Price for virtual Joey??
- Thread starter bwexler
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That could be something to do with it. Maybe that's why Dish considers it an access fee instead of an equipment fee.
Possibly. Does anybody know how much, or even if, content providers are paid per outlet?
That prohibition sucks. If there is some bandwidth limitation, why not relax the prohibition to one Virtual Joey in use at one time? If we could install several instances of the VJ on different SmartTVs throughout the house, the $7/mo fee might not be so unreasonable.
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You can have the Virtual Joey app installed on multiple devices in the house. Dish is only allowing you to be able to watch on one at a time though. So you could have the app on 2 TVs and a PS3 in the house but only allowed to watch it on one at a time.
Interesting. In that scenario, do you pay $21/mo or just $7? If $21, but you can only watch one at a time, then that's a very strong incentive to go with physical Joeys.
CES reports were one VJ charge per account and only one running at a time. Use it on the Kitchen TV in the morning, kids TV after school, bedroom TV that evening. If so, then it really adds flexibility and value. The problem is it is only available on high end devices, which are mostly going to be primary use locations, and probably need a non-shared solution.
Give us a version running on a $50 android stick I can plug in at all those occasional use spots, and it could be easily be worth the full $7 charge.
Going by what I've heard I would agree with you on how the VJ works. As for it only being available on high end devices, I don't completely agree with that. SmartTVs are coming down in price drastically and a PS3 is not that expensive for all it's able to do. I would think eventually that it will be available on other devices that are less expensive like you were mentioning.
I get why from a Dish perspective it make sense to keep the same fee, but from a customer perspective, it's kind of lame, to be honest. Granted, being able to have the VJ installed in multiple rooms is kind of cool for people with guest rooms and the like, but I am guessing that's not most people, and it's certainly not me. Most people would probably quickly run into problems with the limitation.
At the end of the day, I just wish Joey rental/service fee was avoidable, like cable modems, or through another means, but at last, it is not to be.
At the end of the day, I just wish Joey rental/service fee was avoidable, like cable modems, or through another means, but at last, it is not to be.
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But realistically, who is going to buy a $150 PS3 just to run a VJ? Who buys brand new unit for the odd ball occasional use TV - those locations usuallly get the hand me down. Sure there are some, but it's not the norm.
Because there is only enough CPU for one encoder to be running at any time.
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I believe if you are viewing the app before powering the TV off then it starts up with the app. Don't quote me on that though
No one is going to buy a PS3 or new TV just to get the VJ but I don't think that's what Dish is going for. Not right away at least. This is how I see it, if a customer has no way to get TV to a room because there is no cable there they will be willing to spend a little more getting a device that can make it work. If a customer already has cable there then I think Dish would just prefer the customer physically have a Joey there.
I do not have any cable run to my second floor and I paid almost $300 for a wireless HD transmitter to mirror my Hopper in the basement to my bedroom upstairs.
Well, after I've been corrected by several folks, I now see the value. For lightly used locations, or any location where there is little or no need for simultaneous use, you pay the one $7 VJ fee and get multiple outlets at no extra charge. Here's one scenario: kids bedroom and adult's bedroom. The kids watch early; the adults watch late at night. Here's another scenario: wealthy empty-nest couple with a mansion and 12 SmartTVs. Buy one VJ license, play on any of the 12 SmartTVs.
The problem with that (outside of retailers like yourself) is I'm willing to bet VJ will virtually never be a recommendation by any Dish employee for those situations - they'll have the wireless Joey to work with.
I see three basic targets:
- Those not wanting the extra box/cabling for a regular viewing location. The LG TV client will be a great solution for LG owners - if they really have it as power on and it's running. PS3/4/Android - not so much if you have to go through the whole navigating the menu, start it, wait for loading routine anytime you want to watch TV.
- "Roaming Joey" occasional use TVs. PS3/4/Android would be fine for this vs paying a fee for each TV.
- Semi-supported wireless solution without paying whatever premium there will be for the wireless Joey (but again, I doubt this will ever be a suggested option by Dish)
As all the price moaning points out, a "real" Joey would be better in most other circumstances.
It will be interesting to see how they promote it.
I'm curious how they're promote it as well. Retailers really won't care for it because we won't have any involvement with it. I myself am interested in it because I sell LG TVs, so it's just another feature I can show my customers.
The same price debate went on over at DirecTV last year with the RVU TVs. DirecTV charges the same access fee of $6 for an additional receiver, a client, or an RVU TV. It's pretty much standard to charge for each HD outlet, whether virtual or hardware.
