transition has completely changed my mind.
With digital, there is no such thing as snow. You can have stellar HD along with one or two SD channels. In fact, I get a total of 24 channels which is 3 times what we got when I was growing up around Oklahoma City and before cable. I’m not saying all those channels are great, but the picture quality is better than at any time in my lifetime. The programming, well that’s another matter…
Now, if either DirecTV or Dish could sell me New York, Los Angeles or Dallas locals in addition to Oklahoma City or Tulsa, then I might be interested them having all the local channels. But as it stands, I’m not giving any provider a dime for what I get for free that’s advertiser supported.
That’s just my opinion. I’m sure others have theirs…
Oh, absolutely, Dennis. The time of local channels is almost over. The Internet has brought a globalization of media with crystal clear picture. TV networks and providers must adjust to this or go the way of the dinosaur. The good news is that most providers (satellite or cable) are doing outstanding jobs in providing new bandwidth to serve the content. Next job is to get good content which is the real challenge!
jv - I agree with almost all of your post, however, I don’t think Cox is going to cut off the analog distribution of ESPN, CNN, Fox News and local channels to customers. In fact, since so many people will still have 2nd, 3rd, or 4th televisions in the home and not all of them with a digital recever, I believe Cox will use a portion of their bandwidth to supply those channels to the customer.
I agree that Cox will have more bandwidth available for HD and we will start seeing more HD channels very soon - as those quality channels become available. I know the Cox rebuild to 1 Gig bandwidth will be complete soon and with that additional 250 Mhz of bandwidth that should open up room for over 150 channels of HD … and something the satellite guys can’t offer On Demand HD programming. Cox San Diego is testing that service now.
IMHO, the cable solution for HD, at least what I see from Cox, is a much better product for customers.
Interesting article from yesterday. Comcast at least is claiming picture superiority to Dish and DirecTV.
Cable Operator Launches National Ads Claiming Its HD Image Tops DirecTV’s, EchoStar’s
By Linda Haugsted — Multichannel News, 5/2/2007 4:12:00 PM
Comcast launched a broadside in the HD superiority wars against direct-broadcast satellite.
In a new series of national print and radio ads, Comcast cited the results of a side-to-side comparison from a polling the company commissioned by Frank N. Magid Associates indicating that Comcast delivers a better HD image than DirecTV or EchoStar Communications’ Dish Network. The polling was conducted in March, including 309 people in the survey, according to Comcast.
Participants were asked if they saw a difference in quality between HD pictures on unlabled sets carrying images from Comcast, DirecTV and Dish. According to the survey, among those who expressed a preference, 65.6% picked Comcast over DirecTV and 69.92% picked Comcast over Dish.
The ads will also counter DirecTV’s claims it has more HD channels available. One ad stated that on April 24 at 9:17 p.m., Philadelphia viewers could select from among 16 HD channels on DirecTV but had 200 choices on Comcast, including PBS and MyNetwork TV affiliates unavailable from the competition. The Comcast count included 180 on-demand selections.
This is just the latest salvo by an operator against claims by DBS companies that they will offer more channels and offer better signal quality than cable TV.
A federal false-advertising suit is pending in U.S. District Court in New York brought by Time Warner Cable against DirecTV. That operator was granted an injunction that bars DirecTV from airing a TV ad claiming that its HD quality is better than cable until the false-advertising claim can be adjudicated.
I am glad to see this site get back to some discussion on the intention (or lack of) the sat/cable casters providing more HD content. There for awhile I just thought it was going to continue to be a mouthpiece for certain local channels and their fight to get retransmission fees.
I am glad to see that sat has finally added locals. Maybe now some deal will be figured out between Sinclair, HA and Cox.
BTW. A little bird told me that Cox will be adding 6 new HD channels in June. If it is even half of that - I say hooray..
I would like to return to the question of CineMax HD for just a minute: On their own web site they are calling CineMaxHD east “on demand” CineMax. This is not what I was hoping for. The DISH on demand already available I cannot receive ~ I am assuming that I need some more dishes in the yard for that. If any are already getting this service do you have to use it as a pay for view or is it simply turned on full time like SHOWTIME HBO and STARZ? does anyone carry all the CineMax channels, I saw that there are several more of them that DISHTV is not carrying.
And is this new channel a sure thing? I read some where that the deal has not been signed.
According to my engineer contact, there will be some HD additions in the next 4 to 8 weeks. The test channels in the 800s are making certain the new plant can carry the signal. Comcast had issues in some markets going to 1000mHz plant so Cox is being very careful not to oversell just in case.
As to the analog, I have it on good authority that by the end of 2008, Cox will require a set top box no matter what. There will be no analog soon after cutoff date. Even if you are OTA with analog you’ll have to have a box on that date. Everyone but satellite will feel the pain.
Cox will NOT be making any agreements with Hearst/Argyle or Sinclair. They are working with Motorola and Scientific Atlanta to make cable boxes with OTA capability. These boxes may be available as soon as the end of this year. The broadcasters in question want 35 cents per subscriber regardless of whether they are HD or not. Cox has called it highway robbery and won’t subscribe. In the end, the users will be inconvenienced but we won’t be paying for a free signal. All Hearst/Arglye and Sinclair did was alienate a group of consumers based on money they might get and Cox is thumbing their collective noses at them.
one last note about Cinemax HD on DISH It is on and it is not “on demand.” DISH must have turned it on late morning because I had checked real early morning and did not find it.
hmmmm new HD channels for COX in oklahoma…
A&E HD (available in at least san diego,ca COX area right now)
CINEMAX HD (available in at least hampton roads,va COX area right now)
HDNET
HDNET MOVIES
this is what i would expect before any others…but who knows about HDNET and HDNET movies