OLN Gone From Dish Network

I think that OLN is going to find out in a hurry that it's no ESPN, nor
will it ever be. And if it thinks that it can fall back on the cycling
fans that made that network known, it's got another thing coming.

I live in the other area that has a current dispute with OLN, Long
Island and Cablevision. OLN is in a sports tier here that we pay
$5/month for. If it wasn't for Fox College Sports, I would dump the
package right now in a heartbeat, since I have NHL Center Ice and who
cares if I miss one of a few games going on Monday and Tuesday. Even
if it is the locals, I just tune in my XM Radio and get it there.

OLN just plain sucks.............................

Alan

alan_atwood said:

I think that OLN is going to find out in a hurry that it's no ESPN, nor
will it ever be. And if it thinks that it can fall back on the cycling
fans that made that network known, it's got another thing coming.

I live in the other area that has a current dispute with OLN, Long
Island and Cablevision. OLN is in a sports tier here that we pay
$5/month for. If it wasn't for Fox College Sports, I would dump the
package right now in a heartbeat, since I have NHL Center Ice and who
cares if I miss one of a few games going on Monday and Tuesday. Even
if it is the locals, I just tune in my XM Radio and get it there.

OLN just plain sucks.............................

Alan

C'mon we know you're just dying to get out their and try some Rodeo...
But really, they've stuck themselves in a tiny hunting, fishing, rodeo
niche, and paying huge bucks for Survivor reruns just shows how
desperate they are. I watch the Bruins on NESN, so other than watching
American Shooter once in a while we've given up on them too. Not sure
just what the suits were thinking with the programming decisions, but
it sure looks like they blew it.
Bill C

This same [censored] dispute is going on in the NYC metro area with Cablevision.
To get OLN on Cablevision in Connecticut you must:
1) Subscribe to Digital Cable (and extra 10 bucks a month)
2) Buy some stupid SportsPak, which consist of X-Treme sports and some College
FB channels for an extra $4.95/month.

The cable companies are the real villains here, they rather give me 10 shopping
channels on basic service rather than OLN. I can't wait to dump them once the
phone companies roll out fibre to home.

Klay Anderson said:

Friday, October 21, 2005

Dish Network Pulls Outdoor Life Network

By SANDY SHORE

DENVER - The owner of The Dish Network said Thursday it pulled the
Outdoor Life Network from its system after the cable channel failed to
provide NHL games to the nation's second-largest satellite television
provider.

EchoStar Communications Corp. spokesman Marc Lumpkin said the network did
not show games on Oct. 10-11 and on Monday and Tuesday as advertised. "We
were not given advance notice that they would not show the programming,"
he said.

Although best known for broadcasting the Tour de France and cyclist Lance
Armstrong, OLN this fall took over broadcasting National Hockey League
games on cable from ESPN, a unit of The Walt Disney Co.

"We are surprised and disappointed that Dish has unilaterally chosen to
stop providing OLN to its customers, and denied fans the opportunity to
watch sports coverage on OLN," spokeswoman Amy Phillips said.

The contract dispute between EchoStar and OLN revolves around OLN's
placement in a higher-priced channel package by Dish Network, which is
distributed to fewer viewers.

OLN, owned by cable giant Comcast Corp., set a requirement that the
channel must be seen by 40 percent of a cable or satellite TV system's
viewers in order for it to broadcast the NHL games. It said the Dish
Network has failed to meet that requirement.

Lumpkin declined to comment on the specifics of the dispute.

EchoStar would have to move the channel from its top package to a lower-
cost package that may have fewer channels but more viewers. That would
raise the fees Dish Network viewers pay.

"We work hard to provide choice for customers and to keep prices low,"
Eric Sahl, an EchoStar senior vice president, said in a statement. "Most
of our customers have made the decision they do not want to pay the
additional cost of watching the channel."

EchoStar hasn't been afraid to take on networks before. In March 2004, it
pulled Viacom Inc. programming _ including MTV, the Comedy Channel and
Nickelodeon _ from the Dish Network for two days until an agreement was
struck on a long-term contract.

A service of the Associated Press(AP)