USDTV Ceasing Operations

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USDTV ceasing operations

New Mexico Business Weekly - 5:18 PM MST Monday, March 5, 2007



USDTV is shutting down its digital television service, after a four-year-long attempt to build a competitor to cable TV.
The Salt Lake City-based company said in a prepared statement released late Monday that the closure was due to the withdrawal of a major financial backer who had experienced a financial setback in another business that was not related to USDTV. The cessation of service will affect subscribers in Albuquerque, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas (Nev.), and the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.

"We are greatly saddened that we have to discontinue the USDTV service," said Steve Lindsley, chief executive officer of USDigital. "Our customers have been very loyal. We want to thank them for their support and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause them."
Lindsley went on to thank the company's colleagues and friends for supporting the business, saying the firm had accomplished many "historic firsts in the broadcasting industry."
USDTV officials said they have made arrangements with a third party installation company to convert the USDTV set-top box so customers will be able to receive free, over-the-air local digital and high definition TV channels without the USDTV cable service. Customers have the option to return the set-top boxes (receivers) to the company and it said its customers can learn more on the company's Web site at: www.usdtv.com
The cable television competitor was formed in 2003 and offered consumers an alternative to cable television with subscriber rates as low as $19.95 per month. It used the digital signals of local TV station partners. The USDTV service included local affiliates of national networks like ABC and CBS as well as Fox News, ESPN, the Discovery Channel, Lifetime Movie Network and HGTV, among others.

Source: nm business weekly
 
It's my understanding that their set-tops were reasonable quality units. If you live in a USDTV-serviced city, you might see a number of set-tops become available and probably for pretty low cost. I know you could buy these at Walmart but I don't think the average Walmart shopper bought too many .... hence many were dust-covered when I saw them on the shelves .... and later in the clearance aisle !
 
I actually thought it was an good idea. We did not have the service in my area, but it had the core channels that my family watches, and was a lot cheaper than the other options (again, the channels USDTV offered were the ones we watch 98% of the time).
 
I actually thought it was an good idea. We did not have the service in my area, but it had the core channels that my family watches, and was a lot cheaper than the other options (again, the channels USDTV offered were the ones we watch 98% of the time).
It would have been a good idea, if each city had it's own USDTV digital transmitter, and wasn't leeching bits away from some other station's digital signal.
 
I actually went looking for one a week or two ago just for another digital OTA box for the bedroom (SLC broadcast area, lots of digital OTA). One guy tried to sell me a few boxes claiming they were "activated for subscription until July!" Guess I need to shoot an email off to him and let him know about this (as if he didn't know when he offered them at $15 each...) :D

That said, they are very decent boxes for OTA digital stuff. Though as mentioned, don't loose the remote.
 
Why would you need to contact the 3rd party to set them up for digital OTA broadcasts? I thought they did that out of the box?
 
deja vu. They just seem to come back from the dead. Lets hope its completely final. Maybe cutting its head off, using garlic, putting a stake in heart, and burning it will work. Oh and dont forget the crucifix and to burn all the coffins it sleeps in.
 
Why would you need to contact the 3rd party to set them up for digital OTA broadcasts? I thought they did that out of the box?
If you subscribed to their service, the boxes functioned differently. Many people were buying the boxes for $19.99 or so (the price if you subscribe) vs the $199 retail price, breaking their contract, and then selling the receivers on eBay (for more than $20). Someone would buy the box planning to use it strictly for OTA and it wouldn't work.
 
To add insult to injury...

I wrote their "third party installation company" last night with the following (sent to cablecommunications@gmail.com, the email listed on their website... very official, using Gmail, huh? Just wait, it gets better):

Hi, I just purchased a few USDTV boxes a week ago with the plans to install them in the living room and bedroom (I've previously had your service). Now I hear you're shutting down- can I get these units converted to normal digital over the air reception? It'll be a far cry from the USDTV programming package, but better than having wasted the money on nothing.

Thank you,

Michael xxxxx
(801) xxx-xxxx


This morning I woke up to this reply (from "Michael Knight!" I wonder where KITT is these days?):

Hi,
Converting your receiver(s) requires a technician to come to your location and re-load the software. There is a small one time charge of $30.00 for the first receiver and $5.00 for each additional receiver. If you would like to schedule a technician, please call (801) 553-9527. Thanks


It could just be me, but this pissed me off. 'Re-loading the software' involves sticking a USB flash drive in the back and restarting the unit... five minutes tops. USDTV was sending these sticks out for free to the people who got scammed on Ebay and bought the subscription version instead of the $200 OTA HD receiver. This strikes me as another way to suck money out of a failed business model.

So we have two choices. The subscriptions boxes WILL continue to receive free OTA digital programming if they were previously signed up for service. It won't be as aesthetically pleasing (ugly yellow GUI and no updates), and if your receiver ever gets reset for any reason (accidentally or on purpose to cure glitches) you're SOL because there's no way to re-activate it now that USD has closed its doors. You'll own a silver paperweight. Or if you're in the right area, you can shell out $30 and get a tech to come to your house, spend a few minutes doing something my 8-year-old can do, then leave. Your box will then be the FTA version that doesn't need any activation, and you don't need to be scared of it being reset.

What I'm wondering is, what about the hundreds/thousands of people that aren't in the SLC area? For $30, will they mail you a USB key? Or does that cost even more? Or maybe they've contracted out someplace that's in every single state (which I doubt, judging by the unprofessional Gmail setup). I'm hoping someone out of their area will write them and find out, posting their findings here. I also think someone with one of these USB drives should post the source data to the web. I already know where to get the latest firmware update online (http://rs52.rapidshare.com/files/13263623/USDTV_Upgrade.zip) which adds some functionality and bug fixing, but doesn't convert the set-top box to non-subscription. Am I alone here in my ramblings, or does anyone else agree?
 
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