Maharaja channels to be launched by Avuruddu

According to reports being received the Maharaja channels, Sirasa TV, MTV Sports & Shakthi TV will be launched by Avuruddu. This comes hot on the wheels of the news about upgrade to MPEG4 & the announcement of Gold package subscribers being updated to the PVR enabled HD decoder free of charge.

Now we are not sure how Dialog will find the capacity to add these three channels specially at a time they are stuck for capacity. Unless they complete their MPEG4 conversion by this time which is highly unlikely. The only option for Dialog is to replace two or more existing channels with the three Maharaja channels which will not be welcomed in any event by subscribers. The other option is for Dialog to move all Gold package subscribers to MPEG4 DVB-S2 and encode the select channels like those that are allocated to the Gold package only, such as Star Movies, HBO and a few others to MPEG4 DVB-S2. Those non Gold Package subscribers who probably have activated the SET plans or Per Day TV would probably lose these channels in the short term until they are updated too.

This should free up some space for a few more channels. We certainly don't think the entire conversion will be completed in a few months, but it would run longer considering the fact of what happened last time round but the best thing now is to switch the "Gold" package subscribers within a very short time span. Switch some channels to MPEG4 and then free up space for a few channels.

As for the Maharaja channels, Dialog should not add them at the expense of any existing channels but if they can be added in the method we have speculated here then it would be a positive move by Dialog.

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

Full MPEG4 upgrade in the wings

According to reports reaching us Dialog is to go ahead with upgrading it's network from MPEG2 to MPEG4 probably MPEG4 DVBS2. An SMS sent last night to all "Gold" package subscribers indicated that they will be upgraded to the PVR enabled HD decoder free of any additional charges and a call from the Dialog Team can be expected shortly. This SMS comes hot on the heels of a stock exchange filing yesterday that reported of a 23% increase in subscribers as well as a fall in profits in Dialog TV due to equipment write down and an ongoing upgrade from MPEG2 to MPEG4.

This means that Dialog TV can expand and add more channels in the near future. The last time a switch over of this nature was mentioned was a couple of years ago and the decoder delivery took a good couple of months. We sincerely hope that this time round decoder distribution is carried out within a much smaller period of time and the proposed conversion goes ahead unlike the last time when the decoders were switched but the conversion never actually took place.

Looks like there is glimmer of hope for Dialog TV subscribers who have been hounded by this "lack of capacity curse" that Dialog has been under for the last several years.

We kindly request our fellow bloggers, facebook fans & tweeps to inform us by comments or tweets, when they start to receive calls about the decoder replacements from the Dialog Team. Please continue to update us on the latest on Dialog TV as the days progress and we are looking forward to exciting days ahead.

A full link to this report can be obtained at :

LBO Online Sri Lanka's Dialog TV subscribers up 23-pct

Daily News 19th Feb 2013 Dialog records Rs 6 bn Net Profit for FY 2012.

Dialog's dilemma!

Dialog is facing a major issue these days and that is the lack of capacity. There are many subscribers who want several channels but Dialog is unable to deliver. Recently we carried out a poll on our FB page regarding the introduction of "Comedy  Central" over "Sony beTV", even though "Sony beTV" came out on top as the most popular of the two channels, however the clear winner was the opinion that "both the channels are useless & Dialog should have gone for a better channel".

Dialog's problem is that when they give preference to one channel over another, they alienate a certain cross section of their subscriber base. Dialog you are not running a democracy, you are running a pay television company and anybody should be able to watch any channel of their choosing, provided it's available legally in the region of course.

There are people who want "Sirasa TV" and some who want "Comedy Central" and others who want "Sony beTV", then there are those who want "SET Asia", there are channels like "Big CBS Prime", etc that telecast reality shows like "Survivor" on par with the US broadcast and they telecast shows not normally telecast by channels like Star World India/Zee Cafe India. Not to mention there are people who want to able to watch God TV 24 hours a day and EWTN 24 hours a day. Nobody likes to be told by the pay television that they pay for the services rendered, that a channel that is available 24X7 can be watched only during certain hours of the day because they are unable to cater to the subscribers needs.

Dialog TV has a long way to go and cannot call themselves "The Future Today" since "the future" is not giving what they can, "the present" in pay television business is to telecast many channels and let the subscribers decide what he/she wants to watch. Dialog cannot provide "the present" so its a shame to talk about "the future".

Dialog has no choice but to increase transponder capacity. Recently Dialog TV tried to increase the number of channels in the HD pack and failed miserably when the quality of existing HD channels dropped, causing Dialog to remove some of the test channels. This only means that even the new transponder that carries a few HD channels plus a few non HD channels is now full to capacity.

Leasing new transponders costs money - lots of it - so Dialog should concentrate on moving to MPEG4 DVB2, which maybe expensive in the short run but as we have pointed out countless times, it has the potential of doubling or tripling the number of channels on the platform and increasing the subscriber base exponentially. With a move like this Dialog could add all the local channels, stop time sharing and assign each channel individual slots and add more channels.

Dialog is living dangerously, remember that the satellite has only a finite number of transponders and sooner or later they will run out of transponders and this would leave Dialog TV in the doldrums.

In addition we find it baffling that Dialog still wastes a slot called "Dialog Test" and has made no attempt to add a channel to that slot so far and its been over a year or two since that slot was vacated. All of this points to only one thing, Dialog is totally unprepared and it only takes a pay television company with a limited knowledge of the business to put Dialog TV out of business since it seems that those in charge of Dialog TV don't seem to be having even a "limited knowledge" of the business.

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

Comedy Central or Sony beTV - Facebook Poll

Recently Dialog TV added "Comedy Central" as a bonus channel on their HD pack permanently replacing "BBC Entertainment" which pulled out of this region. This decision was taken after juggling between "Comedy Central" and "Sony beTV". Are you happy with "Comedy Central" or would you have preferred "Sony beTV" or should Dialog have added a better channel... pls take part in our FACEBOOK poll and get your views across!

Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/tvradiosrilanka

Comedy Central made permanent fixture with sync issue

According to reports being received Comedy Central has been taking out of testing mode and has been made the permanent replacement to BBC Entertainment. Sadly however the sound is out of sync with the video and hasn't been sorted out. This has been a problem from the time Dialog TV was testing the channel and hasn't been resolved as yet.

The Dialog TV website however hasn't been updated and still carries "BBC Entertainment" as a bonus channel in the HD pack. This leaves us wondering whether Dialog TV is still toying with the idea of making Comedy Central as a permanent replacement to BBC Entertainment or whether they just plain forgot to update the website just like they overlooked the video to sound syn issue.

We also take this opportunity to thank Dialog for resolving the technical problem that prevented Dialog subscribers from accessing this blog or any other "blogspot.com" blog for the past several days. We apologose to all our fellow bloggers who were unable to access this blog and regret any inconvenience caused. 

We kindly request all our bloggers who are on Facebook and Twitter to kindly include us in their social media circles to keep abreast on the latest happening in the industry.

Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/tvradiosrilanka

Twitter : @tvradiosrilanka

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

Test Channel No. 87 removed

According to reports being received Dialog TV has removed Channel No. 87. This leaves only two testing slots on the transponder carrying HD channels. This decision was taken most likely after a drop in quality was noticed on the HD channels. It is noteworthy that Dialog TV doesn't want to drop the quality of the HD channels after all they charge quite a large sum of money for just a few HD channels.

There is a chance that another test channel would be removed if the quality of HD channels don't improve. It looks like Dialog has filled up the new transponder and most probably with another 1 or 2 channels the transponder will be filled to capacity.

The conversion from MPEG2 to MPEG4 is the need of the hour in order for Dialog TV to be able to continue expanding without affecting the quality of channels. If the conversion cannot go ahead then Dialog TV is only left with the option of leasing another transponder, however since transponders don't grow on satellites, naturally they are sure to run out of space sooner than later.

Please continue updating with the latest on Dialog TV as the days progress.

We invite you to connect with us and stay updated on the latest happening related to media and interact with other members of the community on,

Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/tvradiosrilanka

Twitter : @tvradiosrilanka