Rumor!!!(Sudden shift of DirecTV HD Plans for the Worst)

[twodutys]

I wish this were true. I still run into people that say "is it really that much better" when I talk to them about HD! It's all I can do to keep from gauging out they're eyes They just don't get that this is as big an improvement as color was to B&W!

That's what I say too! But you have these people like my brother that go out and buy a 34" HD CRT and say I can't see the difference between 480i and 480p on this thing why should I invest in an HD receiver? Some people just don't get it.

 

[jim tressler]

hey longhornxp you have been quiet as of late.. anything new on the hd front from your sources?

 

[Stargazer]

To maximize their profits they should launch the rest of the Standard Definition local markets then start launching movie and basic channels that can be available to everyone to come out with a good HD package then start launching the biggest HD markets in just the most popular networks such as NBC, ABC, FOX, CBS, WB, UPN and leave the rest in SD. That would take about 1,000-1,500 stations to launch all 210 markets.

 

[hahler2]

I am very glad to see that they will work on LIL's first. I live in rural South Dakota, and where I'm at, I get my locals over satellite out of Sioux Falls, SD. The stations down there all broadcast in HD, but since I'm so far from Sioux Falls, I can't get them OTA. If D* where to start offering them over satellite that would be great!

 

[charper1]

Now I am NOT trying to be a downer, nor do I have any knowledge of how many markets D* will EVENTUALLY serve with LIL-HD service, but Sioux City is #143 on the last DMA list and unless D* rolls out REAL FAST, it will be a while; I am just trying to help put things into perspective. The first 12 - 15 markets might be seen as early as June 2005 if everything goes very well, so you can see how long many of us may be waiting. Maybe Scott can forecast a better time frame. http://www.nielsenmedia.com/DMAs.html

 

[hahler2]

I kinda had to figure that Sioux Falls would be one of the last on the list, but the fact that they're working on it is promising in itself to me. I'm not even going to switch to HD for another year or so, so I'm not in a big hurry yet.

 

[LonghornXP]

Sorry to post so late but I've been pretty sick the last week or so. Now that Ucentric news has become official I thought you all might have guessed before now why in every post on TivoCommunity and here I've always said Ucentric but totally denied that DirecTV would use them but I figured someone would notice the method to my madness but I couldn't even hint it in a positive light. The only question I had was they couldn't make up their mind if they would add support to Tivo or let the Tivos stay the same but now I know that Tivos will not get HMO type support.

Now when I started this thread it was because no new HD channels would be added for quite a while and as such that is why we don't see TNT HD and ESPN2 HD. Now again maybe they will change their mind when they start loosing customers but until this happens don't count on anything new. This is exactly why I switched to Bright House Networks almost three weeks ago. Also I'm hearing from different people that they will charge customers for MPEG4 boxes while others say they won't and to be honest I have no idea where I stand on this.

To put things simply the next year overall doesn't look very good at all for HD on DirecTV. Until their attitude changes and they take us HD customers seriously we will all be in for a very long ride. If Dish Network doesn't countinue to offer Voom we will be screwed until phone companies and power companies start to offer TV service because they would have to offer more at a similiar price to gain new customers.

 

[jim tressler]

hope you feel better longhorn!! funny how quickly things change.. lol

 

[LonghornXP]

hope you feel better longhorn!! funny how quickly things change.. lol

Yes they do change quickly and as such I've got a locked in rate with BHN for exactly 1 year which should be ending around the start of the new year. Now I don't like their choices but right now they are working very hard on getting the media server ready and they need to spend much more of their time working deals with the top 12 markets local channels for HD carriage and as such that doesn't leave many people left for national deals. But the good news is that when the LIL HD markets are offered sometime around mid year maybe a little longer I'm hearing that all customers will be moved to MPEG4 based boxes. A good percentage of my contacts have said that all HD customers (it won't matter if your in one of the 12 markets) will get a free or very very low cost upgrade but what I've been hearing more and more is this below.

Customers that have an HD Tivo now but only one HD Tivo will get a free upgrage or very low cost to their new media server but customers with more than one HD Tivo will for a temporary timeframe get as many media server boxes as they have HD Tivos and when the media server clients come out that support HD they would let the customers keep the temporary setup or if they wanted to use the new clients they would get very generous credits todo so but remember if one HD Tivo can record 30 hours of HD and say a customer has 3 for a total of 90 hours of HD that if you use one server with the new clients you will have lost about 40 or so hours of recording space.

Now again none of this is official and as such it can change. Also I'm hearing that customers with an HD box (non DVR) will be given a free or low cost upgrade to the new HD box or for a very cheap upgrade cost (I'm hearing around 250 bucks) they can upgrade to the media server that can record HD.

Now this happens to be their current plans and as such could change again but they plan to get all HD customers over to MPEG4 boxes so they can improve picture quality to avoid complaints and so they can add more national HD channels on that first spaceway bird. After they get the LIL HD deals done they can spend more than enough time getting national HD deals done and they plan to have a very nice selection of national HD channels by years end that will go nicely the the media server and for customers in the top 12 markets accounced for LIL HD coverage they would be sitting great.

 

[colofan]

Well if you are not in top 12 markets tough? I guess for me single sourcing stb is a bad business model from the consumers perspective. I have a sony hd-300 and HD-Tivo as well as a std Tivo. Going to one box that D* tells me I must have is like the current situation with samsung 360 issues I have read on the board, no thank you.

Seems that D* is breaking the contract that I went into with them so what my commitments are wide open (in other words no commitment)

 

[CWS_kahuna]

Thanks for the updates LonghornXP.

 

[rad]

Well, I called D* this AM and dropped Starz, Cinemax and Sports package. I let the CSR know why I was dropping them (no HD channels) and that I'd be more then happy to add them back if/when they add those services HD channels. I was hoping that what Longhorn said was incorrect but since NFL-ST is now done, and we haven't seen new HD channels added looks like he nailed it. The old line is money talks so I've said my piece with D*. It's now in their court.

 

[fkostyn]

Either way, I'm watching the V* and E* purchase - if E* adds the V* channels to their HD lineup I'm jumping off of the D* ship.

 

[BobMurdoch]

I don't see it happening as Charlie said at CES that they had NO interest in offering those channels.

Then again, the ole poker player could send a thunderclap through the competitive landscape by announcing that he was adding some or most of them to the lineup. It would arrest most of the momentum D* has seized over the last year.

Since the number of V* subscribers is microscopic though he might not be too concerned with "easing" their transition.

 

[Alan Gordon]

But the good news is that when the LIL HD markets are offered sometime around mid year maybe a little longer I'm hearing that all customers will be moved to MPEG4 based boxes.

A lot of people are saying that it will probably be 1Q of 2006 before DirecTV releases ANY MPEG-4 capable boxes.

but remember if one HD Tivo can record 30 hours of HD and say a customer has 3 for a total of 90 hours of HD that if you use one server with the new clients you will have lost about 40 or so hours of recording space.

Actually, that depends on what they record with them. If they only record OTA content, then yes, they will lose hours, but if ALL DirecTV channels are broadcasted in MPEG-4 (which if all customers have an HD box, then I'm sure they will be), then DirecTV's programming that's broadcasted in HD would use less hard drive space and therefore fit either less, equal or more HD programming than the current MPEG-2 HDTivo. Also, the new "Media Center" main unit is listed as having a 320GB hard drive (along with four DirecTV tuners and TWO ATSC tuners) which is larger than the HDTivo's 250GB hard drive.

After they get the LIL HD deals done they can spend more than enough time getting national HD deals done and they plan to have a very nice selection of national HD channels by years end that will go nicely the the media server and for customers in the top 12 markets accounced for LIL HD coverage they would be sitting great.

Actually, from what I've been hearing, after they finish the Top 12 markets, it appears they may try to roll out the markets in phases through 2007 when DirecTV-10 and DirecTV-11 are launched which will then keep them busy with the rest of the markets. Plus, I would think that considering a good majority of the networks in the top 12 markets are O&O, they'd only have a handful of people to meet with to get the deals done.

~Alan

 

[rad]

Doesn't look good for ESPN2-HD anytime soon. From http://home.businesswire.com/portal...d=news_view&newsId=20050125005762&newsLang=en

ESPN2 HD will be added to the HD package later this year at no additional charge.

 

[Alan Gordon]

Doesn't look good for ESPN2-HD anytime soon. From http://home.businesswire.com/portal...d=news_view&newsId=20050125005762&newsLang=en

ESPN2 HD will be added to the HD package later this year at no additional charge.

While I could care less, next week is technically "later this year"...not to mention tomorrow!


EDIT: KenH over at AVSForum.com is predicting February. His "predictions" are usually pretty good!!

~Alan

 

[CWS_kahuna]

Who knows when later is but I am glad to see the "at no additional charge" part. $10.99 is already high enough for the HD pack IMO.

 

[Smthkd]

While I could care less, next week is technically "later this year"...not to mention tomorrow!


EDIT: KenH over at AVSForum.com is predicting February. His "predictions" are usually pretty good!!

~Alan

I agree! One of my friends work at Directv and he told me that ESPN2 HD is being tested as we speak! One night last week in the wee hours in the morning they had it up and running on channels 72 for about 30 min. then it disappeared, from what one of the other members mentioned. I cant confirm that but all I know is I saw this happen with ABCHD before it when up the following month with my own eyes.

 

[hongcho]

> A lot of people are saying that it will probably be 1Q of 2006 before DirecTV releases ANY MPEG-4 capable boxes.

That rumored schedule is for the Ucentric HMC. For just an MPEG-4 AVC non-DVR box (probably from NDS), it maybe close to the start of the MPEG-4 AVC service.

There have been rumors of the NDS MPEG-4 AVC DVR boxes, but it has neither been demoed nor been announced.

Hong.