Unless you've been under a rock, or subscribed to Cable, you are likely intimately aware of DirecTV's promise of having 100 national high definition channels in service by the end of 2007. Sounds good, doesn't it? <B>100 National channels of HD content!</B> As you might imagine, this raises more than a few questions. Some of the more frequent ones I've heard are:
<ul>
<li>What channels will these be?</li>
<li>Will <I>{insert favorite channel here}</I> be among them?</li>
<li>How will they carry 100 HD channels if there aren't 100 networks with HD content?</li>
<li>How much will this cost me?</li>
</ul>
I've seen nothing to that end. But anyone who has followed DirecTV for a while knows that they rarely "hint" at anything. They are up there with Apple in terms of confidentiality and secrecy.
Realistically, I don't see them doing any deal with TiVo, as it would directly compete with their own DVR line.
Unbelievable. Those statements by DirecTV are, in my opinion, one of the greatest examples of "spin doctoring" that I have ever heard come out of any place other than Washington, DC!
"Technically," I guess the count is 100 but does anyone really think that some of those east/west identical feeds should be counted twice? Why don't they, say, count a station like USA as twelve stations if it repeats each weekly episode of "Monk" a dozen times - to carry this analogy out to its ridiculous conclusion. And counting a lot of stuff that's not 24/7 (not to mention those that are only part of a premium sports package that co$t$ a lot extra) is another example of padding the numbers for the average viewer.
Finally, the people at DirecTV dismiss the VOOM channels as "not being of high quality." Could this be somehow related to the fact that DirecTV doesn't offer VOOM? Nah, of course not! I haven't heard too much from the experts over there regarding all the "HD Lite" channels that DirecTV offers.
About the only thing I've seen that is more misleading than this current DircTV campaign are the ridiculous claims by cable (Optima TV) in my neck of the woods that they are the "Leader in HD programming."
Yeah, right. That makes the DirecTV HD technobabble sound like gospel in comparison.
I think the main problem is that when people heard "we'll have 100 HD channels by 2007", they assumed it meant new, unique, 24x7 programming ... which was never even alluded to by DirecTV. They were reading what they wanted to read, and not what was said. Am I disappointed? Absolutely! But I'll take what I can get.
I cannot comment on Voom, as I have never seen it.
I wasn't trying to shoot the messenger, Shane, but merely to poke a few holes in DirecTV's "reasoning." As you know I'm a Dish subscriber and have been for many years. I consider their (real, not imagined) 30+ full time HDTV channels (including a bunch of VOOM channels) excellent. And, of course, the Vip622 HD 2 channel DVR is, in my estimation, the nicest DVR out there. I have 4 of them.
VOOM channels offer a lot of stuff not found on other channels and are an eclectic mix. The sound is almost all 5.1 and the pictures look great on my variety of HDTV sets (2 1080p sets and 3 720p sets).
DirecTV talks the HD talk, but Dish walks the HD walk. In my area, cable is not even in contention.
I wish all HD content providers well since competition breeds further improvements. If DirecTV somehow convinces people that they have "100" HD channels I'm sure Dish won't stand still. Their claims up until this point have been that Dish is the HD provider leader and it has been fact, not creative accounting. They probably don't intend to rest on their laurels and I expect to ask the appropriate questions at CEDIA 2007 (where I assume that I'll see you and Dale, right?)
And with Verizon Fios TV lurking in the wings (I already have superb FIOS Internet service) this could bode well for the aware HD subscriber.
I agree with rfowkes - as a former D*TV subscriber who got tired of all the talk (reminded me of old Hubert Humphrey - much talk, little do). The crack about VOOM and not being quality struck me. Yes, the VOOM channels do tend to focus on certain viewer groups - collectors, art enthusiasts, pop music lovers to name several - but then, what channels DON'T?? And channels like EQUATOR (crappy name for a channel that deals in travel and such) are not much different from DISCOVERY HD or The Travel Channel. And all are always high quality pictures. Yes, they repeat a lot of programming, but again, what network DOESN'T?? And one of the neat things that DishNet does is it doesn't beam it's locals just to one area. So, if your account is in Colorado for example, and you go somewhere on vacation and take your dish along, you'll still get the Denver locals (yes, and in HD) at the new location. Try THAT with D*TV.
Sorry but IMHO D*TV is overrated. Or is it just that they overrate themselves?
I'd like to say I'm excited but I'm not. Cablevision of NJ already provides more HD than DTV, and the quality is much better - no blocking, excess compression, and so forth.
If DTV can get the qualitiy on current HD channels up to where is was a few years ago, I might stay with them. But I've been considering moving to Dish for some time and I suspect that's the way I'll go.
BTW - does anyone know who the "experts" were that are quoted in the DTV ads as saying the picture is superior to cable? None of the common folk I know would agree with that statment, and I'd think that experts would have a mi\ore discerning eye.
Apparently Comcast is simply deploying Tivo software to their existing DVR hardware. I'm sure DirecTV could do the same with their HD DVRs. It should be obvious to them after the HR20-700 fiasco that their software engineers aren't up to the task.
I'd settle for regular DVR software with Tivo being an upgrade. I'd gladly pay $5 more per month for Tivo software. One reason they ditched Tivo was the $1/month royalty they had to pay Tivo. Split the $5 and give Tivo $2.50 and keep $2.50.
I'm an D* subscriber and I know there isn't much love for them on this site. But, as the original post points out, more HD is good for everybody. Some channels have not switched because no one would carry them.
A rising tide lifts all boats and if D* gets this Sat up and working you know Dish is going to increase their HD and Cable will too. We all win. Now if something goes wrong then all of our providers can just rest on theur laurels for another year. I want to see every one of us with every HD channel available and it will happen sooner or later. Hopefully this lauch will cause it to be sooner.
I'm glad I switched to Dish a while ago. VOOM has some great channels such as RUSH, EQUATOR, SOUNDSTAGE, MONSTERS. I believe they still have significant capacity to keep adding HD channels in order to continue to be the HD leader. Directv needs to offer a good product, not a bunch of fluff. How stupid do they think we are? Yes it is good that Directv is improving their HD. It will give Dish motivation to continue to offer a superior product.
Great analysis Shane. I believe it is right on target. I am wondering if you could provide similar analysis to project when HD locals will be available in the markets that currently are SD only (via DTV). The Scranton/WilkesBarre market is the one I am most interested in, but I'm sure other would have interest in all the reamining markets.
Maybe I 'missed' something in your post....BUT...
after checking just now on ....antennaweb....you ALREADY
have HD for NBC / CBS / PBS / ABC (all) at compass heading 229 & under 18 miles!!!
Should be PERFECT for O.T.A. "HD" via a most plain or simple antenna, I'd think.
.....antennasdirect.com....has plenty of help as well if you don't happen to have an old one handy -- YES,
our old 'YAGIs', etc. for Ed Sullivan ARE just fine for "HD" as long as they are UHF, too.
eli whitney
Thanks for added info....obviously, you can't "see" those towers thru mountains!
F.Y.I.--- I believe that BOTH satellite outfits can only provide LOCAL station broadcasts by way of a separate, outside antenna, not thru their dish (generic) feed? The rest will know! eli whitney
My thanks for fixing my head ( again )........the
grandson recently got one ( ? ) of the satellite outfits & his "locals" were the separate outside antenna .
You can still get local OTA DTV (HD) via antenna with both the old and new sat receivers. Only the newest mpeg4 sat receivers from Dish and DirecTV can get the HD locals over the satellite.
My thanks for helping me to make sure that my eyes weren't "going bad" as well !!! Why, on brand-new installations, would either of them "bother" to install the older styles? eli whitney
Not everyone has a HDTV yet, so the older mpeg2 receivers work just as well as the new mpeg4 receivers. And they cost a lot less. And they don't have enough mpeg4 receivers and DVRs yet for every new customer.
The mpeg2 receivers also work with the older dishes. You need a new dish for the mpeg4 receivers.
As far as I'm concerned yes E & W feeds of a channel counts as 2. I wish that w/ E* that we got both feeds for the HD. Yes I have the VIP622 but there are still times it would be nice to have the later feed to catch a show w/o a conflict. I'm all for D* getting more HD cause if they get it then E* will get it as well. There are going to be very few "exclusives" in HD for now. Voom seems to be an exception to that and so D* is saying it isn't worth having. Of course D* will have NFL Sunday ticket but that will only be part of the year and of interest to football fans. I do doubt that all of Sunday Ticket will be in HD though. If D* comes up w/ a good HD DVR then at the end of my commitment w/ E* I would consider them. So far as I have heard the D* HD DVR just isn't cutting it.
If you've had that VIP-622 long enough, have you experienced how much of the total hard-
drive capacity is taken by recorded "HD ?"
GONE, in just one game, etc..
Seems like "HD" requires SO MUCH capacity that
500GB drives will be necessary??
eli whitney
DirecTV has numerous sports packages, not just NFL. NCAA football, NCAA and NBA basketball, etc.
For the French Open they had a mix channel plus 6 other channels showing simultaneous matches the first week. The mix channel was interactive and showed all 6 channels and you could switch the audio between the different channels. You could also get current results via an on screen menu. Very slick.
I think they do the same thing for Nascar and Sunday Ticket NFL.
If you've had that VIP-622 long enough, have you experienced how much of the total hard-
drive capacity is taken by recorded "HD ?"
GONE, in just one game, etc..
Seems like "HD" requires SO MUCH capacity that
500GB drives will be necessary??
eli whitney
I've had the ViP622 since it came out last year and it has exceeded expectations (especially when compared to other HD-DVRs). Your comment about the HD hard drive capacity being GONE in just one game is way off the mark. Yes, HD takes up more space than SD with about 6-7 times the information in the signal so that's no big surprise. What this means is that a one hour program recorded in HD takes up the same space ~ as a six hour SD program. Translating this into a real world situation (based on my experience and not some marketing hype) the ViP622 currently has the capacity of recording about 200 hours of SD or 30 hours of HD (or any combination thereof) before you reach capacity. Hardly a "one game and it's full" scenario. And I say "currently" because on the latest Charlie Chat this week on Dish, it was mentioned that in August they will be activating the USB port to allow content to be tranfered to external USB hard drives. With 500g USB external drives now approaching the $100 price point that means that the amount of programming you will be able to record and store with a 622 will increase dramatically over the already industry-leading amount it now offers.
The only problem that I see with these external USB hard drives is the question of DRM (Digital Rights Management). I'm not sure if and how Dish has suddenly gotten the go-ahead to offer off-line HD recording outside of the box so I will wait to see if this is in fact going to be the case. I'm sure that the external hard drive will be able to record SD programs (their PocketDish already does that) but I'm a little surprised that they inferred that you'd be able to store HD content outside the 622. But even if the SD limitation is still there it still frees up the internal space on my 622s so that they can be used for all HD content.
DirecTV has numerous sports packages, not just NFL. NCAA football, NCAA and NBA basketball, etc.
For the French Open they had a mix channel plus 6 other channels showing simultaneous matches the first week. The mix channel was interactive and showed all 6 channels and you could switch the audio between the different channels. You could also get current results via an on screen menu. Very slick.
I think they do the same thing for Nascar and Sunday Ticket NFL.
The point is it's not just Sunday Ticket.
Agreed! If sports is your main concern then DirecTV moves to the head of the class as your top choice since they have been able to maintain and expand their sports premium package exclusives. On a personal note, I feel that the days of this advantage will be numbered because of the recent MLB exclusives shutting out Dish (and not cable). It will take a long court battle but eventually this will ironed out either through legislation or mergers. But you are right, DirecTV is the choice for those who must have the maximum sports access.
It's not as though there are no sports on DISH however. They also offer the six pictures on one screen option for certain sporting events via DISH Interactive but, of course, with fewer events at their disposal the DirecTV implementation is probably more extensive. There are still literally thousands of events each year (more than enough for me) but not EVERY game for EVERY sport. In fact, as a NY Yankees Fan I actually carry a basic DirecTV subscription (one box - minimal cost but still over $45/month) just to get the YES network since DISH chose not to give in to YES demands. As soon as Verizon FIOS TV reaches my area (I already have FIOS Internet) I'll be switching that DirecTV feed to a FIOS TV feed for YES. It will also give me a first hand opportunity to compare FIOS to satellite offerings in terms of content and quality.
