Something had to give. In its efforts to keep up with rival DIRECTV, satcaster DISH Network yesterday added 22 new HD channels, which give it more HD channels than most cable companies and almost as many as DIRECTV. However, to make room for the new channels DISH is dropping the 15 VOOM HD channels it has carried for the last couple of years since it acquired the VOOM satellite. DISH has already dumped 10 of the 15 and plans to drop the other 5 as soon as it can.
Multichannel News has the full story.
In addition to needing the bandwidth for the more brand-name HD channels it launched yesterday such as Disney and ESPNEWS, DISH's decision was made easier by the fact that it is currently in the midst of litigation with VOOM over what DISH claims is a breach in the carriage agreement by VOOM.
With VOOM on the way out at DISH, VOOM's sister company Cablevision will be the only remaining distributor of VOOM HD programming.
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While cable and satellite program providers will continue to serve the great majority of homes as the primary signal source, missing HD local reception, compression issues, higher costs, billing add-ons, service outages, contact difficulties, in-home service waits and no shows have left many of these subscribers looking to OTA antennas as alternatives and backup.
Up-Graded To A New Digital Off-Air Antennas
Most TV consumers think of antennas as low-tech devices, but there is more behind some of the newer antenna designs than just bent metal and plastic. Many of the TV antenna designs on the market today such as the Yagi and rabbit ears have technology roots going back 30 to 50 years or more.
The switch to digital broadcasts however is bringing consumers back to Off-Air reception and the increasing sales are providing the motivation and investments necessary to develop new models and new technology. The fact that most designs on the market now were developed prior to the advent of much of the computer technology, software and algorithms in common use today has left open numerous avenues to improve upon tried and true designs and develop new ones. Additionally, recent regulations and standards are opening new doors for antenna engineers to develop smaller antennas with improved performance and aesthetics.
The correct antenna, installed and aimed properly will receive desired local stations, including multi-cast programming adding several additional local off-air programs and several in HD almost completely uncompressed, not available from cable or satellite.
Some viewers may even be able to receive out-of-town channels, carrying blacked out sports programs or network broadcasts not available in their home town. As an added benefit, an OTA Antenna provides reception for second sets in homes not wired for whole-house signal distribution.
DISH TV does provide good service, but I can't believe they have been foolish enough to drop MONSTERS Channel on their HD line-up. So many people are into sci-fi, horror, thriller, etc., and MONSTERS must have had a lot of fans. I am very disappointed in DISH for doing this blunder and I hope someone with DISH sees what a great chance they're passing up to get and keep a lot of happy viewers and fans of MONSTERS type TV. (Even if they feel they could make more profit somewhere else, many fans would be more than happy to pay an extra $5 or $10 a month for this channel. DISH could not lose and a lot of fans would gain/re-gain a great channel.)
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