Happy Birthday DirecTV

[Pere845]

25 Years Ago Today: DirecTV Is Born

 

[jcrandall]

Neat little article, Cowboy Maloney's - hadn't heard that part before. Sad that they lost their first customer last year, didn't want to pay it anymore. Lost me too - twice now, just asking too much money with equipment that is too clunky and buggy. How can they possibly still not get it to not have audio dropouts on live tv, it's been what, 3-4 years that that's been a problem for some users? If you're going to be double the price of other options out there, you've got to be clear and away better.

 

[comp9]

Neat little article, Cowboy Maloney's - hadn't heard that part before. Sad that they lost their first customer last year, didn't want to pay it anymore. Lost me too - twice now, just asking too much money with equipment that is too clunky and buggy. How can they possibly still not get it to not have audio dropouts on live tv, it's been what, 3-4 years that that's been a problem for some users? If you're going to be double the price of other options out there, you've got to be clear and away better.

While I don’t have an audio issue. I would rather deal with that then my sh!tty cable company

 

[Soccernut]

The comments at the end of the article are priceless.

 

[Pere845]

The comments at the end of the article are priceless.

truth is D* is ridiculously expensive nowadays plus when it comes to the tech Dish easily destroys them. Only incentive I see in having Direct is their sports offerings other than that you'd be better off elsewhere...

 

[Claude Greiner]

I wonder if Directv is going to live to see its next birthday

 

[bnwrx]

I find it interesting when people talk about how expensive DTV is.....I did some checking on our own expenses over the years. In 2009 our avg monthly DTV bill was around $106. Last year it was $105. Those numbers include, Sports, NHL Center Ice, Sunday Ticket and a large ($60- $70) monthly credit and sports package discounts. DTV has given us these discounts for years. While a $100 may seem like a lot to pay for TV, I've seen people who pay well over that for cell phone service. We pay an average of $15-$20 a month for Tracfone service and thats for 3 phone lines. So it all depends where your priorities lie. We live in rural Colorado, our local cable system offers about 25 channels in HD. With DTV we get everything we watch in HD and the ability to record with pretty reliable service. We've been customers since 1995 and will continue until something better comes along. As noted we watch a lot of sports and DTV delivers on that. Other folks enjoy movies or other programming and I suppose the internet may offer them a choice of services for that type of viewing, although the prices for all of that "cable cutting" (LOL) creeps up all the time. Whats great is, we now have a multitude of choices for home entertainment that were unavailable a few years ago. We should enjoy the many options we have and respect the choices we all make.

 

[Ganthet]

I remember paying close to $1000 for my first DirecTV setup in 1997. You had to subscribe to USSB for premium channels and no locals. Still, the tech was so far ahead of cable. I loved it.

 

[DJdish]

I jumped in on November 1995, with my sub to DirecTV and also my sub to USSB,

Back in the day I had to have those 2 subs, the one for USSB for the premiums, HBO; Cinemax, .......

 

[TheTechGuru]

I remember paying close to $1000 for my first DirecTV setup in 1997. You had to subscribe to USSB for premium channels and no locals. Still, the tech was so far ahead of cable. I loved it.

Wow you got ripped off. We bought at self install package at Circuit City for $300...

 

[CSM]

Been with DTV since 2005.

 

[Ganthet]

Wow you got ripped off. We bought at self install package at Circuit City for $300...

That included the 1st year's programming. Installation was extra also back then.

 

[Claude Greiner]

I find it interesting when people talk about how expensive DTV is.....I did some checking on our own expenses over the years. In 2009 our avg monthly DTV bill was around $106. Last year it was $105. Those numbers include, Sports, NHL Center Ice, Sunday Ticket and a large ($60- $70) monthly credit and sports package discounts. DTV has given us these discounts for years. While a $100 may seem like a lot to pay for TV, I've seen people who pay well over that for cell phone service. We pay an average of $15-$20 a month for Tracfone service and thats for 3 phone lines. So it all depends where your priorities lie. We live in rural Colorado, our local cable system offers about 25 channels in HD. With DTV we get everything we watch in HD and the ability to record with pretty reliable service. We've been customers since 1995 and will continue until something better comes along. As noted we watch a lot of sports and DTV delivers on that. Other folks enjoy movies or other programming and I suppose the internet may offer them a choice of services for that type of viewing, although the prices for all of that "cable cutting" (LOL) creeps up all the time. Whats great is, we now have a multitude of choices for home entertainment that were unavailable a few years ago. We should enjoy the many options we have and respect the choices we all make.

When I sold dish back in 1997, the starting price was $19.99 which was the every day non promotion price.

Then back in 1999/2000 they had the everything pack for $69.99 which was a bargain back then.

When I left Dish, with all the fees it was over $200/mo

Today, you can’t even get basic cable for $69.99

The whole problem is that people see $19.99 and think it’s what Tv should cost, and get sticker shock when the promotion expires

 

[Jimbo]

Wow you got ripped off. We bought at self install package at Circuit City for $300...

I remember that too, it started up there at $1000 and dropped over time, yes, CC had them at $300 ... (Self Install of course)
I got my first set up that way ... then again, at a later date I spent like $750 on a HD recvr.

 

[Jimbo]

I think D* cost about $40 p/m when I first started.

My C-Band set up programming with Sunday Ticket cost me $600 for the year ...

ST was only $79 the first year, it went up to $99 the second year.

 

[TheRatPatrol]

Awe the good ole days...............

 

[TheTechGuru]

I remember that too, it started up there at $1000 and dropped over time, yes, CC had them at $300 ... (Self Install of course)
I got my first set up that way ... then again, at a later date I spent like $750 on a HD recvr.

My first HD was the H20...skipped the MPEG 2 Ku HD days, although I did see them with the H20 for a little while before they were gone.

 

[Pere845]

Speaking of self install kits kind of wish they still sold them...