DISH Network Information And Offers

So I’m watching something on my DISH Network ViP622 DVR a couple of nights ago and the picture suddenly disappears. Think “fade to black,” but without the fade part. I noticed that the yellow light on the front of the unit had gone out and the green one remained on.

A few seconds later the green light also went out. I walked over to the unit and could hear it making the usual sounds it makes as it is being restarted. It attempted to restart itself three or four times until it finally seemed to stabilize and was OK for the rest of the evening. Thinking that there may have been some kind of urgent software update or something, or perhaps a technical glitch somewhere, I didn’t think too much more about it. Until last night.

Same story last night. This time I dialed up DISH Network right off the bat and got someone on the phone who tried to help me out. Problem was that the DVR just wouldn’t stay up long enough to do anything with. Just as she was walking me through some of the settings to check, it restarted itself again.

At that point, she decided it would be best to send me a new unit. She said they would ship it out ASAP and we can return the original DVR in the same box with a pre-paid label provided.

I had a pretty good hunch that the thing was on its way out, and I appreciated the fact that the support representative on the other end of the line did not treat me like a dope and have me trying all kinds of pointless tricks to make the thing work. The only thing we tried was unplugging the DVR from the power-surge protected power strip and directly into the wall. I was not surprised that it did not help.

After I hung up with DISH Network, the DVR managed to struggle back to its feet and seemed to be Ok for the time being. It restarted one more time a short time later but came right back up and seemed to work OK for the rest of the evening.

While I’m waiting for the new one to show up, I will go through my scheduled timers and make a note of all the programs I have set up to be recorded. I’d love to get the 8 recorded episodes of Planet Earth off of there and onto the new DVR when I get it, but I am not sure that’s possible and have not researched it yet. Heck, I can probably catch repeats of them some day. Could never bring myself to delete them.

Anyway, I was kind of hoping for a new model, but from what I can see when I log into my DISH Network account online, it looks like they will be sending me another 622. I was not even aware that they made them any longer.

I’ve had the unit about three years but it does get some pretty continuous use. I watch recorded programs on it just about every night and my wife records her share of programs as well. This is the first time we’ve had any serious issues with it.

Oh well, we’ll see what happens, and hope I can get through the next few days without too many restarts or a total failure.

One of the most recognizable games in video game history will be accessible on DISH Network. Oberon Media has teamed up with DISH to bring Tetris TV to subscribers.

I’m not much of a gamer myself, but I certainly recognize the name Tetris. I cannot swear to it, but I think I may have even played the game a few times a number of years ago.

Tetris is described as one of the most addictive video games in history and will probably result in a number of DISH Network subscribers being glued to their televisions playing the venerable video game favorite.

The availability of Tetris TV will allow DISH Network subscribers to play two versions of the game. The first being Marathon and the second one known as 40-Lines.

Marathon features 15 challenging levels of game play, and 40-Lines is a mad race to clear 40 lines as quickly as possible.

Coming with future releases of Tetris TV, subscribers will also be able to go head-to-head with other DISH Network subscribers by posting their names and scores up on national leader boards that will be managed by Oberon Media’s iTV community and service management technology, JIVE(R).

Oberon Media’s JIVE technology will allow for the management of Tetris tournaments in future releases. Tetris TV will take advantage of this technology by offering prizes to top players later in the year.

A new addition to DishLATINO packages is aimed at viewers who enjoy programming from Central America. Centroamerica TV features programming that includes original programming as well as top-rated soccer games from Central America.

A special feature of this new addition is the airing of Centroamerica TV’s La Liga (Spanish soccer league) game of the week, which airs every Sunday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Centroamerica TV is available in the U.S. only via satellite and can be found on DISH Network Ch. 832. The new channel comes at no extra charge to subscribers of DishLATINO Clasico and above programming packages. The channel will  provide Central Americans living in the United States with a solid connection to their home countries using informative and entertaining programming that includes "Viva la Manana" from Guatemala, "Hola El Salvador," "Noticias 12" from Nicaragua and "Telenoticias" from Costa Rica.

The channel will also air live soccer games each week and sports highlights programs like "El Pizarron Deportivo" from El Salvador, "Resumen Deportivo" from Costa Rica and "Gol a Gol," a thorough recap of the week’s highlights from La Liga.

"DISH Network is the leader in Spanish-language programming because we continue to bring new and exciting programming like Centroamerica TV to the wide variety of Latino communities in the U.S.," said Dave Shull, senior vice president of Programming for DISH Network. "We are very pleased that the millions of Central Americans who live in the U.S. now have access to Centroamerica TV at a value unmatched by any other pay-TV provider in the country."

"We continue with our commitment to serve the Central American community in the U.S., and we are thrilled Centroamerica TV is now available through DISH Network’s DishLATINO suite of packages," said Antonio Briceno, general manager for Centroamerica TV and vice president of Distribution and Channels for Imagina U.S. "This reaffirms our standing as the leading channel for Central Americans living in this country."

In an ever-expanding effort to stuff their coffers with more taxpayer money, the state of Massachusetts approved a new “satellite tax” last summer. As a refugee who was born and raised in Massachusetts, I am very familiar with the state government’s appetite for taxpayer dollars.

It appears that the top satellite TV providers are not about to take this move lying down. In a rare spirit of cooperation, DISH Network and DirecTV have joined to file suit against Massachusetts, calling the new 5% tax “discriminatory.”

The state does impose a tax on cable TV companies and probably other utilities as well, since their lines have to be routed along streets and roads that are considered public property. The satellite companies believe ” and I agree ” that since they are not making use of public property, there are no grounds for the state to impose such a tax.

If the state of Massachusetts is going to start taxing the electromagnetic spectrum, they better figure out a way to start taxing people who watch or listen to any broadcast that is not carried by wires. Perhaps that can add a little bit onto their “excise tax” that all owners of motor vehicles have to pay (at least when I lived there) if the vehicle in question is equipped with a radio!

Apparently, greedy politicians in Florida, Ohio and Tennessee have imposed similar taxes on their residents. Legal action against those states is pending.

Hopefully, the courts will see the flawed logic behind these taxes and abolish them.

I suppose this is what we should expect from politicians when the economy tanks. People are losing their jobs and their homes and they decide to raise taxes. That will be a big help for a lot of struggling families, I’m sure.

A Florida Federal Court walloped a DISH Network pirate with a $51 million judgment after he was found to be posting software on the internet that allowed people with Free-to-air (FTA) satellite systems to receive programming from DISH Network without paying for it.

Satellite companies like DISH go to great lengths to protect their signals with various types of encryption, but when someone figures out how to crack the code and receive programming for free, they sometimes share it with others who also end up risking prosecution if they are caught pirating a subscription channel.

The court held that the posting of pirating software code is a violation of the Federal Communications Act, and that statutory damages should be arrived at based on how many persons downloaded the pirating software. Considering the $51 million number, one heck of a lot of people must have downloaded that code!

These matters are taken very seriously and as one pirate who was foolish enough to advertise his illegal wares found out, $51 million is a pretty big number. Can’t imagine how the average Joe could pay that, but I sure wouldn’t want to have to figure out how!

DISH Network has formed a new partnership with NeuLion, Inc. a company that offers IPTV service that features live and on-demand international sports and other programming that is access via high-speed internet.

The new agreement will allow NeuLion to distribute some DISH Network international channels over their IPTV service. More and more people are getting TV entertainment on the internet these days and companies and networks are moving to satisfy the demand.

DISH Network offers the most international programming in the business with more than 180 international channels in more than 28 different languages.

Although “satellite TV on your PC” has been a common theme used by scammers selling various lists of web sites that carry TV programming, this partnership looks to make “satellite TV on your PC” a reality – at least some of the programming anyway.

The lines appear to be blurring more and more between television entertainment and the internet. With TV networks making some of their most popular programs available to watch online and new developments like the one between DISH and NeuLion, it appears that we can expect to see more partnerships like this in the future.

Personally, I’m most happy in my recliner in front of my 51-inch HDTV when I want to watch some television, but I have actually caught some of my favorite programs online after missing them on my DVR due to some error on my part, and it’s really quite handy in those circumstances.

DISH Network has announced that Jus One, a religious channel that originates in India, is now available to subscribers. DISH is the first distributor to bring the channel to television viewers here in the U.S.

Jus One is now showing on channel 581, and carries religious programming, which encompasses a variety of religions that are prominent in  India. Programming is offered for  Hindus, Indian-Christians, Sikhs, Jains, and Buddhists.

Included are programs that include daily religious hymns, discourses, prayers, educational features, yoga and live call-in programs.

Jus One is available to DISH Network subscribers for $19.99 per month as part of the Punjabi Pack, which consists of five Punjabi channels. Subscribers can also opt to receive the new channel for $9.99 per month if ordered separately.

Yeah, well what the heck does that mean? That was the thought that went through my mind when I saw that headline. Turns out that this is some really great news!

This promises to put an end to one of the most annoying experiences I’ve ever experienced while watching television. Those ridiculous changes in volume when a commercial comes on, or when you switch from one channel to another.

In my experience, the problem is with commercials the vast majority of the time. I always wondered if it was intentional, and wished that someone could do something about it. Well, it looks like DISH Network has stepped up to the plate and it set to put an end to the problem once and for all!

I have not seen the details of exactly which receivers and DVRs will be able to utilize this new feature, so it’s hard to say how many subscribers will have access to it. I’m hoping my ViP622 will be eligible, as it sounds like this will be rolled out as part of a software upgrade which DISH periodically sends out to receivers and DVRs to introduce new features and make corrections to various problems. Subscribers with older receivers may not see the benefit of this new feature, but again, I’m not sure of the details.

Anyway, the folks at SRS have developed this new technology called TruVolume which can equalize the volume level on your TV no matter what channel you switch to, or which annoying commercial comes on.

DISH Network is the only pay-TV service set to offer this new feature, which the company says will be rolled out to subscriber DVRs and receivers sometime early this year. Not surprisingly, a survey revealed that nine out of ten TV viewers noticed volume changes while watching TV, and 89% of them found volume fluctuations annoying. Frankly, I’m surprised that the number was not 100 percent! How the heck could someone not find that annoying?

Personally, I’m quite fed up with grabbing for the remote when the volume shoots up on its own when a commercial comes on, and my wife is yelling at me and saying “It’s too loud!” I surely don’t like it, but my wife is even less tolerant of it than I am.

This announcement, coupled with the announcement yesterday regarding “TV Everywhere” places DISH firmly at the top of the pay-TV service providers where technology is concerned. Sure, DISH might have some work to do in the customer service area, but if they can bring that up to match their technology, they will be the pay-TV provider to beat.

I guess this is why DISH Network has reversed the trend they were enduring as they lost customers to other providers, and they are now gaining customers once again. This one feature alone might be enough to convince me to try DISH if I were not already a customer!

A new announcement from DISH Network reveals some cool new features that allow subscribers to watch TV just about everywhere they go. And when I say “watch TV",” I mean watch DISH Network TV.

TV Everywhere is what they are calling it, and it makes getting your TV entertainment easier and more accessible than ever before. Among the features are:

- Access to live and recorded programming on a laptop, mobile device, or anywhere in the home – without wires.

- The DISH Network WiFi Monitor. A new device that is capable of transmitting a high-definition video signal from a set-top box to any place in the home over a WiFi network.

- The DISH Remote Access App, which offers satellite TV customers total control of their television from just about anywhere. It is now available free for both the iPhone and iPod touch.

I don’t have access to all these features with the equipment I currently have, but I have used the internet to access my ViP622 DVR from other locations via the internet and it is a very nice feature.

I once used an iPhone to access my DVR while traveling home from a visit to my relatives, and was able to record a program that I had forgotten to set the timer for earlier in the day. Doing that while traveling down the road in a car (I was not driving) was pretty cool.

I also tested using the iPhone as a remote control, which does in fact work with my DVR, but since I am the type that rarely loses or misplaces things, it probably won’t be all that useful to me unless my remote control is broken. Although I don’t often lose things, I am actually pretty good at breaking stuff, so you never know!

Epix, a joint venture movie channel owned by three Hollywood studios is reportedly talking with DISH Network about getting their fledgling channel into the sat caster’s programming line-up.

Currently, Epix, which was launched at the end of October, is being offered only on Verizon’s FiOS service, which means it’s potential audience is currently stalled at about 2 and a half million viewers.

Talks appear to be going well and may result in a deal that could close within weeks. When DISH subscribers could expect to see the channel is still not certain if a deal is reached.

Epix, which is a result of a partnership between Paramount Pictures, Lions Gate Entertainment Corp and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, is also working to interest other carriers in their new channel. Time-Warner Cable is rumored to be close to a deal with Epix, but cable giant Comcast has not expressed any interest. Perhaps they have bigger fish to fry with their plans to grab a big piece of NBC.

The creation of Epix seems to have been prompted by Showtime’s saber-rattling last year when it said it would like to cut back on the fees they are paying to movie studios to show their films. Apparently, the three big studios figure they can go it on their own and let Showtime find out how things go if a good portion of their library of content goes under lock and key.