DirecTV On Demand now available across the country

by Darren Murph posted Jun 30th 2008 at 2:24PM

While DirecTV On Demand surfaced for select HR21 owners way back in February, the satcaster has finally pulled the service from beta to release it nationwide. Starting today, subscribers with a DirecTV Plus HD DVR or R22 DVR receiver will have access to over 4,000 SD and HD titles whenever they choose, and yes, everything will be delivered gratis. Additionally, the service will offer up customized programmer home pages, internet remote scheduling and an expanded array of pay-per-view titles. Of course, we couldn't close this out without asking for some feedback, so be sure to put the screws to DOD when you get home and let us know how things turn out.

Filed under: Satellite

Tags: directv, DIRECTV On Demand, DirectvOnDemand, video on demand, video-on-demand, VideoOnDemand, vod

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Highly Ranked

skirge01 @ Jun 30th 2008 2:53PM

Out of beta, but still--to quote DirecTV--"slim pickins" in the HD arena. 14 programs in HD, consisting of only 6 free ones, which include 4 Snoop Dogg music videos, 1 Pussycat Dolls concert "clip" and 1 Christina Aguilera concert. Everything else is apparently "new" and costs $4.99.

SD, you do have a decent amount of choices (311 currently listed on their website), but there's still a large portion (104) that cost between $1.99 and $4.99. That leaves 207 which are free.

But, my little complaining aside, I have high hopes that it'll get better and I'm looking forward to more HD content.

Neutral

skirge01 @ Jun 30th 2008 2:58PM

Sorry... need to correct my "311" number above. That consists of ONLY the movie listings. There are quite a bit more (2804 in all) when you include all categories.

Neutral

Achilles @ Jun 30th 2008 3:08PM

Do you have to have your system connected to the internet to get on-demand??

Neutral

Ryan @ Jun 30th 2008 4:00PM

Yes, your DVR has to be connected to the Internet, as on-demand titles are not delivered over the satellites. This also makes it pretty slow, at least on my 1.5 Mbps DSL. I find stuff to download then watch it later. The HD choices are pretty slim, but the selection is slowly improving. The SD selection isn't bad. At least all the commercials are cut out. Also, some content is free, but others, like NBC shows are rentals.

Neutral

James @ Jun 30th 2008 3:27PM

I watched Factory Made earlier today. I like that there are few interruptions (commercials), but seems a little painful finding anything.

Neutral

James T @ Jun 30th 2008 4:12PM

Unfortunately, if you download multiple shows from a series they aren't listed under an expandable title like other series.

Neutral

NotATreoFan @ Jul 1st 2008 8:29AM

I've been using DirecTV on Demand since February when I managed to get it enabled on my HR21, and overall I am very satisfied with it.

Hopefully now that it is out of beta, they will allocate more bandwidth to the service and speed up the downloads. I have Verizon's 20/20 FIOS package, but just as Ryan said above, the download speeds are less than ideal.

Neutral

HB @ Jul 20th 2008 6:39PM

I just got DIRECTV On Demand service. I am not happy so far.
I had to upgrade my DVR to the HR20 model. This costs $199 plus tax. The upgrade has not been easy. DIRECTV failed to send the B-Band boxes with the DVR and it has taken 5 slow calls to their 800 number to get the kinks ironed out (they did not "turn on" DVR service automatically at installation, for example).
The chief disappointment is the download speed. About 45-60 minutes for a single episode of "Weeds" (a 30 min Showtime episode). At that rate a full length movie would take 3-4 hours!
My connection is broadband/cable modem and a speed test immediately after the Weeds download showed 1.2 mb/sec on my end.
By contrast my brother-in-law has Cox Cable On Demand and his speeds are astonishing: he starts an Cox On Demand movie and he can fast forward thought the credits!!!
I am not impressed with this DIRECTV On Demand service. It is expensive, difficult, and slow.

Neutral

HB @ Jul 20th 2008 10:56AM

Sorry: forgot to mention another observation. Eventhough I have HBO as a premium service on my DIRECTV account, there is no HBO On Demand available on DIRECTV On Demand service. Showtime is there but not HBO.
DIRECTV Customer service says that they do not carry HBO On Demand and she did not know if they had plans to do so.

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