I know lots of you have gotten the call from DirecTV the pass week or two. This time it was a little different. The CSR said they are testing channels because they are going to introduce a couple more HD channels to there HD line up in a week or two. No info on the channel choices though.
The DirecTV CSR Call
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serious or just a prank???
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If it's a prank, then Chris should have his Senior Membership status taken away, and we should start calling him the Iraqi Minister of Information. 
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"There is no ESPN-HD! It is a joke! Dish Network is making it up in an effort to steal brave subscribers from their homes and eat their children!"
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Actually, I received my call on Friday and the CSR told me "several new channels are in the works and should be up within the next two weeks." I said "really, which ones?" For which she replied "I can't say, we are still in negotiations with a few of them, but most of the contracts are signed." She was surprised that I knew what the Sat C. kit was and that I already had it installed.
I didn't report this before since she seemed like she was reading from a prepared script and couldn't give me anymore information than what was already in front of her.
I didn't report this before since she seemed like she was reading from a prepared script and couldn't give me anymore information than what was already in front of her.
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Direct TV must be in a hustle to get their stuff out before Echostar. If Direct TV is going to launch new HDTV offererings, I guess the likely canidates are 1) HDNet movies, 2) ESPN-HD, & 3) Discovery HD. I can't imagine that there is much more out there to offer immediately. Well maybe another PPV channel or Distant Networks.
I wonder if E* is going to still go with HDTV on their 110 sat, or if they are going to hold off until E*9 is up at 121? This HDTV stuff is a mess to keep track of and it never goes as expected.
I wonder if E* is going to still go with HDTV on their 110 sat, or if they are going to hold off until E*9 is up at 121? This HDTV stuff is a mess to keep track of and it never goes as expected.
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I doubt they'll go with a national network feed due to problems with getting waivers.
| Originally posted by seldenpat They could also go with any of the HD National Networks (CBS most likely), or something similar to what I believe Expressvue does, which is sort of a mish-mash of HD Network shows one one channel. |
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I guess you mean HD Distant Networks. Very few would qualify and it would be a huge waist of bandwidth. No real benefit here and I DO have waivers for the distant networks (obtained some time ago). I'm able to get most HD OTA local networks just fine even though my local CBS does not do HD yet, they will this summer.
As for the comment about the fact that at least one or more new HD channels are going to be available in about a couple weeks...The CSR could have been saying that because he or she may take any rumors floating around at that call center as fact. Then again, it could be true based on a few things that have happened over the last month or so. DirecTV's customer news did mention last month to tune in next month (April) for some HD news. April arrived and there was no news about HD. Things may just simply been not as speedy as they once thought...for what ever reason. Also, I received a typed written letter from Stephanie Campbell that among other things, she stated "We plan to increase our HD offering this year"
When does not matter to me unless we are talking about ESPN-HD's broadcast of Sunday Night Football. Even so, we are not even sure if ESPN-HD will be in the offering.
I'm sure that there will be extra HD content on DirecTV sometime this year.
By the way, distant local networks are great when I want to see SNL when it's really live! Or when a local football game is blacked out and the visitors are broadcast on the distant station and for the AFL! The AFL usually has two games on Sunday, however only one of them are shown on the local network and I usually get a chance to catch the early game on the distant one...usually.
Even so, I would still like to see the AFL in HD!
| Well maybe another PPV channel or Distant Networks. |
As for the comment about the fact that at least one or more new HD channels are going to be available in about a couple weeks...The CSR could have been saying that because he or she may take any rumors floating around at that call center as fact. Then again, it could be true based on a few things that have happened over the last month or so. DirecTV's customer news did mention last month to tune in next month (April) for some HD news. April arrived and there was no news about HD. Things may just simply been not as speedy as they once thought...for what ever reason. Also, I received a typed written letter from Stephanie Campbell that among other things, she stated "We plan to increase our HD offering this year"
When does not matter to me unless we are talking about ESPN-HD's broadcast of Sunday Night Football. Even so, we are not even sure if ESPN-HD will be in the offering.
I'm sure that there will be extra HD content on DirecTV sometime this year.
By the way, distant local networks are great when I want to see SNL when it's really live! Or when a local football game is blacked out and the visitors are broadcast on the distant station and for the AFL! The AFL usually has two games on Sunday, however only one of them are shown on the local network and I usually get a chance to catch the early game on the distant one...usually.
Even so, I would still like to see the AFL in HD!
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Interesting, since you've put it that way. Still, I believe any of the distant networks in HD would be a huge waist of bandwidth. Though the HD-CBS would benefit me only till this Summer when my local CBS jumps on board except for any distant sporting shows (like Football) that may not be shown in my area.
Does anyone know how many TS DirecTV has to work with? From what I have been reading, only one TS per HD channel is all that can fit at least at this time....
| Originally posted by seldenpat They could also go with any of the HD National Networks (CBS most likely), or something similar to what I believe Expressvue does, which is sort of a mish-mash of HD Network shows one one channel. |
Does anyone know how many TS DirecTV has to work with? From what I have been reading, only one TS per HD channel is all that can fit at least at this time....
I also got a call from a CSR tonight. She asked me to go to my HD device and turn to channel 90 and tell her if I see a big D* logo. And sure enough it was there. She also asked if I was currently using an antenna to get local HD channels (which I do). Same as everyone else about a the new channels arriving soon, and not saying which ones.
Very interesting....
-Steve
Very interesting....
-Steve
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Barnman, now that you are back on Pacific time for the summer, you should try the east coast feeds of the network shows. (It is especially good for 10 pm programs, which appear on the bird at 7 pm PDT.)
I can't imagine why anyone i the east or midwest would want a west coast feed unless they work a late shift
I keep hearing here (and the very knowledgeable KenH is adamant about this) that the CBS distant waivers are difficult to get (for Dish). And apparently many AVS members have had problems with the waiver.
But CBS officials in New York tell me they have authorized a blanket waiver for all 17 owned and operated stations - which cover 34% of the US TV households. (That won't have any effect in Phoenix, sadly.)
There are a couple of geographic areas of contention - the most prominent in some Maryland counties that are in the areas of both the Baltimore CBS O&O and Washington's CBS affil.
CBS insists almost a third of the nation's homes are eligible for both feeds.
30+ million homes does not seem to me to be a small number. It seems to me that the networks should band together, and get their HD signals on both birds, offering full waivers to anyone in an O&O market. Charge something like $15 a month for the service, give DirecTV or Dish $5, and split $10 a month between the nets.
The fact is that far more people would watch Leno or CSI, The West Wing (next season!) or The Practice than will ever watch HDNet movies, Discovery Channel (both of which I want) or even ESPN HD (which I would also like to have).
I can't imagine why anyone i the east or midwest would want a west coast feed unless they work a late shift
I keep hearing here (and the very knowledgeable KenH is adamant about this) that the CBS distant waivers are difficult to get (for Dish). And apparently many AVS members have had problems with the waiver.
But CBS officials in New York tell me they have authorized a blanket waiver for all 17 owned and operated stations - which cover 34% of the US TV households. (That won't have any effect in Phoenix, sadly.)
There are a couple of geographic areas of contention - the most prominent in some Maryland counties that are in the areas of both the Baltimore CBS O&O and Washington's CBS affil.
CBS insists almost a third of the nation's homes are eligible for both feeds.
30+ million homes does not seem to me to be a small number. It seems to me that the networks should band together, and get their HD signals on both birds, offering full waivers to anyone in an O&O market. Charge something like $15 a month for the service, give DirecTV or Dish $5, and split $10 a month between the nets.
The fact is that far more people would watch Leno or CSI, The West Wing (next season!) or The Practice than will ever watch HDNet movies, Discovery Channel (both of which I want) or even ESPN HD (which I would also like to have).
I have all the national network feed channels for DirecTV. I believe they refer to them as Distant Network Package. I use the West coast feeds for TiVoing prime time shows so I can surf or whatever in my local time slot.
I think that they are still hard to obtain. If that is the case, what I did should work for you with a little patience. Call DirecTV & nicely ask for the package. If the rep. says no, politely say thank you & hang up. Press redial & repeat step one until desired results are obtained. It only took a couple of tries the 2 times I had to activate them.
I think that they are still hard to obtain. If that is the case, what I did should work for you with a little patience. Call DirecTV & nicely ask for the package. If the rep. says no, politely say thank you & hang up. Press redial & repeat step one until desired results are obtained. It only took a couple of tries the 2 times I had to activate them.
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This is so far fetched it's not even funny. You need to read a lot more about the existing state of DBS, including federal law, available bandwidth, the difference between the US & Canadian DBS companies, and much more, before throwing out this kind of baloney.
| Originally posted by seldenpat They could also go with any of the HD National Networks (CBS most likely), or something similar to what I believe Expressvue does, which is sort of a mish-mash of HD Network shows one one channel. |
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Obviously, Ken. But getting back to the point of the thread before it was led astray, what do you hear, if anything, as to why these directv phone calls are being made? I'm a cynic, but it's tough to believe that SOMETHING isn't kind of in the works if they're having these people make these phone calls. Penny for your thoughts.
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