Seems it's not such a good idea to upgrade my cable subscription with Dish network since it's not likely they'll be offering new HD channels. It seems a brand new KU-band satellite failed to reach its desired orbit after launching from Kazakhstan on Friday. The AMC-14 satellite -- owned by SES Americom and under contract to EchoStar Corp., which provides satellite capacity for the Dish Network service -- launched normally from the Baikonur Cosmodrome aboard a Proton rocket. But the Lockheed Martin-built satellite failed to reach its planned orbit, according to a statement from launch vendor International Launch Services. ILS said both it and a Russian state commission began investigating the launch failure, and it will release details when data become available.

Regardless of the reason for the launch failure, the loss of AMC-14 casts significant doubt on Dish Network's plan to expand from its existing 50-odd HD channels to 70-100 in order to better compete with DirecTV, Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett said. In a research note to investors, Moffett declared that the competitiveness of Dish's HD offering has "suffered a major blow."Now how are we to decide what channel to switch to if the satellite decides to take a walk in space?

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