Discovery HD or HD Net? (1 Viewer)

[Grady Hollums]

I plan on buying a Satellite Dish and receiver and I am trying to decide on Dish Network or Direct TV.
It basically comes down for me which of of these channels I would like to watch more. So please give me your suggestions. I want something that can show off my HDTV and I like Nature, but I like sports too.
I really would love to have CBS and NBC HD feeds of there shows, but I think I am correct in thinking that both of the companies above have these networks in HD if the show is filmed in it. (I am not talking about local news though, just the HD shot shows (i.e. Everybody Love Raymond, King of Queens, Friends, Jay Leno, etc...)
Thanks for your help and I look for to hearing what you like so I can decided what I would like.

 

[Frank Zimkas]

I have Dishnetwork and am very happy with it. Their HD offerings also include 1 PPV channel, HBOHD, & ShowetimeHD
If you want CBS in HD, Dishnetwork offers it. Discovery HD is available for $7-8 per month, I'm considering ordering that one myself! I watched it quite a bit when the free preview was on....WOW!!
There have been some posts at WWW.DBSFORUMS.COM regarding an HD-PVR from Dishnetwork sometime during the first quarter of 2003.
I've never seen HDnet so I can't help ya there, sorry.

 

[Roberto Carlo]

I don't have HDNET. But while Discovery HD theater is fun to watch, you should be aware that it has a very limited library and repeats same three-hour programming block eight times a day. I've only had it about 3 weeks and I'm already seeing the same block being repeated.

 

[Grady Hollums]

Please explain the three hour block three times a day.

Anyone have HDNet? Do they do this? Does HDNet have any showoff signals? Every time I have seen DiscoveryHD it is pure eye candy, and I would love to sit and look at it for around 1-3 days straight! Does HDNet have any of the eye candy? I know that Hockey is in HD, but it is just not as astounding as the nature scenes that I have seen on DiscoveryHD.

Thanks for the input, all of it is greatly appreciated.

Also, anyone know how much money I am looking at to be able to see HD on my TV? (i.e. satellite system) Thanks!

 

[Roberto Carlo]

Please explain the three hour block three times a day

For instance, last night between 8 and 11 pm, they showed a special on Hawaii (Extreme Hawaii), "Sacred Monuments of Asia" and "Alaskan Mummies," respectively. Then at 11 pm they repeated the cycle. They did this for 24 hours until tonight at 8 pm when a new three-hour block starts. Thus, the same one-hour program, e.g., "Extreme Hawaii," will be on 8 times in a 24-hour period.

The stuff can look spectacular. There's just not a lot of variety.

 

[Steve Schaffer]

I have DirecTV and get HDNet, HBOHD, and Showtime HD.

HDNet has a wider variety of different types of programming than Discovery HD.
In addition to sports and nature documentaries there are current news features dealing with Afghanistan, US/European relations regarding the Iraq situation. There are many documentaries on different subjects ranging from Steam Railroading to the Southern California Low Rider culture. Rock concerts with emerging groups as well as favorites like James Taylor. They carry the Rose Bowl Parade and New Orleans Mardi Gras. Last summer they broadcast a Fireworks show live from SF. They've run a travel series of half hour episodes touring virtually all of Europe that is so beautiful you feel as if you're actually there. There are also plenty of beauty pageants and a series on Bikini Destinations that can be of great interest. All of the above originates on HD video rather than film so it's all eye candy.

Their movie selection is somewhat lame, Rocky V, old Speed Racer cartoons, and some very small independent films that while being good little movies usually don't have the technical quality to show off the HD format.

There is some repetition but no more than on the typical non-HD cable channel of it's type.

HDNet is free with any basic DirecTV programming package. It can be relied upon for demo quality HD material about 90% of the time, only falling down a bit when showing one of those rare obscure independent movies, which have not been on much lately.

HDnet is owned by Mark Cuban, not some media conglomerate, and is solely dedicated to promoting HD television programming. They actually produced NBC's HD coverage of the Winter Olympics and have pioneered HD coverage of current events.

Special treat is when they run trailers for upcoming theatrical movie releases in HD. This was the best snippet of FOTR I've seen.

They do go dark between 1 am and 8 am Eastern, during which time DirecTV runs HD PPV.

 

[Grady Hollums]

That is all I needed to know about HDNet! That is great, because I really just wanted to make sure that they had some type of natural footage. I just think that where HD really shines is when they film naturally beautiful places.

Next someone needs to do a documentary in HD of Tornadoes! That would be great! Thanks for all the help in making my decision!

 

[Steve Tannehill]

According to an interview I heard on the local business news, Mark Cuban is planning three new HD channels, one for sports, one for movies, and one for entertainment programming. He said the channels will hopefully be on DirecTV and deals are in progress to make it available on cable. No word on whether or not the programming will be available on Dish Network, although you can email Mark Cuban and ask: [email protected] .
You can hear the interview at:
http://krld.com/content/mp3/10-30-02_nbn.mp3
- Steve