What happened to being the HD leader?

[sudnshok]

Well, then in your view all the other services "sux" as well, given that you could come up with a comparably long list of omitted HD channels for cable, Dish, UVerse, and FiOS. No service out there carries all of the available HD channels. They all leave out something.

That may be true for cable and dish (I don't know about UVerse), but you really can't compare anyone to FiOS for HD. They have BY FAR the most national channels and the best picture quality - I see less compression artifacts in their streams (my buddy has FiOS and the exact same TV as me).

I know many people don't have FiOS offered in their area, but for the few who do, I think DTV may see some people jumping ship soon. I'll be switching as soon as my contract is up since all I watch is HD. I know the DVR is not as good, but I'd rather have SO many more HD channels for the same price - if not a little cheaper.

I know DTV has been rolling out lots of locals for the past year, but they shouldn't be neglecting the nationals. Their national HD additions over the past 12 months have been few and far between.

 

[AntDogg65]

If you want the best premium service, I suggest Cinemax as they get the movies that are blockbusters; and they usually get them first. I am on the Starz, HBO and Showtime trial; but as soon as my three months are done so are they. I left from Dish and had it, so I will keep it with Direct.

 

[AntDogg65]

sudnshok wrote: I know many people don't have FiOS offered in their area, but for the few who do, I think DTV may see some people jumping ship soon. I'll be switching as soon as my contract is up since all I watch is HD. I know the DVR is not as good, but I'd rather have SO many more HD channels for the same price - if not a little cheaper.

As stated, FIOS is available few and far between; but you have to admit that D* was the leader in HD and everyone else is playing catch up. Sure they could add more, but a majority of programming that most Americans watch is over their local networks. If you want people to switch, they need to know that what they want to watch will be available to them, and most important, reliable. OTA is fine, but if you have a 95% connection rate, this is way more reliable. That is why Direct is concerned with getting the locals rolled out, then they will add more national networks.

Besides, they really don't have many more to add to sustain their edge over Dish. Travel, Lifetime Networks, and WGN are the ones that are noticable. Then if you add the HBO reruns (Signature, Family, Comedy, etc..) and the other two Cinemax HD's (5-Star and Action) then Direct will lap Dish anyway. If 2% of the country gets FIOS, then that really isn't a fair comparison as Satellite companies are mostly available to the entire county.

 

[Zellio2008]

sudnshok wrote: I know many people don't have FiOS offered in their area, but for the few who do, I think DTV may see some people jumping ship soon. I'll be switching as soon as my contract is up since all I watch is HD. I know the DVR is not as good, but I'd rather have SO many more HD channels for the same price - if not a little cheaper.

As stated, FIOS is available few and far between; but you have to admit that D* was the leader in HD and everyone else is playing catch up. Sure they could add more, but a majority of programming that most Americans watch is over their local networks. If you want people to switch, they need to know that what they want to watch will be available to them, and most important, reliable. OTA is fine, but if you have a 95% connection rate, this is way more reliable. That is why Direct is concerned with getting the locals rolled out, then they will add more national networks.

Besides, they really don't have many more to add to sustain their edge over Dish. Travel, Lifetime Networks, and WGN are the ones that are noticable. Then if you add the HBO reruns (Signature, Family, Comedy, etc..) and the other two Cinemax HD's (5-Star and Action) then Direct will lap Dish anyway. If 2% of the country gets FIOS, then that really isn't a fair comparison as Satellite companies are mostly available to the entire county.

I get tired of hearing this excuse.

This excuse would be like saying intel can sit on their ass for a year while AMD catches up.

LAST YEAR D* was bar none the top, but in 1 year Fios, Uverse, and Time Warner Cable have more hd channels.

Your suggesting them sit around another year? By that time they'll be at the bottom of the pack.

To put this in perspective, Fios added over 70 channels in one year, Uverse added over 60, Time Warner Cable (I dunno, around 30-40).

 

[BlackHitachi]

I get tired of hearing this excuse.

This excuse would be like saying intel can sit on their ass for a year while AMD catches up.

LAST YEAR D* was bar none the top, but in 1 year Fios, Uverse, and Time Warner Cable have more hd channels.

Your suggesting them sit around another year? By that time they'll be at the bottom of the pack.

To put this in perspective, Fios added over 70 channels in one year, Uverse added over 60, Time Warner Cable (I dunno, around 30-40).

Hold on there seems AntDogg65 said that D* is working on getting locals in HD first. Then work on more nationals. You can only do so much at one time.. I am very pleased that there is HD for my family that we can all watch. HD for all expecialy the quallity of the sports paks. Yea i wish D* would kick it in gear and get more HD but at what cost? I had the other system and i really like the fact the quality is better on the system i have now!:up They both have pluses and minuses.. Also it is not fair to compare fios, at&t's uverse and time warner until they upgrade and can be offered in the same places as the satellite companys then we can all judge for ourselvs who is best not follow some link to one town that is lucky enough to have it..

 

[gadgtfreek]

I think they could work on both at the same time. Satracer keeps mentioning contracts, and being we don't have channels in hd that have been that way for awhile, it makes me think there is no other reason than directv is being run like dish now.

 

[shibby191]

To put this in perspective, Fios added over 70 channels in one year, Uverse added over 60, Time Warner Cable (I dunno, around 30-40).

In your area only perhaps.

Let's see around here:
FIOS will never be here, I don't even think there is FIOS for 200 miles in any direction.

Uverse isn't bad but nowhere near what Dish and DirecTV carry in terms of HD. Heck, they *just now* added the RSN in HD. Talk about being behind.

Time Warner? Did you say Time Warner? I have to laugh. There isn't a TWC system around here that is even half what Dish and DirecTV have. Heck, 2 of the TWC systems around here *just* went digital in the past 2 years, one of them has 10 HD channels and the other doesn't have any (with no plans to add any either). Charter and Comcast are no better. Half the HD channels at double the price. Typical of cable.

I don't know why people are so concerned about who is the "HD leader". Does the provider you have carry the HD channels you watch? If so then rock on. If not then switch. Or just wait a few months as they all leapfrog each other back and forth. It's the same old argument that's been going on for over a decade with SD channels. All that matters is *what you watch* and someone is always going to have channels that others don't have. So switch to the service that gives you the channels you want at the price you feel is fair, whomever that may be. It's really that simple.

 

[gadgtfreek]

In my area, I have Dish, Directv and Cox. Cox has about 30 HD channels.

 

[ONUOsFan]

In your area only perhaps.

Let's see around here:
FIOS will never be here, I don't even think there is FIOS for 200 miles in any direction.

Uverse isn't bad but nowhere near what Dish and DirecTV carry in terms of HD. Heck, they *just now* added the RSN in HD. Talk about being behind.

Time Warner? Did you say Time Warner? I have to laugh. There isn't a TWC system around here that is even half what Dish and DirecTV have. Heck, 2 of the TWC systems around here *just* went digital in the past 2 years, one of them has 10 HD channels and the other doesn't have any (with no plans to add any either). Charter and Comcast are no better. Half the HD channels at double the price. Typical of cable.

I don't know why people are so concerned about who is the "HD leader". Does the provider you have carry the HD channels you watch? If so then rock on. If not then switch. Or just wait a few months as they all leapfrog each other back and forth. It's the same old argument that's been going on for over a decade with SD channels. All that matters is *what you watch* and someone is always going to have channels that others don't have. So switch to the service that gives you the channels you want at the price you feel is fair, whomever that may be. It's really that simple.

Come on, man - you're not allowed to talk sense around here...

 

[charper1]

In your area only perhaps.

Let's see around here:
FIOS will never be here, I don't even think there is FIOS for 200 miles in any direction.

Uverse isn't bad but nowhere near what Dish and DirecTV carry in terms of HD. Heck, they *just now* added the RSN in HD. Talk about being behind.

Time Warner? Did you say Time Warner? I have to laugh. There isn't a TWC system around here that is even half what Dish and DirecTV have. Heck, 2 of the TWC systems around here *just* went digital in the past 2 years, one of them has 10 HD channels and the other doesn't have any (with no plans to add any either). Charter and Comcast are no better. Half the HD channels at double the price. Typical of cable.

I don't know why people are so concerned about who is the "HD leader". Does the provider you have carry the HD channels you watch? If so then rock on. If not then switch. Or just wait a few months as they all leapfrog each other back and forth. It's the same old argument that's been going on for over a decade with SD channels. All that matters is *what you watch* and someone is always going to have channels that others don't have. So switch to the service that gives you the channels you want at the price you feel is fair, whomever that may be. It's really that simple.

Can I get a Holy Hell Amen? Please don't muddy the rants with facts or common sense rational adult-like thinking.. LOL Shibby, you rock!

 

[Rey]

In your area only perhaps.

Let's see around here:
FIOS will never be here, I don't even think there is FIOS for 200 miles in any direction.

Uverse isn't bad but nowhere near what Dish and DirecTV carry in terms of HD. Heck, they *just now* added the RSN in HD. Talk about being behind.

Time Warner? Did you say Time Warner? I have to laugh. There isn't a TWC system around here that is even half what Dish and DirecTV have. Heck, 2 of the TWC systems around here *just* went digital in the past 2 years, one of them has 10 HD channels and the other doesn't have any (with no plans to add any either). Charter and Comcast are no better. Half the HD channels at double the price. Typical of cable.

I don't know why people are so concerned about who is the "HD leader". Does the provider you have carry the HD channels you watch? If so then rock on. If not then switch. Or just wait a few months as they all leapfrog each other back and forth. It's the same old argument that's been going on for over a decade with SD channels. All that matters is *what you watch* and someone is always going to have channels that others don't have. So switch to the service that gives you the channels you want at the price you feel is fair, whomever that may be. It's really that simple.

:up

 

[Big Dawg 23]

Charter in my area has I believe 34 and four of them are premium(Starz, Cinemax, Showtime and TMC). Channels I have on Direct they dont have I like are FX, Speed, Many of the Discovery Channels and most if not all the Showtimes and Starz. That also doesnt count all the Center Ice games in HD. I cant wait for Baseball.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

In your area only perhaps.

Let's see around here:
FIOS will never be here, I don't even think there is FIOS for 200 miles in any direction.

Uverse isn't bad but nowhere near what Dish and DirecTV carry in terms of HD. Heck, they *just now* added the RSN in HD. Talk about being behind.

1) Just because FIOS is not available in your area does not mean that D* can ignore them as a competitor. FIOS is taking subscribers away from D* in urban areas. D* will eventually have to raise your prices should FIOS take away a significant number of them.

2) You are incorrect in your assessment of U-Verse. Counting only widely-available HD channels, not PPVs, U-Verse has pulled ahead of D*. Particularly on the premium HD movie channels, where U-Verse offers about 20 more than D*.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

1) Just because FIOS is not available in your area does not mean that D* can ignore them as a competitor. FIOS is taking subscribers away from D* in urban areas.*.

Yes Look at Comcast, They aren't available EVERYWHERE. And look They have over 25 Million customers. FIOS needs to be feared For Sure! They are expanding Faster then D* is.

 

[HDRoberts]

...
Here's my pricing idea for hd only:

Family $19
Choice $29
Xtra $39

ARE YOU LISTENING DIRECTV: That is an excellent idea.

Having packages like this would be the only thing to draw me from Dish. While the actual pricing might vary, until DirecTV offers HD only packs, they won't even be in the same ballpark price-wise to my Dish Network.

 

[Madtown HD Junkie]

Charter in my area has I believe 34 and four of them are premium(Starz, Cinemax, Showtime and TMC). Channels I have on Direct they dont have I like are FX, Speed, Many of the Discovery Channels and most if not all the Showtimes and Starz. That also doesnt count all the Center Ice games in HD. I cant wait for Baseball.

Charter is the arm pit of the Earth.
77 Square: City Life: Consumer Reports readers rate Verizon, AT&T best, Charter worst

D* is still the best.

 

[Woochifer]

That may be true for cable and dish (I don't know about UVerse), but you really can't compare anyone to FiOS for HD. They have BY FAR the most national channels and the best picture quality - I see less compression artifacts in their streams (my buddy has FiOS and the exact same TV as me).

You're missing the point of my post. I'm simply saying that EVERY service has HD channels missing from their program grids. Saying that "you can't compare anyone to FiOS for HD" and talking about the picture quality doesn't negate my point that NOBODY carries EVERYTHING. It's great that you like your FiOS service (which BTW is unavailable in my area), but it's certainly not perfect.

This might be outdated (it was last updated in late-October), but looking at CNET's HDTV programming comparison, here's the list of networks carried in HD by Directv that FiOS does not carry.

Animal Planet
Cartoon Network
CBS College Sports (CSTV)
CMT
Fuel
MTV
NBA TV
NHL Network
Nickelodeon
Spike
Speed
Versus
VH1

And FiOS doesn't carry any out-of-town regional sports networks (FSN, CSN, YES, NESN, SNY, MSG, SportsSouth, Altitude, etc.), which is a dealbreaker for me. FiOS can have twice as many channels, but if they don't let me watch FSN West and Prime Ticket (even in SD) up here in the Bay Area, they're not even in the running. Directv and Dish both carry all the HD feeds with the regional sports networks as part of their sports package.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

I guess if I could subscribe to whatever I wanted, I would want to sub to a service providing only all available premium HD movie channels. All of those from HBO, SHOW, MAX, STARZ, ENCORE, HDNET, MGM. I would be willing to pay about $60/month for those channels, if they were of high quality.

I can pick up all of my locals via OTA.

I could live without all of the other channels. It would be nice if I could also get Nat Geo, CNN, Discovery, but I could live without them.

Which I guess means that I would really like FIOS, as they offer nearly all of the premium HD movie channels. I'm very envious of anyone who can sub to FIOS.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

You're missing the point of my post. I'm simply saying that EVERY service has HD channels missing from their program grids. Saying that "you can't compare anyone to FiOS for HD" and talking about the picture quality doesn't negate my point that NOBODY carries EVERYTHING. It's great that you like your FiOS service (which BTW is unavailable in my area), but it's certainly not perfect.

This might be outdated (it was last updated in late-October), but looking at CNET's HDTV programming comparison, here's the list of networks carried in HD by Directv that FiOS does not carry.

Animal Planet
Cartoon Network
CBS College Sports (CSTV)
CMT
Fuel
MTV
NBA TV
NHL Network
Nickelodeon
Spike
Speed
Versus
VH1

And FiOS doesn't carry any out-of-town regional sports networks (FSN, CSN, YES, NESN, SNY, MSG, SportsSouth, Altitude, etc.), which is a dealbreaker for me. FiOS can have twice as many channels, but if they don't let me watch FSN West and Prime Ticket (even in SD) up here in the Bay Area, they're not even in the running. Directv and Dish both carry all the HD feeds with the regional sports networks as part of their sports package.

NJ carrys these. http://www22.verizon.com/NROneRetail/NR/rdonlyres/831511D8-1CF4-4843-8437-9C00FD336389/0/NNJ_CLU.pdf
And CA carrys these
http://www22.verizon.com/NROneRetai...3C-BB19-4B36-9D81-D9D808565C27/0/SCAL_CLU.pdf

 

[shibby191]

2) You are incorrect in your assessment of U-Verse. Counting only widely-available HD channels, not PPVs, U-Verse has pulled ahead of D*. Particularly on the premium HD movie channels, where U-Verse offers about 20 more than D*.

Not Uverse around here, not even close. You do realize that Uverse is different in every market just like cable, right? Glad you live in a "good" Uverse market.