DishNetwork & DirecTV Intend MPEG4 Implimentation Q4'05

[bradley]

Both DishNetwork (confirmed) and DirecTV intend to implement MPEG4 by Q4 of this year, 2005, at CES.

With the demise of VOOM I will soon be seeking an alternative feed. I wish to solicit DBS recommendations and observations pertaining to DirecTV and DishNetwork and their HD STB-DVRs regarding DBS HD and OTA HD and SD reception and performance.

I do realize the FCC and FTC process will require months of analysis prior to the approved transfer of assets, BUT I am concerned Cablevision board members will not continue to finance the day-to-day operations of VOOM until the authorization. My faith has been undermined by James Dolan and the Cablevision board, ignoring his father, Charles Dolan (75% shareholder of Cablevision and founder of HBO, Cablevision), and the realities of the impatient desires of instant return of capital investments in VOOM DBS; both HBO and CNN were also viewed as unlikely ventures by Wall Street in their inception as well. $1.4 billion investment in exchange for $200 million and the loss of competition, choice and some superb exclusive programming.

Both DirecTV and DishNetwork intend to increase fees 6 to 9% or more ASAP.

To the point…

Of primary concern are both DBS providers and their announcement of implementation of MPEG4 in Q4 of this year, 2005. I know the 921 STB-DVR from DishNetwork is only MPEG2 compliant and that the forthcoming 94x STB-DVR is also said to be only MPEG2 compliant. I am, as you can imagine, a little leery as to having to purchase replacement hardware in the very near future. I have no knowledge of DirecTV's DVR hardware although I am aware of DirecTV's intent to begin manufacturing and marketing their own DVR line ceasing their relationship with TiVo, as it stands today. TiVo will continue to be a viable option it's just DirecTV views the potential additional income from DVR fees too substantial to pass on. Comments...?

Postscript…

I neglected to mention the MPEG4 implementation would address, as it stands now, HD needs first. It is both cost effective and logical since it will free up substantial bandwidth for HD use and HD users represent a small enough customer base to facilitate migration, new STBs and STB-DVRs hardware, and will benefit immediately within a reasonable time-frame (Q4'05).

The phasing in of the SD should or logically could be implemented in a second phase since it constitutes the most aggressive part of migration and new hardware demands.

Current SD and HD STBs as well as SD and HD STB-DVR combinations cannot facilitate MPEG4 compliance with a simple software fix. It will have to be implemented through hardware and therefore will require new lines of STBs and STB-DVRs for both SD and HD processing.

Thank you again.

 

[meStevo]

I'm not reading anything new here, was it necessary to post a link to this in every forum? There's more current information in other posts, at least where DirecTV is concerned.

What's the point?

 

[hdtvtechno]

And BTW Directv, plans to use MPEG4 in Q2 of 2005

 

[hdtvtechno]

opps BTW


Satcaster to tap Tandberg's MPEG-4 platform

Jeff Baumgartner, CED

Tandberg Television said it has sold an MPEG-4 HDTV system to a "leading" North American satellite broadcaster.

The deal, valued at more than $9 million, includes Tandberg's EN5990 encoder and "Reflex" statistical multiplexing software. Tandberg expects to delivery most of the equipment and software during the first half of 2005.

A spokesperson for the Norway-headquartered company said Tandberg is not yet at liberty to disclose the customer, but had to make the announcement in order to fulfill stock market disclosure requirements.

One potential candidate is EchoStar Communications. At the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this month, the company announced it plans to migrate to the bandwidth-saving MPEG-4 platform, with expectations that HDTV customers would be the first to benefit from the advanced codec.

http://www.cedmagazine.com/cedailydirect/2005/0105/cedaily050128.htm#4

 

[bradley]

Thank you...

To address your question, Estevo, in an effort to hopefully to shed light on a turn of events… I draw your attention to those of us who will unknowingly purchasing HD STBs and STB-DVRs that will soon be non-compliant.

Some individuals, such as myself, have a habit of viewing specific forums only. That is why I posted links only in multiple forums and is a subject that is of serious impact and monetary concern to consumers who are thinking of purchasing a HD STB or DVRs.

DishNetwork has been addressed on this issue directly and will not comment on retrofitting consumers nor will DirecTV take a position either.

As to DirecTV or any other vendor who will soon target of implementation of MPEG4, even possibly as soon as Q2'05 goal, hardware has to be in place for clients to receive. I believe all the more reason for all to be enlightened.

These postings will not harm, impair or impact you personally, or others in any negative way. As a matter of fact, perhaps the shear magnitude of attention may benefit all by driving providers to take a firm position one way or another.

So, please allow others, including myself to be informed and enlightened. I've already experienced great disappointment with the demise of VOOM. I wish to avoid another.

And, please contribute in a positive manner and not criticize. It is far easier to be compassionate and understanding than to be critical; mature than to be juvenile.

Thank you all for your comments and understanding.

 

[mdonnelly]

Hopefully to shed light on a turn of events… I draw your attention to those of us who will unknowingly purchasing HD STBs and STB-DVRs that will soon be non-compliant.

Some individuals, such as myself, have a habit of viewing specific forums only. That is why I posted links only in multiple forums and is a subject that is of serious impact and monetary concern to consumers who are thinking of purchasing a HD STB or DVRs.

DishNetwork has been addressed on this issue directly and will not comment on retrofitting consumers nor will DirecTV take a position either.

As to DirecTV or any other vendor who will soon target of implementation of MPEG4, even possibly as soon as Q2'05 goal, hardware has to be in place for clients to. I believe all the more reason for all to be enlightened.

These postings will not harm, impair or impact you personally, or others in any negative way. As a matter of fact, perhaps the shear magnitude of attention may benefit all by driving providers to take a firm position one way or another.

So, please allow others, including myself to be informed and enlightened. I've already experienced great disappointment with the demise of VOOM. I wish to avoid another.

And, please contribute in a positive manner and not criticize. It is far easier to be compassionate and understanding than to be cr

 

[meStevo]

You could be a press secretary or something, you say so much and yet so little (and i dont mean that in a belittling way).

As for...

"DishNetwork has been addressed on this issue directly and will not comment on retrofitting consumers nor will DirecTV take a position either."

DirecTV has commented, and are footing the bill, just like every other major upgrade they've ever had.

VOOM was the equivalent to something shiny that people would grab at because it was just that - shiny. You choose a DBS provider that was trying to get into a tough market with competition already entrenched with millions upon millions of subs and you're disappointed when it doesn't work out? If you really are feeling burnt by it, we need to look to someone else for this enlightenment you're trying to spark in us all.

I'm not sure where there's actually anything new in your post, im still trying to see the point. Any concern you have at all for what is going to happen is lost in your overelaboration of everything.

Break it down, pose some questions, and see if the answers are already out there before doing the sky-is-falling-lets-rally-to-beat-the-man stuff.

 

[beast37799]

Bite me, you redundant a**hole.

that wasn't really called for yes bradley did do a bit much but didn't warrant that response

 

[mdonnelly]

that wasn't really called for yes bradley did do a bit much but didn't warrant that response

You're right. I over reacted. I just hate being spammed, particularly here.

 

[bradley]

Conclusion

What DirecTV said, and I am paraphrasing here, they would stand behind their customers but they do not know what that will mean providing a "full replacement or partial." Well, your right; real stand-up guys.

Dish won't respond in writing and they are dumping the 921's for less than $500; down from $900. Most of us don't have $500 to throw around. I know I don't.

Look at DirecTV's phenomenal growth this quarter. Can anyone justify the rate increases? I assure you if VOOM had the ability to continue, viably, you would not be seeing any of this.

Prior to VOOM, I was a Dish customer since their inception for 7 or 8 years. That is, until Feb'04. I was deeply disappointed with support with repeated catastrophic hardware issues. They didn't stand behind their repeated PVR problems. And, I didn't jump at VOOM when the arrived first on the scene, it was five months after their inception. Dish drove me there. I had no service for over a month before my VOOM was installed. No OTA. Nada.

Don't get me wrong, VOOM had its problems, but they were not insurmountable.

What was unacceptable by Dish was they would not upgrade an inferior PVR, which they replaced, 3 times with a serviced one that only failed within months. It wasn't until I finally canceled they called and offered my original request, a 921 at no cost. By then the damage was done. I had been deeply inconvenienced, insulted and I wasn't about to give my business to someone who didn't take me as a customer seriously.

All I sought was honest service for honest money. That's all.

VOOM was in an initial growth period. Less than 16 months old before the board at Cablevision had a fire sale. Contrary to what anyone can and/or will say, VOOM was absolutely outstanding. Was it perfect? Hell, no! Far from it. But, the special interest programming such as GalleryHD, EquatorHD, UltraHD, WorldSportHD… all HD channels including STARZ, ENCORE, TMC CineMax and all their associated East, West feeds, etc.; was simply stunning.

As they say, you don't know what you had until it's gone. Funny how people comment on what they really have little knowledge of.

What killed VOOM was, through my experience, 1.) the installation process and 2.) the lack of real experienced managers at the helm. The simple fact the cart was before the horse. While Installs, Inc., through my personal experience, churned and churned installations with constant disappointing unskilled sub, and subcontracted installations they slowly but surely drove away customers by not using proper cost effective antennas and pre-amps to capture OTA signals, and undersized dishes.

It's horrible to watch a sinking ship and know how you could have possibly saved it

Both DirecTV and Dish after an entire year have made no significant headway in HD programming and as I see it insulting as HD programming should be defined as a premium when the FCC defines HD as the driving standard.

The questions I addressed are there along with my concerns. They are observations attached to questions designed to avoid the obvious answers that always seem to accompany vague questions.

Inclosing, if there are those who feel it is all right to purchase MPEG2 compliant receivers and DVRs with the possibility of a chastised discount, then excuse me for caring.

I tried to be clear and to the point instead of vague and unobtrusive.

If my my intentions are misguided and perceived as spam…

What is the purpose of participating in these forums if there will be those who assume everybody knows everything already? Just because you were lucky enough to have read the right thread at the right time as well as know exactly where the answer lay without having to read through countless meaningless posts?

How so very, very fortunate for you.

Perhaps you could have politely passed up the post by some who asked politely in multiple forums, and yet had the insight to point to a thread elsewhere instead of writing the question over and over again. Yes?

Once again, thank you for your understanding.

 

[chewy]

In the last 9 monthes.... I started with dish HD than cable HD than Voom and finally Directv..
By far Voom was the worst ...Directv by far is the best and will remain..
my opinion only

D* actually cares abuot their customers, the hands down reason they are the best

 

[SummitAdvantageRetailer]

What DirecTV said, and I am paraphrasing here, they would stand behind their customers but they do not know what that will mean providing a "full replacement or partial." Well, your right; real stand-up guys.

Dish won't respond in writing and they are dumping the 921's for less than $500; down from $900. Most of us don't have $500 to throw around. I know I don't.

Look at DirecTV's phenomenal growth this quarter. Can anyone justify the rate increases? I assure you if VOOM had the ability to continue, viably, you would not be seeing any of this.

Prior to VOOM, I was a Dish customer since their inception for 7 or 8 years. That is, until Feb'04. I was deeply disappointed with support with repeated catastrophic hardware issues. They didn't stand behind their repeated PVR problems. And, I didn't jump at VOOM when the arrived first on the scene, it was five months after their inception. Dish drove me there. I had no service for over a month before my VOOM was installed. No OTA. Nada.

Don't get me wrong, VOOM had its problems, but they were not insurmountable.

What was unacceptable by Dish was they would not upgrade an inferior PVR, which they replaced, 3 times with a serviced one that only failed within months. It wasn't until I finally canceled they called and offered my original request, a 921 at no cost. By then the damage was done. I had been deeply inconvenienced, insulted and I wasn't about to give my business to someone who didn't take me as a customer seriously.

All I sought was honest service for honest money. That's all.

VOOM was in an initial growth period. Less than 16 months old before the board at Cablevision had a fire sale. Contrary to what anyone can and/or will say, VOOM was absolutely outstanding. Was it perfect? Hell, no! Far from it. But, the special interest programming such as GalleryHD, EquatorHD, UltraHD, WorldSportHD… all HD channels including STARZ, ENCORE, TMC CineMax and all their associated East, West feeds, etc.; was simply stunning.

As they say, you don't know what you had until it's gone. Funny how people comment on what they really have little knowledge of.

What killed VOOM was, through my experience, 1.) the installation process and 2.) the lack of real experienced managers at the helm. The simple fact the cart was before the horse. While Installs, Inc., through my personal experience, churned and churned installations with constant disappointing unskilled sub, and subcontracted installations they slowly but surely drove away customers by not using proper cost effective antennas and pre-amps to capture OTA signals, and undersized dishes.

It's horrible to watch a sinking ship and know how you could have possibly saved it

Both DirecTV and Dish after an entire year have made no significant headway in HD programming and as I see it insulting as HD programming should be defined as a premium when the FCC defines HD as the driving standard.

The questions I addressed are there along with my concerns. They are observations attached to questions designed to avoid the obvious answers that always seem to accompany vague questions.

Inclosing, if there are those who feel it is all right to purchase MPEG2 compliant receivers and DVRs with the possibility of a chastised discount, then excuse me for caring.

I tried to be clear and to the point instead of vague and unobtrusive.

If my my intentions are misguided and perceived as spam…

What is the purpose of participating in these forums if there will be those who assume everybody knows everything already? Just because you were lucky enough to have read the right thread at the right time as well as know exactly where the answer lay without having to read through countless meaningless posts?

How so very, very fortunate for you.

Perhaps you could have politely passed up the post by some who asked politely in multiple forums, and yet had the insight to point to a thread elsewhere instead of writing the question over and over again. Yes?

Once again, thank you for your understanding.

Sorry but you're looking at this entirely from the customer's point of view and not from a business point of view. In the business point of view, you don't just try to satisfy customers to keep revenue in as shareholders and board of directors are who control the company. It's a lot more complex than how simply you put as bad customer service and what's lacking and what not. What I do give you in credit is that you've been a customer for a good while and know what you want.

What I can say about all three companies is that out of all three, E* makes the highest profit, D* gives the best customer service, and V* can't make profit nor attract new customers. D* has more customers and will keep that lead for some time to come only because they do all they can to keep a customer (i.e. give TiVo's, dish upgrades, and repairs for free if you threaten to cancel). But that's not the best way to be profitable since you can't always try to satisfy the lowest common denominator. Say what you will, but without News Corp.'s deep financial reserves DirecTV may end up like V* in due time.

 

[truckracer]

calm down elstevo

I think the multiple posts are good. We all need the info, this is our hard earned money we are talking about here.

Elstevo seems to have a problem feeling like the post is a personal attack on him. I have read the posts over and over and can find no way to interpret them as any personal insult on elstevo.

I think elstevo had a bad day and is looking to vent on someone

 

[Stargazer]

A company with fewer customers being able to make more money while still willing to upgrade receivers for the customers and give great promotions makes the fewer subscriber count not look as bad.

 

[chevyN8]

What DirecTV said, and I am paraphrasing here, they would stand behind their customers but they do not know what that will mean providing a "full replacement or partial." Well, your right; real stand-up guys.

They probably don't know what they are going to do, D* and E* are probably both waiting to see what the other company is going to do and figuring the cost of such an upgrade.

Dish won't respond in writing and they are dumping the 921's for less than $500; down from $900. Most of us don't have $500 to throw around. I know I don't.

They are trying to push those 921's out the door, make business sense if they will be obsolete soon.

Look at DirecTV's phenomenal growth this quarter. Can anyone justify the rate increases? I assure you if VOOM had the ability to continue, viably, you would not be seeing any of this.

E* rates went up, so D* did the same. That is their justification. Voom had very little effect on E* and D* IMHO. The amount of VOOM subs is a small percentage of what the big boys have.

Prior to VOOM, I was a Dish customer since their inception for 7 or 8 years. That is, until Feb'04. I was deeply disappointed with support with repeated catastrophic hardware issues. They didn't stand behind their repeated PVR problems. And, I didn't jump at VOOM when the arrived first on the scene, it was five months after their inception. Dish drove me there. I had no service for over a month before my VOOM was installed. No OTA. Nada.

A big company trying to save a buck. Not uncommon these days. Voom had customer service issues as well.

Don't get me wrong, VOOM had its problems, but they were not insurmountable.

Sounds like VOOM was a good fit for what you needed.

What was unacceptable by Dish was they would not upgrade an inferior PVR, which they replaced, 3 times with a serviced one that only failed within months. It wasn't until I finally canceled they called and offered my original request, a 921 at no cost. By then the damage was done. I had been deeply inconvenienced, insulted and I wasn't about to give my business to someone who didn't take me as a customer seriously.

Should have used the I'm going to cancel thing earlier. Swallowed your pride and said "OK give me the 921". They want you as a customer, but they want you to just pay your bill each month and not need anying--a money generating customer.


All I sought was honest service for honest money. That's all.

Don't we all.

VOOM was in an initial growth period. Less than 16 months old before the board at Cablevision had a fire sale. Contrary to what anyone can and/or will say, VOOM was absolutely outstanding. Was it perfect? Hell, no! Far from it. But, the special interest programming such as GalleryHD, EquatorHD, UltraHD, WorldSportHD… all HD channels including STARZ, ENCORE, TMC CineMax and all their associated East, West feeds, etc.; was simply stunning.

Once again, sounds like VOOM was a good fit for what you needed. For a lot of people it wasn't a good fit. I'd have to also have E* or D* to get all the channels my family views. Cost prohibitive.

As they say, you don't know what you had until it's gone. Funny how people comment on what they really have little knowledge of.

VOOM didn't have a chance. They did mess-up a lot of things, but so has E* and D* and they made it. VOOM was too early and wasn't a complete solution for many people...didn't have all the channels. I can't get Locals OTA and the only options used to be cable. Now E* and D* offer locals, but not VOOM. As well as other channels. I've watched VOOM and it's great. However, I want to watch the channels I already watch...not new content. If they somehow offered my current channels in HD they sure I'd be on VOOM.

What killed VOOM was, through my experience, 1.) the installation process and 2.) the lack of real experienced managers at the helm. The simple fact the cart was before the horse. While Installs, Inc., through my personal experience, churned and churned installations with constant disappointing unskilled sub, and subcontracted installations they slowly but surely drove away customers by not using proper cost effective antennas and pre-amps to capture OTA signals, and undersized dishes.

All of that hurt, but that's after they lure in customers. I want HDTV programming and didn't want VOOM because I'd have to also have E* and D*. Let alone the vast majority that doesn't have HDTV television sets yet. They have to have X amount of customers to survive.

It's horrible to watch a sinking ship and know how you could have possibly saved it

Aside from a big explosion in HDTV programming and HDTV television owners nothing was going to save it IMHO.

Both DirecTV and Dish after an entire year have made no significant headway in HD programming and as I see it insulting as HD programming should be defined as a premium when the FCC defines HD as the driving standard.

As a business they don't need to. I'd like to see a few more channels in HD, but the channels aren't being offered in HD anywhere yet that I want.

The questions I addressed are there along with my concerns. They are observations attached to questions designed to avoid the obvious answers that always seem to accompany vague questions.

Sometimes the answer is obvious, just not obvious to everyone.

Inclosing, if there are those who feel it is all right to purchase MPEG2 compliant receivers and DVRs with the possibility of a chastised discount, then excuse me for caring.

The people that know better won't do it. I know lots of people that in the last few months have purchased 'big-screen' TV's that aren't HD (they are really cheap, just ask them). I know better. To those that purchased MPEG2 receivers for big dollars before the talk of MPEG4, well 'stuff' happens and I hope they hook you up with a compatible receiver for cheap.

In closing , business is business. A business must make a profit to survive. VOOM couldn't make money on the HD thing. Both E* and D* watched them go down and probably don't want to do the same. HDTV will be rolled out as the sat company's profitable business model allows them. If Charlie could make money on it, he would add some more HD channels. Although it doesn't make me happy, business is business. If suddenly D* added some good HDTV channels AND E* HDTV subs started switching over to D* I'm sure you would be amazed how fast he would add some HDTV programming. Most of what you want to know, we all want to know. My crystal ball tells me that we will all have to wait and see what happens. Announcements of plans to implement X, Y, and Z don't mean much to me.