DISH Network’s Programming Packages and Deals

Don’t insist on totally mute time while watching television as a family. Of course, one family member might insist on total quiet, but that is really not healthy. Allow family members to express emotions at what they are watching. If they get carried away, tell them politely to stop. Do not leave the room if the family member insists on acting up. Ask them what it is that they are watching that is making them act out.

Each family member could have a favorite show that they insist on watching. Let them post it and the time and station on the refrigerator door. Each family member can have one must see show. As parent or guardian, you can post the times when certain shows are being aired. Family members can choose to watch the program or not. In families with more than one television that might not be such an important protocol to keeping everyone happy. Read more on our blog.

Why Echostar & Dish TV Have Multiple Satellites in Space – How You Benefit

The tiny satellite antenna sitting on your rooftop isn’t just pointing out into empty space. High above the Earth, about 22,000 miles up, is a system of satellites that are rebroadcasting signals sent to them from stations back here on Earth. There isn’t just one of those satellites up there, either, and that’s a good thing for viewers down on terra firma.

Where’s the Dish Pointing and Why?

In the United States, most Dish Network subscribers have their satellite receiver dishes pointed at a spot 119-degrees west of the prime meridian, about at the longitude of California, Oregon and Washington, and directly above the Earth’s equator. That’s where EchoStar, the Dish Network’s former parent company, has the two satellites that carry most of Dish Network’s programming parked. But, they aren’t the only satellites the Dish Network uses to bring the movies, TV, sports and music you love into your home.

What’s Going On Up There?

Dish Network uses a fleet of satellites in space at different locations, all of which are actually owned, maintained and operated by EchoStar. EchoStar flies a fleet of about 16 satellites, known in space circles as a “constellation,” and the actual satellites in use at any given time can change depending on technical demands. What doesn’t change is where those satellites have to be in order for the antennas back on Earth to pick up the signals they’re sending.

The two primary satellites that carry most of Dish Network’s programming are so close together the rooftop antenna on your home never has to move in order to receive their signals. It used to be that if you want some of the premium services Dish offers, you’d need a second antenna. New developments in satellite receiver antennas, however, has changed that.

Many Satellites, One Antenna

The EchoStar communications satellites can only carry so much information before they run out of room. That why, besides the two primary transmitting satellites that carry most of the programming, Dish Network also uses secondary satellites to send out its HDTV broadcast signals, data signals, Spanish language television and international programming.

These satellites are at wider longitudes than the two primary satellites, but thanks to Dish Network’s advances in antenna technology, in most cases only one rooftop antenna is required to bring everything Dish Network has to offer into its customers’ living rooms. And, making most homeowners very happy, they’ve managed to make this leap forward in TV viewing without having to grow the size of the dishes that now dot so many homes around the world.