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my receiver shows them as subscription channels I don't have.
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Yes, that's exactly what happened to me. I subscribe to the $10 HD package and assumed that the new channels would be added to that package. Even the people at DISH that I contacted earlier in the week when the VOOM announcement was made didn't know anything about a $5 surcharge. When I first saw the "red" designation on my program guide for the 10 VOOM channels (which means I'm not authorized to receive them) I thought that it was a case of having to call to tell DISH to switch them on for me. The customer service rep (CSR) told me that she had just received a memo a few minutes earlier that stated that there was an extra charge for the 10 stations. I decided to try them out (50 cents/channel/month) since there is no long term commitment.
I agree that DISH could have promoted this a lot better than they did. It's almost as though the left hand didn't know what the right hand was doing. Eventually, when the other 11 VOOM channels are added and a few other changes take place I would think that they will restructure the HD package a little better. Right now it appears that you pay $10 for the HD content from the 110 and 119 satellites and that you pay $5 for the content from the 61.5 satellite.
At least DISH is upgrading its HD content so that I now have over 20 channels of HD. As I said, the new content is all 5.1 DD and appears to be in the correct aspect ratio. Some of it looks intriguing. Time will tell if there is a lot of repetition or enough programming to make it all worthwhile. Now if DISH would expedite the promised network HD additions (all I get now is CBS-HD) then I'll be a very happy camper. Charlie Ergen promised something in the Fall, 2005 timeframe, I seem to recall, on one of the Charlie Chats.
We'll see. So far, so good.