Sky Angel to Charge Lifetime Members?

[Dr. Shane]

This is what I read on another site. I am a lifetime member and am willing to support Sky Angel but have not heard anything about this from them even though I am on their email list. Anyone know anything?

Yes, it's true. Sky Angel plans to begin billing Lifelong Subscribers for the reception of the four ""Special Secular" channels: Fox News Channel, HGTV, Hallmark Channel, and Hallmark Movie Channel beginning May 1, 2007.

This comes after CEO Robert Johnson, Jr., realized that "the additional cost to Sky Angel to provide these special four channels just to our life long subscribers is more than $950,000 for 2007 and we simply are unable to absorb that cost."

If the life long subscriber wishes to continue receiving these special secular channels, the life long subscriber will be required to remit a monthly or annual fee to Sky Angel beginning May 1, 2007: $4.99/month or $49.88/year.

Furthermore, "in order to assure continued service without risk of interruption..." a form must be returned to Sky Angel with the following information "no later than April 15, 2007":

1. If you are currently using the service,

2. If you are the original purchaser of the Lifelong account,

3. Name, address and phone,

4. Your choice to continue receiving the "special secular" channels at the rate specified, above, and

5. Smart card and receiver serial number.

As a current lifelong subscriber, a few questions and thoughts come to mind:

* How long before all "basic channels" are replaced completely with "special secular" channels at an additional cost?

* When will we get our "33 TV & radio channels with programs that will edify, entertain and encourage your entire family." (http://www.skyangel.com/About/Index....rence=Overview&~=)

* There is no mention on Sky Angel's web site about regular subscribers receiving these "special secular" channels at an additional cost, so why lifelong subscribers?

* Will the 190,000+ lifelong subscribers lay down their $950,000 pocketbook for Sky Angel to take?

Sky Angel has plans in the months ahead to make changes to their programming "in an effort to improve your viewing pleasure." They further state that they "continue to negotiate with Echo Star for the return of the three channels...lost as a result of [their] transponder failure in April of last year..."

In a way, I'm sort of glad that I won't be receiving these "special secular" channels anymore, but some members of my family are not. My wife likes to watch Touched by an Angel and I enjoy Matlock (I have always been fond of Andy Griffith). Although I sometimes object to my kids watching Walker Texas Ranger, I guess there are worse programs they could be watching. Regardless of whether the channels are moral and worth watching, I don't feel it is fair to start charging lifelong subscribers for programming being received by regular subscribers. I guess the question that remains is, "Are regular subscribers going to be charged for these 'special secular' channels?" I may be a bit naive in saying this, but it looks to me like a class action law suit is in the works.

[Bravus]

Meh, with the possible exception of HGTV, I think you might agree with me that the subscribers would be better off without those channels.

[Bravus]

...and is it that regular subscribers don't even have access to these channels, only the 'lifelongs', and that's why the talk is only about charging the latter? Don't know enough to say, but that's what came to mind in reading the entirety of your post.

[Amelia]

I think Hallmark produces some wonderful movies.

[Dr. Shane]

OK, I found my unopened letter from Sky Angel. It is true. No big deal. I will send them a check for $50 and wish them the best. Even though I paid for a lifetime membership, I felt kind of like a freeloader anyway.

The monthly rate was $9.99 and when up to $14.99 when the secular channels were added. And so the lifetime members were really freeloading. Sky Angel doesn't have to pay the religious channels to rebroadcast their signals, nor do they change them. So the lifetime members getting those channels didn't really cost Sky Angel anything. However when any of us lifetime members tune into one of the secular channels, Sky Angel has to pay. So it is only fair. I hope the lawyers don't go after them too bad.

However to make it fair to the monthly subscribers, they should be able to drop the secular channels too and go back to the $9.99 rate.

[Liz]

I am a regular subscriber, and I get those channels. I didn't even know you could be a lifetime member. Was/Is it a one time charge thing? Oh, and they haven't said they are going up on our rates, but then we have been paying for them all along; or at least, ever since we have had Sky Angel we have had those channels.

Liz

[bevin]

This is the problem with "life-time guarantees" "life memberships" etc.

The life referred to is theirs, not yours :-)

It all depends on what their contract with you said when you bought the lifetime membership. At the time you were taking a risk, giving them money betting they would not go under. You took the bet, you deserve the payout.

So, the fundamental question is, are they keeping the terms of the contract.

/Bevin

[Dr. Shane]

Lifetime subscriptions were sold when they needed to raise money. They claim they will no longer offer them. When I wanted to buy one, they were no longer selling them. Then, for some reason, they needed a bunch of money toward the end of 2003 and offered the lifetime subscriptions again for $500. I jumped at the chance. I paid over the phone and never received a contract in the mail so I don't even know what the conditions are.

When they started having trouble with Echostar III, I wrote to them asking if the subscription was for my lifetime of the lifetime of the satellite. They responded by telling me it was for as long as Sky Angel offers direct satellite service in the United States. So, when Echostar III dies, if they replace it with another satellite, my lifetime subscription will still be honored.

I would think their lawyers would have reviewed everything before they decided to charge us lifetime members for the secular channels. I do believe there is something in there that says channels can be added and removed without notice. So I would think as long as they provide us lifetime members with some kind of basic service, they will be honoring our subscriptions. However that doesn't stop lawyers from suing them and running up legal bills.

[Kountzer]

I have reg dish, and sky angel. I have had the lifetime deal with skyangel since '99. The only secular channel I pay any attention to is fox news, and i can only watch but so much of that. Their news and opinions are too slanted toward the right.

I think the other 3 channels are hallmark, this, hallmark that, and something else. I rarely watch those channels. I mostly watch ksbn on the weekends and channel 9708. Thank goodness for the fta network set up.

[Dr. Shane]

I returned the form today. I watch FOXNews, which does have more conservative commentators on it but I like the balance they give by having a lot of liberal guests - plus I don't have a choice to watch CNN or MSNBC. My wife likes a lot of the movies on Hallmark although I wish SA would get something else in those slots like the Dove Movie Channel.

I don't think SafeTV is KSBN anymore. Those were their call letters as a local UHF channel and I think they gave them up because it was expensive and they got on a few satellites - but not AMC4.

[Bravus]

[Dr. Shane]

If one surfs the radical right-wing sites they find liberal-bias headlines from other news organizations. When Bush admitted that there were no WMDs in Iraq, I believe it was CNN the story address was something like cnn.com/hellfreezesover/index.html

This is the thing we have to grasp. There are various people that write those headlines. At most of the networks, only liberals get those positions. At FOXNews there are both liberals and conservatives that get those positions. So when the conservatives slant a headline a bit, the liberal idealogical sites all go crazy over it. However slanted headlines are not limited to FOXNews nor are all the headlines on FOXNews slanted.

Sky Angel carries FOXNews because in a survey of their subscribers, when asked which 24-hour news channel they wanted, the overwhelming majority answered FOXNews. Of course, many of the Sky Angel subscribers are conservative, evangelical Christians so they would want a news network they believe gives conservatives a fair shake. FOXNews certainly does that.