Tuesday, May 22, 2007

June launch for new channels

According to reliable sources Dialog TV will be launching their new channels from June onwards. It is most likely that the launch date will be June 1st although it is still not confirmed. However we believe that their are chances of some of the channels being added earlier for testing purposes.

It is likely that the fourth transponder will be activated soon probably before the launch of the new channels. According to comments being received it seems that a restriction of the number of channels per transponder will be placed in order to improve channel quality.

There are many false rumors being spread here by certain bloggers regarding these new channels and their launch dates and we hope that they refrain from doing so since they only end up misleading the people visiting this blog for reliable information. We also thank those reliable bloggers who update this blog with valuable information.

According to information it seems that Ten Sports, Star Package (Star World, Movies, Vijay, Plus), Hallmark Channel, Neo and many other channels will be introduced to Dialog TV. It is safe to say that initially the Star Package, Ten Sports, Hallmark Channel will be introduced. It is rumored that HBO Hits, Family, Australia Network (previously known as ABC Asia Pacific) and DWTV will also be available. We are however unable to confirm what new channels will be added for the June launch. However it is certain that several new channels will be available on Dialog TV soon.

We are not sure how the packages will allocated but we feel that if they increase the package cost over Rs 1,400/= or introduce new packages which will cost more than Rs 1,400/= then those packages will not be successful. Dialog TV should try to incorporate these new channels into their existing packages.

Many bloggers seem to be trying to add the third transponder by themselves and it seems that most are failing to do so. We believe that if we are patient enough Dialog TV will update the decoders with details about the new transponder when it is fully ready. So those who are confident about doing the settings manually would have already done so but we suggest that those who were unable to do it successfully should wait till Dialog TV updates it.

We welcome those who are able to confirm exactly the channels that will be available for the June launch and the exact launch date to update us. In addition those of you who are monitoring the third transponder are requested to update us whenever Dialog TV adds a new channel for testing. We once again thank all of you who are providing us with valuable information and please update us on any other information regarding Dialog TV as the days progress. As one blogger pointed out in a few weeks time it will be June 6th and on that day at approx 9:30PM it will mark the one year anniversary of the unfortunate incident that took place in the short history of pay television in Sri Lanka.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Third Transponder Activated?

According to comments being received by us it seems that the Dialog TV have activated their third transponder. According to the information the new transponder is on 11468V.

Please refer link "Dialog TV on Intelsat 12 at 45.0°E - LyngSat"

According to the above link it indicates a third transponder. It seems that the same channels on TP2 are on TP3 at the moment according to the link and this is probably for testing purposes. We are unable to clarify the existence of the third transponder independently however according to the information on the above link it seems that the information is accurate.

If anyone has confirmation or more information about the transponder then please comment here.

In other news it seems that the EPG for BBC World which was activated yesterday seems to be wrong by half an hour. What has happened is that on the BBC World website they still regard Sri Lanka as GMT + 6. Dialog TV seems to have directly used the guide from the BBC website without reducing half an hour and we hope that they correct it as soon as possible.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Max Radio on Dialog TV

Max Radio which is a part of MGM Networks and sister station of Max television is now available on Dialog TV under the radio section. It seems that they are capable of adding radio stations but they do not have sufficient bandwidth to add television stations and are awaiting the completion of installation of equipment to activate transponders 3 and 4 to launch the new channels. Rumors indicate that this will happen by the first week of June.

It is advisable for Dialog TV to add some international (not indian) radio channels to their lineup such as BBC World Service including the Sinhala and Tamil services. Radio channels by ABC Australia, Voice of America and some channels that play quality music. Dialog could introduce a secondary decoder which is dedicated to the Hi Fi set at home which will enable it to be connected to the radio at all times so that subscribers can listen to radio via Dialog TV while others can enjoy the television via the main decoder.

It is a bit confusing why Dialog TV cannot add its sister radio station Neth FM to their lineup of radio channels. Reasons for this are best known to them and hopefully they clarify their position regarding Neth FM.

On other news we learn that almost all subscribers of Dialog TV have received their programme guide for the month of May during the course of last week. If you have not received it yet please make a comment along with your location.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

EPG needs to made more acurate

Whilst it is happy to note that TNL TV on Dialog TV has also got it's EPG activated making a total of three local channels with EPG and the only other three local channels that are without EPG are ITN, Rupavahini and Channel Eye. It is a fact that the EPG is still facing some accuracy issues.

The Zone Reality EPG is totally wrong from the day that it was activated and the some other channels also show wrong EPG at times. Certain English channels such as Zee Cafe, Studio, Animal Planet, Travel & Living, CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera have no EPG at all. Even Hindi channels such as Zee TV, Cinema, etc except SET Max have no EPG. However the EPG should be first completed for English channels before the Hindi channels since most Dialog TV customers watch the English Language channels.

The EPG is an integral part of a DTH service and we hope that Dialog TV appoints responsible personnel to look into the problems with the EPG and maintain 100% accuracy at all times.

We understand that some channels may reschedule certain programmes but most of these content providers provide adequate notice of any rescheduling so this should be picked up by Dialog TV and updated accordingly. Maintaining the accuracy of the EPG of local channels maybe more difficult and is not easy to achieve but the accuracy of the EPG of other channels is a must.

The EPG still shows only the current programme and the next one and we hope that this is updated to provide a EPG with at least one weeks programming in advance.

According to comments we are receiving even though Dialog TV updated their on line programme guide on the 1st of May the subscribers have started receiving their printed guides only yesterday and we hope that Dialog TV enables subscribers to receive their guides by the first week of the month.

We request the management of Dialog TV to immediately appoint personnel to sort out the problems with the EPG and introduce EPG for all the other remaining channels as soon as possible.


Friday, May 4, 2007

Local channels get EPG

Swarnavahini became the first local channel to have a simple EPG on Dialog TV and this was closely followed by Derana.

The EPG still shows the current programme and the next one and it will be great if Dialog TV can introduce the seven day EPG in addition to their printed guide. The local channels EPG will bear the same problem that the newspapers have since most of the local channels tend to deviate from their planned schedules.

We hope Dialog adds the EPG for all the other English Language channels on their platform very soon.

It should also be said that the on line version of the Dialog TV printed guide was hosted on line at the Dialog TV website from May 1st this month a remarkable improvement considering the last few months and we hope that it has been posted to the subscribers too.

Please keep us updated on the latest news about Dialog TV as the days progress.