NEW DirecTV HD Packages Coming?
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I hear you and I accept that you have your opinion. Just saying, not everyone who "stirs the pot" is actually stirring the pot. I would hate to walk into a forum asking honest questions and get slammed for trolling. If you have read the OP's other posts and feel that way, then go for it.
You are absolutely correct, not everyone is looking to be a troublemaker. Some people are just looking for information or direction. I don't think that's the case here.
Actually, Uverse ("AT&T's IPTV product") is only deploying in areas where they are NOT under the cable franchise regulations. And if some local authority tries to put them under cable franchise regulations, they go to the courts, and pull out as a last resort. Their business model appears to be dependent on NOT dealing with local cable franchise regulations.
Well so is Dish Network, of course. it's the way it's done. Cable has to maintain analog channels because they support users with no STB and only NTSC tuners to decode the signal.
Right now, "digital cable" is a mix of digital and analog channels. Cable systems are moving towards an all-digital lineup, re-transmitting their analog channels in the digital space, so that they can eventually split out digital from analog service and pack more programming into the same bandwidth on the cable.
I think this whole discussion of "nyah nyah you're going to raise your prices we told you so" is kind of silly. Each company will make pricing decisions as they see fit to run their business, and what they said in some press release or PR comment won't really matter.
Currently E* seems to want to be the price leader (by some small-ish margin) and D* seems to want to be the content leader and charge a somewhat higher price. By "content leader" I mean they are trying to get the most sports packages (which they are known for) and the most HD channels.
Cable seems to be content with being more expensive and having less content than either D* or E*, because they have a somewhat captive market -- people who are content with the ease of cable installations, the free service, the lack of a contract, and no dish required.
Anyway that's how I see it. Sniping between the groups and saying that one is way better than the other is really just homerism... like sports fanatics in the sports forums.
Currently E* seems to want to be the price leader (by some small-ish margin) and D* seems to want to be the content leader and charge a somewhat higher price. By "content leader" I mean they are trying to get the most sports packages (which they are known for) and the most HD channels.
Cable seems to be content with being more expensive and having less content than either D* or E*, because they have a somewhat captive market -- people who are content with the ease of cable installations, the free service, the lack of a contract, and no dish required.
Anyway that's how I see it. Sniping between the groups and saying that one is way better than the other is really just homerism... like sports fanatics in the sports forums.
Actually thet is the case here!! I am trying to decide which provider will provide the bigger bang for the buck!! I ask LEGITIMATE questions and get accused of being a troll!! I need hard facts so I can decide where to spend my money. Unfortuantly there are no hard facts just rumours and more rumours. I guess i will have to wait till the dust settles
If that's the case then please accept my apologies. You should have realized by now that D* isn't going to release much information before they have to. They were lambasted when they announced ESPN2 hd would be live at a certain date and it wasn't. IIRC, it wasn't their fault, but they sure took the heat for it. I'm certain they want to avoid that if they can. Any legitimate questions you have will be answered in a very short time.
And that date is not set in stone, either. IIRC, that date is just the latest rendition. It started as something like all network feeds had to be converted to digital by March 2006, then that got bumped to 2008, and now 2009. So don't start holding your breath yet.
Not sure if this applies to all cable co's or just my local C*, but they are talking about how long it would take (and frankly how much it would cost) to "give" every non-digital subscriber an STB so that they can convert to digital ASAP, prior to 2009. Cable co's can make much more money if they could be freed to send only digital signals instead of bandwidth-clogging analog...more channels, more cash flow. I think this was also the impetus for Switched Video, which I also understand is not turning out to be the golden child they hoped it would be.MyDogHasFleas said:
Given the former title and the way it was presented to us fantasy world guys, I dunno. I didn't see a question. As I stated in my first post, nothing new here. No hard facts....no sat in the sky, not another being launched, no new channels coming to D* nothing stated or posted but rumors? Please. Dude, nice everyone is trying to be civil, so as civil as I can say it, in your reality you have what you like, E* enjoy it.
Ohh I cant contribute? I didn't know this was DBS Talk. I was under the impression that this site welcomed ALL opinions. I found an interesting article and decided to share. Speculation is fun We will all find out the truth on sept 15th!!
Everyone relax. FlyingJ please refrain from the Troll comments. Please post here and ask your questions Juan. Folks are a bit edgy and there has been a ton of Dish folks getting nasty and clogging up the threads here with junk and manutia. So all take a deep breadth and lets get back to topic.
Trust me If D* were to come out with a package of 100 HD channels for a $20 HD enableing fee I would sign up in a heart beat!!Everyone relax. FlyingJ please refrain from the Troll comments. Please post here and ask your questions Juan. Folks are a bit edgy and there has been a ton of Dish folks getting nasty and clogging up the threads here with junk and manutia. So all take a deep breadth and lets get back to topic.
I'm sure everyone appreciates your attempt to "share"... next time try "sharing" the actual title of the article, if you are into the facts. I appreciate "hard facts" as much as you apparently do.
Sure speculation is fun, however your comment that:
..trumps your attempt at passing your editorial title as fact, citing an article that has absolutely no info that you or I can decipher as fact:
What's reality? That you are a fanboy?
I been around DBS forums since Mr. Hodgson started them.. seen your and other kinds come and go. What's funny is your and your cohorts belief that ya'll "just need the hard facts". If you need the facts wait til the pack comes out, then get back to us.
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Well D* does have D12 as a ground spare for now. However, at some point I'd expect them to launch it and use it for even more bandwidth, assuming the need for a spare doesn't come up.
Beside D12 sitting around IIRC D* also has Ka license for the 101 slot. My understanding is that they're using just a very small part of it for some backhaul, just so they keep the license, so maybe one day they'll fire that up also for end users.
I think this one is a lot firmer than the previous dates, since they are now auctioning off the to-be-freed-up bandwidth.
I think this will be a difficult, expensive, and contentious process for them. There's the "grandma factor" to consider. By that I mean people who just can't deal with more than a TV and a remote control. They will actively resist having a STB. And, since cable is a local franchise, they can go to the mayor and city council and have these plans stopped.
I have a mother-in-law exactly like this. She's 88 now. Her husband had digital cable. When he passed away 3 years ago, and I was there for the funeral, believe it or not, one of her big issues in living without him was that she was confused by the STB. She was going to pay someone to come out and help her get rid of it. I of course offered to help for free, took the box out, drove it down to the cable company and turned it in, then reprogrammed her TV to use the analog channels. She was amazed and grateful, as if I had created life on demand or something.
This is what the cable companies will be facing. An onslaught of angry backlash, not to mention daily calls to customer service.
BTW this is exactly what will happen to the (smaller) group of techno-illiterates who receive only OTA signals when analog goes dark, unless they step up to a new TV. The cable companies actually see an opportunity here, selling these people cable exactly because it does NOT require a STB (still carries analog channels).
From what I've seen, the Chicago area Comcast systems are starting to convert to all digital, except for the lifeline service. IIRC they were giving people one digital converter for free, other STB's they did charge for.
The quotation from the Globe is the problem. The Globe's wrote "100 new", without a quote attributed to D*. Paraphrasing, D* has said "100 HD by year-end". D* didn't say "100 new".
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