LonghornXP said:
So are you thinking/saying that NFL ST HD superfans will get swapouts 1st ahead of #1-#12b (Tampa is really #13) regardless of their DMA?
Rumor - Free Hd Equipment From Direct?
- Thread starter Scott Greczkowski
- Start date
- Latest activity Latest activity:
- Replies 378
- Views 76K
- Status
So are you thinking/saying that NFL ST HD superfans will get swapouts 1st ahead of #1-#12b (Tampa is really #13) regardless of their DMA?
hornmdt said:
The ones I'm hearing I'll list and again these are all rumors until announced by D* as always.
The HD Pak will get the following below.
TNTHD
ESPN2 HD
InHD
InHD 2
Voom 21
Fox based offering not yet announced
Premium HD channels to include the following below.
HBO HD West
Cinemax HD East and West
Showtime HD West
TMC HD East
Starz HD East and West
Those are the ones I'm hearing and their upcoming VOD offerings could very well include HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, TMC and Starz On Demand channels but those will happen closer to 2007 but eventually you will see many VOD offerings which will be delivered via spaceway satellites only for customers with DVR boxes only. I'm hearing that VOD might debut on the HMC but eventually it would steer its way towards all SD and HD DVR boxes. Expect to see a major push for this in late 2006. Now between now and late 2006 D* will offer VOD in the form of download PPV movies onto DVRs but when 2006 comes around the system would work more akin to cable VOD so that all the movies don't have to be recorded like they are with their current Starz On Demand offering.
What is funny is that cable again won't have an advantage to D* anymore and they are stupid for not taking advantage of their advantage for these few precious years.
charper1 said:
No I'm saying that NFL SuperFan customers outside of the top markets will get replacements by mail. NFL SuperFan customers in the top 25 markets will get thier new HD box brought by their installer when they have the new dish installed before NFL season starts.
Once Superfan customers have been upgraded as stated above than everyone else will start getting just the HD box until they can get their new dish installed. Now for customers who will get their dish installed before D* wants to hit the switch so to speak will get their box from the installer that is installing the new dish. Do you see how this is going to pan out.
charper1 said:
I think we might very well see many new premium SD movie channels added. When your working new contracts to get the HD channels you tend to have to add those extra channels because it makes things much easier on your part.
One more question, If I missed it sorry for asking again.
What about the locals we get OTA? how will they work with the new boxes since some are SD and HD.
What about the locals we get OTA? how will they work with the new boxes since some are SD and HD.
Plywodstatebum said:
Your SD locals via the satellite will stay on the same channels. Your OTA channels will also stay the same as in 8-1 and such. Your new HD local channels via satellite will be placed on seperate channels and from what I hear that range will be in the low 100s. So 108 for example could be NBC HD and so on and so forth.
I hope that is what your asking.
Neutron said:Speaking of InHD, did anyone notice that they no longer say "Only on Cable" on their logo anymore?
That would be for an obvious reason within the next few months.
First Post, Be Gentle
Great site, thanks for all the info.
I have a new HDTV and am definitely planning on subscribing to Directv this summer/fall specifically for Sunday Ticket. I had originally planned to subscribe before the summer began, but with all the uncertainty I have been waiting for further details. My area is approximately #50, meaning there are no known schedules for the area to receive MPEG4.
The original rumors indicated that ST would be carried only on MPEG2 boxes, and I was very close to purchasing a used LG etc HDTV receiver from Ebay. I have received indications from VE this can be done even though I will be a new subscriber.
However, I would prefer a new MPEG4 box, especially for free, and especially if it opened up additional HDTV programming. However, being in area ~51 (LOL) I may not be allowed to proceed with MPEG4 at this time.
I know this is all speculation, but what are the chances I'll qualify for an MPEG4 box, free or not, if I initially subscribe to ST but live in Area ~51? If not, then certainly ST will still be carried on the MPEG2 boxes?
Thanks again to all.
Great site, thanks for all the info.
I have a new HDTV and am definitely planning on subscribing to Directv this summer/fall specifically for Sunday Ticket. I had originally planned to subscribe before the summer began, but with all the uncertainty I have been waiting for further details. My area is approximately #50, meaning there are no known schedules for the area to receive MPEG4.
The original rumors indicated that ST would be carried only on MPEG2 boxes, and I was very close to purchasing a used LG etc HDTV receiver from Ebay. I have received indications from VE this can be done even though I will be a new subscriber.
However, I would prefer a new MPEG4 box, especially for free, and especially if it opened up additional HDTV programming. However, being in area ~51 (LOL) I may not be allowed to proceed with MPEG4 at this time.
I know this is all speculation, but what are the chances I'll qualify for an MPEG4 box, free or not, if I initially subscribe to ST but live in Area ~51? If not, then certainly ST will still be carried on the MPEG2 boxes?
Thanks again to all.
LonghornXP said:
THAT IS AWESOME!!! I am glad I got superfan, and I got a credit for it!!!! I can't wait for my new DVR!!
Longhorn, will those mention HD additions be in MPEG2 for those of us that have the new boxes but are way down on the list to get the new dish?
I also read this the way Asousa did Longhorn, I feel that I might be better off in the upgrade deal by being a Superfan subscriber if it pans out your way.
Again what I need to point out is that all HD customers (in all markets) will be getting an MPEG4 HD box by Thanksgiving of this year. Now some customers will have their MPEG4 boxes before NFL season (ala SuperFan NFL customers). Also customers in the top 25 markets will start to have their dishes replaced but if they can't get their new dish installed before Thanksgiving they will at least get an MPEG4 HD box until they can get their dish installed. What we have to understand is that for now the spaceway satellites will only slow down HD LIL rollouts. If we do have delays with Spaceway 2 as it seems it won't alter or change national HD offerings and rollouts. Once all HD customers have had their boxes replaced D* will be turning off all HD feeds in MPEG2 (national HD feeds) and current and new HD channels will only be offered in MPEG4.
Now again D* only has to replace all customers boxes and only their boxes to increase national HD offerings because as long as your box can decode the MPEG4 stream the rest will be the same. They will still be using the existing satellites along with the existing KU system so your dish doesn't need to be replaced until such time as HD LIL channels are available in your market.
By doing this every HD feed on current satellites (A, B and C) can be back at full quality and bandwidth will be nearly doubled because of MPEG4.
Right now they are testing 4 1080i HD feeds on one transponder at full bandwidth and seeing how it does. Right now I don't know the results but it seems pretty good because I heaven't heard anything bad about it.
Now again D* only has to replace all customers boxes and only their boxes to increase national HD offerings because as long as your box can decode the MPEG4 stream the rest will be the same. They will still be using the existing satellites along with the existing KU system so your dish doesn't need to be replaced until such time as HD LIL channels are available in your market.
By doing this every HD feed on current satellites (A, B and C) can be back at full quality and bandwidth will be nearly doubled because of MPEG4.
Right now they are testing 4 1080i HD feeds on one transponder at full bandwidth and seeing how it does. Right now I don't know the results but it seems pretty good because I heaven't heard anything bad about it.
Being the pessimist that I am, can Directv swap out a conservative 500,000-750,000 residential Sunday ticket subs boxes by Thanksgiving let alone the start of football season? Then throw in commercial boxes from all those sports bars ? In addition, no one has even seen this new HD-Dvr box yet. Could they work all the bugs out and mass produce 1 million+ units in time? If it was that far along in development, why was it a no show at CES? Don't get me wrong, I'm hoping for these things to happen because I'm going to join Directv on Aug. 1 if the rumors are true. I'm just trying to be realistic. The last Directv HD-DVR certainly didn't hit the street when predicted.
LonghornXP said:
Thank you very much, based on your source(s) it sounds like the plan is for Sunday Ticket to be exclusively MPEG4, therefore any new customers signing up for SuperFan even if in area ~51 will need/get access to the new equipment.
I will therefore wait for the official announcement around the first of August, and get in initially with the MPEG4 equipment and hopefully the larger dish. Thanks again, I know nothing is in stone yet, but it's probably best to wait now anyway, and this gives me plenty of reasons to avoid investing anything in MPEG2 right now.
pstineme said:
The 500,000-750,000 number is closer to the total of all the HD boxes in houses. My guess would be that the number of customers who will order SuperFan would be at best somewhere between 50,000-100,000 boxes. It could be even lower. I can say for sure that D* has no more than 1 million HD boxes currently activated on current customers accounts. Now how much lower than 1 million isn't known but its also for sure over half a million boxes.
The fact is this isn't as hard todo as you all would think. Also they didn't show the HD DVR boxes at CES for several reasons unknown but they are much much closer to being released than you think.
LonghornXP said:
This is what I've been waiting for since Rupert bought D*. I would think they will eventually be offering a huge suite of FOX-branded HD channels. They now have 14 million customers that they can jump start new channels unlike the launch of FOX News where they paid $10 per sub just to get carriage.
Originally, I expected the FOX HD channels would be in lieu of the Voom channels - but from a marketing perspective (of the FOX channels) picking up Voom and INHD makes more sense. Now, instead of the competition offering their own alternative to D*'s HD lineup, they have no unique content to offset the FOX programming offered by D*. The only option is carriage of the FOX HD channels by the competition.
Carriage fees are where the real money is - hopefully that will lead to a FOX suite of HD channels that will make that "150 National HD Channel" capacity more than just a good marketing bullet point.
- Status
