The case of the missing tv channels, somone call Columbo,

[mesue]

wait he is on one of those missing channels. Tonight while watching All in the family a message began running across the screen something like, Attention echostar customers dish network customers will and then a black line ran across the screen covering the message, and then at 3 am some of the stations we normally get got turned off MTV, VH1, Nick, comedy channel I think, something to do with Viacom owning them and wanting more money I think, its so confusing at this hour of the morning.

[fatesfaery]

I've been seeing this message on MTV. Basically, Dish network is threatening to remove a bunch of channels (MTV,VH1,BET,Comedy Central,Nick at Nite,TVLand,and a few others) their line-up. There was a toll-free number to complain.

Dish wants you to complain to Viacom
For MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon and other cable networks
Call 212-258-8000.
For Viacom Corporate
Call 212-258-6000.

For CBS Corporate
Call 212-975-4321 or email them at audsvcs@cbs.com

Viacom channels want you to call dish at 1-800-DISH (3474) to complain

here's a couple of links for both sides
http://www.mtv.com/want_channels/index.jhtml
http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/programming/updates/index.shtml

[cch]

They're not threatening anymore! At 3:30am I woke up to some crappy music and a message saying call and complain to Viacom. There was an 800 number on mine though 888-200-0451 and after my kids are awake and see there is no NickGas DishNetwork will be receiving a very unpleasant call from me!

[AngelGrim]

Yep been seeing this on my satellite daily, I have directv and they have been hoping that the dish members would get the message somehow to call in and complain and demand to keep the channels you pay for.

[zitra]

i have cable and have been seeing this as well. we dumped dish sometime ago. But i would be very mad if they dumped those channels when i had dish. I would get rid of dish alotogether (if I hadn't already)..

[Mommyt6]

What really BUGS me is that I have no chioce. It is dish or nothing where I live. Well I will give them one week....then I am calling DirecTV.

[AngelGrim]

If you go with directv, make sure you watch the installation, ours was not installed correctly and had a repair man here twice, and the last time, the man that was here was so upset about how it was installed, he ran all new lines,resat the satellite and got a very good signal. The other guy used nails instead of screws to attach it and it was moving all over in the wind, and he never secured the lines down the side of the house and they were blowing all over in the wind also and the lines were all lose. Other then that I love directv. We got the 2 room package, you might be able to get the 3 room now.


Edited to add, here is the offer online:

http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/ProspectOffer.do

[Jaxx]

Thank God For Cable :) ;)

[Dizzyontheweb]

Comcast is also running the msg along the bottom of the screen. I was worried that i was going to lose my channels till dd pointed out it was to the dish people.

[cch]

http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/programming/updates/index.shtml

DISH Network sincerely regrets that all MTV, BET, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and VH1 programming is currently unavailable. Viacom owned CBS stations are also unavailable at this time.

These channels and CBS stations, owned by Viacom, have proposed excessive rate increases which we feel are unreasonable. Viacom is demanding rate increases nearly 4 times the rate of inflation for various cable channels, amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars in fees that would increase the cost of our services to you.

Click Here for answers to Frequently Asked Questions.

To view a list of local businesses whose advertising you will not be seeing Click Here.

DISH Network continually strives to control costs on behalf of our customers and we are working hard to get this matter resolved quickly. Tell us what you think by writing us at:
CEOofDishNetwork@Dishnetwork.com.


For MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon and other cable networks
Call 212-258-8000.
For Viacom Corporate
Call 212-258-6000.

For CBS Corporate
Call 212-975-4321 or email them at audsvcs@cbs.com

For your local CBS Station
Call the local CBS general manager at your station listed below:

City Affiliate Call
Letters Name Title Phone
Austin CBS KEYE Gary Schneider General Manager 512-835-0042
Baltimore CBS WJZ Jay Newman VP/General Manager 410-466-0013
Boston CBS WBZ Ed Goldman VP/General Manager 617-787-7000
Chicago CBS WBBM Joe Ahern President/GM 312-944-6000
Dallas-Ft. Worth CBS KTVT Steve Mauldin President/GM 214-750-1111
Denver CBS KCNC Walt Dehaven General Manager 303-861-4444
Detroit CBS WWJ Linda Danna VP/General Manager 248-350-5050
Greenbay-Appleton CBS WFRV Perry Kidder Station Manager 920-437-5411
Los Angeles CBS KCBS Don Corsini President/General Manager 323-460-3000
Miami CBS WFOR Michael A. Colleran VP/General Manager 305-591-4444
Minneapolis CBS WCCO Ed Piette VP/General Manager 612-339-4444
New York CBS WCBS Lew Leone President/General Manager 212-975-4321
Philadelphia CBS KYW Peter Dunn VP/General Manager 215-238-4700
Pittsburgh CBS KDKA Gary Cozen VP/General Manager 412-575-2200
Salt Lake City CBS KUTV Dave Phillips General Manager 801-973-3000
San Francisco CBS KPIX Ron Longinotti VP/General Manager 415-362-5550

[amysusi]

Yeah, I saw that message too. I have basic cable, and I already don't get those channels they were talking about. In the year we've had cable, they've taken a few of the basic tier stations, and moved them to the extended tier. I'm not too happy about that.
A couple of months ago, we started having reception problems on most of the stations, so we called, and they sent a guy out. He said it was the connection across the street (our cable line comes out of the apartment complex across the street). He called some other guys, and they were out there in their buckets looking at the line over the street, and going into the building. It was already dark when they started, and were out there for about an hour before he said they didn't know what was wrong, and said he'd be back the next day. The next morning, another guy comes, looks at the TV for a second, then goes out side. Less than 2 minutes later, he comes back in and it was fixed. The connection was loose into our house. It took no equipment whatsoever for him to do that. I just want to go DUH to the first guy.
We actually have a dish attached on one side of the house. Owner left it up from the previous tenants just in case someone else wants to use it. In all the apartment complexes that surround us, there are dishes on every other patio/balcony.

[jonette5]

I have tried calling to complain and cannot get through. The phone just rings and rings no one answers. Went to dish network web site and get "page cannot be displayed". This sucks! My son is gonna flip Comedy Central is about all he watches! The rest of the channels never get watched in our house, but Com. Cent. does! This really irks me! I wonder if Dish Network will give us a discount on our bill since some of the channels we are paying for are unavailable?

I want to add that my local CBS station is working. It better not go off, that is where my Survivor is!!!!!! Does anyone know anything about the CBS stations? I don't understand which CBS stations are affected.

[justme23]

Originally posted by Dizzyontheweb
Comcast is also running the msg along the bottom of the screen. I was worried that i was going to lose my channels till dd pointed out it was to the dish people.

CBS and MTV are running them, not ComCast... Comcast has 'ditch the dish' commercials... they wouldn't do anything to help the dish users if they were payed to (well that's not true, they are offering to pay customers 400 dollars who switch to comcast right now... but they get to take your dish from you so they know you won't just switch right back)... I have Comcast cable and they are so shady, if directv wasn't pulling this stunt I'd seriously give consideration to going w/ them.

Here's another article from CNN.

http://money.cnn.com/2004/03/09/technology/echostar_viacom.reut/index.htm?cnn=yes

"They recently hiked their subscribers' bills by as much as $3 a month. Yet they are unwilling to consider paying an additional six cents a month per subscriber for the right to carry our channels," Viacom said in a statement.

EchoStar said it would provide a $1 monthly credit to customers who lose programming while the channels are unavailable.

[Dizzyontheweb]

oops my mistake then. I know it is on several channels and is getting annoying.

[katzenberg]

i have dish network .the same here.several station are off the air it stinks but what can you do

[Linus1223]

I want my MTV!!

[MISSYNAUGLE]

WELL THE ONLY CHANNEL I WILL MISS IS MTV BECAUSE I WATCH NEWLYWEDS EVERY WEEK AND NOW I'LL MISS THIS WEEKS, BUT I STAND BY DISH NETWORK BECAUSE WHY SHOULD WE PAY HIGHER RATES BECAUSE VIACOM IS GREEDY?? LET THEM KNOW WE DON'T NEED ANOTHER RATE INCREASE ON OUR BILLS JUST BECAUSE THEY WANT TO BECOME RICHER THAN THEY ALREADY ARE. DISH NETWORK IS GIVING A $1 A MONTH CREDIT ON ALL BILLS UNTIL THIS MATTER IS SETTLED AND I KNOW IT IS NOT MUCH BUT IT'S BETTER THAN NOTHING. STILL MUCH BETTER THAN CABLE HERE IN MY AREA. THANKS.

[jonette5]

I called my Mom and Stepdad to see which satellite (sp?) they have. They told me direct-tv. I asked if they had channels missing and they said no, I asked if they got a big rate increase and they said yes. Their bill went from $31 to $42 per month. That is a lot I think. I am glad that dish is fighting for us, but my son is very unhappy about comedy central being off! LOL! I hope this get settled soon, without us getting big rate hikes!

[justme23]

Originally posted by MISSYNAUGLE
WELL THE ONLY CHANNEL I WILL MISS IS MTV BECAUSE I WATCH NEWLYWEDS EVERY WEEK AND NOW I'LL MISS THIS WEEKS, BUT I STAND BY DISH NETWORK BECAUSE WHY SHOULD WE PAY HIGHER RATES BECAUSE VIACOM IS GREEDY?? LET THEM KNOW WE DON'T NEED ANOTHER RATE INCREASE ON OUR BILLS JUST BECAUSE THEY WANT TO BECOME RICHER THAN THEY ALREADY ARE. DISH NETWORK IS GIVING A $1 A MONTH CREDIT ON ALL BILLS UNTIL THIS MATTER IS SETTLED AND I KNOW IT IS NOT MUCH BUT IT'S BETTER THAN NOTHING. STILL MUCH BETTER THAN CABLE HERE IN MY AREA. THANKS.

I guess it depends on which side of the coin you look at. Viacom claims they raised rates by 3 dollars recently and that it would only cost them 6 cents per customer to cover the costs of the rate raise. Well if they just raised it 3 dollars then surely that will cover the 6 cents!

[suziebee20]

I was wondering what that message was all about. I'de die if I couldn't watch South Park on Comedy Central. Thank goodness we don't have dish.

[KrystallizedFlame]

I checked around Midnight my time last night and the channels are back. :D

[hotdoglove]

and I am so glad they are back!!!!! I hope that doesn't happen again!!!!