Im not buying all this hype about Directv HD.

[Claude Greiner]

I think we have all seen the press releases, commercials and announcements by Directv in the past few days about them being the HD Leader.

Personally im taking an I'll believe it when I see it attitude. Take a look at CES for example, what Dish DISH or DIRECTV really have to announce?

DISH Network talked about the DISH Online thing and the external storage for the VIP 622. Im thinking, gee this would be really nice if they realeased this after CES, turns out its another 6 months away, which really means we will not see it till Christmass. We did get FREE 622's for new customers, but doesn't help alot of people here who are already customers.

Directv on the other hand simply amazes me, even going as far as to run commercials with the movie back to the future promising future HD content that they don't even have today. I just can't believe they can get away promising all these new channels without putting up a few new channels today.

Think about it, instead of launching 1 new HD local Market, they could have launched 4 new HD channels, but they didn't even do that, instead they put out more hype that they are going to have 150 HD channels by the end of the year.

But to be honest, I don't even think there 150 national HD channels they could pick up, and I think everyone here can agree instead of talking about it they should atleast have matched what Dishnetwork has now!

Maybe im just ranting too much, but it looks like to me they made the biggest announcements at CES and are not delivering. Gimmie 150 HD channels today and I'll switch from Dish!

 

[Liverpool]

My 2 year comittment is up in September if there are no more HD channels then I am off to fios.

 

[ScoBuck]

Well - its called hype, and please tell me a large company that DOESN'T do it.

There were some items though of interest, and specific enough to believe however. D* stated they have agreements of one sort or another with 70 programmers for their HD content. they also listed a good number of them, and the list at least is of mainstream channels (unlike VOOM).

And unless you can tell me anything in specific I don't know, DirecTV has done 100% of its part in getting ready for this - the delivery, launch, and set-up for the new birds is NOT IN THEIR CONTROL. They assume responsibility upon tunrnover from BOEING.

I respect your skepticism, for gosh sakes this country is based to a great deal on the motto "Let the buyer beware". But having said all of that, the simple truth remains that if they don't provide this upsurge in HD programming by summer (based on successful launch of DIRECTV10), they WON'T have any/many supporters, so frankly, IMO it definitely IS going to happen.

IMO they have purposely designed their HD rollout plan for a reason, and it is working. First of all, they had to begin the migration of subs to 5lnb dishes and MPEG4 IRDS. There was NO POSSIBLE WAY to convert the entire base in a much shorter time period that the 18-24 months it will have taken by mid '07. All hell would have broken loose if they lit up the Ka birds with national content and had no doable way to get the hardware out to the masses NATIONWIDE. I can only imagine the whines here of someone that felt slighted/angered because of a delay in getting service or equipment.

Say what you want, and many do. It in fact has been a longer than desired, and sometimes painful path. I would like to hear a better one - given the need to open new frequencies (Ka), new orbital positions (99 and 103) and new compression technology. Yeah I know, piece of cake.

I'm also not understanding why it seems that you have taken the approach almost that they DON'T want to provide the programming they now promise? That too makes NO real sense to me. I am sure they know that to play in the future they will have to have the right stuff. The multiple hundreds of millions of dollars for Spaceway 1&2 and DIRECTV10&11 also speaks to it.

 

[ScoBuck]

My 2 year comittment is up in September if there are no more HD channels then I am off to fios.

Providing you have no real interest in sports, that IS a good choice. Have you looked at their regional sports offering? It sux.

 

[FlyingJ]

Yes Claude, and when (and if) it does happen, you will be buying it, and happy at that! I have seen the plan, works for me. Heck, when they announced SciFi being one of the channels just two days ago the basshers came out stating that SciFi itself said they have no plans. Wrong! I think D* set it up to be the first announcer of these nationals going HD, and some people answering phones at these networks just weren't in the loop. There was no reason for any of them to announce HD plans prior to a company stepping up and having the ability in the near future to broadcast them. I don't know but it seems to all make sense to me, but hence, I am a D* fanboy!

 

[GaryPen]

I think we have all seen the press releases, commercials and announcements by Directv in the past few days about them being the HD Leader.

Personally im taking an I'll believe it when I see it attitude. Take a look at CES for example, what Dish DISH or DIRECTV really have to announce?

DISH Network talked about the DISH Online thing and the external storage for the VIP 622. Im thinking, gee this would be really nice if they realeased this after CES, turns out its another 6 months away, which really means we will not see it till Christmass. We did get FREE 622's for new customers, but doesn't help alot of people here who are already customers.

Directv on the other hand simply amazes me, even going as far as to run commercials with the movie back to the future promising future HD content that they don't even have today. I just can't believe they can get away promising all these new channels without putting up a few new channels today.

Think about it, instead of launching 1 new HD local Market, they could have launched 4 new HD channels, but they didn't even do that, instead they put out more hype that they are going to have 150 HD channels by the end of the year.

But to be honest, I don't even think there 150 national HD channels they could pick up, and I think everyone here can agree instead of talking about it they should atleast have matched what Dishnetwork has now!

Maybe im just ranting too much, but it looks like to me they made the biggest announcements at CES and are not delivering. Gimmie 150 HD channels today and I'll switch from Dish!

If you subtract Voom, which many people will say is a waste of bandwidth, D* is roughly on par with E*. They seem to offer more RSN HD right now. And, they have an actual plan in place for the coming year, in regard to HD. (Including, btw, the possibility of adding those very same Voom channels that gives E* the advantage right now.)

I'm lucky. I have the luxury of a good cable system. So, I can sit back and wait, and see what D*, E*, and A* (ATT, that is. I coined a new abbreviation! Or, should I call it U*?) have to offer. In fact, the way C* has been dropping PPV channels lately (obsolete with VOD), I would say they are freeing bandwidth to add more HD in the near future. I look forward to NGHD, for one.

Also, I have the distinct feeling that if you sold D* instead of E*, you might be singing a different tune. Face it, the so-called HD Leadership will be changing hands constantly. It will be a matter of total value. Who has the content, price, PQ, and HW that suits each customer's needs, on an individual basis.

 

[Juan]

If you subtract Voom, which many people will say is a waste of bandwidth, D* is roughly on par with E*. They seem to offer more RSN HD right now. And, they have an actual plan in place for the coming year, in regard to HD. (Including, btw, the possibility of adding those very same Voom channels that gives E* the advantage right now.)

I'm lucky. I have the luxury of a good cable system. So, I can sit back and wait, and see what D*, E*, and A* (ATT, that is. I coined a new abbreviation! Or, should I call it U*?) have to offer. In fact, the way C* has been dropping PPV channels lately (obsolete with VOD), I would say they are freeing bandwidth to add more HD in the near future. I look forward to NGHD, for one.

Also, I have the distinct feeling that if you sold D* instead of E*, you might be singing a different tune. Face it, the so-called HD Leadership will be changing hands constantly. It will be a matter of total value. Who has the content, price, PQ, and HW that suits each customer's needs, on an individual basis.

Nope E* has National geographic, stars, HGTV and Food network . D* is not even close (at this time)

 

[Sean Mota]

And not close in PQ either!

350+ days until D* delivers on so many HD channels that their promise will blow away the Red Sox 51.5Million Dollars on the Japanese Pitcher.

But again here are the questions. We know from past experience that even when a National channel has launched, it has taken them almost two years to accumulate a decent library of HD programming. So even if they launch tomorrow, do you seriously expect every Sci-Fi program to be in HD? I do not think so. But I could be wrong but based on previous history, I say nope.

Do you seriously believe that TimeWarner will launch CNN-HD and Cartoon Networks HD, etc and will give it to DirecTv before they launch it in their own system -- I think not but I could be wrong.

Everyone is buying the hype but the hype may evaporate by summer end. In the meantime do not worry because the 150 HD National Channels are still vaporware. As it is with a every product that it is based on a promise. Enjoy what you have and hope for the future. I personally would like to see all these network channels in HD but I do not think it will be that easy.

P.S. Yes I am not a D* / E* / C* fan boy... I am a P* fan boy...

 

[scotsmanron]

Better watch out Claude, the will tell you that you are just a bitch and moaner type.

As for what large companies don't hype their products....they all do, but they don't hype them a year in advance. Not even the major car companies do that before they have their cars on the production line. Tell me one company that hypes what they are GOING to have when they aren't even sure if they are going to have the capability. Heaven forbid one of those birds blows up before reaching orbit, THAT'S never happened before has it?

 

[boba]

Better watch out Claude, the will tell you that you are just a bitch and moaner type.

As for what large companies don't hype their products....they all do, but they don't hype them a year in advance. Not even the major car companies do that before they have their cars on the production line. Tell me one company that hypes what they are GOING to have when they aren't even sure if they are going to have the capability. Heaven forbid one of those birds blows up before reaching orbit, THAT'S never happened before has it?

Well if you remember back to the Super Bowl in 2005 Directv ran ads with the TV's rolling to open windows with tauntly stretched coax cables and they promised 150 channels of HD and 1500 channels of local. At that time the promise was by the end of 2007, they are still on that time line barring any unforseen calamitys.

 

[scotsmanron]

Well if you remember back to the Super Bowl in 2005 Directv ran ads with the TV's rolling to open windows with tauntly stretched coax cables and they promised 150 channels of HD and 1500 channels of local. At that time the promise was by the end of 2007, they are still on that time line barring any unforseen calamitys.

As you say. How would they recover if one of the birds goes down? I just think it would have been better to start advertising when they reached orbit. That would have still given them plenty of lead time.

 

[GaryPen]

Nope E* has National geographic, stars, HGTV and Food network . D* is not even close (at this time)

OK. So E* does have more non-Voom than D*. (My Comcast system still offers more for me, if I include HD locals and RSN's, of course. Food HD and HGTVHD mean far less to me than MHD, KQEDHD, and RSN-HD. Although, I'd love to see NGHD. At least I get true HD, whatever the channels.)

But, leadership will change. It will flip-flop more than a politician. And, even when they are all roughly the same in number of HD channels, the leader will be different to each subscriber due to their own specific needs.

 

[rad]

It's going to be interesting to see what happens if D* does pull this off and E* can't respond in kind. Wonder how many current E* subs will switch or find new reasons to say that D* sucks.

 

[Piratefan98]

It's going to be interesting to see what happens if D* does pull this off and E* can't respond in kind. Wonder how many current E* subs will switch or find new reasons to say that D* sucks.

D* seems to consistently underwhelm .... whether it be from people like me complaining about them not delivering their "DVD Quality Picture" on standard definition, or another guy complaining that it's taking too long to get more HD channels in the lineup, or another guy complaining about the HD-lite versions peddled by this company, or another guy complaining about costs, customer service, etc.

Many have called it "Turd TV". It's easy to see why.

I'd love to see them turn it around, improve quality, become a national HD leader, etc. That would be good for all consumers. And if that happens, I'll be first in line complimenting them on the improvements. But I'm not holding my breath.

Jeff

 

[LOBO2999]

Do you seriously believe that TimeWarner will launch CNN-HD and Cartoon Networks HD, etc and will give it to DirecTv before they launch it in their own system -- I think not but I could be wrong.

[/QUOTE]

This is funny ( not making fun ) but as I was reading this I got a call from one of my clinets that works at Tunner broadcasting , I ask if this was True and they said yes to all of this and I ask how much will be true HD, they said that CTN would be upconverted like they do on TNT HD but CNN would be HD and they have been working on their HD for a while now and it will be ready togo live in the 3rd qtr and yes D is getting it 1st . Now we will have to wait and see if D will be ready .

 

[rad]

D* seems to consistently underwhelm .... whether it be from people like me complaining about them not delivering their "DVD Quality Picture" on standard definition, or another guy complaining that it's taking too long to get more HD channels in the lineup, or another guy complaining about the HD-lite versions peddled by this company, or another guy complaining about costs, customer service, etc.

Any nobody ever says anything like this about E*, yea right. E* has a number of channels downrez'd, folks want to know where the RSN HD channels are that E* said they'd have last year, folks have never complained about the stability of E* STB's, and E* customer service is alway good? Both companies have many of the same complaints but since many folks are always saying they want more HD will people make the switch just to get it?

 

[charper1]

D* seems to consistently underwhelm .... whether it be from people like me complaining about them not delivering their "DVD Quality Picture" on standard definition, or another guy complaining that it's taking too long to get more HD channels in the lineup, or another guy complaining about the HD-lite versions peddled by this company, or another guy complaining about costs, customer service, etc

I am very interested in the "DVD quality" comment as I have not yet seen that, and would like to see a copy of the print ad or commercial stating that phrase; but I have for a long time read, seen, heard "digital quality".

As far as:

"complaining that it's taking too long..." - They are on time with THEIR plan as asked for by the majority of their subs and somewhat ahead of many other providers based on that (what most subs want).

"complaining about the HD-lite" - Others do it as well.

"complaining about costs, customer service, etc" - They are on par, and in most cases, better than most. They also offer things others don't and seemingly have a better foot forward for the future over the next few years.

So I don't see the big issue; especially compared to others and the issues they have as well.

 

[rad]

Charper1, I do remember D* saying the DVD quality line a number of years ago.

 

[Piratefan98]

Charper1, I do remember D* saying the DVD quality line a number of years ago.

Yep. I've got some stuff here from when I was first signing up for the Sunday Ticket program .... "DVD quality picture and CD-quality sound".

The sound is fine on SD. But DVD quality picture? LOL. Maybe if the DVD was first exposed to a wire brush. Or sumpin.

Jeff

 

[charper1]

Like maybe before progressive scan DVD? So they were comparing their digital 480i versus DVD's then 480i? I see nothing wrong with that. Is was correct then and it sure has been a LONG time since they have said it since. Time change, spec change; people need to adapt what is being said now, not bring up things that are likely not being said now. Because all they have said for a long while now is "all digital picture and sound".... IMH and respectful O.