So Shaw takes over EVue!!..What if??

[mwin1]

Well with all this talk going on about mergers, Bell buying *C..Etc...heres my two cents worth!

If I was the CEO of BCE i would definately want to divest the Bell empire of their sat subsiduary as it is not a money making enterprise and probably never will be. However the wonderful point for Bell in all this is that with all their recent aquisitions in the realm of programming they surely can earn great dividends by having someone else deliver their "product" and in this case it would be *C who would asume all the risk and Bell would reap the benefits. Makes sense to me.

What do you guys think??

[**DONOTDELETE**]

This would give Shaw a monopoly on TV service in most of Western Canada, while Bell buying StarChoice would ensure there is competition across the country.

In short, this isn't likely to fly.

[Ranger_Gord]

My take on it is that if BCE & Shaw were smart, they would be talking merger or joint transponder operation now before NIMIQ2 is launched. For certainly one of the big savings leading to profitability of the Dish/DirecTv merger is an end to redundant transponders.

from BCE prospective

F2 + F3 are going to be launched whether there is Canadian DTH or not

By having all Canadian programming on F1, F2 + F3, NIMIQ2 can stay on the ground and be launched when Dish/DirecTv need a new Conus satellite

So Nagravision bought into Echostar to ensure survival after the merger. So what - it ain't secure. So even after the combo boxes ( designed & mfg by third parties such as Thomson) are deployed, the issue is still not solved. But this means an end to all Echostar Nagravision only product

If BCE launches NIMIQ2, the issue of hardware changes for existing subs still exists. Why not do a one time changeover to tri LNBF/dish to receive all F series satellites.

As Nagravision learned in their failed attempt to enter the US cable box market, DCII is not going away. Cable companies in US & Canada receive the satellite signals at their head ends in DCII format. Why would they go through the expense and hassle reprocessing the signal to deliver to the set top in a different format? - it makes no sense, just expense for them.

As for BCE using other secure systems besides DCII - why, the real savings is in the halt of redundant transponders. Plus there is no low cost consumer Tandberg receiver, plus Scienific Atlanta has stopped developing Powervu as they understand that cable companies want to use only 1 format from satellite uplink to consumers' STB's

from Shaw prospective

Cancom is not going away, it's a profitable business. Shaw has not either shown the desire, or else been prepared to pay the cost of an effective ongoing marketing campaign. Their new sub market share is dropping. If the Canadian DTH market is approaching maturity, Shaw will have all this money tied up in a break even enterprise. To me 50% of $50M or $100M profit is better than 100% of a 10M profit.

[Gord]

If Shaw went expressVu I personally would go grey.

I will NOT buy GI/Mot hardware, because of the guide.
Why does the channel maps need to be "rehit" my father has to have this done 3-4 times a year. Why does it lose channels every now and then?
And Mot refuses to fix how thier guide lands on the wrong channel at the wrong time, did they not settle this issue with gemstar.

Also the reason I went with expressvu is the 18" as the dish has to mounted where it is seen from the front of my house. A 20" would still work but the eliptical is a no no in my book.

I have nothing against Starchoice but they are not for me. And that is my main point I now have a choice of 3, if the two merged and stayed with GI hardware then it would be sat or COGECO (who's guide has advertisements in it) and I would purchase a US system.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Gord

The guide is not Motorola's problem it is software that is copywrited by Gemstar.
SC had a good guide using Gemstar, but Gemstar than held SC ransom wanting a huge royalty for using their software.
SC made the business decision to drop Gemstar thus saving many millions in royalties.
I think they can do a better job of the revamped format and there is talk that the Gemstar issue is being resovled so hopefully SC subs will see a return to a better guide.
But like someone else said, I don't watch the guide much anyway.
Even BEV customer's will need to upgrade to an Edish when the go dual sat, so unless you have no interest in HDTV or other specialty services your dish will change in the future.
If the merger happened , as other poster's mentioned, Motorola and F1/F2/F3 is the only real choice for Canadian DTH.

[ClassicSat]

Solution:
Base the satellite boxes on the same user interface technology that the cable boxes work on.

[I_M_Norm_Al]

Gemstar has started action against Echostar & Scientific Atlanta on the same issue.

Re Motorola and the others who have settled: it's not just a matter of settling the case, Gemstar wants $10/month US as licence fee. Who is going to pay that for a guide to land on the right channel/time? No one so far.

[I_M_Norm_Al]

If there is going to be ultimately 1 platform, I would prefer Cancom signals which have a maximum of 8 signals/transponders as opposed to the Nagravision crowd who load up to 14/transponder.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Question: Does the picture still pixelate when you change channels on SC? That turned me off.

You guys that think SC/DCII is secure you are mistaken. I have a friend who was in a store in Edmonton once buying a RCA box and was offered a SC system that had some
chip swapped out that gave all channels. I didn't see it for my own eyes so i can't confirm.

I say merge Both companies use a secure system and only offer 20 HDTV channels and nothing else. /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

[Sow_Man]

In the past, it was usually the programmers, facing lost revenue, who demanded change. That was certainly the case, when the VC II was cracked. I bet the paying sub numbers dropped to around 10%. HBO/Showtime etc demanded that GI do something or methodology would be changed. However, even with such a large break, it was estimated that cable leakage was a much bigger problem in terms of total dollars lost.

I too have heard stories of a DC II break, but never seen it. With over 800,000 4DTV boxes plus all the Motorola digital cable boxes and some Scientic Atlanta boxes in use, in addition to 700,000 SC; I doubt that it is practical.

If it does happen, Motorola can bring back the VC II+. Then you'll have your 1 signal/transponder Northof60 - it just won't be HD, but then again it won't be compressed at all

[**DONOTDELETE**]

More like 100,000-120,000 4DTV receivers

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I have a SC 305 box and the *C giude is not great, but I really don't spend more than a minute looking at it so it's not an issue. As I have DirecTV also, I know what a good guide looks like and BEV doesn't have it either.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

P.S. Never heard of a cracked SC box ever. Been offered BEV twice this past year.

[Sow_Man]

I stand corrected. The 800,000 is VCII+ subscriptions. I don't think that Motorola has converted 20% yet , so you are right on Sat_Phreak

[Filthy]

The picture in guide IPG for the Evu 3100 and 5100 are pretty nice!

[Shadedmuse]

Why do people like to dwell on the Negative where they are insisting one of the Sat companys will be history. No one wants this because if it did happend prices would shoot go sky high and service down hill.

[snoman]

DCII like VCII+ (VCRS) can be hacked but the algorythm changes very frequently so even if you hack it , it will scramble again within hours that's why hackers don't bother with DCII or VCII+, the encryption keys constantly change unlike Nagravision BEV/Dishnet use which stays the same.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>

Even BEV customer's will need to upgrade to an Edish when the go dual sat, so unless you have no interest in HDTV or other specialty services your dish will change in the future.

<hr></blockquote>

Actually, no. The dual sat-dish Echostar uses and Bell says they'll be using (unless things change), is a 20-inch almost-round dish of the same shape as the 18-inch one.

Here's a small picture of it.

http://www.dishnetwork.com/images/offers/dish500upgradeBox.gif

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Most VC2+ and DC2 channels only change keys once a month. The channels that use old VC2 will change keys up to 6 times day.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Ok. Let see if Shaw was to buy BEV,how would this effect BEV subs.Would they:
1. Not drop anything BEV carring-(ie NHL Centre ICE,NewsPluse 24,Scream,DrivinClasics,etc.) has which SC is not carring.
2. Would trade receiver for receiver and not program credits-ie Bev 6000 for D201+Top of the line SC receiver.
3. For those who have a 5100 would be allowed either to choose a D201+ top SC receiver or Top SC receiver+basic SC receiver.

If the Shaw answer is NO to any of these questions,then I would not support a buy out.

Sorry but thats just the way I feel.Its not that I'm being STUBERN on this,its just thats the way I am.



PEACE UP TOM /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

[Satellite_Expert]

But the bottom line is that the LNBF configuration must be changed for dual sat operation - and guess who will be for paying for the hardware upgrades? I can assure that it is not going to be company who just posted a $700 M loss in the last quarter and the one that will have a $750 M amortization charge after NIMIQ 2 is launched.