DIRECTV Remains Clear HD Leader with 130 HD Channels

[M Sparks]

1080p huh, D*'s just killin Dish right now. Every time you think they might get a leg up, its gets broken off.

I was just about to say the opposite. I opened this thread expecting it to be the death blow to get me to switch from DISH. Whoo-hoo...four channels...one of which is already on DISH, and one which they will have by this weekend. Yawn.

The 1080p is cool, but DISH accidentally leaked a webpage last week that mentioned 1080p VOD.

I'm really annoyed with DISH right now and am looking for a reason to jump ship, but this ain't it. The slight edge DirectTV has is going to be erased this weekend as far as my viewing habits go. Now I gotta go read the Fios thread, since I might be moving to a Fios area.

 

[vurbano]

The 1080p thing is a non factor IMO. It will be delivered over the net to the box, not by the satellite bandwidth. SO fanboys on both sides just need to take that off the scoreboard. And you can bet your behind it will be a PPV situation anyway.

 

[DodgerKing]

I was just about to say the opposite. I opened this thread expecting it to be the death blow to get me to switch from DISH. Whoo-hoo...four channels...one of which is already on DISH, and one which they will have by this weekend. Yawn.

The 1080p is cool, but DISH accidentally leaked a webpage last week that mentioned 1080p VOD.

I'm really annoyed with DISH right now and am looking for a reason to jump ship, but this ain't it. The slight edge DirectTV has is going to be erased this weekend as far as my viewing habits go. Now I gotta go read the Fios thread, since I might be moving to a Fios area.

First, Direct never announces channels before they launch

Second, the said "among the channels", meaning more than the three listed.

Third, they said "more than 30". If you look at the list, it doesn't even add up to 30.

Fourth, they stated D11 will give them up to 150 HD channels by the end of the year. Which means even 20+ more. They always come out in phases. Direct has never launched every channel at once.

 

[DodgerKing]

The 1080p thing is a non factor IMO. It will be delivered over the net to the box, not by the satellite bandwidth. SO fanboys on both sides just need to take that off the scoreboard. And you can bet your behind it will be a PPV situation anyway.

I don't think so. It was rumored for a while that Direct will be the first to launch an actual 1080p live broadcast station. Many think it will be a Direct exclusive channel like the 101 or the 101 itself.

 

[gadgtfreek]

I was just about to say the opposite. I opened this thread expecting it to be the death blow to get me to switch from DISH. Whoo-hoo...four channels...one of which is already on DISH, and one which they will have by this weekend. Yawn.

The 1080p is cool, but DISH accidentally leaked a webpage last week that mentioned 1080p VOD.

I'm really annoyed with DISH right now and am looking for a reason to jump ship, but this ain't it. The slight edge DirectTV has is going to be erased this weekend as far as my viewing habits go. Now I gotta go read the Fios thread, since I might be moving to a Fios area.

Side by side, most of them have similiar channel offerings, and IMHO DIsh is missing the key ones I wanted like FXHD(dont feel itll be on there anytime soon). Finally, PQ matters to me, but Dish doesnt seem to care and thats why D* ultimately gets my money.

 

[Rey]

I don't think so. It was rumored for a while that Direct will be the first to launch an actual 1080p live broadcast station. Many think it will be a Direct exclusive channel like the 101 or the 101 itself.

or movies on demand. even if E leaked something about 1080p VOD do you think they will do this before D? no. E lately is always late to the party. they will not do this before D. by D announcing this proves that they're ahead of E on this 1080p issue. like Dk said "I don't think so"

 

[M Sparks]

First, Direct never announces channels before they launch

Among the new HD channels that DIRECTV will launch next month are Showtime
Extreme HD, Showtime Showcase HD, Planet Green HD, ABC Family HD

At least try to make sense if you're going to argue.

There's nothing to argue about anyway. I said I opened this thread expecting to read something that would blow me away. It didn't. I never said they weren't CAPABLE of doing something cool. But as of this moment, all they've done is put out a ho-hum (IMO) announcement with a splashy title.

Third, they said "more than 30". If you look at the list, it doesn't even add up to 30.

It adds up to at least 28. It could add up to 1000 if there's 973 "additional PPV channels" You guys are all so obsessed with numbers. We all know both DISH and DirecTV is playing with fake numbers, all that matters is what channels they are carrying.

Direct has never launched every channel at once.

What does that even mean? How is it possible to launch "every channel at once"? Although, depending on how you look at it, they did in 1994 or so.

 

[DodgerKing]

At least try to make sense if you're going to argue.

You are missing the point. Direct has never made a formal announcement of all of the channels they will be adding and still did not in this case. This is the type of announcement they always make, usually they do not included channels at all.

There's nothing to argue about anyway. I said I opened this thread expecting to read something that would blow me away. It didn't. I never said they weren't CAPABLE of doing something cool. But as of this moment, all they've done is put out a ho-hum (IMO) announcement with a splashy title.

Which goes with my first point. Direct never announces channels ahead of time, so don't ever expect anything splashy. They just put channels up and people find out the next day.

 

[jokeworm]

My guess is that this press release was designed to "mute" the Dish launch of 17 new channels later this week .... I would imagine that they already knew what the first set of channels would be - so they went ahead and announced those .. then next week (or right after Dish sends out its .. "we've just launched another 17 channels ... ") we will get something else from Directv saying "Next week we will blow away the competition again by adding another 20 channels"

Why announce it all in one go - when you can split the announcements, get twice the press ... and annoy the heck out of your biggest competitor

I'd rather see National HD myself too ... there is plenty out there that can be added ... hopefully the next few weeks will bring great rewards

 

[DodgerKing]

Let me see if I can clarify?

Keep in mind everything in in reference to HD since the topic is HD channel launches.

It adds up to at least 28. It could add up to 1000 if there's 973 "additional PPV channels" You guys are all so obsessed with numbers. We all know both DISH and DirecTV is playing with fake numbers, all that matters is what channels they are carrying.

The channel count was not the point of my argument. The point of my argument was simply to point out that the three new channels listed are not the only ones they are going to add. There will be a splash with new channels. Trust me on that.

What does that even mean? How is it possible to launch "every channel at once"? Although, depending on how you look at it, they did in 1994 or so.

IOW, if they have 20 new HD channels they can launch today, Direct will not launch them all today. They may do 10 this week, 5 two weeks later, and 5 more 2 months later.

I was simply pointing out the difference between the way Dish does things and the way Direct does things.

 

[jcrandall]

i'm guessing its the rsn's that p smith spotted on those test channels, don't recall fsn ohio or sto being 2 of them. i could be wrong!

FSN ohio was up there, STO was not.

 

[jcrandall]

FYI - I sent a message up seeking clarification on the 1080p movies.

My educated guess is that this will be an enhancement to either "movies now" (satellite VOD) or the intenet based VOD.

What I don't know is if the hardware (HR2x) is capable of 1080p via a software upgrade, or if it will be new hardware.

I'll let you all know if/when we hear something back.

 

[jcrandall]

Beginning August 14, DIRECTV will launch more than 30 additional HD channels, bringing the total HD channel lineup to 130.

That says "beginning" we will get more, reaching a total of 130. Doesn't say when we'll have 130.

They need to add 35 to reach 130. They can't count MPEG2->MPEG4 converts.

Among the new HD channels that DIRECTV will launch next month are Showtime Extreme HD, Showtime Showcase HD, Planet Green HD, ABC Family HD, additional DIRECTV HD pay per view channels and an additional 23 Regional Sports Networks (RSNs) in HD 24 hours a day.

Depending on how many PPVs, there is still a small group that they didn't announce here, possibly due to in-process negotations or already final negotations that have a "street date" for the announcement.

Either way, there will be more that what is listed here, or a whole bunch more PPVs (I hope not).

I think someone mentioned earlier that this timing of release is to punch a whole in the wind-sail of the Dish 17 HD launch coming this week.

 

[jcrandall]

additional 23 Regional Sports Networks (RSNs) in HD 24 hours a day.

Altitude Sports & Entertainment ..... 644
Comcast SportsNet (Bay Area) ....... 654
Comcast SportsNet (Chicago) ......... 640 - FULL TIME
Comcast SportsNet (Mid-Atlantic) .. 629 - FULL TIME
Comcast SportsNet (New England) . 620
Comcast SportsNet (West) ................. 656
FSN Arizona .................................. 649
FSN Cincinnati .............................. 638
FSN Detroit ................................... 636 - FULL TIME
FSN Florida ................................... 634
FSN Midwest ................................. 647
FSN North ..................................... 641
FSN Northwest .............................. 651
FSN Ohio ...................................... 637
FSN Pittsburgh .............................. 628
FSN Prime Ticket .......................... 653 - FULL TIME
FSN Rocky Mountain ...................... 645
FSN South .................................... 630
FSN Southwest ............................. 643 - FULL TIME
FSN West ..................................... 652 - FULL TIME
MASN (Mid-Atlantic Sports Network) ... 626
MSG (Madison Square Garden) ....... 621 - FULL TIME
MSG PLUS ..................................... 624 - FULL TIME
NESN (New England Sports Network) . 623 - FULL TIME
SNY (SportsNet New York) .............. 625 - FULL TIME
SportSouth ................................... 631
STO (SportsTime Ohio) ................... 657
Sun Sports .................................... 632
YES Network4 ................................ 622 - FULL TIME

Going from the channel list in the sports pack, this is all the full-time RSNs (not counting alternates)

If I count right, there is 11 full-time HD RSNs now?

There is only 17 listed that are part-time game only in the channel guide.

The site only lists 29 RSNs total. How you can have 11 full-time, and add 23, I don't understand, unless former alternate/shared markets will get their own full-time HD channl, such as Wisconson, Kansas City, etc.

My guess is that we will have all HD RSNs in full-time mode, unless it is simply not possible on one or two. Then, the bandwith on D10 from the part-time RSN load can be more flexible?

 

[jhamps10]

man directv will be killing dish at least around here with the local hd stations. Champaign-Urbana, Evansville, Paducah, and St Louis all in HD before end of year.... whereas they don't even have what they consider our market terre haute in SD! lol. I since a lot of folks who want HD locals to have their service address the little town just across the county line that gets evansville when they go on-line.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

Well not too impressive IMO. I like E* HD even better now. And with D* not adding my CBS and NBC HD, I guess I won't be upgrading to a new HR 21 after all. More PPV and RSN HD com 'on add some Cinemax and HBO , since we are already over paying for the lack of premiums. $12 for 3 Cinemax and they are still adding PPV and RSN's ? Sorry Thats Unacceptable IMO.

 

[DodgerKing]

Going from the channel list in the sports pack, this is all the full-time RSNs (not counting alternates)

If I count right, there is 11 full-time HD RSNs now?

There is only 17 listed that are part-time game only in the channel guide.

The site only lists 29 RSNs total. How you can have 11 full-time, and add 23, I don't understand, unless former alternate/shared markets will get their own full-time HD channl, such as Wisconson, Kansas City, etc.

My guess is that we will have all HD RSNs in full-time mode, unless it is simply not possible on one or two. Then, the bandwith on D10 from the part-time RSN load can be more flexible?

Got confirmation from an inside source that the press release was written wrong in regards to RSNs. It should have said 23 total full time RSNs, not 23 additional. So there will only be 12 RSNs moving from part time to full time. This means that the RSNs will make up 12 of the 35+ additional channels at first, not 23.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

Got confirmation from an inside source that the press release was written wrong in regards to RSNs. It should have said 23 total full time RSNs, not 23 additional. So there will only be 12 RSNs moving from part time to full time. This means that the RSNs will make up 12 of the 35+ additional channels at first, not 23.

4 hours of games if your lucky, 20 hours of SD Paid programming. Great!

 

[DodgerKing]

Well not too impressive IMO. I like E* HD even better now. And with D* not adding my CBS and NBC HD, I guess I won't be upgrading to a new HR 21 after all. More PPV and RSN HD com 'on add some Cinemax and HBO , since we are already over paying for the lack of premiums. $12 for 3 Cinemax and they are still adding PPV and RSN's ? Sorry Thats Unacceptable IMO.

Keep in mind that Direct will be adding other channels, not just the 4 new ones listed. September is supposed to be the big HD channels bash though. A few news ones, such as what they listed will come in August.

Expect something to happen this Thursday (not Wednesday) with HD format.

This is all from a reliable inside source.

 

[DodgerKing]

4 hours of games if your lucky, 20 hours of SD Paid programming. Great!

What this means is for those that don't care to have RSNs take up bandwidth, there are now 11 fewer RSNs than they original thought (which means at least 11 more HD slots for other channels).