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Archive for the 'DirecTV' Tag

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Showtime, NHL and History free previews coming to DirecTV, Dish

February 11th, 2010, 3:02 pm by

Free previews on TVThree 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.

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • • • • • • | Comments Off

Who’s bringing 3D content to 3D HDTVs

January 9th, 2010, 10:23 am by

Mitsubishi Digital 3D HDTVsProbably 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.

Consumer Electronics Show 2010 with The GadgetressFor more CES 2010 coverage, visit the Gadgetress CES page at gadgetress.freedomblogging.com/ces2010.
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Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • • • • • • | 2 Comments »

DirecTV prices going up in 2010 too

January 4th, 2010, 8:43 am by

DirecTV 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: Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • | 24 Comments »

TV, mobile stories I couldn’t get to this week

December 18th, 2009, 3:27 pm by

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

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

Have a good weekend!

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • • | 1 Comment »

DirecTV gets bigger, charges more

November 5th, 2009, 5:24 pm by

DirecTV 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:

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • | 3 Comments »

Add 2-terabytes of capacity to a DVR (that’s 250 hours of HD!)

November 4th, 2009, 12:45 pm by

Apricorn DVR Expander in 2 TB.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:

Posted in: Gadgets • Video & TV • • • • • • • | 1 Comment »

DirecTV accused of lying about number of HD channels

November 2nd, 2009, 12:47 pm by

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:

Posted in: Video & TV • • • | 6 Comments »

Cable scores lowest in paid TV customer satisfaction survey

October 7th, 2009, 6:00 am by

J.D. Power and AssociatesIn 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: Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • • • • • • • | 44 Comments »

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