31 October 2007

Official Newsletter from KyLinTV

Dear Subscribers,

Recognizing November is the thankful month of the year, this month KyLinTV brings you several heart-felt dramas, a special "Thanksgiving Day Spotlight" and a new popular TV channel. We hope that you and your family will share the Thanksgiving holiday with KyLinTV!

In November, KyLinTV presents:

* Sky Link TV Premium Channel (NEW!): Based on the west coast, Sky Link TV delivers the latest, highest quality and most in-demand Asian dramas and local and international news as well as cultural programs to best serve the Chinese population living in America. The channel will also launch its own call-in talk show this month called "Sky Link Live Call-In."

The price for Sky Link TV Premium Channel is $3.99/month. KyLinTV will offer a special 2-week FREE preview from November 1st to November 15th for all KyLinTV subscribers. Early birds who order this channel before November 15th will also receive an extra 2-month FREE viewing of Sky Link TV! ORDER NOW so you can watch this great channel for free. To order Sky Link TV Premium Channel, please go to My Account on the Set-Top-Box or call 1-877-888-8598 and press 1.

* Sky Link VOD Theater: This new spotlight consists of the greatest hit dramas from mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea. This month's selection includes the historical drama Qiao's Grand Courtyard, idol drama Green Forest, My Home and the Taiwan-Korea co-production of Scent of Love. KyLinTV will also offer a special 2-week FREE preview for all KyLinTV subscribers from November 1st to November 15th.

* November Blockbusters: This month's blockbusters feature two sensational TV dramas (Women`s Worries and The Bottom Line) exploring men and women's relationships and one period drama (The Detective Di Renjie) relating to a famous magistrate in Chinese history. Both Women`s Worries and The Detective Di Renjie will be broadcast FREE on the Yangtse and Kunlun Drama channel.

* Thanksgiving Celebration - A Collection of Chinese Food: This spotlight delivers a variety of cooking methods covering a number of traditional Chinese cuisines, which will help you to prepare for a Chinese-theme Thanksgiving Day dinner. Refreshing appetizers, home-made soups, gourmet treats and savory fruit salads create a Thanksgiving feast for your family.

* A Grateful Heart--Thanksgiving Day Special: This spotlight includes Where is Happiness, a 2007 smashing hit TV drama about a conflict between love and marriage, an enchanting city romance TV series Love in Paris, a funny light-hearted drama The Capture Of Yokomiti Yasuroku, a big-budget animated TV series Legend of Seven Animal Heroes and a variety program titled Celebrity Family, which reveals personal family stories of your favorite celebrity stars.

* KyLinTV will continue to extend its FREE OFFER of Phoenix Premium Channel Package: Phoenix InfoNews, Phoenix North America, and ATV until the end of November. You can also watch the final competition of 2007 Miss Chinese Cosmos Beauty Pageant on November 3rd on Phoenix America or in the spotlight.

KyLinTV looks forward to bringing you the best Chinese TV programs. We will be offering more holiday surprises and specials for you this December. So please stay tuned for more exciting programs very soon!

KyLinTV wishes you HAPPY THANKSGIVING. If you have any questions, please contact us at 877-888-8598.

Sincerely,

KyLinTV Inc.

05 October 2007

Mainland Channel Service Update

I spoke with KyLinTV today and asked about the Mainland channels coming back. I was told by a representative that the holdup is with the Mainland Chinese government restructuring the way channels are censored through before being sent out internationally. Contracts are already in place between KyLinTV and the TV stations in China. However, the government must now approve the changes that have been made and ensure full compliance regarding the censorship and processing methods.

I have no idea who to contact in China to get their side of the story so please keep in mind that this is only KyLin's version and it cannot be confirmed as of now. If any one has contacts that may be helpful please let me know.

The problem still remains that customers don't have service.

I wonder why DirectTV and Dish Network and FTA (Free to Air) stations are not having similar issues?

I at least give KyLin credit for providing good phone customer support and taking the time to explain what their side of the story is. I must say that I have always had positive experiences when dealing with their customer support. Mistakes are sometimes made but they are eager to correct them and always helpful.

04 October 2007

KyLinTV... Seems like they are going down :-(

Mainland Channel Outage

Well, anyone with KyLinTV service has likely been concerned over the past several months. With every passing day things drag on and nothing happens. KyLinTV doesn't update us and progress seems to be really, really slow.

Service for all the Mainland channels has been out since the middle of the Summer. Only Video-On-Demand (Cost extra) and all the channels KyLinTV should be paying me to watch are available.

Lack of Updates

The service update informing customers that KyLinTV is working to resolve the problem is far outdated and not very informative. It states that Summer is almost over and soon September will be here. Well, it is October now and no new news.

Deceptive Sales

Of course, on their website there are no user forums, outage information, updates or warnings to new customers that they are going down the tubes. Really, wrong of them in my opinion to not warn customers and not take care of current customers. How hard is it to type a message and broadcast it?

Oddly, KyLinTV does advertise the Mainland channels are part of their service. At best this is deceptive. At worst it is a matter for the FTC.

It is unfortunate that things have come to this. Maybe the outage is not the fault of KyLinTV but they need to take care of us customers and be completely honest with new ones.

They Were Trying, Not Anymore

Now, let me give KyLinTV a little credit. They are providing some really crappy programming for free via Video-On-Demand. Crappy is an understatement, it is so bad I can't explain it. Phoenix North America Channels for free, not very interesting, especially for people interested in Mainland issues. And some of the absolute worst "live" programming available. I know they are trying but this isn't working anymore.

Political Issues

I don't know who is to blame for the outage. KyLinTV or Mainland TV programmers. Either way here is the deal.

Right now ALL I get is a Taiwanese viewpoint. By holding up the Mainland perspective and programming there is an interesting thing happening. KyLinTV subscribers are getting one side of the story about back home. They get the Taiwan/American slant on everything. Often, the viewpoint is so slanted it is amusing.

So here is my question and stay with me here. Is KyLinTV a purposely refusing to air Mainland programming? Is this a pro-Taiwan / anti-Mainland China action? Is political influence being exerted by the American or Taiwanese governments?

It is just a curious situation and something worth thinking about. I am not saying there is a conspiracy or anything but without any explanation from either KyLinTV or the Mainland we are are left in a mystery. I wish one side would come out and force the other's hand in providing an explanation.

Competition Coming?

Anyhow, why doesn't China Telecom start sending IPTV boxes overseas and providing Mainland service to overseas markets? I mean the debut in several cities over the past year or so has already taken place in the Mainland. Hmm... maybe that is what is happening. Maybe KyLinTV is going to be forced out of the market by emerging services from major providers.

KyLinTV, Still Not a Player

Well, either way KyLinTV doesn't seem to be ready for the "big-time" yet. They were the first to come and it is looking like they may be the first to go as well. They intermittent service, lack of updates and complete halt of innovation all signal bad things to come in my opinion.