Has anyone else heard this about DirecTV and the NFL Ticket (1 Viewer)

[KYSaintsFan]

A rep from my local cable company in Louisville came to my home today (Insight Cable). He stated he noticed I had DirecTV and wanted to know if he could talk me into changing back to Insight. I said as long as the NFL ticket is on DirecTV I'll never change. He replied "you know that DirecTV lost that contract and will no longer have NFL games don't you?" When I said no but I will look into that. He said, "Oh, they WILL TELL YOU that they still have the contract but they don't" He went on to say that the satelite that they sent up to broadcast the 100 HD channels "blew up" and they aren't sending another one up until the end of the year.

I told the guy when I find out who has the NFL Ticket then I will stay or switch with that service.

As anyone heard anything about this or is this just some guy thinking I'm too stupid to look into it before switching.

 

[xpuma20x]

Sounds like someone is either hard up for sales or thinks you're pretty gullable. I know that several lawmakers have put forth challenges against DirecTV for a monopoly on showing the games, but eh none of the other stuff

 

[nino2469]

A rep from my local cable company in Louisville came to my home today (Insight Cable). He stated he noticed I had DirecTV and wanted to know if he could talk me into changing back to Insight. I said as long as the NFL ticket is on DirecTV I'll never change. He replied "you know that DirecTV lost that contract and will no longer have NFL games don't you?" When I said no but I will look into that. He said, "Oh, they WILL TELL YOU that they still have the contract but they don't" He went on to say that the satelite that they sent up to broadcast the 100 HD channels "blew up" and they aren't sending another one up until the end of the year.

I told the guy when I find out who has the NFL Ticket then I will stay or switch with that service.

As anyone heard anything about this or is this just some guy thinking I'm too stupid to look into it before switching.

If a satellite would have blown up it would have made the news and I have not read anything about that. I wouldn't go with them just for that fact that the guy was so hard up to disparage another company like that.

 

[inetnawlins]

Actually the satellite did blow up. I posted the link in a post on one of the satellite vs. cable threads. Now I don't know how this affects the NFL ticket. But what it does affect is the ability of satellite to actually broadcast HD tv. They have been compressing the signal so it no longer meets HD standards but still calling it HD. They are being sued in California over selling a product they don't deliver...HD. It looks like they are intent on continuing to market the "we are about to deliver hundreds of HD channels" mantra even though those channels won't actually be HD.
So, what the guy told you is correct about the blown up satellite and it was in the news.

 

[JAG11]

yeah i remember reading about that somewhere online also, that a rocket blew up during the launch and that it had commercial products on it

 

[1045]

Actually the satellite did blow up. I posted the link in a post on one of the satellite vs. cable threads. Now I don't know how this affects the NFL ticket. But what it does affect is the ability of satellite to actually broadcast HD tv. They have been compressing the signal so it no longer meets HD standards but still calling it HD. They are being sued in California over selling a product they don't deliver...HD. It looks like they are intent on continuing to market the "we are about to deliver hundreds of HD channels" mantra even though those channels won't actually be HD.
So, what the guy told you is correct about the blown up satellite and it was in the news.

Do you mean a rocket from the company sending the next satellite up(in August) blew up? on the landing pad with no satellite on the rocket?

Most of the rest of your post is also incorrect. They have been delivering the same "HD" signal since they started. Its nothing new and it looks just fine to me. Sure they are getting sued by a few people who have bitrate monitors and their are not enough pixels on the tv for them.

KYSaintsfan - You should report that guy/cable company to Directv. You might get something out of it.

 

[UncleTrvlingJim]

The guy is lying or is confused:

DirecTV has NFL Sunday Ticket until 2010

There was a rocket that blew up without a satellite on it... it will probably delay one of the 2 satellites that they are launching.

 

[kooldak]

Currently, DirecTV has an exclusive deal with the NFL, making them the sole provider of NFL Sunday Ticket in the United States until the contract expires in 2010, though past history suggests DirecTV will renew the contract by then in order to maintain one of its key marketing pitches to potential subscribers. [1] Prior to the NFL's latest television deal, other satellite and cable providers were allowed to bid on the rights to carry NFL Sunday Ticket if they agreed to carry the NFL Network. However, DirecTV still won exclusivity for the package, bidding over $700 million a year to do so.

Link to article

DIRECTV Sued Over HDTV Picture Quality

... DIRECTV spokesman Robert Mercer yesterday said the lawsuit was without merit.

"We believe the plaintiff’s underlying claims are completely without merit because DIRECTV’s High Definition service is high quality, true HD service under accepted definitions for satellite TV," Mercer said. "If it were otherwise, we doubt the plaintiff would continue to subscribe to and pay for DIRECTV HD programming."

Whether DIRECTV purposely squeezes the HD picture quality to create room for more channels has been a hot topic on Internet message boards for two years. The alleged practice has been dubbed DIRECTV's 'HD Lite.'

However, DIRECTV has consistently maintained that its high-def picture is comparable to or better than any other TV provider. ...

Link to article

DirecTV's (DTV) plans to offer 100 national HDTV channels by the end of the year may be in doubt. Its plans to orbit a new satellite later this year are up in the air after the launch company had a rocket blow up on its sea-based platform Wednesday. Eric Savitz quotes an analyst at Bernstein Research saying that the accident will delay DirecTV's launch.

The concern is that without the satellite, DirecTV won’t have the capacity for the new HDTV channels. But Phillip Swann’s TVPredictions.com says the satcaster is speaking cautiously. While a spokesman said the explosion would not impact the high-def plans, he did say DirecTV is "evaluating our options."

Link to article

Seems your salesman is wrong or lying.

 

[SaintNELA]

DIRECTV still has two satellites scheduled for launch this year.....

http://www.lyngsat.com/launches/2007.html

As a DIRECTV customer, I can only hope that these new satellites will boost their HD capacity and eliminate the need to compress their signal. DIRECTV is so bad that during the NFL season, to accomodate all the HD games, they have to pull one of their regular HD channels (usually TNT HD) off the air for the afternoon.

This compression also leads to what's called "HD Lite," which is what DIRECTV passes off as comparable to any cable signal. I've compared them. It's not. The effect is not due to "bitrate monitors" without "enough pixels" in them. If my local cable system didn't have worse HD problems, I wouldn't be with DIRECTV, but as it is, they are the lesser of the evils (at least in my market).

 

[inetnawlins]

Most of the rest of your post is also incorrect. They have been delivering the same "HD" signal since they started. Its nothing new and it looks just fine to me. Sure they are getting sued by a few people who have bitrate monitors and their are not enough pixels on the tv for them.

How many times do we have to go through this on these forums? Search under HD Lite on Google and you will see a plethora of articles stating that the HD signal on DirecTV is not HD.

Also, kooldak, quoting DirecTV regarding their signal is hardly proof of anything. Again, search under HD lite on google and you will find the truth.

Also from one of your articles on the lawsuit:

Cohen's class action lawsuit came to light this week when Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Peter Lichtman ruled against DIRECTV's motion to compel arbitration in the case.

Mercer said DIRECTV was "disappointed" in the judge's ruling and is now "evaluating our options in light of the ruling."


Obviously, the court feels there is enough proof that DirecTV's HD isn't really HD to proceed with the case.

 

[kooldak]

Also, kooldak, quoting DirecTV regarding their signal is hardly proof of anything. Again, search under HD lite on google and you will find the truth.

Lets see...

I didn't express any opinion except to observe that the salesman was either wrong or lied. Everything else was either a quote or a link.

HD lite is an issue. I quoted that. I highlighted the DTV POV to show that there were differing opinions. See quote and link. "Tease and link" - I can't put it all out there, but I tried to put a portion that pointed out both perspectives.

No satellite blew up. Fact. The salesman either lied or was wrong. See quote and link.

DTV has the exclusive ST contract thru 2010. Fact. The salesman either lied or was wrong. See quote and link.

The only statement that I personally made was correct. The salesman either lied or was wrong. Proof is above.

 

[inetnawlins]

Someone's been paying attention in class when proof and theorem's were taught. Kooldak, I should have been more clear. I was responding to a previous poster on the HD Lite thing, I only meant to ad the info from your quoted article.

The HD Lite thing is of course denied by DirecTV, but the fact the signal is less than HD quality is not debatable, since it is something that can be measured. The court case will sort this out.

The rocket that would deliver the satellite blew up which will impact the delivery of service. It is not clear at this point how much.

And yes, I didn't see how that would affect an in-place contract with the NFL, either.

 

[PennStateSaint]

Someone's been paying attention in class when proof and theorem's were taught. Kooldak, I should have been more clear. I was responding to a previous poster on the HD Lite thing, I only meant to ad the info from your quoted article.

The HD Lite thing is of course denied by DirecTV, but the fact the signal is less than HD quality is not debatable, since it is something that can be measured. The court case will sort this out.

The rocket that would deliver the satellite blew up which will impact the delivery of service. It is not clear at this point how much.

And yes, I didn't see how that would affect an in-place contract with the NFL, either.

it was another rocket that blew up, it just happened on the sea launch pad that a directv rocket will be using later this year, their (directv) first launch is from a land based launch facility. From what i've read the explosion didn't cause a great amount of damage and will probably be back in service soon.

 

[thewyrm]

It is only a matter of time before DirecTV is stripped of the Sunday Ticket by congress. Their constituites have spoken and they know a good battle to fight to look good in the voter's eyes. Congress is incensed by the fact that US tax money is paid to build the NFL's stadiums, but those same tax payers are treated differently when it comes time to view the games.

the NFL had to sign an agreement during the merger that they would promise to offer their games to as many people as possible for as reasonable a price as possible. That was one of the only reasons congress went along with the merger. Now the NFL has backed out on that promise with their DirecTV deal, and politicians like John McCain have begun to take notice. Especially incriminating is the fact that any Canadian citizen can order the sunday ticket through any digital cable service, but the American citizens who actually pay for the owners product and stadiums cannot.

Mark my words, the Sunday Ticket on DirecTV is a dead man walking, and I sincerely doubt it will last to 2010.


Edit: Also, MLB making an exclusive deal with DirecTV could not possibly have come at a worse time. As angry as voters are that they can't get football, magnify that by a nundred and you will see the kind of backlash this has engendered in the American public. Congress is even more upset about the baseball deal and now all Selig did was draw the NFL's deal back under the limelight even more than it already was.

 

[Joe OKC]

Mark my words, the Sunday Ticket on DirecTV is a dead man walking, and I sincerely doubt it will last to 2010.


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I call shinagins...

Directv has it and will.... If any mergers take place I will follow and Sataitte TV is the future... Too Bad Cable Tv didn't take $1.95 PPV when they had the chance... nothing will happpen until XM/Sirus settle down...


Joe