As more and more options for entertainment viewing become possible, with streaming and downloading out the wazoo, it seems like an odd time for a rate hike from DirecTV. But, alas, a price jump is coming in March.
DirecTV has well over 100 HD offerings, and now a bunch of its programming bundles will cost more. Lets just hope they continue to offer as many options as they currently do. It would suck to pay more for less HD. --Leslie Shapiro
Who doesn't love a juicy rumor? Jen is seen with John, Brangelina are splitting, or together again, and who really cares what Paris or Pamela are up to?
Of course, stock market rumors aren't nearly as salacious as celebrity news, but they still pique our interest.
Multichannel News has an interesting report from Wall Street analyst Tom Eagan. Lots of financial mumbo-jumbo talk later, Eagan reports that the probability of AT&T acquiring DirecTV has increased.
The article had a pungent quote from the chairman of Liberty Media.
DirecTV and TiVo are together again, with a new unit coming soon. It was a sad day when DirecTV and TiVo broke up a few years ago. They were the first receivers with a built-in DVR, and worked together seamlessly. But, when DirecTV started using MPEG-4 broadcasts with their HD channels, TiVo was shown the door. (It didn't hurt that then-owner of DirecTV also owned NDS, the company behind the HR20 and HR21 non-TiVo recorders.)
In a press release, DirecTV said that the new HD TiVo DVR will "support the latest TiVo and DirecTV features and services, including TiVo's Universal Swivel Search and TiVo KidZone."
What else did the release say?
DirecTV is fighting back against the competition, in a big way. Starting August 14, DirecTV will add another 30 HD channels, for a total 130 HD channels. All programming will have Dolby Digital soundtracks and be transmitted in the MPEG-4 Advanced Video Coding (AVC) standard.
Some of the new HD offerings are from Showtime Extreme HD, Planet Green HD, ABC Family HD, more pay-per-view, and 23 more Regional Sports Networks with 24-hour HD sports.
But, that's not even the big news.
Although promised in a press release last summer, owners of DirecTV TiVo combo units are finally getting their upgrades. While many stand-alone TiVo boxes have had these features, it seems that DirecTV was a little slow to bring these features to their most loyal customers. What comes in the new upgrades?
I was so content when I designed the wiring in my new home ten years ago. Dual LNB DirecTV dish with two wires — going to the home theater, the other to the living room. Shortly after, DirecTV launched their boxes that accepted two sat feeds, for watching and recording multiple channels. My perfect system was obsolete. Now, it's gotten even more complex, but a simple solution is now available.
Continue reading "Multiple DirecTV HD - Look Ma, One Wire!" »
High-definition carriers make a lot of promises. Some they keep, some they don't. Last year, DirecTV promised 100 HD channels to its subscribers by the end of 2007. They didn't quite make it, even though the satellite broadcaster still had more HD channels than any other carrier at the end of the year.
DirecTV is inching closer to its goal, however. On Tuesday, the company added three channels, and boasted with a banner on its Web site that it now carries 95 HD channels.
DirecTV will flip a switch on April 15 that prevents pay-per-view movies downloaded to a DVR from being watched more than 24 hours after the purchase. How's that for great service?
Ever run out of room on your DirectTV HR20 high-definition DVR? (I don't, maybe because of my HR20's propensity to stop recording episodes of a programmed series for no apparent reason, but maybe your luck is better than mine. Man, do I miss DirecTiVo.) TenBox says it has a solution: add-on boxes that tack 1 to 2 terabytes of extra hard-disk storage onto the 300 GB built into the HR20. So with the big unit, available next month at a price to be announced, you should be able to record a total of up to 1,300 hours of standard-def programming or 330 hours of high-def. Just plug one into the HR20's back-panel eSATA port and you're ready to rumble. The 1- and 1.5-TB models are available now at MSRPs of $1,199 and $1,499, respectively. Happy viewing. —Michael Riggs
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