Too much to ask????

[skottey]

Seriously, is it too much to ask for a few new HD channels here and there?

I signed up with DirecTV about a year ago and got myself into a two year contract. I was happy with the DVR right away but the channel selection was lacking, especially on the premium channels.

As a movie fan, I couldn't pass up FIOS when it came to my neighborhood in November of last year. So I signed up for FIOS and kept DirecTV, lowering my package to Choice Extra and have two HD-DVRs.

This is a DirecTV thread, so I won't pick on FIOS. I will say that they filled my needs for premium movie channels that were lacking at DirecTV.

So my complaint is HD nationals. I have given up on HD premium nationals as far as DirecTV is concerned, but what about them adding more HD nationals?

They have not really added much of anything in the year I have had DirecTV. A big one for me was Travel Channel HD, but I have that with FIOS so I am not so concerned, but there is a ton of other stuff they could be adding.

AMCHD, We HD, G4HD, IFC HD, Sundance HD, etc... there is a pretty big list of channels they could make deals and add.

I am paying for two providers like an idiot to get the channels I want and even with the biggest satellite provider in the US and the up and coming fiber kingpin of TV, I still cannot get all that I want.

Does DirecTV have any plans of adding any more HD nationals? Is it too much to ask?

I don't even want to hear they are out of space because I browsed the gude yesterday and saw that they still have dozens of HD PPV slots on there. They could get rid of SOME of those.

 

[Rey]

you'll have to wait till the new sat is up and running by early 2010

 

[vurbano]

Seriously, is it too much to ask for a few new HD channels here and there?

You will find, as has been the case for years, that D* has little interest in adding HD channels for the typical customer. We waited how long to have more than just a handful of HD channels while D* used bandwidth for LIL and then slapped us again in the face when they dedicated HD bandwidth the STHD channels that went live for a one day a week! And now how many HBOHD channels do we have? Not very many because they know you will sub to it anyway. HD? This is a company that has been BETA testing this DOG of an HD DVR for how many years???? I bet there are Gitmo prisoners with less time than the CE jail we have been in. Someone please give me 2 grand for 2 HD tivo XL's and lifetime memberships so I can run to FIOS?

 

[dcowboy7]

Does DirecTV have any plans of adding any more HD nationals?

They plan to add 40+ channels by march 31, 2010.

 

[skottey]

You will find, as has been the case for years, that D* has little interest in adding HD channels for the typical customer.

That is a shame. I wouldn't mind keeping them as a second provider and believe it or not I do like their HD DVR. It is better than FIOS or the one I had with BHN cable. I've had Dish too and that one wasn't bad but I do like the DirecTV DVR. But, if they don't start adding channels I will leave at or near the time the contract is up. DirecTV had a handful of channels in HD FIOS doesn't have yet, like the Viacoms that don't show much HD and sports channels. But I get my RSNS of course with FIOS too (the ones I watch). One good thing about DirecTV is that I have been able to "move" to another market and get another set of RSNs and locals, if you know what I mean.

And now how many HBOHD channels do we have? Not very many because they know you will sub to it anyway.

Oh, tell me about it. They outright lied to the public. DirecTV press release of June 2007 stated they would be adding 11 HBO/MAX channels in November-December of 2007. Here it is, two years after that press release and still no additional HBO/MAX channels in HD. Only the flagships. It was awesome dropping my HBO and Max HD channels, all four of them (east and west of the flagships) and getting all 26 HBO/MAX multichannels in glorious HD with FIOS. I LOVE that and will keep FIOS as long as I live in a FIOS service area.

But I may just need to drop DirecTV if they don't get serious. I guess I have another year left on my contract. The other poster said they will be adding stuff in early 2010. If they don't, that will give me six months to decide to ditch them at the end of my two years and by then FIOS should have all the Viacoms and everything else I might be missing right now if I didn't have DirecTV.

 

[skottey]

They plan to add 40+ channels by march 31, 2010.

They aren't all sports and PPV are they? hahaha

I would like to see AMC HD (for Breaking Bad, not the commercialized movies)

IFC HD

FUSE HD

G4HD

Investigation Discovery HD (I know it doesn't exist yet)

TCM HD (I don't think it exists yet)

Sundance HD (I think it exists now)

There are others, but those channels would be enough to keep me subscribing to DirecTV for a while. I don't see FIOS working out a deal with Rainbow, much less Viacom (which DirecTV has).

I wasn't going to get into FIOS but they have focused their recent efforts on pretty much bringing us a garbage suite called ES.TV. Six HD channels of crap. They make Voom like good in comparison as far as programming.

I just want some more HD nationals. Not PPV. Not home brewed channels. Not sports from across the country I don't care about. Just some HD nationals.

 

[vurbano]

That is a shame. I wouldn't mind keeping them as a second provider and believe it or not I do like their HD DVR. It is better than FIOS or the one I had with BHN cable. I've had Dish too and that one wasn't bad but I do like the DirecTV DVR. But, if they don't start adding channels I will leave at or near the time the contract is up. DirecTV had a handful of channels in HD FIOS doesn't have yet, like the Viacoms that don't show much HD and sports channels. But I get my RSNS of course with FIOS too (the ones I watch). One good thing about DirecTV is that I have been able to "move" to another market and get another set of RSNs and locals, if you know what I mean.




Oh, tell me about it. They outright lied to the public. DirecTV press release of June 2007 stated they would be adding 11 HBO/MAX channels in November-December of 2007. Here it is, two years after that press release and still no additional HBO/MAX channels in HD. Only the flagships. It was awesome dropping my HBO and Max HD channels, all four of them (east and west of the flagships) and getting all 26 HBO/MAX multichannels in glorious HD with FIOS. I LOVE that and will keep FIOS as long as I live in a FIOS service area.

But I may just need to drop DirecTV if they don't get serious. I guess I have another year left on my contract. The other poster said they will be adding stuff in early 2010. If they don't, that will give me six months to decide to ditch them at the end of my two years and by then FIOS should have all the Viacoms and everything else I might be missing right now if I didn't have DirecTV.

I am looking at FIOS + 2 - TivoHD's (with cp broken) That way you can MRV every recording and backup everything too.

 

[BlueEos]

I may just need to drop DirecTV if they don't get serious.

As far as I know, there are still only 24 hours in a day. Its nice to turn your set off and go smell the roses every so often. More HD will be coming, but seriously what's the big deal about watching SD content in HD.

When you leave, don't slam the door on the way out.

 

[dslate69]

You will find, as has been the case for years, that D* has little interest in adding HD channels for the typical customer.

The typical user doesn't sub to premiums like HBO.
I always want more HD but since I don't want Lifetime, Lifetime Movies or Hallmark Channel and love Smithsonian and The 101 I think for the moment D* is a better choice for the "typical" Man. Now the "typical" Woman may have a reason to complain.

 

[skottey]

As far as I know, there are still only 24 hours in a day. Its nice to turn your set off and go smell the roses every so often. More HD will be coming, but seriously what's the big deal about watching SD content in HD.

When you leave, don't slam the door on the way out.

umm... whatever you say dude.

 

[ONUOsFan]

Didn't you start this thread once already?

http://www.satelliteguys.us/directv-forum/150116-annoyed-wating-new-hd.html

I'd be the first to say they could dump all of the PPV's in favor of new HD channels, but I don't think anything's really changed since you posted this the last time...

Maybe I'm atypical of the folks on here, but I've just realized in the last year or so that how many HD nationals D* has just isn't that big of a deal, because most of what I watch is on the networks (which I get on my antenna anyway) or a select few Sat channels, and I have plenty of other things to keep me busy. Playing outside (you know, that place outside the walls of your living room ) with my kids, reading a book, watching a movie or firing up my PS3.... with all of that, why would I care whether or not the Travel Channel is in HD?

 

[harshness]

I would suggest that some of the OP's problem stems from not doing their due diligence when selecting DIRECTV.

Then again, DIRECTV did promise to add lots of premium movie channels and reneged on that commitment.

 

[sudnshok]

As far as I know, there are still only 24 hours in a day. Its nice to turn your set off and go smell the roses every so often. More HD will be coming, but seriously what's the big deal about watching SD content in HD.

When you leave, don't slam the door on the way out.

The big deal is that we pay a lot of money for this service and SD on HD displays looks like crap. I signed up with DirecTV SPECIFICALLY because they promoted the fact that they were and would be the HD leaders. They have not lived up to their claims.

 

[skottey]

Didn't you start this thread once already?

http://www.satelliteguys.us/directv-forum/150116-annoyed-wating-new-hd.html

I'd be the first to say they could dump all of the PPV's in favor of new HD channels, but I don't think anything's really changed since you posted this the last time...

Maybe I'm atypical of the folks on here, but I've just realized in the last year or so that how many HD nationals D* has just isn't that big of a deal, because most of what I watch is on the networks (which I get on my antenna anyway) or a select few Sat channels, and I have plenty of other things to keep me busy. Playing outside (you know, that place outside the walls of your living room ) with my kids, reading a book, watching a movie or firing up my PS3.... with all of that, why would I care whether or not the Travel Channel is in HD?

Sorry I posed the same question again seven or eight months later. I'll probably ask it again around Christmas if we don't get some new stuff.

 

[skottey]

I would suggest that some of the OP's problem stems from not doing their due diligence when selecting DIRECTV.

Then again, DIRECTV did promise to add lots of premium movie channels and reneged on that commitment.

Actually, I have been very involved in the happenings of the television industry for years. Additionally, I have been very involved in this site for a few years and other industry related sites for longer. As a kid I used to try to watch semi-scrambled movie channels my parents were too cheap to subscribe to and I would just be tickled pink when Cablevision accidentally turned Disney Channel on (it was a premium then and played good Disney movies I liked as a kid), which happend often.

The bottom line is I can tell people all about any given provider off the top of my head and make suggestions of what might be best for them. I know the channel lineups. I know what channels are missing and what channels each provider has.

It wasn't for lack of understanding that I subscribed to DirecTV.

A little history. I have had Bright House Networks in Florida since it was Paragon Cable, then Time Warner, and the Bright House. I was there when they first went digital and I was one of the first people in Temple Terrace, Florida to get Roadrunner in March of 1998 when it was still considered beta. Before HD, I was very happy with Bright House Networks. They have had all 26 HBO/MAX channels as long as each one has existed, as well as the Showtimes. All east and west feeds. People spoke so highly of satellite, yet a DirecTV subscriber couldn't tell you what in the world HBO Comedy or HBO Zone are, or other channels like 5 Star Max or Showtime Beyond. The average DirecTV customer doesn't even know these multichannels exist.

Since FIOS started service in Temple Terrace, Florida (I live in nearby St. Petersburg now) in my TV market, I had a plan to get them. After all, they had the flagships of HBO, Max, Showtime, Starz, and TMC in HD, unlike Bright House Networks. Bright House Networks had Showtime and HBO's flagships in HD. That was it. But then I started to see the satellite companies adding or promising (in the case of DirecTv) some of the multichannel HD channels of the premiums.

I first lowered my Bright House Networks package to one without the premiums and tried my hand at Dish Network in 2007. I traded in 26/HBO and Max channels for a fewer number, but in HD. Same with Showtime/TMC and Starz. I also had many more HD nationals in HD, like Home and Garden HD and many others that Bright House Networks didn't carry. Fortunately, I wasn't entirely happy with Dish and glad I didn't sign a contract. So I ditched Dish and for a while maxed out my Bright House Networks to get all the channels. But I just was not happy with the lack of HD. So I lowered my package again, shelled out a few hundred for DirecTV, and signed a two year contract. My decision to go DirecTV was based on the number of HD premiums and HD nationals. They were cool in the area of Starz and Showtime and according to a June 2007 press release, more HBO/MAX channels were on the way. I am a movie guy and love premium channels. This day and age they need to be HD though or they are wothless to me.

So anyway, when I DID MY EXTENSIVE research, despite your thought that perhaps I didn't, Verizon FIOS was not yet in my city, even though they have been in my metro since the beginning and their main center is in Temple Terrace FL, near my city. At this point in time though FIOS fell behind on both HD nationals and premiums. They were still serving up only the flagships of the premiums as of June of last year. So I made a decision not to get FIOS, even when it became available. At this time last year it looked like it might still be a few years off.

So anyway, I got my DirecTV and was very happy with it. At that point they had a track record of adding HD channels left and right.

Moving a few months ahead, FIOS suddenly became the HD leader. They added a ton of HD channels, including ALL 26 HBO/MAX HD channels and all available Showtime, TMC, and Starz, with the odd exception of Starz west. They had it all.

Moving forward to November of 2008, my house became servicable. So I immediately signed up. I couldn't refuse, with the sheer number of both premiums in HD and nationals in HD. I lowered my DirecTV package to Choice Extra and of course got rid of my premiums that I'd picked up with FIOS.

So here we are. I have two leading providers. I don't even mind the money aspect of this. My problem is that neither one of these two "HD leaders" has done crap to add HD channels to speak of in the last nine months.

They were both adding HD channels for a while and they have screeched to a stop. Is there something wrong with me to wish they would keep adding channels? It is me? Is it?

The other poster acts as if all I do is sit around and watch TV. That isn't the case at all. You don't have to be a couch potato to love movies and want all HD channels.

This argument of mine is a no brainer. Who the heck has an opposing view to me and doesn't want them to add channels? Come on now. The argument that "I go outside and play with my kids" is stupid and irrelvent to me wanting more HD.

For all you people know, I am stuck in a wheel chair and all I do is watch TV. That isn't me, but it is kind of rude to make comments that I don't get out enough.

Who cares if I start an identical thread eight months apart? The problem sitll stands. Here is DirecTV bragging about their financials and new subscribers. Well DirecTV, shut up and add channels.

I am not stupid and don't like the implication. I did my "due diligence" as you put it.

 

[dslate69]

I hope there's not a test because I skipped the last novel post. If it is any good they will make a movie.

 

[skottey]

I hope there's not a test because I skipped the last novel post. If it is any good they will make a movie.

Fortunately, I can type six thousand words a minute so it is no big deal for me to knock one of these things off in a matter of minutes. Read it! It is more exciting than church!

 

[dslate69]

Fortunately, I can type six thousand words a minute so it is no big deal for me to knock one of these things off in a matter of minutes. Read it! It is more exciting than church!

No thanks.
And my church has a stage band complete with electric guitar and drums (pretty exiting as far as churches go). :up

 

[skottey]

No thanks.
And my church has a stage band complete with electric guitar and drums (pretty exiting as far as churches go). :up

Yep, exiting is what I do when I find myself in a church.

I think you meant exciting

Either way, there is nothing exciting about church, with or without an electric guitar and drums...hehe.

 

[dslate69]

Funny, maybe I did mean exiting as I tend to agree with you on the church thing.

But you are relieved of your duty as Spelling Police due to these spelling mistakes in your novel (happend, wothless, servicable, irrelvent).