Why does D* have less channels on HBO, Cinemax and Showtime compared to FIOS or UVerse? Will they be getting more premium channels soon?

Why does D* have less channels on HBO, Cinemax and Showtime compared to FIOS or UVerse? Will they be getting more premium channels soon?

Its been that way since they started. Directv has no interest in HD premiums and said as much recently that people just arent interested in them. Thats one reason I went with FIOS. You actually get something for the money you pay for HD premiums. Actually you get too many to count. Ive forgotten how many page down keystrokes it takes to scroll through all of the pages of HD premium channels. In this regard D* is a bad joke and always has been.

Directv said that unless those premiums start showing more movies in OAR they will not be added anytime soon*.

*ok maybe they didnt say that but i like to think so. :D

Actually when the new sat goes up around december they may then add some sometime in the 2nd qtr 2010.

Why does Dtv have less channels on HBO, Cinemax and Showtime compared to FIOS or UVerse? Will they be getting more premium channels soon?
DTV = Digital TV

D* = DirecTV

Topic edited.

DirecTV carries 69 national HD channels, but only 15 are premiums. If they plan to make significant HD additions with their new satellite (and apparently they plan to advertise "capacity for 200 HD channels" once it's ready), then they will pretty much have to add more premium channels.

Directv said that unless those premiums start showing more movies in OAR they will not be added anytime soon*.

*ok maybe they didnt say that but i like to think so. :D

Actually when the new sat goes up around december they may then add some sometime in the 2nd qtr 2010.

Ive heard that bologna everytime a sat goes up.:rolleyes:


D* says "we have enough"

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Well looks like Premium movie channels is something D* has no intrest in.
Mike Farrell -- Multichannel News, 8/6/2009 12:23:00 PM EDT





DirecTV interim CEO Larry Hunter said that the satellite giant would likely pass on carriage of the newest premium channel, Epix, when it launches later this year.
"That's another one that I don't think you'll be seeing us being interested in," Hunter said on a conference call with analysts to discuss second-quarter results.
Partially influencing the satellite giant's decision could be the recent decline in its customer take rates for premium movie channels. On the conference call, chief financial officer Patrick Doyle added that the satellite giant has been seeing an acceleration of customers who are "right-sizing" their programming packages, and many are dropping premium movie channels like HBO, Starz and Showtime. Doyle said that about 90% of DirecTV customers take at least one premium channel and expected that to decline further in the third quarter.
"We think there are enough of them out there already," Doyle said of premium movie channels. "We don't see the value of adding another movie channel." http://www.multichannel.com/article/326722-DirecTV_Will_Pass_On_Epix.php?rssid=20061

funny, I dont see anything about OAR?

DirecTV carries 69 national HD channels, but only 15 are premiums. If they plan to make significant HD additions with their new satellite (and apparently they plan to advertise "capacity for 200 HD channels" once it's ready), then they will pretty much have to add more premium channels.

That will be ground breaking for them then because its always more HDPPV or HD sports subscription channels and before that it was HD locals. HD premiums are dead last in their agenda. ANYTHING counts more to them even if its some last minute wild hair. The people that sub to HBO are still going to sub whether they add more channels or not to it and they know this.

I canceled HBO at the beginning of the year. I’ve had the Cinemax penny deal for almost 2 years. I’m no fool, so I took advantage of the current 3 months free promo on E* for HBO and Showtime. I have 3 weeks left before my freebee expires and I’ve recorded a total of 4 movies, 3 of them during my first week, and I’m talking close to 20 channels. It’s amazing how many movies are on these channels and I find little that interests me. Their best programming comes by way of their series or specials, but that isn’t enough for me to justify spending the money. I understand everyone has their own tastes in movies, but to shell out $22 a month (bundled savings on E*) for two channels is a no-brainer for me. No way. I can’t tell you how disappointed I’ve been in the lack of worthwhile movies during my 3 months of free viewing. Bottom line – I don’t think you’re missing much, if anything. JMO, YMMV.

The thread was originally about D* not Dish. However, since you mentioned it, I will tell you that you missed a LOT of great HD movies which have yet to make it to Blu-ray/HD DVD when Voom was around. :mad:

DirectTV never had a lot of premium movie channels -- even in the SD only days.

Let's take HBO and Cinemax as an example. Verizon advertises the fact that they carry all the HBO and Cinemax channels in HD. That is 26 HD channels in all (plus the same 26 channels in SD, for a total of 52 channels, plus HBO on Demand). Of those 26 possible channels, DirecTV carries only 4 in HD and 10 total in SD. So, in all, DirecTV carries 14 out of 52 possible channels. Maybe that's not a big deal if DirecTV offers the package at substantially lower prices than Verizon. But, actually, they both charge the same $28 for HBO plus Cinemax.

In the interest of fairness, DirecTV offers a majority of the Showtime channels in HD. (Interesting fact: the Showtime channels that are not offered in HD are not carried in SD on DirecTV, which might explain why they don't exist in HD yet.) DirecTV carries all of the Starz channels in HD except Encore HD.

:eek:That is interesting.

Ive heard that bologna everytime a sat goes up.:rolleyes:

I was thinking the exact same thing. After a while it gets old. It seems like, no matter how many satellites D* puts up, it's never enough. They are always one step behind.