Directv pricing.....1997 version

[Mr Tony]

Here is a blast from the past. Was having fun on "the way back machine" and checked out pricing for Directv for 1997. Now for the folks who don't know, there were TWO providers for "DSS"

Directv had most of the channels, Encore and Starz
USSB had the movie channels and Viacom channels (D* bought out USSB in 98 for the Viacom channels and the rest in 99 I think). USSB was based in Minneapolis (Hubbard Broadcasting)

So in reality you could have 2 bills a month or if you wanted just the movie channels you could get them with no other packages (ahh choices)
of course the equipment was still pretty expensive

So here are the packages that you could get with Directv and USSB circa July 1997. If a channel was renamed or changed, I noted that too

Directv pricing
PLUS DIRECTV 14.99
AMERICAS HEALTH (FIT TV)
ANIMAL PLANET
BLOOMBERG
CHANNEL EARTH (DEFUNCT)
CMT
CNN INERNATIONAL (NOT CARRIED)
COURT TV (TRUTV)
C-SPAN2
DISNEY EAST OR WEST
HGTV
HSN
MSNBC
MUSIC CHOICE
OUT OF MARKET RSN
SCI-FI
TCM
TV FOOD NETWORK (FOOD)


SELECT CHOICE 19.99
A&E
AMERICAS HEALTH (FIT TV)
BET
BLOOMBERG
CARTOON
CMT
CNBC
CNN
COURT TV (TRUTV)
C-SPAN
C-SPAN2
DISCOVERY
E!
ESPN
ESPN2
FAMILY CHANNEL (ABC FAMILY)
HEADLINE NEWS
HGTV
HISTORY
HSN
MSNBC
MUCHMUSIC (FUSE)
MUSIC CHOICE 5 SAMPLER
QVC
SCI-FI
TBS
TLC
TNN (SPIKETV)
TNT
USA
WEATHER

TOTAL CHOICE 29.99
SELECT CHOICE +
AMC
ANIMAL PLANET
BRAVO
CHANNEL EARTH (DEFUNCT)
CNN INERNATIONAL (NOT CARRIED)
DISNEY
FOX NEWS
LOCAL RSN
MUSIC CHOICE (ALL 31 CHANNELS)
NEWSWORLD INT (CURRENT)
TBN
TCM
TRIO (SLEUTH)
TV FOOD NETWORK (FOOD)
WGN

PLUS ENCORE 33.99
TOTAL CHOICE + 8 CHANNEL ENCORE

TOTAL CHOICE SILVER 39.99
TOTAL CHOICE + 8 CHANNEL ENCORE + IFC + ROMANCE CLASSICS + 4 STARZ

TOTAL CHOICE GOLD 39.99
TOTAL CHOICE +
CLASSIC SPORTS (ESPN CLASSIC)
GOLF CHANNEL
NEWSPORT (DEFUNCT)
OUT OF MARKET RSN
OUTDOOR LIFE (VS)
SPEEDVISION (SPEED)

PLATINUM 47.99
ALL CHANNELS AVAILABLE


USSB pricing
BASICS 7.95
MTV
MTV2
VH1
NICKELODEON
TV LAND
COMEDY CENTRAL
LIFETIME
ALL NEWS (DEFUNCT)

SUNDANCE 8.95

SELECT 1 10.95
5 HBO
4 SHOWTIME + FLIX
3 CINEMAX
2 MOVIE CHANNEL

SELECT 2 19.95
SELECT 2 MOVIE PACKAGES

HBO PLUS 24.95
HBO, 2 HBO FAMILY, 3 CINEMAX & BASICS

SHOWTIME PLUS 24.95
SHOWTIME, MOVIE CHANNEL, FLIX, BASICS

USSB ENTERTAINMENT PLUS 34.95

ALL CHANNELS (HBO, CINEMAX, MOVIE CHANNELS, HBO FAMILY, FLIX, SUNDANCE, BASICS)

TV LAND & MTV2 ARE IN ALL PACKAGES

I've also attached a spreadsheet for the D* part


So in all honesty for under $30 I could have what I want on TV (Select Choice and the basics)....during baseball season I'd go to Choice for the RSN

Enjoy!

 

[satjay]

Wow Platnium at $47.00! What a deal

 

[Carroll A]

WOW!!! Now that was a blast from the past... I signed up with D* in April of 98 just a few months before D* combined both services. I paid 50 bucks for the RCVR and buddy of mine did the install... Had D* Til March of 00 when I went with E*. I had everything from the D* side as well as everything from the USSB side till it was merged... CC

 

[Mr Tony]

Wow Platnium at $47.00! What a deal

but now remember...unless you wanted Starz you would need to get a package from USSB for the other movie channels

but yeah $40 for Choice + the sports package...damn

 

[stonecold]

So I see we still have the same 3 channels of cinemax that we did back in 1997.

 

[FlyingJ]

Hey Ice...If I remember correctly, that first box I had circa 1994...I think it was something like $600 bucks. One feed...no DVR (of course).
What I remember best was the call canceling my cable service. That was a great day!

 

[dfergie]

I'd forgot about the All News Channel... have to see if I still have my old receiver boxes in storage to see what paperwork is in same

 

[lern4483]

I remember this very well. Two separate bills.

I was so excited to get my RCA Direct receiver. No dvrs back in the day.
I do remember it being earlier than 1997.

I also had a Sony(direct) receiver. Its was a cool little unit. Guide was green if i remember correctly.

I also remember that was the day I was switching back and fourth from Direc to dish because one had
local channels the other did not.

I think Dish network had locals first?

I was living in New York city and put a dish on the roof.
Im pretty sure I was not allowed to do it but they never said a word..

 

[lern4483]

I dont remember ''channel earth''? what was that? discovery like channel?

 

[cave1376]

I got my first Directv system from Wally World (Wal Mart) in July 98. It consisted of a RCA rcvr, remote, 18" dish, single output lnb and a self install kit. I bought everything for $200. It took me about 2 hours to install everything and only a few minutes to aim the dish. It was for my tv in my room, the rest of the house had T.W. cable. I subscribed to both Directv and USSB. The D* picture and sound was and still is better than what's on cable. After I got my D* system, friends and family of mine asked me if I would help them with their D* install. Many of them still have D* and have upgraded their systems over the years. I still have the RCA rcvr collecting dust in the garage, everything else is gone.

 

[dfergie]

I got my first Directv system from Wally World (Wal Mart) in July 98. It consisted of a RCA rcvr, remote, 18" dish, single output lnb and a self install kit. I bought everything for $200. It took me about 2 hours to install everything and only a few minutes to aim the dish. It was for my tv in my room, the rest of the house had T.W. cable. I subscribed to both Directv and USSB. The D* picture and sound was and still is better than what's on cable. After I got my D* system, friends and family of mine asked me if I would help them with their D* install. Many of them still have D* and have upgraded their systems over the years. I still have the RCA rcvr collecting dust in the garage, everything else is gone.

Bought mine in 96 from a local telcom with the install kit, still have the old RCA remote in my bedroom somewhere as well as the receivers... if it hadn't gotten cold today I would see if they still worked.

 

[satjay]

While I dont remember my first box by model number. I think it was a RCA, black plain and in the late 90's Though it must have been after everything was "one" company as I paid Directv only one bill

 

[Mr Tony]

Hey Ice...If I remember correctly, that first box I had circa 1994...I think it was something like $600 bucks. One feed...no DVR (of course).
What I remember best was the call canceling my cable service. That was a great day!

First receivers were 799 for a 18" dish, receiver and single LNB
I think its was like 500 bucks for a 2nd reciever if I remember

and no install....ya did it yourself

 

[Mr Tony]

I also had a Sony(direct) receiver. Its was a cool little unit. Guide was green if i remember correctly.

I have a sony receiver here that has a ASTC tuner in it so its newer. But I just threw away and old Sony dish I had here. The Sony one was weird. It used a smaller pole than 1 5/8" and the LNB was welded to the arm. It was a dual output but if the LNB died you replaced the whole thing

I dont remember ''channel earth''? what was that? discovery like channel?

I dont know. It was the only one I couldnt find any info on wiki.

While I dont remember my first box by model number. I think it was a RCA, black plain and in the late 90's Though it must have been after everything was "one" company as I paid Directv only one bill

USSB sold off the Viacom channels to D* in early 98. Found a channel chart that says "Coming 3/15/98" for the Viacom channels. USSB only had the movie channels and All news Channel. That was run by Hubbard (who owned USSB and still owns all the ABC stations in MN and some radio stations)

 

[cave1376]

I found the RCA rcvr. It is model DRD221RD. I connected it and it still works. The only channel it shows is ch.100. It has the access card with the football player on it.

Does anyone know what the home control on the back is/was used for?

 

[dfergie]

One of mine is a NRD412NA, other one looks same can't find it... (I think this was the second one I got)manuals still available from Directv...

 

[PMKS]

I found the RCA rcvr. It is model DRD221RD. I connected it and it still works. The only channel it shows is ch.100. It has the access card with the football player on it.
Does anyone know what the home control on the back is/was used for?

I still have 2 older RCA IRD's active on my account; an RCA DRD503RBC and an RCA DRD222RD. They are in my kid's rooms.
I think the home control was a system to turn house lights on/off, etc.

First receivers were 799 for a 18" dish, receiver and single LNB
I think its was like 500 bucks for a 2nd reciever if I remember and no install....ya did it yourself

1994/1995
$699 1st gen RCA receiver with single outputs, single LNB, steel 18" dish.
$799 1st gen RCA receiver with dual outputs, dual LNB, steel 18" dish.
$899 1st gen RCA receiver with "gold plated" dual outputs, dual LNB, fiberglass 18" dish.

I got the $899 deal, the receiver was a RCA DRD1XX something. I had to pay for the install, the company was a big dish installer, mine was the very first DirecTV system they installed.....
A buddy still has my old 18" fiberglass dish, the only one I've ever seen.

 

[JerseyMatt]

I found the RCA rcvr. It is model DRD221RD. I connected it and it still works. The only channel it shows is ch.100. It has the access card with the football player on it.

Does anyone know what the home control on the back is/was used for?

I had a few of those and a few DRD420RE's.. HomeControl was one of those features that never really went anywhere. There was an X-10 interface for it, but the whole concept was gimmicky and didn't work too well. A more worthwhile purpose for that port was for low speed serial data. You could use it to interface your DSS receiver with a Tivo or ReplayTV, so it could control it directly rather than via an IR blaster.