ATTENTION: LIFETIME HAS TAKEN YOUR CHANNELS AWAY!(From Dish Network)

Dish Network ^ | 1/1/05 | Charlie Ergen, CEO of DISH Network

[Revel]

ATTENTION: LIFETIME HAS TAKEN YOUR CHANNELS AWAY! You may have tuned in today to see the Lifetime Channel or the Lifetime Movie Network.

Unfortunately, DISH Network's contract with Lifetime Networks expired on December 31st and we no longer have the legal right to carry these channels.

I can assure you that at DISH Network we have made every effort to renew our agreement and continue to carry these channels.

However, Lifetime Networks have demanded a rate increase of over 70 percent which would result in unreasonable rate increases for you, our customers.

While we were surprised by Lifetime Network’s outrageous demand, the fact that we have had a good relationship with them for 10 years gives us hope that we can reach a fair agreement.

Until such time as we have a new contract with Lifetime Networks, I hope you will enjoy this free preview of The Women's Entertainment channel.

I am very sorry for any inconvenience.

We appreciate your support and encourage your feedback.

Thank you for being a DISH Network customer.

Sincerely, Charlie Ergen, CEO of DISH Network

Lifetime posted inaccurate information pertaining to Dish Network’s loss of the Lifetime Movie Network. Click here for the response from President and CEO, Charlie Ergen.

Tell us what you think by writing us at: ceoofdishnetwork@dishnetwork.com

[BigSkyFreeper]

And sometimes the men are the victims.

Rarely if ever. If a guy gets stalked by some crazed woman, the NAGS would hail that woman as a hero, and Lifetime would make a World Premiere Movie out of it, and it would be sponsored by L'Eggs pantyhose and Louisville Slugger baseball bats.

[bigsigh]

everyone knows we're on our way to a pay on demand or cafeteria (pick the channels you want) system. Let's get on with it.

[BigSkyFreeper]

everyone knows we're on our way to a pay on demand or cafeteria (pick the channels you want) system. Let's get on with it.

Would be nice, but in this day and age of media conglomeration, and cable ownership, that won't happen without some interference from Congress.

[bigsigh]

I would think DISH or Direct would show the way and provide it as an option. This would force the others to follow. On to play on demand.

[NRA2BFree]

Lifetime channels are back on tonight. Evidently they have resolved their dispute. :o)

[BigSkyFreeper]

I would think DISH or Direct would show the way and provide it as an option. This would force the others to follow. On to play on demand.

They can't do things their own way. Sure, I'd love for DISH to dump trash like MTV for example, but that would mean anything else owned and operated by Viacom would have to be dumped too. But DISH can dictate what it can dump from it's own system, if they feel they're getting screwed over by a service like Lifetime. The contract expired, and DISH can legally dump Lifetime off the dial, because Lifetime has no say in the matter since the contract expired.

I sure as hell wouldn't want to see a 76% increase in my bill, and I don't blame Charlie for dumping Lifetime off the dial.

Love him or hate him, at least Charlie is looking after his customers.

[BigSkyFreeper]

Lifetime channels are back on tonight. Evidently they have resolved their dispute. :o)

Really? I'll bet there will be a rate increase in a month or so. Charlie will make a big announcement on the 9th of this month.

[NRA2BFree]

Really? I'll bet there will be a rate increase in a month or so. Charlie will make a big announcement on the 9th of this month.

I checked and there's a movie playing now, but it's actually the Encore "Love Stories", movie channel that they are substituting in the place of Life Movie channels. When they first went off there was just a blank screen with the message about the dispute. I'm sure you're right about the rate increase.

[BigSkyFreeper]

Yeah, they're calling it an "Encore Love Free Preview" in place of LMN, and WE (Women's Entertainment) is replacing Lifetime for the time being until this contract dispute is settled.

The rate increase is a "sure thing". DISH Network has been increasing rates about this time of year for the last few years. I'm an annual subscriber, and I won't see an increase until my yearly billing cycle runs out in mid-July.

[Revel]

Listen if two channels raise there rate 76% that does not raise your bill 76%. Word is that DISH had a locked in rate for 10 years with no increases during that time. So I don't know how far things are behind. Also 76% is kind of a meaningless term when you don't know what you are starting with. For instance...If I raise the price of something from 1 cent to 2 cents then I have just increased the price by 100%. So there is not enough information to determine how much of an increase we have here. But in any case they are just 2 of over 100 channels and therefore there affect on Dish's total cost is small. Word on the forum is that DISH is going raise rates for next month. The last time DISH pulled this crap then they raised the rates too. So I am not so sure that this is not standard procedure for Dish to pull a stunt like this so that they can later put the lifetime channels back on and then raise rates- claiming that there costs have gone up. With all the commercials and "paid advertising" that we see...and the lack of new material to view...they have no business raising rates at all.

[trisham]

Lifetime is one of (if not the) worst channels out there. I hope my cable provider drops it.

[BigSkyFreeper]

Listen if two channels raise there rate 76% that does not raise your bill 76%.

DISH has bills to pay too, they aren't getting all these channels provided to them for nothing (aside from NASA and The Pentagon Channel which is funded by taxpayers). DISH is a customer just like everyone else, except they are the ones who strike deals with these content providers. If Lifetime is asking DISH to pony up 76% more, DISH network would have to turn to it's customer base to help "foot the bill". I realize us customers won't see a 76% increase in our bills, but there would be an increase no doubt. This is why Charlie is playing hardball like he usually does with content providers.

Also 76% is kind of a meaningless term when you don't know what you are starting with. For instance...If I raise the price of something from 1 cent to 2 cents then I have just increased the price by 100%.

This is not about going from 1 penny to 2 pennies. When you start talking millions of dollars, even a 1% increase would look substantial. When DISH is paying content providers like Lifetime upwards of hundreds of thousands or even 1 million dollars, Ergen would be losing money if he didn't pass on that cost to the consumer.

A channel like Lifetime isn't going to affect the churn for DISH network, but when you start talking about popular channels like ESPN for example, who tend to seek outrageous cost increases and Ergen pulls the plug on them, people will get outraged and some to the point they dump DISH for someone else.

Lifetime needs DISH's 11 million customers more than DISH needs Lifetime.

[Revel]

I already singed up for Direct TV. Dish can take a hike. It used to be that you saved money with Dish. I don't think that is true anymore. I think that over all I am getting a better deal with Direct. The whole notion that DISH is keeping your rates down is BUNK! The rates are going up a dollar in your next bill. That means that in 6 years your rates have gone up by 10 dollars. Judging from the fact that Direct used to be a lot higher and now is about the same- Then tells me that Dish has gone up more than Direct. Dish made a big mistake here, and they are going to pay for it dearly. Direct is getting bombarded with new customers. Life time gets money from everyone of those customers. Dish loses the whole nine yards. This is not a good time to buy stock in Dish.

[tellw]

Fans of The Golden Girls reruns are deeply saddened.

[buckeyesrule]

Sounds like a smart move by DISH. And I thought it was ESPN that made those cable rates super high.

[TheBattman]

My wife is also ticked about it.

What is really interesting is that neither side is telling the whole truth. While Dish Network claims that Lifetime demanded a 76% rate increase, Lifetime claims that EchoStar (parent of DishNetwork) was actually doing the demanding - for a 33% CUT in rates.

Lifetime further said that their request amounted to "a few pennies per month, per customer". OF course we also know that when the corporate world says "a few pennies", they often are actually meaning dollars.

And of course, the negotiations have gone pretty much in secret.

[TheBattman]

Your case is perfect fodder to start a class-action lawsuit. As much as I despise such action, sometimes you have no alternative.

False advertising, possibly even fraud - as no major switch in technology like the one you describe happens over night - rest assured that the decision was decided over months, and possibly years.

[Uriah_lost]

I am in full agreement on this....no loss!! All that's left is to burn all the romance novels (and maybe the authors). I am simply sick and tired of being the bad guy just because I AM a guy.

[buck61]

good! I want miss it.

[Revel]

"good! I want miss it."

Why? At least they can write a proper sentence on there.