Digital cable vs satellite…….On March 14, 2008, a Proton launch vehicle carrying the SES Americom AMC-14 satellite experienced an anomaly which left the satellite in a lower orbit than planned and temporarily taking Dish Networks HD plans with it.  While further testing will no doubt be necessary, the satellite appears to be functional. Engineers from SES Americom and Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of the satellite, are exploring options to bring AMC-14 into its proper orbit.  If those efforts work, station keeping fuel would be required to correct the orbit, so the service life of the satellite would be substantially reduced.

Dish Network says that they intended to lease the entire capacity of the satellite from EchoStar Corporation in order to, among other things, increase the number of high definition channels they offer.  Therefore, the launch anomaly will result in a delay in their roll out of some high definition channels, including some local network channels.

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