Versus Removed Sept 1 from DirecTV

[Mariah2014]

The message previously posted by Scott is now on the Directv site.
DIRECTV: Versus on DIRECTV

 

[dfergie]

As a customer of both providers I find this funny

DIRECTV has the best variety of exclusive and premium content available anywhere

exclusives maybe, but dish beats the crap out of Directv on premiums...

 

[ZoSo925]

What does E* mean?

 

[goaliebob99]

HD channel was completely removed. I had it on and it went to directv basics.

There was a certin Versus HD feed on Cband at a hidden location that went black as well.. Some things that make you go hummmmm.... The C band transponder is hot, but the versus channel dissapeared directly from comcast. Just kindof Ironic it would happen at the same time. This leads me to belive that this is coming from comcast.

 

[goaliebob99]

As a customer of both providers I find this funny exclusives maybe, but dish beats the crap out of Directv on premiums...

Yea the only thing I watch on the 101 really anyhow is the danpatrick show and the trailer park boys.

 

[goaliebob99]

What does E* mean?

E* means, Echostar wich is the owner of Dish Network, D* means Directv.

 

[Mariah2014]

Which is why I thought the fact the HD station was just an upconverted SD station the few days was caused by Comcast and not Directv. I bet the two events were related.

There was a certin Versus HD feed on Cband at a hidden location that went black as well.. Some things that make you go hummmmm.... The C band transponder is hot, but the versus channel dissapeared directly from comcast. Just kindof Ironic it would happen at the same time. This leads me to belive that this is coming from comcast.

 

[dfergie]

Don't get me wrong Directv VOD and ppv beat the cr*p out of dish but, premiums? as one who does a dvr alert thread I see what both provide... back to vs. which Directv had long before Dish... sometimes a provider has to take a stand...

 

[ZoSo925]

ok thanks, lol I kinda had a feeling it was Echostar but I thought that company long went out of business.

Ive seen other forums say D* a lot

 

[goaliebob99]

Which is why I thought the fact the HD station was just an upconverted SD station the few days was caused by Comcast and not Directv. I bet the two events were related.

Nahh Its not upcoverted, its 1080I. I just rescaned the feed and it was renamed, but its still there. A rescan fixed it. VS is still running the crawl at the bottom like directv subs can see it. They can stop now that D* has pulled the plug. The Cband master of VSHD looks great when they are running HD programming. Heck I havent seen anything on Cband that doesnt look great. QVCHD is the only one that has any sort of microblocking issue, but because the fact they are only selling, it generally looks good anyhow. Sad to say that HSNHD has some of the best HD out there.

 

[goaliebob99]

Don't get me wrong Directv VOD and ppv beat the cr*p out of dish but, premiums? as one who does a dvr alert thread I see what both provide... back to vs. which Directv had long before Dish... sometimes a provider has to take a stand...

One thing that I never understood is why the providers didnt push down VOD PPV movies to the recivers and eliminate the PPV channels, you only need 3 channels that way for specal events and you gain like 30 channels in HD.

If I was running directv I would have pushed down all my movies in 1080P to the recivers, elminated HDPPV, and launched new channels with that space. Its a win win for everyone! Coustomer has new channnels and on demand ppv, no waiting for the movie to start or watching it in the middle. If a coustomer has a non dvr system, put a 200 gig hard drive in there anyhow for this. Problem sloved!

 

[Mariah2014]

Versus Pulls Signal In DirecTV Carriage Dispute - 2009-09-01 01:22:45 EDT | Multichannel News
Versus Pulls Signal In DirecTV Carriage Dispute

Satellite Provider Said It Would Not Agree To 'Ridiculous Demands' From Network's Parent Comcast

Mike Reynolds -- Multichannel News, September 1, 2009

The carriage dispute between DirecTV and sports network Versus has resulted in the service going dark on the No. 1 satellite provider.
DirecTV, in a statement early this morning, said that Comcast, which owns Versus, "has forced us to take down the channel because we will not agree to their ridiculous demands that simply do not reflect current market valuations for their programming." The contract expired at midnight on Sept. 1.
Versus did not respond to an email looking for a comment early this morning.
According to SNL Kagan,Versus is getting about 18 cents per subscriber per month in monthly carriage fees from distributors in 2009.



DirecTV said it already pays Versus more than any other independent distributor and that the 20% hike it is seeking "for what is basically a paid programming and infomercial channel with occasional sporting events of interest is simply piggish."

Versus, formerly Outdoor Life Network, was rebranded in 2006 and is the exclusive national cable home of the National Hockey League, and the U.S. home of the Tour de France bicycle race. It also carries collegiate sports from the Pac-10, Big 12, Mountain West and Ivy League conferences; the Professional Bull Riders (PBR); World Extreme Cage fighting; and the Indy Racing League, among other properties.
The dispute also pertains to positioning as DirecTV has offered Versus on its Choice Xtra level of service and above.

DirecTV said that Comcast allows other distributors to carry Versus at much lower level of distribution, including​

Dish Network, which positions it on its AT250 package.​

"Comcast has set a market with arms length negotiations with these other distributors and DirecTV expects equal treatment," the satellite provider said.​

DirecTV, noting that it offered to continue Versus through the end of September while negotiations continued, said it has heard from a small number of subscribers who were unhappy about the network being pulled.
"But we want them to understand that we must hold the line on programming costs and protect them from unwarranted price increases, especially in this challenging economy," according to DirecTV.

 

[am7crew]

whats with the groupying and copying Scott's avatar?

 

[Claude Greiner]

This is the same line of crap we hear from Dish everytime DISH Network pulls a channel from their line up during a programming dispute.

The speed of the resolution will depend on how many customers call Directv and bitch about their channel being taken away, how many customers cancel and how many customers they give adjustments to, so they just deal with the situation instead of cancelling.

Directv is pretty much safe right now as alot of people right now don't know or care that this channel has been removed yet!

Wait in see, in a few weeks there is some College Football and in 30 days The NHL Hockey season starts and thats where they are going to find themselves in a bad position with people calling in to complain.

For a company that built their subscriber base around getting sports, this is going to be an issue for alot of people.

If you all remember Dish went through the same thing a few years ago and took off Versus for an entire month in January 2006 when it was called OLN. I don't remember getting as much of a peep out of any of my customers over it, nobody seemed to care, but then again I don't think they carried Hockey like they do now.

If there is one thing I learned, is not to screw with peoples ability to get their favorite sports channels!

 

[ETS]

*D has not removed VERSUS from their channel lineup in packages on thier website yet.

Updated: Also *D's website lists you can still see IRL racing on ABC, which is incorrect as the final 2 races 9/19 from Japan on VERSUS & 10/10 from Homestad,FL.

The final Indy Lights race is 10/9 from Homestead on VERSUS.

I wonder if *D can air the races but with the blimp camera(used on Indycar.com w/o audio) & IMS Radio Coverage.

 

[Juan]

Darth "TCI" Malone was pulling this crap long b4 Uncle Charlie came along..He is one of the main reasons DBS took off in the late 1990's

 

[Jimbo]

Its about time Directv customers see what us Dish customers have to go through everytime a contract comes up for renewal.

Im sure it will be back up shortly in time for the NHL season....

Thats WHY alot go to D* in the first place, you don't have this happening every year.

This is the first time I have seen this happen with D* in my time here.

Personally, I'm not to worried about it, I for the most part don't watch it, but I do think it will be back on in time for the Hockey season.

Once again, I wonder what the NHL's stance has been with this ?

 

[Big Dawg 23]

Even with Hockey I hardly watch Versus. I subscribe to Center Ice and they don't show a college conference I care to watch. I would rather they not bring it back and us the HD space for ESPNU or Travel HD.

 

[jdwdwd]

How many D* customers out there that would switch to E if, like me, you are not under contract and about to upgrade to HD? What are the pros and cons. Like Mojo Jojo, I am interested in local sports (Go MIZZOU) but have no desire for the NFL package. From reading here and elsewhere I am getting the impression that E beats D* hands down when considering the availability of HD programing.

I was an E customer long long ago and was driven away by their dead end customer service. I also have the impression that little there has changed. Customer service is extremely impt. Fortunately I rarely have had need for it with D*. If the HD line up difference b/t the two is significant, I will seriously consider the move. If not and given no other reasons to switch, I'll likely stay put.

The receiver/equipment is also a concern. On another thread members are talking about recording glitches and slowness of the HR 22. Any one have any thoughts on the differences between the HD DVR's offered by each provider?

 

[Juan]

E* means, Echostar wich is the owner of Dish Network, D* means Directv.

they are seperate companies now..both owned by..............