DirecTV announces second quarter 2009 results

[Scherrman]

I am thinking the reason there are so many cable subs out there yet is because of it's simplicity. You can have cable to every room and watch what ever you want right on your TV. I think a lot of people get confused with how satellite works. Even the people that have satellite are confuse. People alway change the input on there TV and think there is something wrong with the satellite. Once the generation of people who are not use to this technology pass, I believe satellite will reign over cable. Unless the cable companies do something to stay competitive. This is just my opinion.

 

[DodgerKing]

...or a ton of Cable and Satellite subscribers that Verizon FiOS TV and AT&T U-Verse will earn by offering better quality, value and service.

FiOS, definitely. U-Verse sucks. I would pick cable over U-Verse in most areas that offer both.

 

[DodgerKing]

uh oh, if you are not a D* fanboy you had better not post here.

No, If he cannot be honest and continues to make stuff up....

 

[rad]

I am thinking the reason there are so many cable subs out there yet is because of it's simplicity. You can have cable to every room and watch what ever you want right on your TV. I think a lot of people get confused with how satellite works. Even the people that have satellite are confuse. People alway change the input on there TV and think there is something wrong with the satellite. Once the generation of people who are not use to this technology pass, I believe satellite will reign over cable. Unless the cable companies do something to stay competitive. This is just my opinion.

IMHO, the simplicity is part of it. Someone coming here for info and looks at some of the D* threads, how do you get a SWM, how many cables to I need, how does on demand work? Same for E*, which dish do I need, what's a western and eastern arc, why do I need two dishes and what's this check switch thing folks keep telling others to do?

But there's also the cost factor on the up front charges, especially if looking for DVR's, HD or HD/DVR's. Folks with limited budgets look at how much they need to pay up front for hardware vs. cable which hit you up with the higher monthly rental fee (the old pay me now or pay me later). Maybe the sat companies should look into an option to spread out the advanced set top charges over the length of the commitment period or an 'easy payment' plan to help on the sticker shock.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

I am thinking the reason there are so many cable subs out there yet is because of it's simplicity. You can have cable to every room and watch what ever you want right on your TV. I think a lot of people get confused with how satellite works. Even the people that have satellite are confuse. People alway change the input on there TV and think there is something wrong with the satellite. Once the generation of people who are not use to this technology pass, I believe satellite will reign over cable. Unless the cable companies do something to stay competitive. This is just my opinion.

I agree.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

IMHO, the simplicity is part of it. Someone coming here for info and looks at some of the D* threads, how do you get a SWM, how many cables to I need, how does on demand work? Same for E*, which dish do I need, what's a western and eastern arc, why do I need two dishes and what's this check switch thing folks keep telling others to do?

But there's also the cost factor on the up front charges, especially if looking for DVR's, HD or HD/DVR's. Folks with limited budgets look at how much they need to pay up front for hardware vs. cable which hit you up with the higher monthly rental fee (the old pay me now or pay me later). Maybe the sat companies should look into an option to spread out the advances set top charges over the length of the commitment period or an 'easy payment' plan to help on the sticker shock.

Totally agree! If you want HD DVR, instead of Just paying $200 upfront for a HR2x,, give the customer the option to make 12 and 24 payments ,since 24 months is what you have to commit in order to even activate an HD DVR with D*
Even E* for that matter.

 

[DodgerKing]

I am thinking the reason there are so many cable subs out there yet is because of it's simplicity. You can have cable to every room and watch what ever you want right on your TV. I think a lot of people get confused with how satellite works. Even the people that have satellite are confuse. People alway change the input on there TV and think there is something wrong with the satellite. Once the generation of people who are not use to this technology pass, I believe satellite will reign over cable. Unless the cable companies do something to stay competitive. This is just my opinion.

I cannot tell you how many times my grandpa calls me to fix his TV because he changed the channel on the TV and cannot figure out why he is getting snow on all channels.

My wife has done the same from time to time.

My father-in-law was thinking of putting satellite up here (in our Mammoth townhouse). I told him it would not be a good idea since we rent it out as a vacation rental in the winter. The renters will no doubtingly screw something up by simply changing one setting on the TV. So the cheep arse no HD cable is the better full-time option for the place up here.

We do bring our DirecTV up for us when we come up though.

 

[dishrich]

I am thinking the reason there are so many cable subs out there yet is because of it's simplicity. You can have cable to every room and watch what ever you want right on your TV.

Except THAT'S changing now, too. If you have Comcast (who's the largest US cable co) they are in the process in many areas of digitizing ALL expanded basic channels, so that you now have to have some sort of box for ANYTHING above limited basic. While they are giving you 2 DTA's & 1 digital box in your pkg, if you want more than that, those added sets WILL cost you more monthly.

(the only exception is if you have a QAM TV, but that's ONLY if cc doesn't end up turning on the encryption on those DTA channels - plus the channel mappings are screwed up on QAM tuners as well)

It'll be interesting to see what happens in these areas as cc continues to roll out Project Calvery, & if subs flee to DBS, since it requires a box for each TV as well. (yea, I know about modulation, but most "normal" folks don't mess with that...)

 

[riffjim4069]

Honest question here. How much did you pay for those Tivo HD boxes?

I think I paid $600 for my first E* 622, $500 for the 2nd, and $250 for the 3rd. My TiVOHD cost $200 (new) and another $100 for adding a 500GB eSATA drive. Additionally, I am paying $10 a months for the Tivo service. Overall there's not a lot of difference between purchasing a ViP receiver or TiVO HD. However, the real value is the quality and value of the FiOS service...and having 122 unmolested HD channels in my local channel lineup ain't too shabby.

 

[riffjim4069]

FiOS, definitely. U-Verse sucks. I would pick cable over U-Verse in most areas that offer both.

I would certainly agree, but surprisingly U-Verse has a slight edge over FiOS TV in overall customer satisfaction. I can only assume the average schmoe is not as particular as many of us here at SatGuys.

 

[riffjim4069]

Fios will be winning.
Fios doesn't even cover a fraction of what D* does and they added 300,000 new customers last quarter alone. As the coverage gets larger D* and E* better look out.
As far as Better Quality goes, couldn't disagree more. Motorola makes good phones,and walkie talkies, But their HD DVRs are far from Quaility.
Fiber Optics, Sure , But I'd rather have it Running through any D* HR or E* VIP then Anything Motorola makes.
Customers Service, Sorry but I've had Verizon Internet and Phone for years, Customer service with Verizon is the worst I've ever seen. I'd rather talk to E* worst CSR any day of the week then the 9-5 guy from India.
Value ?? Programming and Pricing, Yes!
Fios would need a HD DVR that does record atleast 55 HD hours in order for me to even consider Fios.
But glad you like,and glad its working out for you.

I won't disagree, except the FiOS DVR (software) is better than the Cable boxes...and we've had TiVO HD which, surprisingly, is only slightly behind the Dish ViP series DVR. To be honest, while the 622/722 is faster and superior for watching live TV, the TiVO is 2nd to none when it comes to Season Pass and it has lots of bells and whistles I have come to love (Netflix, YouTube, etc.). Any comparison of FiOS TV needs to include the TivoHD as a viable option; the same goes for the Moxi HD.

 

[grydlok]

 

[Rey]

Totally agree! If you want HD DVR, instead of Just paying $200 upfront for a HR2x,, give the customer the option to make 12 and 24 payments ,since 24 months is what you have to commit in order to even activate an HD DVR with D*
Even E* for that matter.

:up:up:up