Dish Network Adds AMC HD

Dish Network became the first Jackson-area television provider to launch the HD feed of AMC on August 18th. The network is available on channel 130 to subscribers of America’s Top 200 and higher packages.

Dish Network Adds Cooking Channel HD

Dish Network became the first content provider to launch the HD simulcast of Cooking Channel on Wednesday. Cooking Channel is available on Channel 113 to subscribers of Dish’s Americas Top 250. The network is available in SD on the three other Jackson-area content providers.

Dish Network Removes Fuse

Dish Network removed the MSG owned music channel Fuse last Wednesday. In its place, an SD simulcast of the MTV network Palladia has been added for subscribers with America’s Top 200 and above on Channel 158 where Fuse was previously located. For Palladia HD, customers still must subscribe to the Platinum HD package. According to MSG Media spokesmen, Dish Network walked away from the negotiating table. Dish Network has been largely mum on the topic, but the company does have a long history of contentious negotiating.

Currently, four HD feeds from networks owned by the Walt Disney Company are unavailable on Dish Network due to carriage disputes. The same dispute is keeping ESPN U HD off of Dish. A separate fee dispute caused The Weather Channel to be briefly removed from the satellite provider’s lineup.

Dish Network Adds Galavisión HD

Dish Network launched an HD simulcast of the American Spanish language network Galavisión on Wednesday. Dish is the first American television provider to offer the network’s HD simulcast, which launched earlier in the month. Galavisión is available on all Spanish-language packages from Dish Network and the company’s America’s Top 200 and America’s Top 250 English-language packages.

Galavisión is owned by Univision Communications, the United States rights holder to Spanish broadcasts of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Though no live matches will be broadcast via Galavisión, “Game of the Day” replays will be shown on the network each night throughout the tournament.

FLN Becomes Cooking Channel

Fine Living Network, which had come to be called FLN, has been replaced with the new Cooking Channel by its owner Scripps Networks Interactive. The change took place at sign on yesterday, May 31st. Unlike the recent transition of Fox Reality Channel to Nat Geo Wild, the change from FLN to Cooking Channel actually took place on all Jackson-area TV providers.

The new network was created to complement the successful Food Network. It will be geared more toward instructional cooking shows, whereas Food Network has leaned more on reality-based competitive programming over the past several years. Along with a host of new programs, the network will also feature many shows from familiar faces on the Food Network, and some popular cooking shows from years past including Julia Child, Galloping Gourmet, and Two Fat Ladies.

HD and on-demand versions of Cooking Channel are planned, but have not yet launched. The new network can be found in the same channel location where FLN was previously located on all Jackson-area providers: Comcast channel 122 (Digital Classic/Preferred or higher), DirecTV channel 232 (Choice and above), Dish Network channel 113 (America’s Top 250 or Dish Family), and U-Verse channel 456 (U200 and above).

ACSI Posts Subscription Television Customer Satisfaction Ratings

In a press release yesterday, the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) announced scores for the nation’s major subscription television companies. Topping the list was fiber-optic provider Verizon FIOS with a score of 73. FIOS is not currently available in the Jackson area, and there are no plans for it to be added in the near future.

The highest rated company that is available in the area is AT&T U-Verse, which came in as a close second with a rating of 72. Among other providers available in the area, Dish Network topped DirecTV for the first time since 2005 with a score of 71. The change was attributed to Dish’s new aggressive marketing campaign and recent price increases by DirecTV. Although earlier in the year Dish Network also raised prices, and a second price hike is planned for next month. DirecTV scored a 68. Comcast received the lowest score of the local subscription television providers with a 61, though this was a 3% improvement from last year’s results.

Dish Network Adds 8 New HD Channels

Dish Network made 8 new HD channels available to its subscribers today. The new channels include EPIX HD, G4 HD, HLN HD, History International HD, Nat Geo Wild HD, ShortsHD, Style HD and TCM HD. The satellite provider becomes the first Jackson-area content provider to offer EPIX HD. In addition, it’s the first provider serving the area to offer the HD versions of HLN, Nat Geo Wild, and TCM.

EPIX HD (channel 380) and ShortsHD (channel 375) are entirely new channels on Dish Network and were both added to the Platinum HD package, which can be added for $10/month. Presently, Dish only carries the HD versions of both channels. Though EPIX is exclusively on Dish Network in the Jackson area, ShortsHD is also available on AT&T U-Verse channel 1789.

Nat Geo Wild replaces Fox Reality Channel on channel 190. Dish will provide Wild in both HD and SD. DirecTV is now the only local content provider who still offers Fox Reality Channel, and the only one who doesn’t offer Nat Geo Wild.

Nat Geo Wild Coming to Dish Network April 19th

A launch date for the new United States feed of National Geographic Wild on Dish Network has been confirmed via the Nat Geo Wild website. The channel will launch on Monday, April 19th. There was no word on whether Dish Network would carry the HD feed of the new network at launch.

Currently, Nat Geo Wild is available in the Jackson area on Comcast channel 108. There is still no news on when or if DirecTV plans to carry the network.