DirecTV Now to rebrand under AT&T TV family.

[NashGuy]

You do realize they'd have to add HBO/Fox RSNs BACK in order to make your "both systems carry all channels" dream come true, right? So you can't count that space that's been "freed up" due to disputes.

Dish has basically fewer than two Ku satellites per arc carrying national transponders. Even if you round up and assume they had two full satellites carrying national transponders that's only 64 Ku transponders. Directv has 32 Ku transponders (currently only 26 are national but the rest will be by the time any merger scheme could happen) 68 Ka transponders (and 36 RB transponders but we'll ignore those) The Ka transponders have 50% more bandwidth (36 MHz versus 24 Mhz) so Directv has 134 Ku equivalent transponders - more than double Dish's bandwidth, and that's after I generously rounded them up to 64 national transponders which is probably 30% too high. The real number could be 3x the bandwidth.

No, you misinterpreted what I wrote again. In my last post, I said that the DTV fleet, but not the DISH fleet, would carry all of both systems' channels. The DTV fleet already has the HBO, Cinemax and RSN channels.

And the DISH fleet would carry as much of the DTV system as could be squeezed onto it -- given the current channel package scheme, perhaps it would cover all the channels in DTV's Select, Entertainment, Choice and Xtra packages, plus all the DTV premiums (as well, of course, as everything in ALL of DISH's line-up), but it wouldn't be able to carry a few of the additional channels in DTV's Ultimate package, as well as a few random things like stuff in the HD Movie Pack.

We already know that DISH's fleet has the capacity to carry everything it has now plus those HBO, Cinemax and RSN channels that it used to have as recently as a year ago. So there's room to add all that back in. And I'll bet that there are VERY few channels that DTV offers in its Ultimate package that aren't already a part of DISH's America's Top 250 package. About all I see are Aspire, Audience, BBC World News, Centric, Chiller, Discovery Life, El Rey, Ovation, Universal Kids and Universo. And many of those are only in SD on DTV. See what I mean? It wouldn't take much extra room on DISH's fleet to squeeze those few channels in, in at least SD.

 

[NashGuy]

Fairly Certain with regards to dish design and angles(nevermind the different LNB's) you arent pointing any Dish Dish at Directv sats and getting anything

This is apparently a more difficult concept to understand than I had thought. No one is talking about taking existing dish installations and altering them to work with the other system's sat fleet. This is merely about having both fleets carry all of each other's channels (or, in the case of the smaller DISH fleet, as much as possible of the DTV channels) so that, going forward, any new or existing dish installation can work with both services' channel packages.

It's a little bit like how you can take the same iPhone and use it with Verizon or AT&T or T-Mobile or Sprint. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to use the same satellite equipment (dish, wiring, receivers) with either DTV or DISH? Of course, the only way that might happen is if the two companies form a joint venture or other co-operational agreement.

 

[The Fat Man]

The workaround the box prices used to be to run the digital cable wire into the back of the TV and you just got digital cable on weird channel locations (sans premium channels, PPV, and On Demand). I had it with Comcast (pay for internet and home phone) with my locals and public access channels. My parents had it also with Verizon FiOS, just a whole slate of channels as they pay for top tier TV service. Is that even still an option with cable, if you pay for TV service? If so, does AT&T allow it. If they do, that can be a work around for the box fees.

Personally, I got angry when Comcast cut off that access for me, specifically because of my local school and town government channels. Yet, they still charge me a $3.00 "TV fee." That three bucks should grant me access to my town's public access channels.

 

[Juan]

When the local cable company switches to all digital and drops the analog channels it will stop working...digital meaning mpeg2 or mpeg 4 compression...some tvs have a slot for a cable card on which they will work but alas most cable companies have a monthly fee for the card

The workaround the box prices used to be to run the digital cable wire into the back of the TV and you just got digital cable on weird channel locations (sans premium channels, PPV, and On Demand). I had it with Comcast (pay for internet and home phone) with my locals and public access channels. My parents had it also with Verizon FiOS, just a whole slate of channels as they pay for top tier TV service. Is that even still an option with cable, if you pay for TV service? If so, does AT&T allow it. If they do, that can be a work around for the box fees.

Personally, I got angry when Comcast cut off that access for me, specifically because of my local school and town government channels. Yet, they still charge me a $3.00 "TV fee." That three bucks should grant me access to my town's public access channels.

Sent from my SM-G950U using the SatelliteGuys app!

 

[lparsons21]

When the local cable company switches to all digital and drops the analog channels it will stop working...digital meaning mpeg2 or mpeg 4 compression...some tvs have a slot for a cable card on which they will work but alas most cable companies have a monthly fee for the card

Sent from my SM-G950U using the SatelliteGuys app!

I don't know what other cable companies charge for the cablecard, but Mediacom is $1.99 or maybe $2.99 for theirs. Much cheaper than any of their equipment.

 

[The Fat Man]

When the local cable company switches to all digital and drops the analog channels it will stop working...digital meaning mpeg2 or mpeg 4 compression...some tvs have a slot for a cable card on which they will work but alas most cable companies have a monthly fee for the card

Sent from my SM-G950U using the SatelliteGuys app!

Actually, Comcast had them as digital channels. I can't speak for everyone. When the rules regarding allowing certain access changed, that's when Comcast blocked our access. That was roughly five years ago.

 

[Juan]

They were " forced" to drop rf channels in order to have more bandwidth for additional internet services such as VoIP and gige internet

Actually, Comcast had them as digital channels. I can't speak for everyone. When the rules regarding allowing certain access changed, that's when Comcast blocked our access. That was roughly five years ago.

Sent from my SM-G950U using the SatelliteGuys app!

 

[slice1900]

When the local cable company switches to all digital and drops the analog channels it will stop working.

Not all cable companies. Mediacom went all digital a while back and still has all the MPEG2 SD channels from their 'advanced basic' package (and a few MPEG2 HD for the locals) on unencrypted QAM channels. At least where I live. I heard that Mediacom encrypted everything in some markets, if that's true I don't know why they only did it in some not others. Maybe it depends on an individual town's cable plant - if they didn't already have some sort of filtering in place to prevent internet only subscribers from getting all those unencrypted channels "for free" they encrypted them. That's really the only reason why they would, they have no reason to care if people paying for cable can plug the cable into the back of a TV and get only some channels in SD only on weird numbers that are hard to remember and change when they move things around.

 

[NashGuy]

Comcast used to distribute locals in unencrypted MPEG-2 QAM, even the 1080i and 720p HD stations. After I got my first HD TV (a 34" widescreen CRT, heavy!), I bought a Sony HD DVR that could work with either OTA or cable. Unlike TiVo, it had no ongoing service fees, which I liked. (And I'm not sure if TiVo had even rolled out an HD DVR at that point yet.) It had a CableCARD slot but I didn't have to use it. Just screwed Comcast's coax into the back and I had all my locals in HD (well, except Fox, which I think was still doing the widescreen SD thing at the time), along with InHD and InHD 2, which were cable's answers to HDNet. For some weird reason back then, Comcast here actually charged *less* for a bundle of broadband and Limited Basic TV than for just standalone broadband, even with the broadcast TV fee tacked on (which was only maybe $1.50 or so back then, IIRC; now it's $10).

Anyhow, several years ago, Comcast removed the locals from clear QAM, so now you have to an adapter, box or CableCARD from them to access them (or just use their Stream app). And I read that they just converted all the HD locals in the Chicago market over from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4, and made them all 720p too. They did the same with national cable nets a few years ago here and I wondered how long it would take before the same happened with HD locals. Comcast likes to do stuff in Chicago first, it seems, so I expect that this reformatting will spread to other cities across their footprint in the months to come.

 

[The Fat Man]

I don't take issue with blocking anything, except public access channels. My town's public access, government, and school channels should not be encrypted at all. Public access is just that. But, I digress. My original point about AT&T cable is to see if paying for the service is an option without what seems to be their exhorbant box fees.

 

[NashGuy]

I don't take issue with blocking anything, except public access channels. My town's public access, government, and school channels should not be encrypted at all. Public access is just that. But, I digress. My original point about AT&T cable is to see if paying for the service is an option without what seems to be their exhorbant box fees.

There are no box fees, per se, with either AT&T TV or its contract-free "little brother" AT&T TV Now. With the former, your base price includes viewing on 3 screens (TV, computers, tablet, and/or smart phones) at the same time. With the latter, it's only 2 screen. The former includes one free customized streaming box to connect to your main TV. Additional ones can be optionally purchased for $120 each but you can instead just use the AT&T TV app for Roku, Apple TV, Fire TV, etc. The latter service, AT&T TV Now, does not come with any box. You're on your own to just use the app on your own devices.

Right now, AT&T TV Now lets you pay an extra $5/mo if you want to add viewing on a 3rd simultaneous screen. Neither service currently offers a way to support viewing on more than 3 simultaneous screens.

Forcing box rentals on customers will become a thing of the past. AT&T is the largest cable TV operator in the country (mainly because of DirecTV). Comcast is a close second and they shifted earlier this year in a big part of their footprint to making their boxes optional. The channel packages no longer include a box. You can opt to view exclusively through their app on your own devices (Roku, smart TVs, smartphones, etc.) and/or you can rent their X1 boxes from them for $5/mo each. For now, anyway, they're sticking with the box rental model while AT&T appears to be moving on from that to giving them away and selling them, but not bothering with renting them, processing rental returns, cleaning/refurbishing them, and then renting them back out again. I think AT&T is smart. I think we're going to look back on AT&T TV as a trend-setter once it fully rolls out nationwide later this year.

 

[BCH]

It has been over a month since anyone replied to this thread. Is there any new information on AT&T TV, such as the addition or deletion of channels, equipment refinements, expansion into new markets, policy changes, or additional user experiences?

 

[whitewolf8214]

I’ll pass since AT&T is running it imo

 

[NashGuy]

It has been over a month since anyone replied to this thread. Is there any new information on AT&T TV, such as the addition or deletion of channels, equipment refinements, expansion into new markets, policy changes, or additional user experiences?

No new info. The info that leaked out in early summer, via internal AT&T docs, was correct in saying that AT&T TV would launch in pilot markets on Aug. 19. Those docs also said it would launch nationwide in this year's 4th quarter (Oct - Dec), so that's still what I'm expecting. Since then, I've seen some references from AT&T about AT&T TV being fully launched by early 2020. I'm not sure if that means the nationwide launch is getting pushed back or if it was simply referencing the fact that Q1 2020 would be the first full quarter when the service would be nationwide. My hunch is the latter but, obviously, big launches like this can get delayed as things change.

I think AT&T may still be finalizing renegotiated carriage contracts with certain channel groups too. I believe that when AT&T TV rolls out nationwide, it will feature expanded versions of the existing Plus and Max channel packages that are already being sold via AT&T TV Now. But those packages are currently missing channels from the Discovery, A&E and AMC channel groups.

Anyhow, we do know that AT&T is going to do their big unveiling of HBO Max for Wall Street investors at the end of this month, Oct. 29. Perhaps they'll make mention of AT&T TV at that same event. I've been predicting for a long while now that all AT&T TV channel packages will automatically include HBO Max. That may not happen until HBO Max officially launches in spring 2020, although there's also been some talk at AT&T about a possible beta version of HBO Max launching late this year. Seems plausible to me that AT&T TV launched nationwide in November or early December, with all subscribers getting the HBO Max beta as part of the service. They would serve as the exclusive beta testers for HBO Max to help get it finalized before it becomes available to everyone, as a standalone product, in April.

 

[NashGuy]

One thing I forgot to post above is that AT&T recently sent an email to their cloud DVR beta testers on AT&T TV Now to say that "starting November 1st, we are migrating to a new Cloud DVR platform." Given that AT&T TV and AT&T TV Now ride on the same delivery platform, I'm sure that this new cloud DVR will come to AT&T TV as well. Given the number of bugs and instability that users have continued to report for the original cloud DVR system in DirecTV Now/AT&T TV Now, I'd say it's a good thing that AT&T is switching to a new system. Cloud DVR is obviously a very important feature. I imagine that they'll want to get it fully rolled out and make sure it's performing well for at least a week or so before opening up AT&T TV to nationwide sign-ups. So the latter half of Nov. or first half of Dec. still look plausible for the big launch. We'll see...

 

[slice1900]

I imagine that they'll want to get it fully rolled out and make sure it's performing well for at least a week or so before opening up AT&T TV to nationwide sign-ups.

I would sure hope they'd require more than "a week or so" before considering a brand new cloud DVR platform as being stable and bug free!

 

[CycloneSat]

I'll pass for now. I prefer having streaming compliment a traditional television service, and the Cloud DVR only is a deal breaker, I wish there was a optional physical hard drive option. Would be much more reliable IMO. Unfortunately, according to Inclined Orbit, they're apparently eventually going to kill DIRECTV for this. They did mention they wanted to retire the DIRECTV brand in an article I read, so this must be it. That being said, this does look solid, and once they do bury DIRECTV, I guess I'll sign on with this, and add a C-band dish as well as an OTA antenna and DVR.

 

[NashGuy]

I would sure hope they'd require more than "a week or so" before considering a brand new cloud DVR platform as being stable and bug free!

Heh. Well, I wrote that on the assumption that this new cloud DVR platform is already proven and road-ready, either through AT&T's own closed internal beta testing that's been going on for a good while now or because it's an off-the-shelf system that they've licensed/bought from a third party. AFAIK, none of the other vMVPDs (YouTube TV, Hulu Live, etc.) had an open "beta" status for their cloud DVRs when they first introduced them. They had already pretty much worked out all the kinks internally before rolling them out. Given the very late date at which AT&T is switching out their cloud DVR platform (with the nationwide launch of AT&T TV just a matter of weeks away), surely it's a similar situation there.

 

[NashGuy]

I'll pass for now. I prefer having streaming compliment a traditional television service, and the Cloud DVR only is a deal breaker, I wish there was a optional physical hard drive option. Would be much more reliable IMO. Unfortunately, according to Inclined Orbit, they're apparently eventually going to kill DIRECTV for this. They did mention they wanted to retire the DIRECTV brand in an article I read, so this must be it. That being said, this does look solid, and once they do bury DIRECTV, I guess I'll sign on with this, and add a C-band dish as well as an OTA antenna and DVR.

Eh, I'll admit that local DVRs do have some advantages over cloud DVRs. The biggest, IMO, is that all recordings eventually expire on cloud DVRs; Comcast gives you 1 yr, YouTube TV 9 months, AT&T TV (at least in its pilot incarnation) gives you 90 days, PS Vue gives you 28 days.

But there are also advantages to cloud DVRs. You can record an unlimited number of simultaneous channels because you aren't limited by your number of tuners. The system may automatically extend recordings to ensure you don't miss the end of a game or other program (as YouTube TV does). And you have access to your library of recordings on a range of devices, anywhere in the country that you can connect to the internet.

Frankly, I find the whole concept of DVRs and recording to be increasingly anachronistic. The future is that everything will be available on-demand and the only stuff we watch "live" will be events like sports that are actually happening live right then.

 

[comp9]

I'll pass for now. I prefer having streaming compliment a traditional television service, and the Cloud DVR only is a deal breaker, I wish there was a optional physical hard drive option. Would be much more reliable IMO. Unfortunately, according to Inclined Orbit, they're apparently eventually going to kill DIRECTV for this. They did mention they wanted to retire the DIRECTV brand in an article I read, so this must be it. That being said, this does look solid, and once they do bury DIRECTV, I guess I'll sign on with this, and add a C-band dish as well as an OTA antenna and DVR.

We are a good 5-10 years (maybe longer) from Directv Sat service going anywhere. Calm your britches