When Will DirecTV Confirm New HD Lineup?

[DFWHD]

Hello All,

I'm new to this form, but had DirecTV for 9 years before leaving for Verizon FiOS last year. We switched to FiOS because we purchased new HD TVs and Verizon offered much more HD programming at that point in time for a lot less money than DirecTV. Now that we're moving to an area outside of Verizon territory, I am looking at switching back to DirecTV again when we move in mid August.

My years of absolutely great experiences with DirecTV makes them the first choice, but I am still waiting to see official confirmation of what the HD lineup will look like before I sign on the dotted line. Does anyone know when DirecTV will formally announce the new lineup?

I know the new satellite was launched a few weeks ago and is being tested and I've seen the press releases of those channels that have agreements in place or are being worked on and it looks great. My only hesitation in signing up now is that I've seen that game before with Verizon. They announced agreements and did nothing for almost a year before actually adding the new HD channels to their lineup even though they had more than enough bandwidth.

I have heard the mid September date thrown around a lot and even heard that from a sales rep canvasing Costco last weekend here in Dallas, but bottom line, I don't want to commit the upfront money for 2 HD DVRs if the lineup is not going to materialize as fast as DirecTV says it will. My family has looked at the current lineup with me and we all agree that at this point in time, it is not worth it until the majority of the new channels hit the satellite feed. I'd really prefer not to even look at Dish, but they have a strong HD lineup in place right now and I can't see moving the family into a new house with no TV service. I'm thinking about going month to month with Time Warner cable until I see proof of what will really be available - Show Me The HD!

I appreciate any information anyone might have.

 

[iceturkee]

i haven't received anything specific yet. the press release suggested early september. i'm sure as we move into mid to late august, directv will have a better idea of a national launch date!

 

[ShadowEKU]

Directv Announcing the new lineup will happen when it goes live... that is the typical line from D*

 

[charper1]

Yep, never want to dish a bunch of "too forward looking" info before most of those wanted new channels are even live on-air. And surely not before the new bird(s) are fully tested, in their final slots and ready to beam.

 

[skysurfer]

I doubt there is much to worry about and enjoy your FIOS. Anything DIRECTV carries in HD, I'm certain FIOS and DISH Network will have it too (I'm talking about the nationally carried channels where carriage agreements exist for SD versions on each delivery platform like Lifetime HD, A&E HD, Weather Channel HD, Discovery Channel HD, Science Channel HD, TBS HD, CNN HD, etc.).

It's things like BIG TEN Network HD that you'd find more likely not to be in most areas of the country on FIOS but you'd find on DIRECTV.

 

[Chuck W]

Directv Announcing the new lineup will happen when it goes live... that is the typical line from D*

LOL, so right. It's actually usually not until few days(or more) AFTER it goes live.

You are better off looking at your TV set, for the announcement, in the form of suddenly receiving the channels, if you want to know as soon as possible. :haha

 

[Jimbo]

LOL, so right. It's actually usually not until few days(or more) AFTER it goes live.

You are better off looking at your TV set, for the announcement, in the form of suddenly receiving the channels, if you want to know as soon as possible. :haha

Also if you set your favorites to include "All Channels" you will catch them as they appear.

Jimbo

 

[roachxp]

I got to say today at my new local Bestbuy they have a new setup showing a compare between ESPN feed of SD and HD from D*, I almost couldn't tell the difference hdlite.

 

[raoul5788]

I got to say today at my new local Bestbuy they have a new setup showing a compare between ESPN feed of SD and HD from D*, I almost couldn't tell the difference hdlite.

Two choices here, either you are trolling, or you need to have your eyes checked.

 

[timmac]

I was showing someone the other day the difference and to me it is night and day. The person who I was showing didn't see the difference. My son and I were laughing because to us it is a dramatic difference. Blind people should not drive or buy HD television sets.

 

[Jimbo]

I got to say today at my new local Bestbuy they have a new setup showing a compare between ESPN feed of SD and HD from D*, I almost couldn't tell the difference hdlite.

Two choices here, either you are trolling, or you need to have your eyes checked.

Well raoul,
If you notice his avitar, it being a Voom logo, I would guess he/she's another E* person trying to stir up the thread.

I have been to the local BB and seen the same set up and you can easily tell the difference, unless of course they are showing two SD programs at the time.
You need to also look and see how the thing is set up, what type of connections, I wouldn't put it past them to connect it without using a feed that is HD compatable.

Jimbo

 

[DFWHD]

Thanks to everyone for their input. I ordered Time Warner Cable today for the new house since I could not get any definitive information regarding new HD channels for DirecTV from this forum or from DirecTV themselves. I figure a couple of months from now, I should know if they have their act together or if they are fleecing folks for a promise they can't keep. If they can pony up the HD, I'm in - otherwise it is Dish I guess. I hope that they come through!

Thanks All!

 

[Jimbo]

Thanks to everyone for their input. I ordered Time Warner Cable today for the new house since I could not get any definitive information regarding new HD channels for DirecTV from this forum or from DirecTV themselves. I figure a couple of months from now, I should know if they have their act together or if they are fleecing folks for a promise they can't keep. If they can pony up the HD, I'm in - otherwise it is Dish I guess. I hope that they come through!

Thanks All!

So your going to have ALL three providers ???

What exactly did you want from us, the new HD channels that are coming are listed all over this site as well as a few others.

We cannot tell you anything definatly until it actually happens, but seeing they spent Millions putting satellites in the sky I would be pretty certain that they will actually do SOMETHING with them .

I perfer to not LIE and say it will be out on the 27th of August and then have everyone saying I was wrong, when it happens two days later.
I also am being realistic, I don't expect all the channels to appear on the 16th of September, the day after it's been rumored to go live.

You have to realize, NOTHING happens till D* decides, None of us here have any inside connection that says it will happen when WE decide.

I think some here need to relax and enjoy the channels as they appear instead of looking on the first day and counting what is NOT there.

You see this is a information passing web site, we share what we can, speculate on other things, but none of use actually push the button at D*, that turns it all on.....

Sorry to disappoint you, hope you enjoy your cable tv.

Jimbo

 

[DFWHD]

So your going to have ALL three providers ???

No - I am sorry if you misunderstood my original post. We are moving and our new house is not serviced by Verizon FiOS. I am not willing to commit to a long term contract with DirecTV until they formally declare what is actually available versus what is to come. Until the channels are added, I've gone month-to-month with Time Warner so I'm not locked in and can change whenever I wish.

What exactly did you want from us, the new HD channels that are coming are listed all over this site as well as a few others.

What I was looking for was a confirmation of the actual date and actual channels that would be added. I cant see how anyone would really believe that all of those channels will be added in September or later in the fall as many do not even exist yet. That is the DirecTV marketing machine in full gear - even wall street analysts have stated it would be a monumental effort to get this in place in the time DirecTV stated it would be.

We cannot tell you anything definatly until it actually happens, but seeing they spent Millions putting satellites in the sky I would be pretty certain that they will actually do SOMETHING with them .

I perfer to not LIE and say it will be out on the 27th of August and then have everyone saying I was wrong, when it happens two days later.
I also am being realistic, I don't expect all the channels to appear on the 16th of September, the day after it's been rumored to go live.

You have to realize, NOTHING happens till D* decides, None of us here have any inside connection that says it will happen when WE decide.

I agree something will happen, but the question is how much and when. I was hoping that their might be someone with some inside information on the forum as I have seen on other forums that could provide some hard information. One of the FiOS forums had a great inside connection that was highly accurate on things.

My big concern is that I get locked into a contract and very little materializes in the form of new HD. We switched all the TVs in the house to HD Flat panels over the last year and primarily watching mostly HD programming - we just don't want to go backwards. At least the cable offers more movie channels in HD during the interim while we wait for DirecTV to start broadcasting. I look at it as a short term stop gap

Seriously though, I was not trying to be sarcastic and I do appreciate folks that take the time to read these threads and respond. Hopefully I'm sitting back on October 1st waiting for an installer to show up and hook me up to DirecTV.

 

[ScoBuck]

I got to say today at my new local Bestbuy they have a new setup showing a compare between ESPN feed of SD and HD from D*, I almost couldn't tell the difference hdlite.

Interesting - your avatar is for programming that E*'carries in HD-Lite. Too funny IMO.

Quote taken from the EKB at DBSTALK:

"The VOOM channels are being broadcast in a reduced resolution "ED+" format of 1280x1080i. One unconfirmed explanation is that there is a temporary bandwidth bottleneck from VOOM to Dish. Another is that Dish is intentionally reducing the quality after seeing that other providers seem to be getting away with doing the same. Whatever the truth may be, Dish has not stated when or if the problem will be fixed while continuing to promote the whole package as HD. Complaints of false advertising may be directed to the FTC at 1-877-382-4357. More details at http://www.stophdlite.com/."

 

[nomad816]

Probably some time in 2008.

Just kidding

 

[rad]

No - I am sorry if you misunderstood my original post. We are moving and our new house is not serviced by Verizon FiOS. I am not willing to commit to a long term contract with DirecTV until they formally declare what is actually available versus what is to come. Until the channels are added, I've gone month-to-month with Time Warner so I'm not locked in and can change whenever I wish.

IMHO probably a smart move. While things appear to be on schedule for the DirecTV 10 satellite, who knows what might happen when they actually start testing with it. If something should happen which prevents it from entering service I'd had to be locked into 24 months and no new HD yet. Hopefully when the mid September date rolls around we'll all know what HD channels they'll be adding and what the VOD service will look like and you can make your decision then.

 

[atp1313]

Also if you set your favorites to include "All Channels" you will catch them as they appear.

Jimbo

The only problem with this option is you have to sift through hundreds of other channels to see what might standout as being new. No problem for Rain Man...

Do we yet know if the ALL CHANNELS option will show an "HD" icon next to it if it is now serviced in HD? Or will the call sign be appended with an "HD" (i.e. TBS-HD, CNN-HD, etc).

 

[rad]

IIRC, when a new channel has popped up, or an existing move, that channel position shows up in the guide on my HR20, I need to go in to exclude it if I want to. I might be wrong on that but I though thats what has been happening with some of the recent channel changes (like CourtTV).

 

[atp1313]

When I go through the FAV's lists I do see where D* has been so kind as to add different PPV/SportsPack barkers or shopping channels to my FAV's list...which I am not fond of, but oh well. My question though is when they do add CNN (HD), other than tuning to the channel, do you think we will be able to tell either by appending the channel name in the ALL CHAN/FAV's lists, or maybe inserting an HD icon next to it. I know the last CE (now national release) updated the search function to show an HD next to all HD feeds that match the search. Seems easy enough to associate an HD icon next to all of those new channels once they go live.