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Washington, D.C. (December 1, 2009) -- DIRECTV is now running a series of clever TV commercials depicting a fictional cable TV company discussing ways to combat the satcaster's HDTV programming lineup. The commercials, which feature actors who often star in film spoofs by director Christopher Guest (Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show), smartly uses humor to portray the 'cable guys' as dimwits who don't understand how to provide more HD channels. (Note: Guest directed the commercials.) However, in DIRECTV's latest commercial, the satcaster seems to take the viewer himself for a dimwit, someone that it can bamboozle into thinking he...

Despite the recession and growing competition, DIRECTV has been remarkably effective in continuing to add subscribers. In its last financial statement, the satcaster said its net subscribers rose 74 percent in the second quarter, with a monthly churn rate of just 1.5 percent. At the end of the second quarter, DIRECTV reported that it had more than 18 million subscribers in total, a seven percent increase over last year's second quarter. Well, DIRECTV, enjoy it while you can. I predict that the nation's largest satcaster will start to experience a slowdown in subscriber growth -- and it will be largely...

Customers sue over unpermitted "termination fees" A class action lawsuit alleging that DirecTV imposes early "termination fees" of up to $480 on customers who cancel the service--often charging the customer's bank account or credit card directly without their permission--has been cleared to proceed by a California Superior Court judge. The complaint, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court in September 2008 by Los Angeles resident Kathy Grenier, claims that when Grenier cancelled her DirecTV contract due to a malfunctioning receiver, she was hit with a $240 termination fee, withdrawn directly from her checking account. Grenier's suit was later consolidated with another...

No thanks to Comcast now charging a totally silly US$63 per month for their Extended Basic cable service, I am looking at switching to satellite TV. My configuration requirement is simple: a two-receiver setup where one receiver will have a built-in DVR, and one receiver will not need it (since it will be in the kitchen). I do not need HDTV support for now. I am down to two different plans: DirecTV's Choice Xtra package and Dish Network's Silver 200 package, using the configuration I mentioned above. I'd like to find out which is the better deal in terms of...

I'm a DIRECTV customer. Starting a couple of days before Xmas, the program guide all of a sudden started acting funny. I'll let a poster with the same problems* on DTV's tech support forum ( http://forums.directv.com/pe/action/forums/displaythread?rootPostID=10475141 )pick up the story from here...12/23/08, looking thru channels to see what was on, i noticed that all the channels i get between 303 and 399 have their schedule messed up. a 1/2 hr show will show up as running for the entire 2 hr time slot. then if i go into the future, the next show will be running for 6-8 hrs even...

Washington, D.C. (December 30, 2008) -- On July 31, 2008, Dish Network issued a press release saying it planned to expand its high-def lineup to 150 channels by year's end. On November 1, 2007, Verizon released a press statement saying it would have 150 HD channels by the end of 2008. And several times this year, DIRECTV issued press releases saying it would have the capacity to deliver up to 150 national HD channels before the year was over. So now that the year is over (minus about a day or so), did these top TV providers keep their promises?...

Today in America times are tough and customers are hard to come by. That is why it is important not to do your customers wrong. DirecTV doesn’t seem to understand this philosophy. They give you substandard service and then when you had enough they try to extort money from you. I have cancelled my DirecTV service because of bad or what I like to call NO customer service. Now they want to tell me I owe almost $400.oo in contract cancellation fees. I never signed a contract with DirecTV. I have noticed through all my research that many people have...

DIRECTV's advertising campaigns often mock cable TV's claim that it has more 'HD choices" than satellite because of cable's Video on Demand service. The DIRECTV campaign is justified in pointing out that the satcaster actually has far more HD channels than cable -- and that most consumers are not excited about watching high-def programs on demand; they want real channels, not choices. So I would be remiss if I didn't point out that DIRECTV is now trying to play the same 'fool the consumer' game. DIRECTV this month officially launched a Broadband-enabled Video on Demand service, which has more than...

Dish Network today announced that it will add 17 national HDTV channels on August 1, saying the additions will give it 100 national HD channels overall. The satcaster promised in January that it would offer 100 national HD channels by year's end. DIRECTV, Dish's top satellite rival, now offers around 95 national HD channels, but has promised to deliver up to 150 national HD channels by year's end. “In January, we promised our customers that DISH Network would boost our national HD channel lineup to 100 by year’s end. Today, we are proud to say that in less than one...

Several TV stations and local newspapers are urging caution about signing up with DIRECTV because of the satcaster's controversial early cancellation fees. The FCC has scheduled a hearing tomorrow on early termination fees imposed by cell phone companies. However, consumer advocates are pushing the agency to investigate other companies, including TV providers. The recent media glare on DIRECTV's cancellation policy could help force the FCC to comply with those requests. DIRECTV requires subscribers to extend their service agreements for two years when it issues a replacement receiver, including an HD DVR. However, the agreement's fine print states that if you...

Washington, D.C. (February 24, 2008) -- A law firm has filed a class action lawsuit against DIRECTV charging the satcaster with failing to tell customers they must eventually return their receivers -- even if they paid hundreds of dollars for them at retail. The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Los Angeles by the Chicago-based Wexler Toriseva Wallace LLP, also includes CE retailer Best Buy. The law firm says the companies have not "adequately disclosed" that a customer can not keep his DIRECTV receiver even after paying for it. At BestBuy.com, the satcaster's receivers now range in price...

You'd think that in a slowing economy, companies would be trying to hold on to every potential customer. Not DirecTV. The satellite operator is weeding out customers, and it has no problem with fewer people signing up. In a conference call with analysts this week, CEO Chase Carey said the company has a new focus on "quality subscribers" (read: ones with money). It finds these subscribers by analyzing their income, age, home ownership, education and other metrics, Carey said in an earnings call with analysts. (Transcript here). DirecTV puts those customers into different categories to figure out who's valuable and...

DIRECTV left High-Definition viewers breathless last fall when it expanded its HD lineup from nine channels to roughly 90 over a three month period. However, since late December, the satcaster has not added a high-def channel, other than an in-house channel, called The 101. How come? Are there no HDTV channels left to add? Hardly. The satcaster's satellite capacity may simply be maxed out, or getting close to it. DIRECTV's plan to offer 100 HD channels may be slowing. DIRECTV had planned last year to launch two satellites (the D10 and D11) for high-def and other services. Combined, the two...

We are upgrading our DirecTV service to HD. We have one HD TV and two "regular" ones. Today, the DirecTV person is installing our HD satellite dish and is swapping one of our digital receivers for an HD receiver. The cost of the receiver is $99, plus $19.95 shipping and handling. Question: if and when we get more HD TVs, I understand we will need HD receivers. However, MUST we get those receivers from DirecTV, or can we get "generic" HD receivers that might be less expensive? My google searches are inconclusive. Thanks.

I am a relatively happy DirecTV subscriber, but recently I have been having a problem that while not onerous, is becoming annoying. While I have always been aware of some amount of sound level difference from channel to channel, and that for whatever reason, FNC was one of the channels I would have to turn the volume up for. Recently it's been getting worse. I have to turn the volume all the way up to get a decent sound level for FNC, and be ready to lower the volume quickly if I change to other channels. The reason I post...

Washington, D.C. (October 15, 2007) -- DIRECTV today added six new national High-Definition channels to its rapidly expanding lineup. The new channels are: Fox Business Network (channel 359); HGTV HD (channel 229-1); FX HD (channel 248); Speed Network HD (channel 607); Fuel HD (channel 612) and The Cartoon Network (channel 296). DIRECTV's launch today now gives the satcaster 47 national HD channels (51 if you include the four broadcast networks, available in most markets.) The company says it will offer 70 HD channels by month's end and up to 100 high-def channels by the end of the year. DIRECTV today...

Washington, D.C. (October 10, 2007) -- DIRECTV today added four High-Definition channels, bringing its national HD channel total to 45 (including the four local networks). The new channels are: MGM HD (channel 255); Food Network HD (231-1); National Geographic HD (276) and CNBC HD+ (355) DIRECTV says it will offer 70 HD channels by month's end and up to 100 high-def channels by the end of the year. The satcaster started the HD expansion in September with the addition of 21 new High-Definition channels. EchoStar, the nation's second leading satellite service, this week claimed that it's still the HD leader...

It appears that at least some of DirecTV's promised "100 HD channels by year's end" went live around 6AMEST this morning, according to the company's website and some DirecTV users. Twenty-one new channels showed up last night in total, and the company insists eighteen more are coming next month. One catch, of course, is that users will need to be upgraded to the company's MPEG-4 capable gear. The HR-20 will be the centerpiece of the company's new broadband-based on-demand service.

I'd like to ask for your help. I'm a Directv subscriber. Have been since 1998. Back then, I couldn't get local programming via Directv, so i subscribed to their network feeds from NY & LA. Since then, Directv has expandd it's capacity, and now carries signals from virtually every local market in the U.S. Directv now has the ability to deliver local television programming from any market in the country. The probelm is the FCC. Under the Satellite Home Viewer Act, and it's subsequent revisions, Directv can provide "local-to-local" programming. That means, if they carry the signals from your local...

A proposal to make Major League Baseball's "Extra Innings" exclusive to DirecTV has drawn the ire of Sen. John Kerry. The Massachusetts Democrat said he plans to raise the matter with the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission at a hearing Thursday. "I am opposed to anything that deprives people of reasonable choices," Kerry said in a statement. "In this day and age, consumers should have more choices - not fewer. I'd like to know how this serves the public -- a deal that will force fans to subscribe to DirecTV in order to tune in to their favorite players....

Excerpt - Rupert Murdoch and John C. Malone, who have wrangled for two years over Mr. Malone’s challenge to Mr. Murdoch’s control of the News Corporation, have made peace. It was almost two years ago that Mr. Murdoch was stunned to learn that Mr. Malone, his friend and sometimes business partner, had bought a big voting stake in the News Corporation, a stake that could threaten Mr. Murdoch’s grip on the colossus he built over five decades. The two men privately struck a deal this week that would have Mr. Malone take one of Mr. Murdoch’s once-prized assets — the...

Local subscribers of EchoStar Communications, also known as DISH Network, were slated to lose ABC, NBC, CBS, CW and Fox stations because a federal court order directed them to stop importing broadcast channels from out-of-market areas.

Colorado's two U.S. senators have asked the Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate a dispute between DIRECTV and EchoStar over network channels. News Corp., DIRECTV's parent, last week asked a federal court to stop EchoStar from providing 'distant' network signals to nearly one million subscribers. The signals, which originate from New York and Los Angeles, include both analog and High-Definition TV feeds. EchoStar says it will pay $100 million to local stations to settle the nine-year-old legal battle over 'distant' network TV signals. The local stations are concerned that EchoStar's subscribers will watch the national signals instead of their feeds. However,...

Shares of America’s #2 satellite television provider, EchoStar Communications, have hit 17-month highs in recent days amid speculation that leading rival, DirecTV Group Inc., could try to purchase the company. Such a merger would likely face regulatory and antitrust hurdles, but many analysts believe that these problems would be relatively easy to overcome. After all, the combined entity could be a strong competitor in the triple play communications industry, now increasingly polarized between cable and telecom carriers. The decision to merge with DirecTV would rest solely with Charlie Ergen, EchoStar’s Chairman, CEO, and co-founder, who currently controls more than...

Excerpt - NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Satellite TV providers EchoStar Communications Corp. (DISH) and DirecTV Inc. (DTV) signed five-year distribution agreements with WildBlue Communications Inc., a satellite-broadband provider, to provide Internet access targeting rural consumers. ~ snip ~

Welcome to the weekly Nascar at FR thread! This week - the DirecTV 500 on April 2 and Craftsman Truck Kroger 250 on April 1. The Busch Series is off this week-end.

The wraps came off high-definition DVD players at this year's annual Consumer Electronics Show, offering the final component to replicate the movie theater experience at home. And while a fierce DVD format war likely will delay the mass adoption of such devices, digital video is here to stay - the Consumer Electronics Association trade group estimates 25 million U.S. homes will have a high-def TV set by year's end. But big, expensive flat-panel sets aside, this year's gadget show offered plenty of smaller screens for video... Yahoo Inc., DirecTV, Starz Entertainment Group and Sony were also among the companies getting...

XM Satellite Radio has reached an agreement with satellite television provider DirecTV to offer 72 channels of music, children's, and talk programming to DirecTV users, nearly doubling its current audio programming at no additional cost. In addition to music channels and children's programming, XM will provide its Major League Baseball Home Plate talk channel, and its High Voltage channel, featuring Opie & Anthony. XM will be available on DirecTV as of November 15. "This marks the beginning of a natural partnership between the nation's leading satellite radio company and the leading satellite television company," said Patricia Kesling, SVP/Marketing and Operations...

For years, airlines controlled what passengers saw on their cabin screens, editing out scenes of graphic violence or sex, and banning movies altogether if they showed airline crashes. But now, with three U.S. airlines offering live television feeds and on-board Internet access expected to be available within a year, passengers can see anything they want -- even news coverage of an event in which they might be taking part. After the drama aboard JetBlue Flight 292 unfolded live on television Wednesday, executives of Denver-based Frontier Airlines, which like JetBlue shows DirectTV on its flights, began to rethink their policy of...

As a DirecTV subscriber with DVR and a parent of thre small children, I often scan the movie channels for children's movies to tape for my children. I rarely allow the to watch broadcast television due to the content of commercials. Several weeks ago, I TiVo'd "Finding Nemo" on the Encore Channel for my two youngest children, age 3 and 4. What I got along with this RATED G movie was surreal. When the movie was over and the credit began to roll, Encore does what it always does and cuts the screen in half to run promos for other...

Sorry to pull anyone away from our political fight-fest, but I was hoping that some of you with HDTV can suggest some DVD's or other content that would show me what my new Sony Grand Wega (1080p) can really do? I've got HD Direct TV, but I was expecting something special for the money I puked for this thing. Any Suggestions?

Current TV Connects With DirecTV Sky Retailer, 28 July 2005 DirecTV and Current TV announced the signing of a multi-year affiliation agreement that extends carriage on DirecTV's "Total Choice" programming packages. At the moment, carriage is being usedby Newsworld International, a network owned by Current Media. Starting Aug. 1, Current Media will replace Newsworld International programming with Current TV, a national network created by, for and with an 18- to 34-year-old audience. Current TV, the new independent youth network, is led by company chair Al Gore and CEO Joel Hyatt and will represent young adults in "their world, in their...

2005 TV Schedule Week Date Visitor   Home Brdcst Time (EDT) Week 1 02 April 2005 Frankfurt at Berlin DTV 11:00   02 April 2005 Rhein at Amsterdam NFLnet 12:00 Week 2 09 April 2005 Amsterdam at Frankfurt DTV 13:00   10 April 2005 Cologne at Rhein NFLnet 10:00 Week 3 16 April 2005 Frankfurt at Cologne DTV 12:00   16 April 2005 Rhein at Hamburg NFLnet 13:00 Week 4 23 April 2005 Berlin at Rhein DTV 13:00   23 April 2005 Hamburg at Frankfurt NFLnet 13:00 Week 5 30 April 2005 Rhein at Frankfurt NFLnet 13:00   30...

Dozens of Northeastern Pennsylvania residents accused of stealing DirecTV's satellite signal have paid settlements to resolve lawsuits filed against them, while at least nine others have been hit with $10,000 judgments for failing to respond to the suits, court records show. The court actions, filed in federal court, were part of a nationwide crackdown the satellite television provider began in 2003 on consumers who purchased devices it says were used to create phony access cards that illegally intercepted its programming. Locally, at least 91 residents throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania, including several from Luzerne County, were named in suits filed in federal...

Satellite TV customers are facing price rises, as operators Dish Network and DirecTV hatch plans to increase rates, despite an ongoing rivalry with cable providers. Dish Network, owned by EchoStar Communications, plans to raise subscriptions by $2 to $4 a month, the company said Thursday. That translates to an average of 4.3 percent on average charges of $56.11. The new rates will take effect Feb. 1 and affect certain packages, such as the basic service. DirecTV is also planning to announce a rate hike this quarter, but details are not yet available, said Robert Mercer, a company spokesman. Currently, DirecTV...

It's starting now. I don't know if Link is on services other than Direct TV. I will watch it now and will check in later.

Right now, the Link Network on Channel 375 on DirecTV is showing Stolen Honor in its entirety.

It's titles "Forbidden Films About John Kerry", and runs from 10:00 - 11:30 Central Time. Only about 20 minutes left.

We're closing on our new home today and now comes the decision about cable or dish. Charter is the cable company and after bad experiences with them in the past they are out. So now my decision is between DishNetwork or DIRECTV. Anyone have any opinions one way or the other? I would appreciate any comments.

WILLIAMSPORT — A former guard at the Allenwood Low-Security Institution will keep his job and not go to jail for stealing DirecTV signals because of what the government terms his exceptional cooperation. Harold James Aikey, 36, of Athol, Mass., was sentenced Thursday by U.S. Middle District Senior Judge James F. McClure Jr., who accepted the government’s recommendation for probation. The judge also agreed to a defense recommendation, since Assistant U.S. Attorney Wayne P. Samuelson did not object, that Aikey be permitted to carry a firearm if duty requires during the two years he is on probation. He may not carry...

NO CLEAR ACCESSFormer vice president Al Gore claims his new cable network won't be liberal in tone, just hip. But judging by his investors, even-handedness isn't going to cut it. Beyond Gore's partner in the deal, Joel Hyatt, former Ohio Sen. Howard Metzenbaum's son-in-law, the new cable channel -- formerly Newsworld International -- has the husband of Sen. Dianne Feinstein on board as a major cash cow, as well as big DNC fundraiser Ron Burkle. Both former President Bill Clinton and the Rev. Jesse Jackson sit on Burkle's company board. Gore was down in New Orleans to make the announcement...

The consortium Sea Launch said it had placed a large US satellite in orbit on Monday, fulfilling the first-ever contract in a cooperation agreement between three of the world's biggest satellite-launch operators. DirecTV-7S, a geostationary satellite designed to beam services to 60 local markets in the United States, was taken aloft at 1242 GMT by a Ukrainian-made Zenit-3SL rocket, launched from a mobile platform in international waters in the Pacific, Sea Launch said on its website. "A ground station in Weilheim, Germany, acquired the spacecraft signal. All systems are operating normally," Sea Launch said. The 5.5-tonne satellite, built for the...

Comcast changes channel line-up March 1.

If it is successful, the hostile $60bn bid by Comcast, the US's biggest cable company, for Disney, one of the most famous names in cinema history, will change the face of the industry and trigger a fresh round of mega-mergers. From Comcast's viewpoint, a marriage of Disney's film and television interests with its own distribution channels is as compelling a step as Rupert Murdoch's purchase of DirecTV's satellite assets to provide outlets for his Fox film archive. But this does not make it good for the consumer. The increasing concentration of media companies and the grip they will exert on...

Universal Music Mulls Music TV Venture NEW YORK (Reuters) - Universal Music Group, the world's largest record label, is teaming up with satellite broadcaster DirecTV and business partners behind a prominent pornography video company to launch a music channel featuring uncensored videos. According to a report on Friday in the Los Angles Times Universal, a unit of Vivendi Universal_(NYSE:V - news), is in negotiations with DirecTV to offer the new subscription-based channel, known as "1 AM." Universal and the entrepreneurs of Vivid Entertainment Group founders, which is known for porn videos such as "Bad Wives" and "Women In Uniform," are...

Rupert Murdoch saw satellite TV as a medium of the future. David Kirkpatrick ponders that future. Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corporation, has been trying to buy or build an American satellite television business for 20 years, a campaign that sometimes appeared to be his life's work. Last week, he finally succeeded, buying control of Hughes Electronics and its DirecTV satellite service for $US6.6 billion ($8.9 billion). But his hard-won victory now raises questions for Mr Murdoch, who is 72, and for the company. Mr Murdoch now needs to make DirecTV justify the years and billions spent in its pursuit....

BANGOR - Pirates of the airwaves, beware. The nation's largest satellite television service is willing to do almost anything - including suing its subscribers in federal court - to fight against the theft of its signal. DirecTV Inc. has sued 18,000 people in the past year, including seven in U.S. District Court in Bangor and four in federal court in Portland. "We are attacking up and down the entire food chain of the pirate community, from the demand side to the supply side," Robert Mercer, director of public relations for the California-based firm, has said. "There's no pattern to it....

Does anyone have a listing of the DirectTV channels that will be showing the Midnight Mass tonight?

With the OK to buy DirecTV, the media titan can conquer more U.S. viewers via satellite. For two decades, Rupert Murdoch has been building up his empire by tearing down the status quo. When many in Britain thought it foolhardy to challenge the state-owned BBC, Murdoch ignored them and launched the nation's first pay-TV service, eventually turning it into a roaring success. Then, as media barons in the U.S. shied away from trying to undo the 30-year stranglehold of the three broadcast networks — ABC, NBC and CBS — Murdoch's News Corp. established Fox as a viable alternative. "The company...

Fox set to span the world Geoff Easdown 22dec03 NEWS Corporation will gain 12 million American viewers and the ability to broadcast to five continents after winning approval to take over US satellite service DirecTV. The news and entertainment organisation gained US regulatory approval for the takeover at the weekend. It becomes the first company in the US to have a television network, cable channels and a satellite television service. DirecTV is the biggest US satellite TV service. News Corp owns satellite-TV businesses including Sky ItaliaSpA in Europe, Foxtel in Australia and Hong Kong-based Star Group in Asia. It shares...