DirecTV's new HD pricing
By Ben Drawbaugh 
posted Jan 18th 2007 3:17PM
posted Jan 18th 2007 3:17PM
DirecTV is changing their pricing, which isn't too surprising since they do it about once a year, this year the monthly prices are going up a few bucks for each package. What is different this year is that the HD package for $9.99/mo is no longer optional. Anyone activating a HD receiver after February 5th will be charged $10.99/mo and will get the all the HD versions of the channels they pay for. So if you get HBO and have the HD package then you will also get HBO HD, this is worse than it used to be because you used to get some HD channels without the HD pak. The real kick in the face is the fact that if you buy the NFL SUNDAY TICKET, you still won't get the HD games unless you have the SuperFan package and other than the HD channels only includes extra SD channels, like the Red Zone. This is clearly an attempt to get HD fans to pay the extra $99 for the SuperFan package even though no real HD fan would watch all those SD channels that are included. DirecTV is smart to announce rate hikes this time of year; we will all complain, but by the time the 2007 NFL season kicks off we will have forgotten about it and just be happy to have all the games in HD, well almost all of them.
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Everyone has their vice. Mine is the NFL. DirecTV apparently knows this and has proceeded to bend me over each season. At least I've only had to pay $50 for the SuperFan the past two seasons due to promotions, but I doubt I'll see that next year. I may as well give DTV direct access to my wallet and ask them to let me know when they are done taking what they see fit.
HAHA, just add to the list of why DirecTV SUCKS
Actually the SuperFan package was a requirement to receive the NFL games in HD for the current season. All I had to do though was call DirecTV and complain so I haven't had to pay a dime for the SuperFan package for the past 2 seasons.
Just go to cable... I used to be a DIRECTV fanbot but no longer. Not that cable is flawless but for HD, CABLEVISION is the shizznit!
Now waiting for Verizon FIOS to be installed in my building....
Nail, meet coffin. I have an HR10 (the high-def TiVo), and since they're barely supporting that anymore I'll be dropping them at some point and moving to cable and a TiVo S3. All the HD I want to watch I can get OTA, so I don't need to and won't pay $11/month just for the privilege of getting what I can get now at no extra charge. Besides, Cox here doesn't charge anything for their HD tier.
I'm not sure why this is even considered 'news'. There's nothing really new here. SuperFan has been around for 2 years and previous NFL Sunday Ticket subscribers received it half-price the past 2 years.
What really sucks is that DirectTV has a monopoly on the NFL television rights. For NFL fans who need Sunday Ticket to see their favorite team every week (like me), DirecTV is really the only way to go. That's probably the only reason DirecTV keeps 50% of their subscribers. I'm willing to bet that if other providers were able to offer Sunday Ticket, DirecTV would lose a lot of business.
While I will likely stick with DirecTV for the forseeable future, I'm growing tired of hearing about the supposed 'hundreds' of HD channels coming when 90% of them will be local networks. I'm tired of the talk ~ I want to see ACTION!
I switched to satellite programming years ago because of my hatred for cable companies but, unfortunately, DirecTV is getting closer to that side of the fence now more than ever.
FYI, if you call DirecTV and tell them that you had to buy high speed Internet from another vendor, they will give you a $10 credit. I use it to offset the HD charge.
How does this work? I currently have Comcast high speed internet and DirecTV for programming.
Uhhh... has anyone ever thought about NFL? Could it be their fault? Just think how much it costs to go to an NFL game. Or, maybe DIRECTV does rip some fans off. Hey. Maybe subscribers who have complaints could take advantage of 100 HD channels DIRECTV will offer and 1,500 HD local channel. Don't forget about NASCAR. A new package came in. 5 channels will be the cameras inside each driver's vehicle. I don't remember how much it costs. $800-$6000 spent on TV's and watching very little channels doesn't make sense to me. Good thing HD disks came here. If the price is the same as DIRECTV on other providers, then I would blame NFL. Who would want 100 HD channels? I think DIRECTV's HD channels will have good clarity because DIRECTV actually has the ability to broadcast 150 HD channels, with 900 Mbps or 600 Mbps of bandwidth left, or 50 channels worth of bandwidth,
I think it is great. Downside... cost, I am predicting.
Oh! Of course. 1/5 or 1/4 of 100 HD channels broadcasted the same as the original network, except high quality. I don't mind that.
I already shell out $10/month for DirecTV's HD package, so I'm not too disturbed by this news.
I'll believe the "100 national HDTV channels" hype when I see it. My guess is they'll end up being 90 channels of pay-per-view content already on DVD, and 10 channels of "Distort-O-Vision" where 4:3 content is stretched to 16:9 (like much of TNT-HD's programming).
A CORRECTION to make to this story:
DirecTV started withholding the HD feeds of the NFL Sunday Ticket at the beginning of this season, unless you opted for the additional $99 SuperFan pack as well. The total of the package is close to $300 for 5-6 months of service? Are you kidding me, DirecTV?! They offered me a free HD DVR to maintain my subscription back in Augist, but I told them to take a hike, as OTA HD helps fill the void.
I hope their HD-related revenues suffered as a result of their price-gouging this season.
Time to switch to Dish Network. Cheaper and with more HD channels.