Spotted: A small number of DirecTV customers could lose ABC and CBS if the companies don’t sign a new contract by March 31.

While this only affects DirecTV customers in Des Moines and Davenport, Iowa, publicizing such disputes is becoming more common and could impact paid-TV service nationwide, including in Orange County.

Local ABC and CBS affiliates apparently could yank the broadcasts if an agreement isn’t reached. Says Derek Chang, executive vice president of Programming for DIRECTV:

“DIRECTV’s contract with the Citadel-owned ABC station in Des Moines, Iowa, and the CBS station in Davenport, Iowa, is expiring on March 31. We have been negotiating in good faith to try and reach a resolution and will continue to do so. If an agreement is not reached by the deadline, we intend to continue to provide the stations as we have for many years, unless Citadel demands that we take them away from our customers. If the stations come down after the deadline, make no mistake, it will be solely and completely the station owner’s (Citadel’s) decision to take the channels away from our customers.”

While this doesn’t affect Orange County customers directly, it is a trend reverberating throughout the paid-TV industry. Channels that cable and satellite companies didn’t pay for previously are now asking for a per-subscriber fee.

TV viewers also wind up in the middle as each side attempts to win their sympathy by saying the other side wants to pull the channels. This happened here in Orange County over New Years Eve, when Time Warner Cable customers thought they would lose Fox and its collection of TV shows and sporting events. We never lost Fox but on the East Coast, Cablevision customers temporarily lost access to the Oscars when ABC and the cable provider failed to come to an agreement.

While the final agreements are never made public, the possibility that ABC and Fox are now collecting money from previously nonpaying customers is just too tempting a revenue source for other broadcast channels to overlook.

I suspect we’ll continue to see more public disputes, including several that will impact channels here in Orange County.

Heads up for DirecTV customers: Several groups of premium channels are moving to new numbers beginning today. The channels will move over the next six weeks and be completed by April 22.

When the channel moves, it will be available on the new channel and old channel for one week. After that, it will be available only on the new channel number. There will be a message directing viewers to the new channel number.

The following groups of channels are affected:

• Cinemax channels will start on Ch. 515 (currently ch. 512)
• Starz channels will start on Ch. 525 (currently ch. 518)
• Encore channels will start on Ch. 535 (currently ch. 526)
• SHOWTIME channels will start on Ch. 545 (currently ch. 537)
• HD Extra Pack channels will be consolidated into one channel range starting at Ch. 560

Here’s the rollout schedule:

Old Channel	New Channel	Channel Name	Change Date
544	554	The Movie Channel East/The Movie Channel East HD	24-Mar
545	555	The Movie Channel West	24-Mar
547	557	FLIX	24-Mar
549	558	Sundance	24-Mar
550	559	Independent Film Channel	TBD
537	545	Showtime East/Showtime East HD	31-Mar
538	546	Sho2/Sho2 HD	31-Mar
539	547	Showtime Showcase/Showtime Showcase HD	31-Mar
540	548	Showtime West/Showtime West HD	31-Mar
542	549	Showtime Extreme/Showtime Extreme HD	31-Mar
526	535	Encore East	7-Apr
527	536	Encore West	7-Apr
528	537	Encore Love	7-Apr
529	538	Encore Westerns	7-Apr
530	539	Encore Mystery	7-Apr
531	540	Encore Drama	7-Apr
532	541	Encore Action	7-Apr
533	542	Encore WAM	7-Apr
512	515	Cinemax East/Cinemax East HD	12-Apr
514	516	Cinemax West/Cinemax West HD	12-Apr
518	525	Starz Kids & Family HD	14-Apr
519	526	Starz Comedy HD	14-Apr
520	527	Starz East/Starz East HD	14-Apr
521	528	Starz West/Starz West HD	14-Apr
522	529	Starz Edge/Starz Edge HD	14-Apr
523	530	Starz in Black	14-Apr
552	561	HDNet Movies HD	21-Apr
255	562	MGM HD	21-Apr
259	564	Universal HD	21-Apr
267	565	Smithsonian HD	21-Apr
289	566	Crime and Investigation HD	21-Apr
332	567	Palladia HD	21-Apr

UPDATE, 3/19/2010: DirecTV updated the list to include and exclude some channels:

Old Channel	New Channel	Channel	Change date
544	554	The Movie Channel East/The Movie Channel East HD	March 24, 2010
545	555	The Movie Channel West	March 24, 2010
547	557	FLIX	March 24, 2010
549	558	Sundance	March 24, 2010
537	545	Showtime East/Showtime East HD	March 31, 2010
538	546	Sho2/Sho2 HD	March 31, 2010
539	547	Showtime Showcase/Showtime Showcase HD	March 31, 2010
540	548	Showtime West/Showtime West HD	March 31, 2010
542	549	Showtime Extreme/Showtime Extreme HD	March 31, 2010
526	535	Encore East	April 7, 2010
527	536	Encore West	April 7, 2010
528	537	Encore Love	April 7, 2010
529	538	Encore Westerns	April 7, 2010
530	539	Encore Mystery	April 7, 2010
531	540	Encore Drama	April 7, 2010
532	541	Encore Action	April 7, 2010
533	542	Encore WAM	April 7, 2010
518	525	Starz Kids & Family HD	April 14, 2010
519	526	Starz Comedy HD	April 14, 2010
520	527	Starz East/Starz East HD	April 14, 2010
521	528	Starz West/Starz West HD	April 14, 2010
522	529	Starz Edge/Starz Edge HD	April 14, 2010
523	530	Starz in Black	April 14, 2010
512	515	Cinemax East/Cinemax East HD	April 21, 2010
513	517	MoreMax East	April 21, 2010
514	516	Cinemax West/Cinemax West HD	April 21, 2010
255	562	MGM HD	April 21, 2010
259	564	Universal HD	April 21, 2010
267	565	Smithsonian HD	April 21, 2010
289	566	Crime and Investigation HD	April 21, 2010
332	567	Palladia HD	April 21, 2010
550	559	Independent Film Channel	April 21, 2010
552	561	HDNet Movies HD	April 21, 2010

Recent DirecTV news:

In an attempt to get TV subscribers to pay a bit more for new channels or tiers, free previews are quite common. Here are some current and upcoming freebies for Orange County-area customers:

Time Warner Cable:

• Showtime On Demand, from March 25 to 28. Go to Channel 1006 (or channel 1 and look for Showtime ONDEMAND) (source: Time Warner)
• CBS College Sports Network, Channel 261, free through April 5 (more)

DirecTV:

• Game Lounge (ch. 110): Free Trial from April 2 to 4 (source: DirecTV)
• Showtime, between March 25 to 28 for the following channels: 537, 538, 539, 540, 542, 544, 545, 547, 549 (source: FreePreview.tv)

Dish Network:

• Style, channel 115, through April 4 (source: Dish)
• CBS College Sports Network, Ch. 152, through April 7 (source: Dish)
• Fuse, Ch. 158, through March 31 (source: FreePreview.tv) Not happening this month, according to Dish.

Verizon FiOS

• Showtime On Demand, between March 25 to 28 (source: FreePreview.tv)

Good news for DirecTV sports fans: The satellite TV service is bringing back VERSUS, a sports channel that viewers lost last summer when owner Comcast and DirecTV failed to come to an agreement. As with these sorts of deals, details were disclosed.

The channel, known for bull riding, hockey and college football, returns today, DirecTV announced. It will resume where it left off in August. It remains in the same TV plan offered to customers.

Read DirecTV’s official announcement HERE.

Related Versus posts:

When it comes to TV or mobile phone service, consumers aren’t shy about saying what they don’t like. That’s not only true here on this blog, which made me refocus the content to cover TV and mobile heavily last year, but to the local Better Business Bureau.

The Better Business Bureau of the Southland reports that mobile phone service and TV service were the two categories with the most complaints last year (see bottom chart). But by far the top offender? DirecTV, based in El Segundo. The satellite TV service received 15,367 complaints, well above second place Federal Loan Modification Center in Northridge, which had 858 complaints.

The BBB said that DirecTV issues are related to billing disputes, early cancellation fees, inadequate disclosure about the cost of service and the inability to contact the company.

The organization — the go-to site for Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties,– also pointed out that DirecTV has faced government scrutiny for violating the Telemarketing Sales Rule and the Washington state Consumer Protection Act for “false or unfair use of the word “free,” among other issues.

The BBB named DirecTV its top 2009 Pluto Award recipient, which calls out the area Orange County and Los Angeles businesses that use “underhanded business practices and ambiguous advertising to augment their riches and defraud the American public of billions of dollars each year.”

“DirecTV is a well-known satellite service provider, and its number of complaints might not be quite so striking if you took its complaints-to-customers ratio into consideration. Nevertheless, its practices and rating prompt us to urge extreme caution in doing business with DirecTV,” warned the BBB.

DirecTV spokesperson Jade-lin Ekstedt acknowledged the issue and said that the company is working on improving the poor rating.

“The overwhelming majority of our more than 18.4 million customers are happy with our service. But, as with any other company that deals with such a large number of customers, we don’t always get it right every time. We appreciate the need to address customer complaints effectively and timely and we are working with the southern California BBB to help us do a better job at that. Providing excellent customer service is something we have always prided ourselves on so we are redoubling our efforts to identify and act on opportunities for improvement. Through this effort we hope to see our rating improved in the near future,” she said in an e-mail response.

Regardless of the low rating, DirecTV still remains the nation’s largest paid-TV service with its 18.4 million customers. And the company continues to grow, according to its last earnings report. Customers may be complaining but they continue to stick with the company.

Tell me: Any DirecTV customers getting better results with customer service and other issues? Leave a comment (thanks!)

As a reader courtesy, here are the customer service numbers for the various TV services available in Orange County:

• AT&T U-verse: 1-800-288-2020 and say ‘U-verse
• Cox Communications: 800-234-3993, 949-240-1212
• DirecTV: 800-DIRECTV, @directv on Twitter
• Dish Network: 888-686-2388, @dishnetwork on Twitter
• Verizon FiOS: 888-553-1555
• Time Warner Cable: 1-888-TW-CABLE, @alextwc and @jefftwc on Twitter

And here’s a look at the industries garnering the most consumer complaints last year. According to the BBB, the cell phone and TV industries received more complaints then banks and auto dealers. One bright spot? The number of complaints for cell phone and TV service didn’t grow as fast as banks. Cell phone complaints were up 2.1 percent over 2008, while TV was up 8.7 percent. The number of complaints received by the banking industry was up 42.3 percent.

The BBB also points out that both industries did have high resolution rates. Cell phone companies resolved 97.4 percent of complaints while the cable and satellite TV industry resolved 97.2 percent. Banks resolved 95.2 percent. To file your own complaint with a company, go to the BBB’s local website at www.la.bbb.org. Here’s a shortcut to the complaint page.

Top 10 industries by volume of consumer complaints with BBB in 2009
Industry	Total Complaints	Rank by complaints	% change over 2008	% of Resolved Complaints
Cellular Phones Service & Equipment	37,477	1	2.10%	97.40%
Television – Cable, CATV & Satellite	32,616	2	8.70%	97.20%
Banks	29,920	3	42.30%	95.20%
Auto Dealers-New Cars	26,888	4	-2.40%	84.10%
Internet Shopping	21,494	5	9.40%	71.70%
Collection Agencies	15,797	6	-3.30%	86.60%
Auto Dealers – Used Cars	13,686	7	2.50%	70.80%
Telephone Companies	13,470	8	11.20%	96.10%
Furniture – Retail	13,158	9	-2.90%	78.30%
Auto Repair & Service	12,736	10	9.50%	65.90%

For more on TV services, see the following links:

					* Time Warner Cable * Cox Cable * Verizon FiOS * AT&T U-verse		* DirecTV * Dish Network * Web TV * All TV

More Better Business Bureau-related stories:

Noted: If you love soccer, a new channel is coming your way. Fox Soccer Plus debuts today on several TV services. But it may not come cheap. See below for details.

The new channel is part of Fox Soccer channel and replaces the Setanta Sports, which called it quits in the United States yesterday, Feb. 28. The TV network continues to broadcast overseas. Here in the states, Setanta gave up its programming rights to several soccer and rugby events.

The new Fox channel features at least 600 exclusive matches, including the Carling Cup, England’s FA Cup and the Coco-Cola Championship. It will also include some rugby matches.

If you’re a fan, the services below are offering the channel or will soon:

Dish Network: Channel 406, available for $14.99 a month. Details

DirecTV: Fox Soccer Plus replaces Setanta Sports for existing customers at no extra cost. It’s $14.99 per month.  Details

Verizon FiOS: Automatically switches Setanta Sports customers to new channel, airing on 1009. Also $14.99 per month. Details

Time Warner Cable: Coming soon, according to a USA Today story.

Recent sports TV news:

DirecTV continued to add customers in the fourth quarter last year even as customer monthly bills inched upward.

But the satellite TV provider’s  119,000 net new subscribers in the fourth quarter was nearly one-third less than the 301,000 subscribers it added a year earlier.

The company said that declines in the last quarter of 2009 were due to competition, a weaker economy and more stringent credit and spending policies. In other words, investors should be happy that DirecTV was able to get more money out of existing customers — or $92.36 a month, up $1.90 or 2.1 percent from 2008′s fourth-quarter average monthly revenue of $90.46

What made bills go higher? Price increases, and more customers subscribing to HD channels, DVRs and NFL programming, says the company. That helped offset lower revenues on pay-per-view events and new customer offers.

Overall, DirecTV ended 2009 with 18,560,000 customers, up 5.3 percent from 2008. Its average monthly revenue per subscriber was up about 1.9 percent, or $1.58, to $85.48.

Like every other TV service provider, DirecTV continued to face higher prices from TV channels. Last year, these programming fees  rose $766 million to $9.1 billion. That’s a 9.2 percent increase from the prior year! Programming fees are usually the biggest expense for every TV company. And failed negotiations sometimes lead to public disputes like the New Year’s Eve showdown between Time Warner Cable and  Fox TV.

Regardless, those higher fees often end up raising customer bills. So far this year, DirecTV has announced 5 percent rate hikes for most customers. See earlier story “DirecTV prices going up in 2010 too.”

The financials: DirecTV lost $32 million on revenues of $5.98 billion. The loss was due to its November merger with Liberty Entertainment. Excluding the merger, the company said its net income would have been $454 million, which was up from the year earlier’s net income of $332 million on revenues of $5.31 billion.

Read the company’s earnings report HERE.

Corrected 2/16: Fox Reality is being replaced by National Geographic Wild, not West. My bad. Thanks reader ‘m’ for pointing this out. Text below is corrected.

If you haven’t spent much time on the Fox Reality channel, you’ll be glad to know it’s being booted next month in favor of the National Geographic Wild Channel.

The Fox channel shuts down on March 31, as noted last October, in favor of another version of reality. Why National Geographic? The channel is 50 percent owned by Fox Cable Network.

Time Warner Cable, which notified customers today on its alerts page, switches to “Nat Geo Wild” on March 29. It’s the same channel — 129 — and same plan level as Fox Reality.

Other TV providers have not announced the switch yet but here are the existing channel numbers for their Fox Reality channel:

• Time Warner, 129
• Cox Communications, 363
• Dish Network, 190
• Verizon FiOS, 197
• AT&T U-verse, 130
• DirecTV, 250

For more on TV services, see the following links:

					* Time Warner Cable * Cox Cable * Verizon FiOS * AT&T U-verse		* DirecTV * Dish Network * Web TV * All TV

Three free previews are coming soon for DirecTV viewers.

• Showtime (ch. 537): Free Trial from March 25 to 28. Regular charge is $12.99 a month for 9 channels, which includes 6 in HD.
• NHL Center Ice (ch. 769-786): Free Trial from March 2 to 8. Regular charge is $119.80 for the season.
• BabyFirstTV, (ch. 293): Free Trial from 2/11 – 2/14. Regular charge is $4.99 per month.

Over at Dish Network, February free previews have already begun. These freebies run through most of February:

• History International – Ch. 121. Free preview through March 3.
• Biography Channel – Gold HD Ch. 119. Free preview through March 3.
• Investigation Discovery Channel – Ch. 192 — free preview through Feb. 24.
• Crime & Investigation HD – Ch. 387. Free preview through March 3.

Probably the biggest 3D news at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show is the 3D content that is coming to TVs very soon.

ESPN, Discovery and others announced moves into the 3D market. Three more channels will be available only to DirecTV subscribers in June 2010.

► DirecTV said it is also working with CBS, Fox Sports/FSN, Golden Boy Promotions, HDNet, MTV, NBC Universal and Turner Broadcasting System Inc. to develop 3D programming that will debut this year or next year. Panasonic, which is pushing its 3D Viera HDTVs, will sponsor the effort in the first year.

DirecTV subscribers who have HD service will get a free software upgrade to access 3D content. The 3 channels will be:

1. Pay-per-view movies and documentaries channel
2. On-demand channel
3. 3D sampler demo channel, featuring sports and music events

► ESPN committed to 3D TV and plans to broadcast 85 live sporting events in 3D this year, including the upcoming FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Sony Corp. will help sponsor the channel. Other 3D events include up to 25 2010 FIFA World Cup matches, Summer X Games, college basketball, NBA basketball, college football and basketball which will include the BCS National Championship game in Glendale, AZ on January 7, 2011

► Discovery Networks announced plans to create a 3D TV network in partnership with IMAX and Sony.

► DreamWorks Animation, Technicolor and Samsung partnered to bring more 3D movies to homes.

For more CES 2010 coverage, visit the Gadgetress CES page at gadgetress.freedomblogging.com/ces2010.
Most recent headlines:

Cable TV customers aren’t the only ones who will pay higher prices in 2010. DirecTV subscribers will also pay a few dollars more per month.

Rates are going up by about 5 percent per month — see the chart below for changes. Customers who are part of a promotional 12-month price won’t be affected until the promotion ends.

DirecTV joins Time Warner Cable, AT&T U-verse and Verizon FiOS with new price increases for 2010. Cox Communications has said it has no plans for increases yet, but the company tends to announce price hikes in the spring.

Many of TV services increase prices at the beginning of the year. The big reason: They have to pay higher prices for the TV networks they offer. Most recently on New Year’s Eve, Time Warner negotiated with Fox TV parent News Corp. on the fee the cable provider would pay to offer Fox to subscribers. Fox threatened to pull its programs from customers but the two ended up resolving their differences several hours past the deadline. New rates weren’t disclosed although Fox was asking for $1 per month per customer, which Time Warner said was too much.

According to a letter mailed to DirecTV customers, the new rates take effect Feb. 9, 2010. Some changes:

DirecTV service	2009 price	2010 price	Increase
Premier	$109.99	$114.99	4.5%
Lo Maximo	$109.99	$114.99	4.5%
Choice Xtra	$60.99	$63.99	4.9%
Choice	$55.99	$58.99	5.4%
Preferred Choice	$35.99	$38.99	8.3%
Jadeworld	$36.99	$39.99	8.1%
Optimo Mas	$44.99	$47.99	6.7%
Total Choice Mobile	n/a	$63.99	n/a
Plus HD DVR	$75.99	$79.99	5.3%
Plus DVR	$65.99	$69.99	6.1%
Select	$48.99	$51.99	6.1%
Basico	$32.99	$35.99	9.1%

For those who are curious, the 2010 prices are between 9.5 percent to 60 percent higher than 2008′s prices:

DirecTV service	2008 price	2009 price	2010 price	08-10 increase
Premier	$104.99	$109.99	$114.99	9.5%
Lo Maximo	$104.99	$109.99	$114.99	9.5%
Plus HD DVR	$72.99	$75.99	$79.99	9.6%
Plus DVR	$62.99	$65.99	$69.99	11.1%
Choice Xtra	$57.99	$60.99	$63.99	10.3%
Familiar Ultra	$54.99	$57.99	$60.99	10.9%
Choice	$52.99	$55.99	$58.99	11.3%
Preferred Choice	$32.99	$35.99	$38.99	18.2%
Select	n/a	$48.99	$51.99	n/a
Basico	$29.99	$32.99	$35.99	20.0%
Basic (international)	$9.99	$12.99	$15.99	60.1%

DirecTV does appear to be streamlining its TV packages. The following base packages are no longer offered. Nonetheless, existing subscribers will see a price hike:

• BASIC $15.99/mo.
• BÁSICO^TM $35.99/mo.
• DIRECTV LIMITED $27.99/mo.
• FAMILIAR^TM $51.99/mo.
• FAMILIAR ULTRA^TM $60.99/mo.
• OPCIÓN ESPECIAL® $35.99/mo.
• OPCIÓN EXTRA^TM $43.99/mo.
• OPCIÓN EXTRA ESPECIAL® $52.99/mo.
• OPCIÓN PREMIER® $108.99/mo.
• OPCIÓN ULTRA ESPECIAL® $54.99/mo.
• OPTIMO MÁS PLUS DVR $53.99/mo.
• PLUS DIRECTV $36.99/mo.
• PLUS DVR^TM $69.99/mo.
• PLUS HD DVR^TM $79.99/mo.
• SELECT CHOICE® $41.99/mo.
• TOTAL CHOICE® $57.49/mo.
• TOTAL CHOICE® LIMITED $48.99/mo.
• TOTAL CHOICE® PLUS $61.49/mo.
• SELECT will increase $3.00/mo

File this in the stuff I just couldn’t get to but thought was interesting for readers:

• Vizio views listing in 5 years (Wall Street Journal)
• Comcast puts cable TV on Internet for subscribers (USA Today)
• Verizon: We’re testing 10 Gbps and you aren’t (BroadbandReports.com)
• AT&T Wireless CEO: U-Verse Taking 60% Share In New Markets(Wall Street Journal)
• Washington State suing DirecTV on consumers’ behalf (Seattle Times)
• Verizon prepares for the iPhone (BusinessWeek)

Here’s what I spent my time on this week:

• Time Warner could lose ‘Simpsons,’ ‘American Idol,’ more Fox shows
• TV set-top boxes lack innovation, says FCC
• Psssst: Digital cable TV is cheaper than analog cable
• Cox Cable: No price hikes planned for 2010 yet
• Boost Mobile adds unlimited calls to Mexico landlines for $10
• Free Wi-Fi Internet at McDonald’s begins January
• Verizon begins offering free Wi-Fi to its mobile broadband users
• Time Warner’s ‘Get Tough’ campaign launches in Spanish
• Time Warner 2010 price hikes mostly affect those who order the least
• Free Showtime for 4 days for Time Warner customers
• AT&T U-verse gets Cartoon Network HD, MSNBC HD, 3 more HD
• Verizon adds HDNet on demand

Have a good weekend!

DirecTV must be doing something right — it made more money than last year and continued to add new subscribers during its third quarter, which ended Sept. 30.

The El Segundo satellite TV service added 136,000 net new subscribers during the quarter, bringing its total to 18.4 million customers. While the subscriber growth is lower than the same time last year, DirecTV is growing.

Comparably, both the number one and two cable companies saw their subscriber count drop during the same period. Comcast, the nation’s largest cable provider, lost 656,000 video customers during the quarter, while second-place Time Warner Cable lost 84,000 customers.

DirecTV’s interim chief executive Larry Hunter attributed the subscriber growth to marketing its service with AT&T. Sales growth — revenues were up 10 percent from a year ago to $5.47 billion — came from more people subscribing to its HD and DVR services, plus growth in Latin America.

But consumers should keep in mind that DirecTV’s sales growth also meant higher prices. The company said the average customer’s bill increased 2.1 percent to $85.32. Customers are paying more for programs, HD channels and DVR service fees. Then again, DirecTV is the only company that offers programming like NFL Sunday Ticket, a $200 package.

Meanwhile, DirecTV’s payment to TV networks in order to offer channels increased 1.2 percent per subscriber. DirecTV spent nearly $2 billion on programming costs.

Read DirecTV’s third-quarter 2009 earnings report HERE.

Earlier on DirecTV:

Spreading the word: Apricorn just announced a two-terabyte DVR expander. The catch: It’s for DirecTV DVRs.

The Poway-based Apricorn says that two terabytes can boost a DVR’s capacity by 250 hours of high-definition recordings or 1,124 hours of standard definition video. (Just did the math — you can record TV 24/7 for nearly seven weeks!)

The DVR Expander is available in capacities of 1 TB for $129; 1.5 TB for $199; and 2 TB for $259.  It plugs into the DirecTV DVR’s eSATA port. But when you power it up, you won’t be able to access recordings on the actual DVR. To do so, users must disconnect the DVR Expander and restart the DVR.

Apricorn tells me that the new device is not compatible with TiVo. It was released specifically for these DirecTV DVR receivers: HR20, HR21, HR22 and HR23. More details at Apricorn’s site HERE.

The company does offer DVR expanders for other DVRs that have eSATA or USB ports. But those devices only go up to 1.5 TBs. Here’s a link to other models.

Other companies that offer DVR expanders include Lake Forest’s Western Digital, which has expanders for DVRs with enabled eSATA or USB ports. That pretty much excludes cable TV company DVRs but does include TiVos. Seagate Technology also has a 1-TB DVR expander that works with Dish Network receivers.

More on gadgets:

Spotted: Phillip Swann, who tracks the TV industry at TVPredictions, calls out DirecTV on its claims to be the top provider of HD channels.

“So, how does DIRECTV hide this fact in its marketing campaigns? And, how does it still claim to be the nation’s HD leader?
Lie, of course.”

Ouch! He writes that DirecTV’s claim to have 130 HD channels includes 18 pay-per-view channels and “other sleight-of-hand tricks.” If you care about the controversy or to see how your TV provider stacks up, see his report at “DIRECTV: Still Lying About HDTV.”

More on HD channels:

In a report out this morning, traditional TV service providers continued to get pounded by consumers. Ratings company J.D. Power and Associates ranked cable companies the lowest out of all available TV services in the company’s 2009 TV Service Satisfaction report.

Here in the West, Time Warner Cable and Cox Communications scored the lowest out of the six TV services available in Orange County. Newer TV alternatives AT&T U-verse and Verizon FiOS took the lead, with satellite TV services  DirecTV and Dish Networks tied for third place.

The annual report said overall scores improved from 2008, indicating that TV providers really are paying attention to their customers, said Frank Perazzini, director of telecommunications at J.D. Power.

Consumers said they didn’t have to wait on hold for as long as last year — falling 13 percent to 9 minutes, 5 seconds. Customers also experienced fewer outages — 11 percent this year, compared to 15 percent last year.

Overall scores were at 632 on a 1,000-point scale, up 23 points from last year. This year’s study was based on 28,118 U.S. households who were surveyed in January, March and July 2009.

Still, 632 out of 1,000 doesn’t sound too hot. Here’s where the local companies landed:

Time Warner scored below the region’s average. But at 616 point, Time Warner improved from last year’s score of 582, and 557 in the previous year.

Cox, which scored 646 this year, remained about the same. Cox scored 644 last year and 650 in 2007.

Even with the improvements, the cable companies lost loyal customers. Says Perazzini, “In fact, the percentage of cable customers affirming their loyalty to their provider has declined to 25 percent in 2009 from 27 percent in 2008.”

AT&T U-verse led the group for the second year and it also added 24 points to its ranking.

As mentioned earlier, while the most satisfying TV services are no longer traditional TV companies, the same is true for telephone services. In J.D. Power’s last telephone report, Cox was rated at the top with Time Warner’s phone service ranked evenly with AT&T and Verizon.

Previous stories on customer service:

Looks like Verizon FiOS TV subscribers aren’t the only ones who will get access to the new NFL Channel RedZone  Sunday.

Apparently all TV providers that offer the new football channel will lift the paid barrier for three hours Sunday, Oct. 4, between 10 a.m. and 1:15 p.m., Pacific Time.

In Orange County, those TV providers are:

DISH Network: Channel 155. Dish typically charges $5.99 per month or $49.99 per year for access to the channel.

AT&T U-verse: Channel 1629. AT&T typically charges $5 a month.

Verizon FiOS: Channel 835 for HD,  channel 335 for standard definition. Verizon charges $49.99 for the entire season

Neither Cox nor Time Warner Cable offer the channel.

Recent stories on NFL RedZone:

Our resident Deals Diva has finally cut off DirecTV in favor of a rare TV service available in parts of Orange County: Verizon FiOS. She’s been in one of the lucky neighborhoods to get service and has mentioned to me quite a few times about how tired she is of FiOS advertising.

But apparently, the message got through — not to mention the price. Marla Fisher blogs about her switch today in “I’m breaking up with DirecTV.” She’s a funny writer and has some great columns about being a frumpy, middle-aged mom.

Marla’s letter reminds me of what consumers really want: A good deal on their monthly bill. Why pay $90 when you can get it for $79 ?

After talking to Marla, it appears that DirecTV didn’t raise everyone’s monthly rate last month, although the company did raise rates this year, see “Can you spare $3? DirecTV raising prices.”) She previously called to complain, they dropped the price, and now that “offer” expired so it went back up.

Calling to get monthly rates lowered is still a good tactic. Read earlier coverage of how Time Warner Cable treats customers who complain about the price:

• How to get cheaper cable TV from Time Warner Cable October 21, 2008
• How to get cheaper cable TV in O.C., part 2 October 22, 2008

TV providers have been offering some pretty good deals lately, thanks to increased competition from Verizon FiOS and AT&T U-verse. In fact today, Verizon FiOS launched a new series of deals, including $150 pre-paid card if you order a FiOS double or triple play bundle. New customers who commit to two years get a 24-month price guarantee. There are other offers for existing customers online at www.verizon.com/deal.

DirecTV’s current deal is TV service with the exclusive NFL Sunday Ticket package for $59.99/month for 5 months. Not bad, but after five months, the price goes up by $109.

Hey readers: Let’s compare notes. What is the best TV deal you’ve seen or subscribe to?

Past stories on TV service prices:

UPDATE, 3:52 p.m.: Dish Network wants to lure DirecTV viewers away with new Versus offer. See below.

Sports channel Versus was officially dropped today from DirecTV’s lineup, as viewers probably noticed after weeks of Versus’ pleas scrolling on screen.

Comcast Corp.-owned Versus says it can’t believe DirecTV rejected its  ”fair and reasonable offer” while DirecTV called the terms unfair. Umm.. okay. Sounds like it was about money. Read each company’s explanation: Versus vs. DirecTV.

Carriage fees, or the cash paid to channels by TV providers, has been a big issue with companies. Costs are apparently rising and TV providers say that they don’t want to pass on the cost to us consumers.

I guess they feel we pay enough for TV as is.

UPDATE: Just got a message from Dish Network’s marketing team. It, of course, is all too happy to offer Versus to any forlorn DirecTV customer. Starting today, DISH Network is offering Versus – free for three months. This offer is for new and existing customers and is applicable to standard and high-definition channel, which are on 151 and 151HD. Free access ends Dec. 2, 2009.

In a novel approach to selling utility services, Verizon is enlisting the help of school children and charities.

Students or non-profit organizations can earn up to $65 for every new customer who signs up. The telecom is pitching its Verizon Velocity fundraising program as an alternative to selling cookies or candy bars door to door.

Students just spread the word, and a Verizon representative makes the sale. Schools get credit when a new customer mentions the school’s name or account. Although I doubt that Verizon is discouraging students from going door to door.

Verizon Products	Donation Amount
Verizon FiOS® Internet	$25.00
Verizon High Speed Internet (768Kbps & 3.0Mbps)	$25.00
DIRECTV®	$20.00
Verizon FiOS® TV	$20.00
Verizon Freedom Calling	$10.00
Verizon Long Distance	$10.00
Additional Line	$10.00

Verizon Velocity partnered with the California State PTA and the program has been going on for a few months at some Orange County schools, including the William T. Newland Elementary School, Hope View Elementary School and Spring View Middle School, all in Huntington Beach. The local PTA gets the money. A few other O.C. schools and groups I spotted on the participant list hail from Westminster and Garden Grove.

Most of those schools happen to be in Verizon FiOS territory, which is a newish form of TV and Internet service over fiber-optic cables. But students can also sell Verizon’s bundled phone and Internet deal offering DirecTV service. Selling all three services — Internet, phone and TV — can get the school $65 per customer. Looks like wireless service is not included.

As an extra incentive, the top three schools will get an extra $5,000, $3,000 and $2,000, respectively, for their cause.  No one has managed this feat yet.

Any school or charity groups can participate in the program by signing up at this link.

This sales tactic is an interesting approach for a utility, which has experienced roadblocks rolling out its new TV and Internet service. In neighborhoods where the incumbent TV service is offering deals to keep customers, Verizon needs another way to entice new customers and it could be in the form of a neighborhood kid’s school project.

If you are trying to give your local school credit for signing up with Verizon, make sure you call the right number to order service. A list of participating organizations is at velocity.vzcomportal.com/organizations.aspx.

Separately, Verizon also has a little “fundraiser” open to existing customers. Its Refer A Friend program pays out $150 for helping sign up any new customer.

More on Verizon FiOS:

Big day today. Fans of Irvine game company Blizzard Entertainment are converging in Anaheim for the annual BlizzCon fan fest. I’ll be covering the two-day event but posting updates over our  Blizzard Blog (ya, did you know we had that?) so there won’t be much on Gadgetress. But check the sidebar for lots of good stuff.

For readers who have heard of Blizzard or perhaps one of its computer games — World of Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo — there is big news expected today. Joe Simmons, lead Blizzard blogger, is betting on more details of the upcoming Diablo III, future updates to Warcraft and lots of StarCraft II news since the game is coming out next year.

 But a major announcement could be a completely new game: A mysterious new massively multiplayer game was quietly confirmed some months back. That’s all the world  knows.

It should be the biggest BlizzCon to date. Some 20,000 tickets were sold within 10 minutes. And that’s not counting media, professional gamers, staff and everyone else. I’ll be getting more details as the con progresses so stay tuned — and check for updates on the Blizzard Blog.

Anyway, this being a TV blog, I thought I’d better point out that DirecTV is once again broadcasting BlizzCon as a pay-per-view show for $39.95. It’s not competely minute-by-minute action, but the package will include 18 hours of HD coverage, plus an exclusive in-game pet, Grunty the Murloc Marine. Additionally, subscribers will get free access to the Internet stream. The event will be on channels 122 and 121. More details are at directv.com/blizzcon.

For more BlizzCon coverage, visit our Blizzard Blog. Recent headlines:

DirecTV is on a roll. It continued to add new subscribers during its second quarter, thanks to a partnership to bundle TV service with AT&T phone and Internet service.

During the quarter, it added a net 224,000 subscribers, which brings its total customer base to 18.3 million. That’s only half of the 460,000 the satellite TV service added during its first quarter this year, but any growth is much better than the declines the cable companies are experiencing.

By comparison, Time Warner Cable lost 11,000 subscribers in its most recent quarter and Comcast’s subscribers dropped 2.7 percent or 214,000 (Cox is a private company and doesn’t report quarterly numbers). The much smaller Internet-based TV services grew the most: Verizon FiOS added 300,000 TV customers to total 2.5 million, and AT&T U-verse TV added 248,000 subscribers for a total of 1.6 million.

Overall, DirecTV said it made less money during the quarter than the prior year, with net income falling 11 percent from last year to $407 million. At the same time, revenues increased 9 percent to $5.22 billion. The company blamed declines on higher interest expenses and unfavorable exchange rates in Latin American. But sales grew thanks to its partnership with AT&T.

The average customer bill also jumped up 1.7 percent to $83.16, thanks to higher HD and DVR service fees that offset discounts for new and existing customers. Even so, its customers are cutting back in some areas: DirecTV made less money from premium movies. 

For more details, see DirecTV’s press release or listen in to the 11 a.m. conference call at this link.

More TV news: