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Lounge0101, your source of news and information on North American Digital Satellite TV and Satellite Radio.
Our free discussion forum is the most popular area of the website allowing you to discuss your favorite topics and get your questions answered quickly and easily. So pull up a chair, sit back and relax.
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Digital Satellite TV Articles
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Dish Network's new VIP222K now in stores
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Posted by : RiseStar , Lounge0101 Administrator
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 Echostar’s new VIP222K high definition receiver has been released just in time for Christmas and in time for the February 2009 cut-off of all analog over the air television signals.
The new receiver comes with an off-air digital tuner cartridge, allowing viewing of either digital local off air signals or Dish Network standard or high definition satellite broadcast signals on 2 separate televisions.
The new digital tuner is important because after February 2009, all over the air broadcasts will be in digital only and will require either a digital television, or a digital tuner in order to continue receiving them on older analog televisions.
Independently watch programming on two TVs – one HDTV and one SDTV
TV1 viewing location
• Connect to an HDTV to view SD and HD DISH Network
programming and HD over the air digital broadcasts¹
• Supports four output resolutions: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i
- SD content is upconverted for use with HD outputs
- HD content is downconverted for use with SD outputs
TV2 viewing location
• Connect to an SDTV to view SD and down-converted
HD programming
- RCA-type audio/video outputs and an Agile modulated
output to distribute programming to a remote TV location
• Output resolution is 480i
• Two satellite tuners allow you to select from two viewing options
• Single Mode: Picture-In-Picture (PIP) available on any TV
• Dual Mode: Independently view programming on two televisions
REAR PANEL CONNECTIONS
• 2 satellite tuner inputs
• Optional over-the-air module with 1 ATSC antenna input that provides 2 digital broadcast tuners and a channel 3/4 modulated output
• 1 telephone jack
• 1 USB 2.0 port (for future use)
• 1 Ethernet port (for future use)
• 3-prong power cord
TV1 A/V CONNECTIONS
• 1 HDMI digital audio/video output
• 1 set of Component (Y Pr Pb) HD video outputs
• 1 S-Video output
• 1 set RCA-type audio/video outputs
• Channel 3/4 modulated output
• 1 optical digital output for Dolby Digital and PCM
Digital audio
TV2 A/V CONNECTIONS
• 1 Agile modulated coaxial output to distribute programming to a remote TV location
• 1 set RCA-type audio/video outputs
REMOTE CONTROL
• 1 universal infrared 4-component learning remote control with two-way capability for “TV1” (main TV location).
• 1 universal infrared and UHF Pro 4-component learning remote control with two-way capability for “TV2” (second TV location).
• Multiple wizards, including system remote control, replacement remote control and replacement receiver.
• Remote-to-remote device code learning.
• Remote control stores receiver settings, including remote control address and device codes.
SPECIFICATIONS
• Size (approx.): 3.5” H x 16” W x 12.5” D
• Weight (approx.): 9 lbs.
• Color: Black
Over-The-Air-Module
• Optional over-the-air module with 1 ATSC
antenna input that provides 2 digital
broadcast tuners and a channel 3/4
modulated output
• In Dual Mode, view 1 live over-the-air
channel at the TV1 location and 1 live
over-the-air channel at the TV2 location
• Channel 3-4 modulated output for TV1 ...
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 Posted on Tue 16 Dec 2008, 9:24 PM
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Digital Satellite TV Articles
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Dish, ComCorp Engaged in Retransmission Dispute
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Posted by : RiseStar , Lounge0101 Administrator
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 Station Group Warns Satellite Provider May Stop Carrying Its Signals
By Linda Moss -- Multichannel News
After settling one retransmission-consent dispute, Dish Network is in another flap with a broadcaster over the issue of cash-for-carriage.
Stations owned by Communications Corp. of America are warning their viewers that Dish Network may stop carrying their signals. It’s unclear exactly how many stations are involved, but WGMB-TV in Baton Rouge, La., KADN-TV in Lafayette, La., KMSS-TV in Shreveport, La., KPEJ-TV in Odessa, Texas, KVEO-TV in Brownsville, Texas, KETK-TV in Jacksonsville-Tyler, Texas, and KTSM-TV in El Paso, Texas, have all posted warnings on their Web sites that Dish may drop them.
For example, WGMB said, “Dish Network has refused to consider our offer, which is similar in terms granted to other local stations. Keep in mind you currently pay Dish Network nearly $6 per month for local stations. We offered WGMB to Dish Network for close to a penny a day. If Dish Network fails to reach an agreement with our station, you could lose access to the station’s programming as part of the package you are paying Dish Network to provide.”
The site goes on to say, “Our station is requesting less than two cents per day from the $6 you already pay Dish Network. If they drop WGMB, you should request a refund from Dish Network, or consider cancelling Dish and subscribe to an alternative provider.”
The satellite provider just resolved a retransmission-consent dispute with another TV-station owner, Young Broadcasting. Dish Network dropped 10 Young stations last Thursday, but restored them on Sunday after both sides came to terms on a new retransmission-consent contract.
Dish Network officials couldn’t be reached for comment Tuesday. And ComCorp CEO Steve Pruett and the company’s retransmission-consent consultant, Duane Lammers, couldn’t be reached for comment. ...
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Posted on Tue 16 Dec 2008, 8:40 PM
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Digital Satellite TV Articles
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Liberty set to benefit from directv
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Posted by : RiseStar , Lounge0101 Administrator
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 By PETER LAURIA, New York Post
In a move designed to highlight the value of DirecTV, the board of John Malone's Liberty Media Corp. plans to move forward with a spin-off of the unit that houses most of its stake in the satellite-television operator.
Liberty's 52 percent stake in DirecTV is valued at more than $12 billion based on the unit's $24 billion market capitalization. But Liberty itself is only worth $6.7 billion.
According to Liberty CEO Greg Maffei, the spin-off, which had been in the works, "will reduce the discount from fair value" in the company's stock and give it a new currency to "pursue strategic objectives."
DirecTV has long been rumored to be a potential merger partner for AT&T, and now that the tie-up of satellite-radio operators Sirius and XM was approved by regulators, industry observers are whispering that rival EchoStar may make another run at merging with DirecTV.
EchoStar Corp. and DirecTV agreed to merger a few years ago, but regulators subsequently nixed the move.
Terms of the spin-off call for investors in Liberty Entertainment tracking stock to receive shares in a new subsidiary that will hold many of the same assets currently housed within that tracking stock. Among those assets are the 52 percent stake in DirecTV, a 50 percent stake in the Game Show Network, and three regional sports networks.
The new entity will also assume the $2 billion in debt Liberty incurred to acquire its DirecTV position.
Like all of Malone's deals, this one is intended to be tax-free to shareholders. ...
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Posted on Tue 16 Dec 2008, 8:35 PM
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Satellite Radio Articles
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SIRIUS XM Radio Brings ABBA Radio Channel Back for a Limited 9-Day Encore
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Posted by : RiseStar , Lounge0101 Administrator
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 Last update: 2:30 p.m. EST Dec. 11, 2008
NEW YORK, Dec 11, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/
ABBA Radio will be available to XM subscribers for the first time
ABBA Radio will broadcast the ABBA song catalog, a new interview with Benny Andersson of ABBA plus celebrity guest deejays playing their favorite music by ABBA
SIRIUS XM Radio is bringing back ABBA Radio, the exclusive 100% commercial-free music channel dedicated to international pop supergroup ABBA. The limited-run channel will return to SIRIUS channel 3 and will be broadcast for the first time on XM channel 31 starting Friday, December 12 at 6 pm through Saturday, December 20 at 11:59 pm ET.
The ABBA Radio channel will broadcast ABBA music 24/7 and features all the hits originally performed by the group. The channel also broadcasts tracks from the soundtrack of MAMMA MIA! The Movie featuring two-time Academy Award(R)-winning actress Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth singing ABBA songs. In addition, SIRIUS XM listeners will also hear original cast recordings of the international hit stage musical phenomenon, MAMMA MIA!
For the channel re-launch, Benny Andersson of ABBA sat down for a new, never-before-heard interview with ABBA expert and music journalist Fred Bronson. SIRIUS XM listeners and ABBA fans will hear Andersson describe the headline-making moment when the four members of ABBA made their appearance at the premiere of MAMMA MIA! The Movie in Stockholm. Andersson will also discuss his cameo in the movie with Bjorn Ulvaeus as well as his opinion on Meryl Streep's singing performance.
In addition to broadcasting the original music of ABBA and the new interview with Benny Andersson, SIRIUS XM will air an encore broadcast of interviews with Andersson and his fellow ABBA member, Bjorn Ulvaeus. The two legendary songwriters will offer their unique insights into the many pop classics they wrote and ABBA's enduring legacy in music today.
ABBA Radio also features celebrity fans sharing their favorite ABBA music and personal stories, including stars from MAMMA MIA! The Movie Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Christine Baranski and Amanda Seyfried. SIRIUS XM listeners will also hear featured guest deejay sessions with Martha Stewart, singer Dionne Warwick, New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, Neil Sedaka, songwriter Desmond Child, Randy Jones of The Village People and many others.
MAMMA MIA! The Movie is the global phenomenon based on the songs of ABBA and the Broadway show. The film features timeless favorites such as "Dancing Queen," "I Have a Dream," "Voulez-Vous" and "Take a Chance on Me" woven into a tale of love, laughter and friendship. MAMMA MIA! The Movie will be released on DVD on Tuesday, December 16, 2008.
ABBA Radio continues SIRIUS XM Radios' tradition of creating exclusive limited run artist-branded channels dedicated to iconic musicians. In addition to the current broadcast of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Radio, Led Zeppelin Radio and AC/DC Radio, SIRIUS XM has previously offered limited run channels such as Mandatory Metallica, Rolling Stones Radio, The Spectrum of John Mellencamp, The Who Channel, Radio R.E.M., Coldplay Nation, Neil Diamond Radio, Jay-Z Nation, Michael Jackson's XM Thriller, George Strait's Strait Country, Garth Brooks Radio, Kenny Chesney's No Shoes Radio and Duran Duran's Red Carpet Radio among many others.
For more information, please visit www.sirius.com/abbaradio and www.xmradio.com.
About SIRIUS XM Radio
SIRIUS XM Radio is America's satellite radio company delivering everything worth listening to, including 69 commercial-free music channels, premier sports, news, talk, entertainment, traffic and weather, to more than 18.9 million subscribers.
SIRIUS XM Radio has content relationships with an array of personalities and artists, including Howard Stern, Martha Stewart, Oprah Winfrey, Jimmy Buffett, Jamie Foxx, Barbara Walters, Opie & Anthony, The Grateful Dead, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tom Petty, and Bob Edwards. SIRIUS XM Radio is the leader in sports programming as the Official Satellite Radio Partner of the NFL, Major League Baseball, NASCAR, NBA, NHL, and PGA TOUR, and broadcasts major college sports.
SIRIUS XM Radio has arrangements with every major automaker. SIRIUS XM Radio products are available at shop.sirius.com and shop.xmradio.com, and at retail locations nationwide, including Best Buy, RadioShack, Target, Sam's Club, and Wal-Mart.
SIRIUS XM Radio also offers SIRIUS Backseat TV, the first ever live in-vehicle rear seat entertainment featuring Nickelodeon, Disney Channel and Cartoon Network; XM NavTraffic(R) service for GPS navigation systems delivers real-time traffic information, including accidents and road construction, for more than 80 North American markets. ...
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Posted on Sun 14 Dec 2008, 1:06 AM
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Digital Satellite TV Articles
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TV viewers in S.D. at risk of losing channels
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Posted by : RiseStar , Lounge0101 Administrator
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 Seth Tupper The Daily Republic
Published Friday, December 12, 2008
A national trend of disputes pitting broadcasters against cable and satellite television providers has spread to eastern South Dakota, putting upwards of 15,000 viewers at risk of losing channels or suffering a rate increase.
KSFY, the Sioux Falls ABC affiliate that serves the eastern part of the state, is in a dispute with four cable television providers. KSFY has historically given its signal to the cable providers for free — as have other broadcasters — but KSFY and its Texas-based parent company, Hoak Media, now want to charge for it.
Negotiations on a price for what’s known as a “retransmission” agreement have failed so far. If new agreements or extensions to the existing free agreements are not reached by Dec. 31, KSFY and its popular ABC programs, such as “Desperate Housewives” and “Dancing with the Stars,” could be dropped from the cable lineups of Garretson-based Alliance Communications, Clear Lake-based Interstate Telecommunications Cooperative (ITC), Highmore-based Venture Communications Cooperative and Woonsocket-based Santel Communications. Alternatively, if a deal is reached on a price, the cable companies are likely to pass the added cost on to their customers.
The four cable companies serve a combined 15,349 subscribers, according to the American Cable Association in Pittsburgh, which represents all four. That number includes more than 1,000 subscribers to Mitchell Telecom, a Mitchell-based subsidiary of Santel Communications.
Matt Polka, president and CEO of the American Cable Association, said the small South Dakota cable companies are being “pushed around” by KSFY owner Hoak Media, a “big media company” that owns 24 television stations in seven states.
“KSFY does not care about your local consumers,” Polka said Thursday. “All KSFY wants is paid, because they’re losing money. If they could make it up out of the pockets of your local citizens, Hoak Media would do that in a second and not care one bit.”
Dennis Wharton, executive vice president of the National Association of Broadcasters in Washington, D.C., disagreed with that assessment.
“Broadcasters provide the highest-quality, highest-rated programming, and it’s not outside the realm of reasonableness for us to seek modest compensation for that programming,” Wharton said.
A similar dispute is unfolding between the Sioux Falls CBS affiliate KELO and DISH Network. That dispute remained unresolved Thursday evening, and KELO said it would soon be dropped from the satellite provider’s channel lineup.
A nationwide issue
Kelly Manning, general manager of KSFY, said the station is merely trying to extract a value from its valuable programming.
“This is just a new way of doing business with our cable operators,” Manning said. “As different as it might seem for them, these negotiations are going on all around the country in a similar fashion.”
Similar disputes are indeed playing out across the country, according to Polka. He said the cause is a 16-year-old federal law that grants exclusivity to TV networks like KSFY and prevents cable operators like Mitchell Telecom from shopping around in other markets. Mitchell Telecom cannot, for example, drop KSFY and instead pick up a lower-cost ABC affiliate from a nearby market such as Sioux City, Polka said.
The effect of the federal law, according to Polka, is that stations like KSFY can use their exclusivity as leverage. Cable operators such as Mitchell Telecom have no other way of acquiring ABC programming for their cable system and are effectively forced into paying the price that the TV stations demand.
Even though the existing federal law is 16 years old, many television stations did not seek to capitalize on their leverage until recently, Polka said. That’s because the state of the broadcasting business has recently deteriorated and is, as he described it, “as bad as it has ever been.”
Evidence of financial difficulties at KSFY surfaced earlier this week when it was reported that the station laid off four employees, including on-air personalities. Manning confirmed the layoffs Thursday but said they were unrelated to the negotiations with the cable providers.
“That was a separate discussion than what’s going on here,” Manning said. “That was probably based more on what we’re seeing forecast for 2009, and that next year may be a difficult year. What we’re trying to do is put our resources in the right areas so we can serve the viewer.”
Polka said the layoffs are further evidence that the price KSFY wants from the cable companies is an “outrageous cash demand” and an attempt to leverage its exclusivity. He said the American Cable Association is advocating new legislation that would address the organization’s concerns about the federal law, but there is little support for the effort.
The National Association of Broadcasters opposes the American Cable Association’s views on exclusivity. Wharton, of the NAB, said exclusivity provides important benefits for television viewers.
“If there is a weather emergency in Mitchell or Sioux Falls, you want viewers to have access to programming in that area,” Wharton said. “If there’s a tornado coming through there, you don’t want to have programming being imported from North Dakota.”
Setting a price
Wharton said there have been thousands of negotiations similar to the ones involving KSFY and the cable operators, and he could “count on both hands the number of times there has actually been a disruption in service.” He predicted “a lot of back and forth” between KSFY and the cable companies and perhaps even an extension of current agreements, but he said it’s very likely a deal will get done.
Both KSFY and Mitchell Telecom revealed the amount that KSFY is seeking, but each slanted it to their own benefit. Mitchell Telecom described the proposed price as 90 cents per subscriber per month, while KSFY used the mathematically equal but less-expensive-sounding 3 cents per subscriber per day.
Polka said 90 cents might not sound like much, but it could encourage other stations to make similar demands. If all four network affiliates in Sioux Falls demanded $1 per subscriber per month from cable providers, cable bills could immediately rise by $4, Polka said. Industry wide, he added, such price increases could result in “billions of dollars” coming out of consumers’ pockets and going into the pockets of television executives.
Furthermore, Polka said, the proposed 90-cent price far exceeds other deals that have been struck around the country for 5 or 10 cents per subscriber per month.
“Some stations understand that, look, it is to their benefit to be carried, and they need to be reasonable in their negotiations,” Polka said. “But there are situations like this with KSFY all across the country right now.”
Scott Peper, subsidiary manager of Mitchell Telecom, said KSFY’s proposed 90-cent rate is more than the combined amount that Mitchell Telecom has agreed in principle to pay all of its other network affiliates.
“The hardest pill for us to swallow is the amount they’re asking for,” Peper said Thursday. “We understand things change, but let’s just be realistic in what we’re asking for.”
Ryan Thompson, general manager of Woonsocket-based Santel Communications, made similar statements in a news release.
“We’re not opposed to paying a fair price,” he said. “We recognize KSFY has costs involved in the digital transition, but its demands are beyond reasonable, especially for South Dakota. They’re the highest in South Dakota and even higher than some national cable stations. Ultimately, those costs get passed on to cable customers.”
Manning said KSFY wants to reach an agreement with the cable providers.
“We want nothing more than to be carried on Santel and Mitchell Telecom,” Manning said, referring to the situation in Mitchell specifically. “It’s important to us and our viewers, and we want to work toward something.”
KELO vs. DISH
KSFY is not the only Sioux Falls station involved in a dispute over payments for its signal. KELO-TV, the CBS affiliate in Sioux Falls, announced on the air Wednesday night that it would disappear from DISH Network’s lineup at midnight because no “carriage agreement” had been reached.
Thursday, KELO said on its Web site that it had extended its deadline for a deal with DISH Network to 6 p.m., but on its 6 p.m. newscast KELO said negotiations had once again failed. KELO said it was asking DISH Network for “less than a penny per day per subscriber.”
DISH Network did not respond immediately to The Daily Republic’s request for an interview Thursday.
Both KELO and KSFY have taken the negotiations public with announcements on their Web sites. Earlier this month, KSFY began a scroll at the bottom of its screen informing viewers of the situation with the four cable providers and advising affected viewers to, in effect, drop their cable subscription and instead subscribe to Dish Network or Direct TV.
Peper, of Mitchell Telecom, said he viewed KSFY’s scroll as an escalation of the dispute into a public-relations battle.
“It’s beginning to shape up in that fashion,” he said. “Obviously, the first stone thrown is when they started running scrolls.”
Without an agreement, Peper warned, ABC television coverage could end abruptly on New Year’s Eve for the affected subscribers.
“You might see the ball drop,” he said. “Or you might just see ‘10, 9, 8, 7, 6 …’ ” ...
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Posted on Sun 14 Dec 2008, 12:57 AM
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Digital Satellite TV Articles
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DirecTV Expands Local HD, PBS Programming in Talahassee
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Posted by : RiseStar , Lounge0101 Administrator
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 DirecTV is now offering local HD programming to customers in the Tallahassee, FL, designated market area. The company now offers local HD broadcast channels in 116 cities, representing more than 87 percent of U.S. TV households.
In other DirecTV news, the company has launched a second wave of local public TV stations in HD, adding 10 more markets. DirecTV launched 14 markets last week and plans to roll out additional markets through the end of the year and in 2009. Local PBS stations in HD were launched today in the following markets: Burlington, Vt.-Plattsburgh, NY; Toledo and Youngstown, OH; Flint-Saginaw-Bay City, MI; Indianapolis; Knoxville, TN; San Diego and San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA; Springfield-Holyoke, MA; and Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL.
Under an agreement reached late last year by DirecTV, the Association of Public Television Stations and PBS, DirecTV will offer HD programming from local public TV stations in markets where it now provides local HD. ...
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Posted on Sun 14 Dec 2008, 12:39 AM
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Digital Satellite TV Articles
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TiVo and DirecTV in marriage counseling, developing new TiVo HD DVR box
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Posted by : RiseStar , Lounge0101 Administrator
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 TiVo has announced that they have extended their service agreement with DirecTV, a new 5 year deal, which now includes the development, marketing and distribution of a new high definition DVR featuring the popular TiVo service. This looks to be the beginning to an end of a strained relationship between the two. In 2005, shortly after NDS took the reins at DirecTV, it was announced that DirecTV would be switching to in-house NDS designed DVR’s, for new installations. The new boxes paled in comparison to the older DirecTV-TiVo systems and were not overly popular as the interface was cold and uninviting compared to the friendly TiVo interface.
In 2006, DirecTV and TiVo extended their service agreement for an additional 3 years, allowing them to extend their service to existing customers, however neither they nor DirecTV were marketing to new customers.
Now that NDS is no longer calling the shots at DirecTV, it makes sense for them to revisit the TiVo platform again and get them back on board. Welcome news for TiVo and DirecTV customers. Many of DirecTV’s 16 million customers still have a DirecTV-TiVo DVR, however the numbers have been decreasing due to the in availability of new equipment.
TiVo has announced that their new HD DirecTV-TiVo receiver should be available sometime in the second quarter of 2009. It is expected to support high speed internet access as well as supporting all of TiVo’s latest features.
For the meantime, DirecTV will continue to offer its own in-house equipment for new and existing customers.
TiVo DVR’s have recently begun to become available to some select cablevision providers as well, such as select cities using Comcast and Cox. With cable-satellite competition being the way it is, it is definitely a win-win situation for customers, TiVo and DirecTV, especially in light of the recent TiVo vs. Echostar legal skirmishes which provide added incentives to get on board the TiVo train or risk big DVR royalty payouts for use of competing DVR systems that may infringe on TiVo’s patents. ...
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Posted on Sun 14 Sep 2008, 7:02 PM
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Archive
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08/04/2008 11:20 AM
In order to give the website a better focus, we are phasing out the less popular areas of the site, including the high definition and digital video recorder areas and forums. This will leave the site focused on digital satellite television and satellite radio.
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