Friday, February 29, 2008

Charging for local pay channels

March 2008 will be the last month in which CiTi HiTz will be available for all Dialog TV subscribers free of charge. From April onwards the channel will cost an additional Rs 50/= for all packages. Now from tomorrow "Channel C" is expected to go on air. How much will this be priced at? We can expect the channel to available free of charge for a couple of months hopefully.

Pay television is a developing industry in Sri Lanka and these channels should be used to lure customers and charging additional for these channels will only drive away prospective customers. CiTi HiTz is priced unrealistically, not many people will pay extra for that channel. This channel should be integrated into the existing packages. The same applies for "Channel C" since charging extra will not work.

In other news rumors indicate that certain new channels will be available by hopefully tomorrow 1st March.

Not much has emerged from the news regarding HDTV but whether or not Dialog TV issues a HDTV compatible MPEG4 decoder, the subscriber has to purchase a HDTV enabled television to really enjoy HDTV television otherwise it will not be HD.

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

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

MPEG4 Ready!

According to reports being received it seems that Dialog TV are gearing themselves up for MPEG4 encoding. This maybe the reason why TP4 was off air for the past few days. This will certainly improve picture quality unless Dialog decides to cram their transponders with channels.

Rumors are afloat that two HD channels may be available. We are unable to confirm any of this.

Anyone who has further news on these is requested to comment. Please keep us updated on the latest on Dialog TV as the days progress.

Updated @ 26th Feb 2008 - 5:05pm
According to the above report it seems that Dialog TV management have still not decided on how to replace existing MPEG2 Decoders. The best decision would be to replace them free. They will minimize losses by carrying out a free replacement now instead of doing it when they have about 100,000 subscribers. Anyway going MPEG4 is cost saver for Dialog on the long run as they can now add now more channels per transponder.

Monday, February 25, 2008

Please follow the rules of this blog..... and more

Comments over the past few days on this blog by individuals who are bent on destroying this blog to promote their own vested interests have caused us to delete some comments. We urge all individuals to follow blogging ethics and use language appropriate for a public forum. In addition there are some rules and regulations on this blog which we expect will be followed by all individuals.

In other news over the last two days the fourth transponder has not been functioning and has been giving the red light. In addition the 3rd TP has had an increased load of 20 channels with "Rana Ru" being moved to the 3rd TP along with "Shruthi". From March 1st Zee Music will be replaced temporarily with "Channel C" the first 24 Hour Sinhala Language Music Channel to hit Sri Lankan television. There seem to be some delays in the 4th TP and the replacing of Zee Music from March 1st may indicate that the 4th TP channels will not be launched on that date and may take more time.

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


Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Free Second Decoder and more

At the moment Dialog TV is providing a free second decoder to subscribers in the premium package, this we believe is just a precursor to the multi room connections that would be issued. At the moment only the second decoder is free but a package rental has to be paid separately. It would have been better if Dialog could have at least allowed older subscribers to get packages at older rates to their second decoder however instead of all that it would be great if a very low rental is charged for the second decoder to be in the same package as the primary decoder.

In other news there are rumors of a channel call "Channel C" operated by Torana would be launched on Dialog TV from March 1st. We have no proper information regarding this channel but it may be a round the clock music channel. At present this channel is said to be available on Dialog Mobile.

No progress whatsoever has been made regarding the pixelation issue on HBO channels. Please keep us updated on the latest regarding Dialog TV as the days progress.

Friday, February 15, 2008

Problems that are annoying subscribers

As reported several the pixelation problem on the HBO channels that have been highlighted over & over again has not been corrected prompting us to write a post on this issue. Fast moving pictures on HBO are almost impossible to watch due to the severe pixelation so hopefully this will prompt Dialog to take steps to correct this problem.

In addition there is some severe freezing problem on AXN during peak viewing time and this too has to be corrected. The quality of Zone Reality leaves much to be desired and hopefully this is sorted out too.

Star Movies goes off air specially during bad weather conditions for a few minutes and anyone watching a movie at that is left in the lurch and hopefully this is corrected. These are just some of the many that Dialog has to correct. Subscribers are not asking for overnight correction but rather a step by step approach where some progress is seen instead of utter ignorance.

We hope that Dialog provides a direct link with some personnel at the Engineering department instead of subscribers wasting time trying to explain the problem to the usually illiterate executives at the call centre who do not know the difference between Stereo and Mono or do not understand what a pixel means. We hope that the Chief Executive of Dialog makes note of this very soon, since the standard & knowledge of Dialog TV Call Centre Executives is not even close to one of the sister companies.

In other news non of the new channels have been unscrambled as yet and there is no official confirmation on the launch date and what the new channels will be. We expect a launch hopefully by the first of March.

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

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

One Year On....

Today February 12th 2008 we celebrate the first anniversary of this blog. This blog was launched a few days after the official launch of Dialog TV after their acquisition of CBNsat in December 2006 following a series of controversial events.

We take this opportunity of thank our fellow bloggers and Dialog TV Subscribers Unite for contributing useful information towards this blog and engaging in very interesting discussions which made this blog the most successful in the entire TV & Radio Sri Lanka Group of Blogs. One trend that we have seen rising is the use of mobile phones to access this blog.

We like to thank Dialog TV management who may have made use of this blog and we hope that the sentiments expressed by the subscribers/bloggers are taken into consideration during the decision making process.

The last few days have been interesting with subscribers waiting for the launch of the 4th TP and also some special offers which have been welcomed by some while others are viewing it with suspicion. The 4th TP which was activated towards the end of last month has its new channels scrambled. We believe that the launch of the new channels would probably take place by the end of this month or sooner.

Dialog TV has given some indication about how they view Rs 1400/= premium package subscribers and Rs 1949/= premium package subscribers by giving the free second decoder to both packages. This may indicate that both packages are being treated equally and it is quite possible that the new channels to be launched may be available for both which is exactly how it should be. However this is just a presumption, just because the decoder is given for both packages may not indicate that the channels will be available for both on an equal basis. According to some TP4 may be using MPEG4 compression whereas the others will be using MPEG2 but this is highly unlikely and if an upgrade occurs then all the transponders will be upgraded.

Whilst thanking everyone again for your participation in these discussions over the last year we trust you will be with us in the years to come. Please keep us updated on the latest on Dialog TV as the days progress.

Friday, February 8, 2008

Waiting Patiently......

Unlike last time many Dialog subscribers are waiting patiently for the unveiling of the channels in the 4th TP. It also seems that Dialog are also taking their time unlike the last time they launched TP3 as it was not at all professional. But professional or not existing subscribers are still weary of how much extra these new channels will cost them and everyone is waiting to see if Dialog will pull off the "upgrade package" tactic again.

One thing is for sure, the last time when TP3 was launched, many subscribers did upgrade their packages but this time it will be very much less if not none considering the present cost of living. The only people who may upgrade will be millionaires and wonder how many of those Dialog has in their subscriber base.

During the last few days TP4 "CH2" has been renamed to "Ranaroo" but the channel is scrambled and this may not be unscrambled for some time. Pixelation across the other channels has risen to the frustration of many and Dialog should be thankful that there are not many viable options for subscribers because if there were then they would have lost many subscribers. Well as we said earlier, those who have money are buying Dish TV connections and downgrading their Dialog TV connections. The continuation of this trend will depend on how Dialog handles the allocation of the new channels that they will launch.

According to unconfirmed reports this will be the last month that Dialog TV will be posting programme guides since towards the end of this month, a separate channel slot will be allocated for the EPG only and Dialog should make sure that this is 100% correct. At present the Nat Geo Adventure EPG is wrong and it seems that it has some Nat Geo programmes listed too. Value Added Services are planned to launch along with the 4th TP and only time will tell what these are and how much they are priced at.

We hope that Dialog keeps price increases aside and instead focuses on selling more connections to cover up the operational cost and making profits thereafter. There are chances that some channels may be unscrambled over the weekend.

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

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Still on test

According to reports several channels are being tested by Dialog TV on TP4 such as DW TV, TV5 Monde, Chutti TV, etc. In addition the new Defense Channel 'Rana-Ru' is also being broadcast using the 4th TP. However all these channels are scrambled.

Information about the channel pricing and what packages they would belong to are scare. However the general feeling among subscribers is that like last time Dialog will try to lure subscribers to move to the Rs 1949/= package to view most of the new channels. Even the older subscribers in the Rs 1400/= package may be asked to pay the revised package rate of Rs 1949/= to view the new channels. According to some reports many prospective subscribers are being attracted into purchasing pay television connections by Dialogs marketing campaign but are purchasing Dish TV instead because it is cheaper. It seems that Dialogs strategy is backfiring. Even some existing Dialog subscribers are moving into Dish TV. This will be made worse if Dialog tries the luring game with the channels on the 4th TP. However there are some who are unable to invest in another pay television connection due to lack of finances and are therefore sticking to Dialog TV and hopefully Dialog does not take undue advantage of them.

There are unconfirmed reports that certain channels may be unscrambled today. Please keep us updated on the latest regarding Dialog TV as the days progress.

Friday, February 1, 2008

Cartoon Network India reintroduced & TP4 officially launched

To the surprise of many subscribers Cartoon Network India was reintroduced to Dialog TV. Many subscribers except a few were happy that Indian version was gone and the Asian version was introduced. It was thought that this will be a stepping stone for Dialog to replace Nick India with Nick Asia but sadly this was not so. However Dialog should seriously consider replacing Nick India with the Asian version since Nick India contain more Hindi programmes than Cartoon Network India.

The 4th Transponder was officially launched with the move of Hindu channel "Shruthi" from the 3rd TP to the 4th TP yesterday. The addition the 19th channel on the 3rd TP has now been removed and there are now 18 equal channels on the first three transponders. However they should reduce the number further in order to improve quality of channels.

It is rumored that the there will be six Fox channels, DW TV, SS Music, E Television and TV5 Monde on the fourth transponder. In addition a separate channel is to be allocated for EPG only plus Games are said to be available too. This information is however not confirmed.

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