DirecTV HD Rumor

[Scott Greczkowski]

Something is up at DirecTV, this morning I got a call from one of my inside contacts telling them they will soon be releasing a fax to all dealers telling them as of February 5th all new HD installs require the installation of the new AT9 5 LNB Dish (and it does not matter where the customer is and it also it does not matter if HD locals are available to the customer or not)

My guess is soon they will announce some new national HD however it will only be available via the AT9 Dish.

 

[mikew]

Well...that's not cool. I was just installed 3 weeks ago. Hope it won't require an MPEG4 box as well..

 

[vurbano]

Ahh a new national channel only on the a new satellite and most likely mpeg2 inorder to get existing customers to call for a new Dish install and sign a 2 yr contract.

 

[Satmeister]

Well...that's not cool. I was just installed 3 weeks ago. Hope it won't require an MPEG4 box as well..

It will - the H20. Later the H20-250 DVR will be the same - AT9 only. I never did understand why they didn't insist on the AT9 for all H20 installs in the first place.

 

[rad]

I've seen other post from folks saying the same thing. My take is that D* just wants to future proof themselves and just get this dish out there now so they don't have to go back a year or two from now and replace the phase III dish. If they did add a new national HD channel that required the AT-9 then they would have figured out how to get SW1/SW2 to provide a national coverage beam(s) which LonghornXP has said didn't work. They'd also need to get a bunch of H20's out there so folks could watch this new channel.

 

[scotsmanron]

Hmmmmm...... I asked them to put the new dish in when I got my HD install last week and they said I didn't need it yet. If they do that and try to charge me for it I'm gonna go ballistic on them.

 

[boston area dtv]

Since this is just a rumor...does anyone care to speculate what this National Channel will be?

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

National Geographic HD is one I keep hearing mentioned.

 

[philhu]

Since this is just a rumor...does anyone care to speculate what this National Channel will be?

National Geographic HD


I cannot believe DTV assumes most people have clear line of sight to *5* satellites! My yard, and most in New England, are forests. I have 4 dishs, 4 SEPERATE dishes now, with one 250' away past my neighbors fence (61.5)

 

[jpn]

My take is that D* just wants to future proof themselves and just get this dish out there now so they don't have to go back a year or two from now and replace the phase III dish.

A year or two? See MikeW (above), they may be at his house next month!

Once they go to lease-only and people don't need to spend out-of-pocket for new equipment, they may be flooded with requests for upgrades. If they don't install AT-9's up-front, people will be waiting months for install dates.

I hope the rumor is solid. They're coming to my house on Feb 8th, and I expect to have the AT-9 installed; I'd rather not have any misunderstandings with the installer.

 

[scotsmanron]

I can't imagine going to that trouble for NG. I would hope it would be something better to make the subscribers WANT to go to the trouble of getting the newer dish.

 

[lovswr]

Well, most likely it will be National Geographic or TNTHD (<--especially since this is the one Chase mentioned by name).

Ok this it out of character for me, but the people running D* are fools. Rupert is trying to cheapsakte his way (as he always does), but this is just not going to work. I get the choice of paying hundreds for a boes) that I can't keep and have to pay a monthly fee for. And probably Hell will be just starting to thaw when I can get my hands on said equipment. I would imagine that come 1 March, teh Cable Company ads belittling D* are going to be legendary in scope (& actually true for once)

This is the #1 problem with services companies in this country. A complete failure to manage customer expectations. They need to learn that an informed customer is the best customer. I mean, how hard is it to keep us (not the dealers, not Scott or Longhorn, etc...although it is well appreciated) the customers a little informed as to what they are doing?

I just paid my bill today. $132.67!! I would wager good money that a majority of D* subs on this site, are also top tier paying customers & at the end of the day, what are we really getting. No info, **rumors** of future stuff, & bad quality (from the actual viewing experience to having, god-forbid, to call them for a trouble call. It took 6 weeks & 4 techs to get my stupid H10 working & now this. We may get one more HD channel, & I have to get some garganto dish, that may rip the eaves of my house & i GET TO PAY UPFRONT FOR MORE FREAKEN HARDWARE & THEN GET THE PRIVELIGE OF PAYING FOR EVERY FREAKEN MONTH.

I'm sorry, I just had to get that off my chest. It is 2006 & at the end of the day, this is not rocket science. C'mon D*, this does not have to be this damn hard

 

[bgsmallwood]

I wish it was new national HD programming! I wish it was NGC-HD

But, I doubt that is what it is. I thought SW1 SW2 are built for spot beams to do locals and that the next 2 sats would be continental sats for national programming.

It just makes sense to install the 5lnb dish if that is what will be required in the future. Actually makes me feel a little bit better about the competence of D* management.

 

[vurbano]

National Geographic HD is one I keep hearing mentioned.

What an insult that will be instead of TNTHD. Even Voom had TNTHD

 

[scotsmanron]

Service in this country is a forgotten word. D* included. To get anywhere you usually have to bitch. I HATE having to do that. Just be upfront with me. The email saying that HD channels are expensive....and what is supposed to happen when ALL of them have to be HD??? Are we supposed to cry for you? If your company can't handle this then get out of the business.

 

[FKy.Guy]

Hmmmmm...... I asked them to put the new dish in when I got my HD install last week and they said I didn't need it yet. If they do that and try to charge me for it I'm gonna go ballistic on them.

Same here I`m a 3 LNB dude myself

 

[timmy1376]

They could just be rolling out lil-hd sooner to more places..... plus adding a few national HD channels.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I just was told that emails started going out to retailers informing them on this change. The effective date is February 6th (not the 5th as I reported) and a AT9 MUST be installed for any customer getting a HD D-20 Receiver installed.

 

[jpn]

What an insult that will be instead of TNTHD. Even Voom had TNTHD

Why assume that it's only ONE channel?

My guess is that it's TNT-HD + NG-HD + 1 or 2 others. I'd really like to see Starz-HD in the mix and several PPV channels dedicated to HD.

 

[mikew]

...and what is supposed to happen when ALL of them have to be HD???

There is no mandate for HD. It is only switching from analog OTA broadcasting to digital. HD is just a bonus.