Wow...just wow. I thought this was already policy as well. It doesn't impact me but if I was one of those subs from the 90s who have been loyally paying for the ST without a base package requirement, I'd be pissed.
I guess from their viewpoint they are subsidizing the actual cost of ST so it's not too much to ask that a customer subscribe to something that has a profit margin.
From a customers viewpoint... It's yet another kick in the nuts. This from the prospective of someone just reading the lease fee upgrade thread. I'm amazed by two things. For starters, that DTV and the NFL haven't gotten sued to death over their monopoly. I wish that while Arlen Spector was going after the NFL for the Comcast/NFLN thing, he'd broaden it and threaten their anti-trust exception over both NFLN and ST. (I'm still amazed that despite being found guilty of being a monopoly in the USFL ruling that they still are allowed to make anti-consumer agreements.) We've all seen what has gone on pricewise with the MLB EI package. If the NFL was forced to deal with the CableCos, I doubt we'd be seeing double digit % increases over the span of 2 years.
Second, I'm amazed that DTV hasn't been sued to death over "lease upgrade fees" that get you nothing in the end. With Liberty in charge now I highly doubt we'll get any leeway in this anti-consumer policy but with HD being their bread and butter now wouldn't it make sense to handle it like the DVR fees? The first HD-DVR is free with additional units $150 a piece. Forget the upgrade fees on everything else all together. When I joined almost 2 years ago the front line CSR was able to give me a R15 and H20 at no charge. What infuriated me at the time of upgrading to the HR-20 (within days of it coming out) was the fact that besides having to pay $300, they demanded the H20 back and said I'd have to either pay the lease fee monthly or pay the $99 fee to get it back when we added a HDTV.
Of course as we all know DTV has by far the best lineup. We looked at moving to Comcast last year and had both services last August. It's amazing how much better the HR20 is compared to the crap Comcast gives out. Of course your level of tech knowledge will dictate which one you like better...C seems geared towards the technologically challenged while anyone with an ounce of knowledge would pick the HR20. Anyways, I just wanted to make clear that this was not an anti DirecTV service rant as much as an anti DTV policy rant.
