The other day, I was talking to one of our marine customers. Most marine customers have their boats registered as commercial vessels. I don’t claim to understand the tax code, so I won’t go into detail, but apparently it’s the smart thing to do once the boat is over a certain size. You should definitely talk to your accountant about that, instead of listening to a random blogger.
If the boat is a commercial vessel, it generally has a commercial DIRECTV account associated with it. Yacht owners love satellite television. It’s better than satellite internet because there’s no data caps and the service comes at a very fair price. But, after talking to that one customer, there’s something that probably needs to be said.
SignalSaver is a feature built into Genie DVRs and servers that automatically switches to the streaming feed if you lose signal. For those who have quick but heavy rains, it’s a great addition. But, Genies aren’t allowed on commercial accounts either. So, someone with a commercial account, whether on land or sea, can’t use any of the streaming features of DIRECTV.
Conventional wisdom says that companies like DIRECTV just don’t see the value in negotiating commercial contracts for streaming. It comes down to this: commercial receivers can be in public areas (like for example a bar or waiting room.) Because of that, copyright reimbursements are calculated totally differently. Rather than being a flat fee which is part of what a provider like DIRECTV pays for the channel, it’s based on the maximum occupancy of the space. So it varies from place to place.
All of DIRECTV’s satellite TV contracts have options for commercial use, because they were negotiated like that from the beginning. But streaming in commercial areas is really new. Some commercial locations still don’t have internet that’s fast or reliable enough to stream 10 or 15 different things at once, like you’d need for a bar.
I’m not a lawyer and I’m not in the room with the DIRECTV lawyers as they negotiate the contracts. But I’m willing to bet that they’re working on getting streaming for business. It just takes a long time. There are hundreds, possibly thousands, of different content providers. Each one has their own contract and each one is negotiated separately. Depending on the timing, you might have to wait 5 years for a current contract to come up before renegotiating. If you try to change things in the middle of a contract, you open yourself up to possibly paying more for that content.
So my feeling is eventually, it will happen.
there is a commercial DIRECTV app which can be used for controlling receivers over the business network. It’s free and you can get it here. But it won’t stream. You’ll need signin credentials and we at Signal Connect can help with that. Those credentials will work for the commercial app, but they won’t work for the regular DIRECTV app.
If you’d like to know more, call the experts! We’re here for you at 888-233-7563 during East Coast business hours. If it’s after hours, no problem! Fill out the form below and we’ll get back to you.
The post Can commercial DIRECTV customers use the regular DIRECTV app to stream video? appeared first on The Solid Signal Blog.
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If the boat is a commercial vessel, it generally has a commercial DIRECTV account associated with it. Yacht owners love satellite television. It’s better than satellite internet because there’s no data caps and the service comes at a very fair price. But, after talking to that one customer, there’s something that probably needs to be said.
Commercial customers can’t stream with the DIRECTV app, and they don’t get access to SignalSaver.
SignalSaver is a feature built into Genie DVRs and servers that automatically switches to the streaming feed if you lose signal. For those who have quick but heavy rains, it’s a great addition. But, Genies aren’t allowed on commercial accounts either. So, someone with a commercial account, whether on land or sea, can’t use any of the streaming features of DIRECTV.
Why not?
Conventional wisdom says that companies like DIRECTV just don’t see the value in negotiating commercial contracts for streaming. It comes down to this: commercial receivers can be in public areas (like for example a bar or waiting room.) Because of that, copyright reimbursements are calculated totally differently. Rather than being a flat fee which is part of what a provider like DIRECTV pays for the channel, it’s based on the maximum occupancy of the space. So it varies from place to place.
All of DIRECTV’s satellite TV contracts have options for commercial use, because they were negotiated like that from the beginning. But streaming in commercial areas is really new. Some commercial locations still don’t have internet that’s fast or reliable enough to stream 10 or 15 different things at once, like you’d need for a bar.
I’m not a lawyer and I’m not in the room with the DIRECTV lawyers as they negotiate the contracts. But I’m willing to bet that they’re working on getting streaming for business. It just takes a long time. There are hundreds, possibly thousands, of different content providers. Each one has their own contract and each one is negotiated separately. Depending on the timing, you might have to wait 5 years for a current contract to come up before renegotiating. If you try to change things in the middle of a contract, you open yourself up to possibly paying more for that content.
So my feeling is eventually, it will happen.
Just to be clear…
there is a commercial DIRECTV app which can be used for controlling receivers over the business network. It’s free and you can get it here. But it won’t stream. You’ll need signin credentials and we at Signal Connect can help with that. Those credentials will work for the commercial app, but they won’t work for the regular DIRECTV app.
If you’d like to know more, call the experts! We’re here for you at 888-233-7563 during East Coast business hours. If it’s after hours, no problem! Fill out the form below and we’ll get back to you.
The post Can commercial DIRECTV customers use the regular DIRECTV app to stream video? appeared first on The Solid Signal Blog.
Continue reading...
