
Multichannel news got more details about
DirecTV's promise for 100 new HD channels, and surprise, surprise, there really aren't 100. First and foremost they are counting the NFL Sunday ticket channels, which seem very lame considering they are not on year round and have been carried for a few years now. That accounts for 13 of the 100 channels, but what about the rest? DirecTV's CEO Palkovic said they are actually adding 70 or 80 "year round" channels, which is still hard to swallow considering how many HD channels
are due this year. If you were expecting some of those channels to be from
Voom, think again, not only does he say that no Voom channels are included, but disses them by saying the channels DirecTV is adding "will actually be compelling". Wow those are tough words from a company that talks a big game and has failed to deliver anything new but l
ow quality HD locals for the past two years. While we are skeptical of DirecTV's claims we will be the first to jump ship,
despite the HR20 if all those HD channels become a reality.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
The Aggie CEO™ @ Mar 28th 2007 9:40PM
guess I will stick with Time warner...........
no Voom channels?!?
clowns
RMB @ Mar 28th 2007 10:09PM
That's funny! Why would I ever change from Dish Network, 36 HD Channels - Lots of "Compelling" Content and an HD-DVR that actually works. DIRECTV has dangled 100 HD channel carrot for the past two years! It's amazing that anyone take them seriously!
Keith Benedict @ Mar 29th 2007 12:45AM
I've had the HR20 for almost 2 months now. I can't say that I've really had any problems, other than the fact that the Caller ID has never worked and I really don't care for the jerkiness of the trick play functions. That being said, I think the quality of the Directv HD feeds is terrible. Way worse than Comcast. Any fast movement or quick scene changes causes massive picture break-up. I didn't see this on my friends Comcast connection.
I keep hearing Directv evangelists on dbstalk.com speculating that when the new sats go up, they'll increase the bandwidth of the current channels, but I seriously doubt it.
As it stands, I'm really not a very satisfied customer. HD seems just a step above standard (non-progressive) DVD.
SuperChuck @ Mar 29th 2007 6:57AM
I wonder if DirecTV is planning to claim HD locals as channels...
Tim P @ Mar 29th 2007 8:14AM
I have DirecTV with an HR20. I'm seriously considering junking the setup and going back to cable w/ an HD Tivo. The HR20 still manages to screw up records on a semi-consistant basis. The wife hates it, so do I. My problem is cable's (Cox) lineup isn't that great, and I don't know if / how they'll be able to add more channels.
HD Tom @ Mar 29th 2007 1:00PM
Maybe it's just me, but I haven't had a problem w/ my HR-20 in more than four months! It's been more than fine for me, and I use it heavily to record.
That said, my patience w/ DTV is starting to wear thin w/ all these promises, yet no action!! If I wasn't such a slave to Sunday Ticket, I'd switch!! One can only hope that they follow through on a promise at some point!! I'm still waiting - even for my GD local channels :-(
Josh @ Mar 29th 2007 10:02PM
The latest Cutting Edge firmware releases for the HR20 have really made it work much better. I'm pretty happy with mine, now. I've had it since October. Believe me, there were some real stinkers of firmware releases, but the latest ones have been quite good.
bdwill @ Mar 29th 2007 10:47PM
Damn, and I bought into their rhetoric in February when I signed up. Count me as a gullible idiot.
In HD comparison, I had Cox before switching to DirecTV and at first I didn't notice a big difference in the HD quality between the two. That was until I saw a Nat Geo HD show through Cox on a nice and shiny 1080p DLP.
Joe @ Apr 10th 2007 4:32PM
I've had Directv for a little over a month and I have to say, I'm not real impressed with it. On top of that I am supposed to be getting the YES Network in HD and am not, my stepfather who has the same exact HD package as I do and lives only about 10 miles away is getting it though. Directv's response. "Well you may just be out of the HD range." Now there telling me I have to wait till the end of June when the new Satellites go up to see if I get the channel!!!
Walt @ Apr 20th 2007 8:08AM
Joe @ Apr 10th 2007 4:32PM,
Just have your unit(s) moved to your stepfather's account and cancel your account. You will then get his programming.