A few questions regarding changing/cancelling some of DirecTV packages

[walkerjs]

Okay, a couple of things that may have been answered before, but I haven't seen a direct answer to a lot of them so I figure it doesn't hurt to ask here.

1. PPV - Currently we do not have any phone lines hooked up to any of our three receivers because of the inconvenience of where the phone jacks are. However my understanding from what I've seen in other threads is that one can order a PPV movie with the remote and the receiver will record this fact on the smart card to be phoned home for billing whenever a phone line is connected. Would this be a true statement? Like if my wife wanted to see a PPV movie she could order it with the remote, watch it, and then tell me about it so I could string a long-honkin' phone line and connect it to the receiver so it can phone in the billing info overnight? We don't have DirecTivo, and I'd only connect the phone for the amount of time necessary to phone in the record since I don't want it to be connected all the time.

2. I have ESPN GamePlan, which allows me to see a number of games played by my fav college team that I otherwise would not be able to see. I have noticed, however, that some of these games are carried not by ESPN or ABC, but by Fox Sports. Since I don't get the sports package I don't get to see those games. (College football...specifically this one team that gets NO coverage on the east coast unless they play someone like, Notre Dame, and the NFL are the ONLY sports I give a rats behind about.) Could I next season order the ESPN GamePlan again, and then when I see that the games I want are going to be carried a few times by Fox, then order the sports package for the couple of months of the season that they MIGHT be carrying my games and then when the season is over (or it is obvious that remaining games will be carried by ESPN; they don't seem to know until a couple of days before the friggin' game sometimes) easily cancel the sports package until the next time it will be needed? This would only happen once a year. At the beginning of (or a little later into) the football season. Oh, and I'll have long been through the required one year commitment with Direct by next years football season. I'll also be budgeting for Season Ticket for the NFL, so it won't be like I'll really be cheating Direct out of any potential revenue. I just want to have what I want, when I want and be able to discard that which I don't want (NBA, Baseball, Hockey, etc.) which is supposed to be one of the advantages of DBS. Not that I'm unhappy, in fact I LOVE my dish but want to get the most out of it for what I need.

 

[peano]

Answer to question 1 is you can order PPVs via the remote without the phoneline hooked up. The access card will allow a certain dollar amount to accumulate before it needs to phone home. You can connect the phoneline when convenient. If you get "Call Ext. 733" at the bottom of PPVs, you've passed the dollar amount or time limit.

I can't answer question 2.

 

[jdspencer]

To kake things easier on you, get a wireless modem jack. You don't need to wire in a phone line with these units.

Many people have ordered a premium package for only a day to see a movie that is on HBO for example. So, I see no reason why you can't order the sports pack for however long you wnat it. This is different from Sunday Ticket which is a season long subscription. Although I've read you can order a Sunday at a ime.

 

[DIRECTV_Mole]

To answer your first question: If the receiver is not continuously connected to a phone line, it may allow some ppv's before shutting down as a safety precaution. If this happens, you will not be able to order ppv's again until you connect the phone line and leave it permanently connected.

DIRECTV will need to confirm that the line is connected by having you run a system test to check the phone line (on most receivers, if you are on the same household line that the receiver is connected to while running the test, an audible series of clicks can be heard - this is the modem in the receiver dialing out - which will confirm the phone connection, even though you may see an on-screen message saying there is no dial tone or that the test failed). Once the connection is confirmed, D* sends a manual command for the receiver to call in and download any stored purchase information, which usally takes no more than 20 minutes as long as the phone line is kept clear. Once that happens, the receiver will operate normally.

Second question: Blackouts on ESPN Gameplan, like all other sports packages that D* or any other provider offers, are defined by broadcast rights. Unless the game in question is broadcast nationwide, only in-market college games will be shown in your area, even with the Sports Pack. For example, if you live in the area served by Fox Sports Northwest, and a college game is being shown on Fox Sports Pittsburgh, the game would most likely be blacked out because it is not your home team territory, even if you did sub to Sports Pack. The only way to get out-of market college games is to sub to Gameplan

 

[dgordo]

To answer your first question: If the receiver is not continuously connected to a phone line, it may allow some ppv's before shutting down as a safety precaution. If this happens, you will not be able to order ppv's again until you connect the phone line and leave it permanently connected.

DIRECTV will need to confirm that the line is connected by having you run a system test to check the phone line (on most receivers, if you are on the same household line that the receiver is connected to while running the test, an audible series of clicks can be heard - this is the modem in the receiver dialing out - which will confirm the phone connection, even though you may see an on-screen message saying there is no dial tone or that the test failed). Once the connection is confirmed, D* sends a manual command for the receiver to call in and download any stored purchase information, which usally takes no more than 20 minutes as long as the phone line is kept clear. Once that happens, the receiver will operate normally.

Second question: Blackouts on ESPN Gameplan, like all other sports packages that D* or any other provider offers, are defined by broadcast rights. Unless the game in question is broadcast nationwide, only in-market college games will be shown in your area, even with the Sports Pack. For example, if you live in the area served by Fox Sports Northwest, and a college game is being shown on Fox Sports Pittsburgh, the game would most likely be blacked out because it is not your home team territory, even if you did sub to Sports Pack. The only way to get out-of market college games is to sub to Gameplan

This sounds just like what every csr has told me but I have found the truth to be different.

I have had D* for about 7 years and I have never had a phone line connected to any of my receivers for more then a few minutes every couple months to let it send out the PPV purchases stored on the receiver. This has always worked fine.

I have also never seen a college game that has been blacked out on a RSN except for when it was shown on one of my local channels. I live in chicago and I am always able to watch college games on fox sports west, pittsburgh, southwest, etc. Pro games are a different story.

 

[LOBO2999]

You can order your PPV movies online through D's web site . The benefit of ordering online is that the PPV Movie will go to all your Tv's that are hook up to any D receivers in your house but if you order it by remote it only goes to that Tv.

 

[walkerjs]

Second question: Blackouts on ESPN Gameplan, like all other sports packages that D* or any other provider offers, are defined by broadcast rights. Unless the game in question is broadcast nationwide, only in-market college games will be shown in your area, even with the Sports Pack. For example, if you live in the area served by Fox Sports Northwest, and a college game is being shown on Fox Sports Pittsburgh, the game would most likely be blacked out because it is not your home team territory, even if you did sub to Sports Pack. The only way to get out-of market college games is to sub to Gameplan

I didn't want to mention the team since that tends to get people up in arms for some reason , but in this case it would be the USC Trojans. Despite being #1 they don't get any respect on the east coast. They do, however, get TV coverage just not out here. This season many of their games are being carried by Fox Sports and show up in the guide but since I don't have the sports package currently, I don't get to see those games. I would get to see those games if I subscribed, so there isn't an issue with blackouts, but rather just the case of being carried on channels I don't currently get. Hence the question of subscribing to the sports package during the season I'm interested in to get 'enhanced' college football which would include their games. ESPN carries a lot of them (which is why I got it), but for some reason Fox has their clutches in certain Pac-10 games. Of course, if I'm wrong and I can't get out of market college games regardless, well that just sucks all around.

Thanks all who answered both questions. I will probably get the sports package next season for the duration then cancel once it's over.

I'll probably tell my wife to go ahead and order PPV online rather than do the phone line thing.