future HD channels

[digideal]

Will be moving from Comcast to D for Sunday ticket purposes. Can't wait. What is the future of HD channels? their offering seems light compared to the rest. I am a guy who watches only HD anyway - what suggestions would y'all have for a former Voomer and soon to be Direc sub. Can't get any worse HD picture than comcast, so let's bring it on!

 

[mbetts]

Nobody knows because D* keeps everyone in the dark, including their CSRs. I finally lost patience with them and signed up with E*. You'll find that D*'s HD offerings are light in more ways than one. Read around, you'll see what I mean. IMO, Sunday Ticket is the only thing D* has going for it. Hopefully that will change soon.

 

[BrianB]

I agree. If you are someone who only watches HD and had Voom at one point, you will be dissapointed in D*. The channels that they do have are extremely soft.

 

[JerryVolunteer]

I am happy with D. The channesl they do have are not as good as they could be but its better then standard. Plus, I have always had good experiences with them resolving my problems and makig me happy for the most part. I am jsut patient and will wait cause I know soon it will be the place weveryone wants to be. Although, if you got the Superfan pack with your sunday ticket then your in for a treat. Cause last year the HD football games looked awesome on my tv!

 

[mhayes70]

D*, is not bad at all. Minus the voom channels on E* (which I hear alot of people say they are not all that great) they only have about 4 or 5 more HD channels that D*. Just be patient and when D* gets there new sat's up next year, I think D* will be the place to be. There are problems now, as there is with anything new, but it is getting much better!!

 

[moonman]

Sunday Ticket is the only thing D* has going for it. Hopefully that will change soon.

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Not very likely....D* has exclusive contract with the NFL , thru the year 2010.

 

[digideal]

Great discussion so far -

I have comcast in Dallas, HD offerings are: Discovery, ESPN, InHD and HBO (at least that I pay for) in addition to the locals which I watch OTA because of signal quality. Comcast On Demand is cool but I can live without. I need the HD DVR so I will buy the D* version and hope they offer a great credit when the MPG-4 does come out soon.

I know the channels are weak but the NFL is a bigger pull. I know they channels will increase. I'm excited about ESPN2, wish i had it for the World Cup games on now. However, just as they did last renewall with the NFL, I'm sure they will sign a very lucerative contract with the NFL to keep it.

I do have a problem with the larger picture though - why would D* keep everyone in the dark?

If anyone hears rumors, I'm sure it will be reported here.

 

[TulsaCoker]

digdeal, just speculating but I think the next offering from D* would be National Geographic. But could be Starz or HGTV and I would guess one of these by the end of the summer. My reasoning is due to Dish recent offering of these channels and D* needing to somewhat trying to keep up. As a D* sub I was glad to hear Dish increasing their HD offerings...nothing helps like competition.

 

[mbetts]

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Not very likely....D* has exclusive contract with the NFL , thru the year 2010.

No, I meant hopefully Directv will have more going for it than ST.

 

[OneBigJedi]

A Lot of Channels Could Be Added!

DTV could add many channels, but it will be spring of 07 before you see very many of them. Although they might add a couple to keep up with dish some what. Here are some possible channels.

National Geographic Channel HD
Starz HD
Playboy HD
Outdoor Channel 2 HD
HGTV HD
Food HD
History Channel HD (active 1st of the year)
CW HD (NEW WB / UPN Merge Channel in September maybe added to LIL)
Movie Channel HD
CinemMax HD
Fox News Channel HD (In talk for early Spring time)

 

[steve615]

With D* having exclusive rights with the NFL and the Sunday Ticket package,it seems to me that they would look at adding NFL Network HD sometime soon,possibly before the start of the upcoming season.

 

[sstang7]

Right now Directv shows NFL Network HD on channel 84 on certain nights.

 

[steve615]

Right now Directv shows NFL Network HD on channel 84 on certain nights.

Yes,they do....Perhaps with E* turning this channel on in HD full time,maybe D* will follow suit pretty soon.

 

[satjay]

We can only hope...since they will be showing games this year!

 

[cforrest]

Right now Directv shows NFL Network HD on channel 84 on certain nights.

I think you mean channel 94!

 

[rickaren]

Will be moving from Comcast to D for Sunday ticket purposes. Can't wait. What is the future of HD channels? their offering seems light compared to the rest. I am a guy who watches only HD anyway - what suggestions would y'all have for a former Voomer and soon to be Direc sub. Can't get any worse HD picture than comcast, so let's bring it on!

I am also a former VOOMER and would never have believed that DISH would have 29 HD channels (I have them all) before DirecTV! I also have all my Local OTA in HD so I couldn't be happier. Their VIP 622 DVR is also as good as my D* SD & HD Tivo DVRs. They even have good SD picture quality. I would say if you want to watch great HD programing now there is no reason not to go with DISH. Maybe next year about this time D* could catch up, but why not use your investment in HD now? Just don't thing you will be satisfied with DirecTV, and I have that too.

 

[digideal]

I am also a former VOOMER and would never have believed that DISH would have 29 HD channels (I have them all) before DirecTV!

I totally agree with you - but I'm not going to go to Dish because they have the Voom channels. I never really watched those "Voom exlusive" channels to begin with. Simply because of the ST, I'm choosing D*. I'm a sell out, but it's that important to me.

So, bigger question than programming now:

• Will the existing HD DVR record locals with an OTA Antenna installed?

• What are the reasons to wait for the MPEG4 HD-DVR?

The setup I am considering is moving the DVR to the bedroom HD TV and reserving the 61" HD family room TV for the H-20 box. I am open for opinions on waiting for the new DVR or dropping the cash now for the existing.

Is $300 for the old one a bad deal, if D* gives credit for upgrading?

Muchas Gracias amigos!