BEST AND WORST OF TVRO/CABLE/DBS in 2002 (compiled from readers submissions in the various TVRO newsgroups and mailing lists - email addresses removed to try to avoid spam) --------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Vidiot Best things: 1) Another network went digital - 20th Century Fox. This was good because it gets rid of the sparklie problems and improves sound quality. But, see the Worst things list :-) 2) UPN finally went from 4:2:0 digital to 4:2:2 digital. 4:2:0 digital is the inferior DVB trnsmission scheme, especially for a "major" network. Again, see the Worst things list. 3) We didn't lose any active birds. Scares, yes, failures, no. Worst things: 1) While the #1 and #2 Best things are an improvement for sat delivery of programming, the cost to hobbyists has kept many from receiving these feeds. Since Viacom now controls UPN, UPN was added to the CBS DCII stream, resulting in a more expensive purchase and the addition of yet another receiver. 2) 20th Century Fox went 8VSB, keeping even more hobbyists from receiving the digital signal, as it is the most expensive of the 4:2:2 receivers. 3) While no sparklies is good, because of digital, digital and audio freezes resulting from, usually, aircraft sucks. MB --------------------------------------------------------------------- From Rod Hewitt I designate Hans' DVBViewer and his 4:2:2 decoding on the PC as best of 2002. I'm sure that's had a huge impact on real dishheads! Cheers, Rod --------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Dishnut-P Best Galaxy 3C being launched and put into service. HBO/Cinemax anouncing will keep a analog presence, and be will be moving 4 channels to AMC-4 in the beginning of 2003. Paramount syndicated feeds return to analog on Telstar 6. Classic Sports starting a service in analog for the backyard TVRO owners. Worst GoodLife Tv leaving analog going digital Hallmark leaving analog going digital News One leaving analog on Telstar 5-8C going digital and also to a feeds on demand server system. The passing of Robert "Tracker Bob" Stubbs due to heart attack The passing of Bill Turner of TurnerVision & Wisdom TV due to cancer Wisdom Television turning off the analog signal and going to encrypted digital. Deutsche Welle leaving analog on AMC-1. Playboy TV leaving analog. The passing of Henry Taylor Howard due to a plane crash. The continued C-Band subscriber downfall. --------------------------------------------------------------------- From Robert Smathers: BEST C-BAND MOVE OF 2002: Paramount syndication going back into analog format. It makes things much easier to schedule feed reception in my sat shack when I can use analog receivers instead of maxing out every digital receiver that I have. WORST FAILED MERGER OF 2002: DSS and DISH Network. I was hoping I could get a little bit of the best of both DBS services as one with regards to my sports PPV package costs. BEST NEW CHANNEL ANNOUNCEMENT OF 2002: TNT Plus. A very interesting concept of AOL-Time Warner to try to recoup sports programming fee costs but it might end up backfiring on them due to low expected cable carriage and loss of advertising revenue from lower numbers of viewers to their sports telecasts. MOST CONTROVERSIAL CHANNEL OF 2002: YES Network BEST SATELLITE LAUNCH OF 2002: NIMIQ-2 - finally a satellite with Ka-band capability is in orbit and soon hobbyists can start experimenting with Ka-band transmission reception BEST DBS NEWS OF 2002: DISH Network acquiring rights to carry NHL Center Ice and NBA League Pass packages; gives hope that maybe MLB will also be carried on DISH Network when the contract comes up for renewal for Extra Innings PPV. The NFL decided to keep things status-quo with their Sunday Ticket PPV package and give DirecTV five more years of DBS exclusivity. BEST EVENTS COVERED WITH C-BAND OR KU-BAND FEEDS in 2002: (tie) The 2002 mid-term elections and the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City