Slow distribution of decoders

Several customers are a bit apprehensive over the replacement of their MPEG2 decoders with MPEG4. There are still many subscribers out there who have not received the letter and it has made them wonder whether they will ever get the new decoder. However as stated in the previous post all subscribers who are presently receiving all HBO channels and Star Movies will receive the new decoder.

According to information being received the letters are being sent in batches and replacements are done according to the reply to the letters.

We are also getting information of a new agreement that is being signed at the time of replacing the decoder. According to this new agreement the decoder is the property of Dialog TV. This means that the decoder should be accompanied with a lifetime guarantee. We are unable to confirm this information presently.

It is likely that the September 1st changeover of Star Movies and all HBO channels may not take place if Dialog TV is unable to replace all decoders beforehand. Dialog TV may run a MPEG2 and MPEG4 version of these channels until all the decoders are replaced and then remove the MPEG2 version. However at the present rate it will at least take till the second week of September for all decoders to be replaced.

Here are the results of the poll "Will you move to another Pay Television Operator if Dialog TV does not improve its services".

• Yes - 185 (82%)
• No - 38 (17%)
  

An overwhelming majority of subscribers are prepared to move if Dialog TV does not improve. So this MPEG4 changeover is very crucial and if Dialog TV does not improve hereafter the Telekom Malaysia can say goodbye to their investment.

Recently certain subscribers are complaining about the Indian influence on many channels. This is due to the close proximity of Sri Lanka to India and getting Asian feeds of these channels can be prohibitively expensive resulting in an increase in a significant increase in the monthly subscription. Only certain channels such as HBO, Star Movies, AXN allow Asian feeds to Sri Lanka for an increased subscription value. Certain networks do not allow the Asian feed to be used in the subcontinent (for example : Star World) and even if they allow the subscription value will be greatly increased. However we believe as the pay television market in Sri Lanka grows and channel operators notice the potential of the business in Sri Lanka, Asian feeds will enter the country.

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

New Decoder for all Premium Packages

A sense of uncertainty has come over subscribers over the FREE installation of MPEG4 Decoders to all Dialog TV Premium Packages. Many Rs 1400/= package subscribers have not received letters regarding the free replacement. However we wish to state that all that all new Rs 1949/= Premium Package subscribers and previous Rs 1400/= Premium Package subscribers will be issued the new MPEG4 decoders. Letters should arrive during the course of this week.

All HBO channels and Star Movies will move into MPEG4 compression from September 1st, 2008. Therefore we hope that all subscribers are fitted with the new decoder by that date. We are not sure of the people who have subscribed to HBO channels and Star Movies via SET Plans they may or may not get the free decoder. We believe that Dialog TV will eventually phase out MPEG2 but it may take more than a year to replace all other package decoders to the MPEG4 decoder and would likely take place in stages.

In addition there is still no further information on the package allocation of the upcoming channels but information suggests that many of the new channels will come under MPEG4 compression which will automatically allocate them to the premium package. However whether both the old and new premium packages get the channels is yet to be seen.

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

Dialog TV to go MPEG4 from September

Letters are being received by Dialog TV subscribers about the FREE installation of MPEG4 Decoder boxes that will be carried out during the latter part of August 08. According to the letter subscribers are to inform Dialog TV before 25th Aug 08 with a convenient date and time for installation.

Only subscribers with the premium channels such as the HBO channels and Star Movies are being informed at present since according to the letter all HBO channels & Star Movies will convert to MPEG4 from September 1st and cannot be viewed using the old decoder. All packages which include these channels will get the new decoder but we are not sure of what will happen to people with SET plans that include these channels.

The letter also goes on to state that new channels such as Baby TV, Channel News Asia & E will commence from mid september. There is also information coming in about an IRD upgrade that took place over the last few days. It seems that the upgrade has changed the startup screen and the password.

With the MPEG4 conversion we hope that the pixelation problems on HBO channels will get sorted out and inevitably all the Dialog TV decoders will have to be replaced since as time progresses they will move the other channels also to MPEG4 platform. The new decoder would be backward compatible enabling it to receive MPEG2 & MPEG4 channels.

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

Dialog TV testing Kalaignar TV

According to reports coming in it seems that Kalaignar TV is being tested. At present the channel is said to be available on CH3 of TP4 but other information suggests that it may replace "TBO" temporarily. Kalaignar TV is a Tamil Language TV channel and with few more tamil channels slated to come on air, it seems that Dialog is now gearing up to tap a market that they have not tapped successfully so far.

With no other new channel introduced it seems that viewers will have to depend on Rupavahini/Channel Eye to watch Beijing 2008 Games that are beginning today.

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

Kalaignar TV Website : http://www.kalaignartv.co.in/

Dialog TV new channels and questionnaire

It seems that the launch of the Dialog TV 4th Transponder will take place somewhere close to or in September 08 since we have obtained confirmation about the launch of UTV Movies & UTV World Movies channel on Dialog TV. The two channels are set to be launched in September 08 according to The Hindu Business Line in an article titled "UTV taking 2 movie channels to Sri Lanka".

On other information we are attaching a JPG image of the questionnaire sent by Dialog TV to its subscribers. We hope that Dialog TV will get this sent to all their subscribers during the course of next week. Some subscribers who have not received this questionnaire by post are planning to print the image, fill it and post it back to Dialog TV. We encourage all subscribers to fill this questionnaire since it will help in getting their views across.

The Olympic opening ceremony is scheduled for tomorrow and there is no indication that it will be available via Dialog TV but subscribers are waiting for a pay channel on Dialog TV that will show all the games.

Please keep us updated on the latest on Dialog TV as the days progress.UTV Movies : http://www.utvmovies.com/
UTV World Movies : http://www.utvworldmovies.com/

Questionnaire sent to all subscribers

According to information being received by us, Dialog TV subscribers have been sent a questionnaire along with their monthly programme guide which analyses the services provided by Dialog TV. This is seen as a step in the positive direction provided that all the suggestions are received well and significant changes are carried out. There is no doubt that changes are required to Dialog TV operations and hopefully this step by Dialog TV will result in positive turn of events.

We encourage all subscribers to take time and fill the questionnaire in order to be able to receive a better service. We hope that Dialog TV makes sure that all subscribers receive a copy of the questionnaire since only a few have received it so far and during the course of this week all the others should also receive a copy.

In just over 48 hours from now the 2008 Beijing Games will open and many subscribers are keeping their fingers crossed that Dialog will introduce the channel that telecasts the games.

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

Subscribers eager to watch Olympic Games

According to reports coming in Dialog TV are getting calls from subscribers who want to watch the Olympics Live via Dialog TV. Since none of the channels available on Dialog TV are showing the games except for Channel Eye/Rupavahini we believe Dialog should take immediate steps to introduce DD Sports Channel and the other DD channels for the duration of the games.

In addition according to reports Dialog is gearing up for the launch of some Tamil language channels which would definitely mean an upsurge in Dialog TV connection sales however some subscribers are extremely disappointed over the way Dialog has been carrying out business and are contemplating moving to either LBN, Dish TV or SLT IPTV.

Our last poll titled "Would you pay for a Sirasa SET plan" produced the following results.

1. Never - 147 votes (61%)
2. Will pay for all Sirasa Channels - 57 votes (23%)
3. Will pay for Sirasa TV - 21 votes (8%)
4. Will pay for Shakthi TV - 5 votes (2%)
5. Will pay for Channel One - 34 votes (14%)
6. Will pay for TV South Asia - 11 votes (4%)
   

According to information received last "History Channel" has not returned to Dialog TV. Please keep us updated on the latest on Dialog TV as the days progress.

Channels Mysterious disappearing

According to reliable information coming in it seems that History Channel has gone off air under mysterious circumstances. According to reports Dialog TV Customer Care is giving excuses which vary from agent to agent. Some say it will be back during the day whereas some are saying by August 3rd or even later and the reason is said to be maintenance whereas others call it a system failure.

It should be said that initially Zone Reality was taken off air (before replacement the channel used to mysteriously disappear from time to time) and replaced with NDTV Good Times (instead of a quality channel like BBC Entertainment or Disney Channel) and now will History Channel be the next to go off air and replaced by another Indian Masthana channel. Wonder what will be next? Instead of reducing Indian stuff it seems that Dialog is trying to increase Indian content on their platform.

We urge all subscribers to call and protest whenever Dialog TV takes a channel off air under a lousy excuse such as maintenance or system failure.

Please keep us updated on the latest developments regarding Dialog TV.