Meet the DIRECTV ENTERTAINMENT Pack

[DodgerKing]

No MLB and no RSNs = no choice for me.

I'll pass.

 

[DodgerKing]

Has anyone heard any information on the difference between Choice Extra and Choice Extra Classic?

Also, is HD now included in all packages at no extra costs?

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Here is more....

 

[DodgerKing]

The DodgerKing Package:

A&E HD
ABC Family HD
AMC HD
Animal Planet HD
Audience HD
Bravo HD
Comedy HD
Discovery HD
ESPN HD
ESPN 2 HD
FX HD
Food HD
Fox Business HD (only for 2 shows: Stossel and Napalitano)
HDNet
History HD
HGTV HD
MLB HD
NFL HD
Nat Geo HD
Planet Green HD
Science HD
Spike HD
TBS HD
TNT HD
TLC HD
Travel HD
USA HD
VH1 Classic - The only SD channel I will want and the only MTV channel I want
Velocity HD
WGN HD

My locals:
KCBS (CBS) HD
KNBC (NBC) HD
KTLA (CW) HD
KABC (ABC) HD
KCAL (Ind) HD
KTTV (Fox) HD
KCOP (MNT) HD
KCET (Ind) HD
KDOC (PBS) HD
KOCE (PBS) HD

FSNWest (RSN) HD
FSNPT (RSN) HD

42 channels is all I need and of these I probably only watch about 10 regularly

 

[DodgerKing]

Here is more....

The sports you want? All of the major sport? The only sport I want is the one not included and it is one of the major sports. I would trade all of the ESPNs for just my local RSNs and MLBNet.

 

[DodgerKing]

Does anyone know what they mean by "HD INCLUDED IN EVERY PACKAGE"? Does this mean that HD channels are available in each package or that HD is included at no extra cost?

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Has anyone heard any information on the difference between Choice Extra and Choice Extra Classic?

There is no mention of Choice Extra Classic, here are all the packages listed (besides the Entertainment package which I already posted.)

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Does anyone know what they mean by "HD INCLUDED IN EVERY PACKAGE"? Does this mean that HD channels are available in each package or that HD is included at no extra cost?

I am guessing that is for new customers only with a 24 month contract.

 

[DodgerKing]

Looking at the current Choice Extra and comparing to what you posted for the new lineup. The new Choice Extra will be missing the following channels that are currently on the current one:

BYU - 374
Boomerang - 298
CBS Sports - 613
Chiller - 257
Cloo - 308
GEB - 363
Golf - 218
INSP - 364
NHL - 215
Sprout - 295
Style - 235
Tennis - 217

I don't know if they will also drop these channels from the classic Choice Extra as well

 

[AIRLINE]

Thanks to Iceberg for putting toether the Excel spreadsheet. Just to let you know, Investigation Discovery--285 is not included in the current Select package as noted in your spreadsheet.

Since I pay for my Mother's DirecTV account, we had a talk in February 2011 as to what she watches most often on DirecTV (she likes to watch many of the old Jewish sitcoms on JLTV such as The Goldbergs, Jack Benny, Soupy Sales, etc., and enjoys Discovery, A&E, the various cable news channels, and the locals). After that talk, I downgraded her programming package from Choice Ultimate that I originally signed her up for in February 2010 to Select in February 2011. To me, $44.99 per month, plus tax on the leased receivers is reasonable. I also add the HD Extra Pack for free at the web site, and she receives a $10.00 credit for HD. She does not have DVR service. By changing her programming to Select, this has saved me money for the past year ($26.00 per month x 12 =$312.00) while fulfilling her programming commitment that expires this month.

I'm surprised nobody at SatelliteGuys caught this, but DirecTV made a few channel additions to the Select line-up over the summer.

Added were the following:
Animal Planet--253
ION (National Feed)--347
Lifetime Movie Network--253
Nick JR--301
Persuit--608
RFD TV--345

Spanish programming added:
Aqui--401
Enlace--448
HITN--449
Once Mexico--447
V-Me--440

Also, Baby First--293 was added (I think this was added to all packages), but requires a HD receiver, similar to NASA TV, Free Speech TV and some of the religious channels.

If your not a heavy sports watcher, the new Entertainment package competes very well with Dish, and in my local area, Time Warner Cable, AT&T U-Verse, and Verizon Fios Prime HD. Nice to see DirecTV eliminatng the HD fee, but not sure if that's going to come back to bite you in the HD/DVR access fee of $20.00. I see that at least initially, the second year discount has been downgraded from the current offer of $15.00 per month to $10.00 per month.

I'm assuming the Free HD has been a problem for DirecTV with resellers like Verizon, AT&T, etc that offer combined billing, and it appears DirecTV is now including HD in all packages going forward.

 

[DodgerKing]

This means that an additional HD DVR will now run $20/month? Are they doing the Dish thing and charging different rates for different types of receiver and getting rid of the flat additional receiver fee?

A TiVo is $5 more per month on top of the $20? Why would anyone pay extra to use an outdated piece of crap DVR just for the name? Heck, I would pay $20 more per month to not use a TiVo.

 

[whitewolf8214]

Scott is this pricing for new customers or new and current customers? ty for scott

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

New customers with 24 month commitment.

 

[whitewolf8214]

New customers with 24 month commitment.

ty scott that sucks we can only wish it was for everyone

 

[Mr Tony]

after looking at the packages Entertainment is Choice - sports (except ESPN & ESPN2)

 

[Mr Tony]

No MLB and no RSNs = no choice for me.

I'll pass.

RSN's were never going to be in it. Per post 1

it does not include specialty sports (Local RSNs) that are limited to coverage of specific teams

 

[Mr Tony]

Looking at the current Choice Extra and comparing to what you posted for the new lineup. The new Choice Extra will be missing the following channels that are currently on the current one:

BYU - 374
Boomerang - 298
CBS Sports - 613
Chiller - 257
Cloo - 308
GEB - 363
Golf - 218
INSP - 364
NHL - 215
Sprout - 295
Style - 235
Tennis - 217

I don't know if they will also drop these channels from the classic Choice Extra as well

hope not. I'll be pissed if I lose CBS Sports and NHL Net

Also those religious channels are in all packages so they may not show in the list but will be

 

[Mr Tony]

Thanks to Iceberg for putting toether the Excel spreadsheet. Just to let you know, Investigation Discovery--285 is not included in the current Select package as noted in your spreadsheet.

whoops. Sorry

I'm surprised nobody at SatelliteGuys caught this, but DirecTV made a few channel additions to the Select line-up over the summer.

Added were the following:
Animal Planet--253
ION (National Feed)--347
Lifetime Movie Network--253
Nick JR--301
Persuit--608
RFD TV--345

the issue is that everything I found online hasnt been updated since July 2011 so we rely on folks letting us know. Thanks for letting us know

 

[Mr Tony]

This means that an additional HD DVR will now run $20/month? Are they doing the Dish thing and charging different rates for different types of receiver and getting rid of the flat additional receiver fee?

no.
I think what they're doing is rolling the HD fee and MRV into that. If you look at the 1st post about the price changes
http://www.satelliteguys.us/directv-forum/274451-new-directv-prices.html

they rename a bunch of crap. I think the only non programming change we current subs see is $1 more on DVR

 

[Jimbo]

no.
I think what they're doing is rolling the HD fee and MRV into that. If you look at the 1st post about the price changes
http://www.satelliteguys.us/directv-forum/274451-new-directv-prices.html

they rename a bunch of crap. I think the only non programming change we current subs see is $1 more on DVR

They better not roll the MRV into the package, not everyone with DVR's have MRV.