This is the Last straw DIRECT TV......

[JuniorDan]

I am so over this crap. You gave me a free HDDVR when you dropped G4TV and that was OK, but with this new line up there is no pacifying. This is a breach of contract on your part and I will be out.
Time to call AT&T or Bright house before the mas exidos from DTV. Greedy dumb  asses.

DIRECTV IS AT IT AGAIN
DirecTV is dropping channels…again. This time, DirecTV is threatening to drop Nickelodeon, MTV, BET, COMEDY CENTRAL, and more. We’re disappointed that this is happening, especially since we’ve been working day and night to come to a resolution. We even granted DirecTV a deal extension. We simply can’t understand why DirecTV doesn’t value the channels its subscribers watch the most.

Viacom is 20% of DirecTV’s viewership, and only 5% of its programming costs. We over deliver for DirecTV, but are hugely undervalued. Our most recent offer to DirecTV asks for what amounts to pennies a day for 26 channels, and we remain willing to negotiate.

Because of DirecTV you will lose hundreds of shows you and your family enjoys day in and day out. No more SpongeBob. No more VMA’s. No more Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. No more Jersey Shore.

Why is DirecTV taking away your channels?

The fact is that DirecTV would rather fight than work to make a fair deal with Viacom. In the past three years, DirecTV has fought publicly and bitterly with seven different programmers. During the same period, Viacom has made dozens of deals peacefully and productively, without a single fight. The record speaks for itself.

DirecTV is fighting again. Make sure you don’t lose the channels and shows you love. Call 800-531-5000 now and demand that DirecTV keep Nickelodeon, MTV, BET, COMEDY CENTRAL, and all 26 Viacom channels.

[corruptrelic]

The article you posted looks like it's directly from Viacom. DirecTV's response is an entirely different scenario.
However you look at it though, Viacom wants more money and in the end it's just going to be passed on to it's customers (you) to make up for it. Some might like DirecTV standing their ground against price increases.

DirecTV, in turn, said in a statement that it had offered Viacom “increased fees for their networks going forward; we just can’t afford the extreme increases they are asking for.”

Programmers have traditionally sold channels to distributors this way, in a big bundle, but as distributors try to resist price increases, they are increasingly challenging this strategy in a public way.

“Programmers like Viacom typically won’t allow anyone to buy their channels individually, but we hope to change that,” DirecTV said in its statement on Tuesday morning. “We currently pay them hundreds of millions of dollars every year already, and if Viacom thinks their networks are worth a billion more, then you have to be able to select what’s most important in your own living room. It’s your money, so you should be able to decide.”

By holding firm in negotiations and disputes, we’ve held our price increases to half of the industry average. Some networks or TV stations are asking for as much as a 300% increase in their monthly rate. Imagine the impact to your bill if we just simply accepted those demands for one network, let alone the hundreds we offer you. There’s a reason DIRECTV has been able to offer our customers the lowest annual rate increase of 4% among all providers over the past two years. We’re always by your side.

http://www.directvpromise.com/faq/#.T_zVS_K9tBk

They claim they are asking Viacom to allow their channels to stay up while they continue to negotiate. It's Viacom pulling the channels, not DirecTV.

[Isgrimnur]

It's an expiration of a contract under current terms.  IANAFL, but as I recall, failure to sever the relationship once the contract is complete puts them in a spot to continue under the present terms, which Viacom doesn't want.

From my point of view, it's contract re-negotiation time.  Each side is trying to get the public to pressure the other side, but it's business as usual in the conference room.

[Crusis]

I was concerned about stuff like this when I switched to Directv  3 or 4 years ago. Thankfully, they have managed to maintain their lineup. I'm baffled by Dish's loss of AMC. But I agree, it's contract negotiation time and each company wants to look like they are the only one that cares about your dollars. Besides, Directv would be idiotic to lose 26 channels.

[JuniorDan]

WOW... They actually pulled the channels WTF...

[Kagath]

I bet they don't reduced the cost of the service along with the reduced channels...

[heloder]

Why, when viewing this thread, did my iPod launch the App Store and load the Slots Journey page? Is this some new form of advertising, or is it one of my background Apps doing it?

[Jag]

WOW... They actually pulled the channels WTF...

Crazy. I've been less than happy about the prices I've been paying. Maybe a time for a change, but I'm not sure comcast or AT&T is any better. I barely even watch TV and pay $120 for DTV. It'sfor my kids and wife.

[th'FOOL]

Why, when viewing this thread, did my iPod launch the App Store and load the Slots Journey page? Is this some new form of advertising, or is it one of my background Apps doing it?

I peruse the forums on my iphone constantly, and I have yet to see anything like this. For it to launch the app store it would have to autoload the web page for the app first, which would trigger the app store to open to the equivalent page there. I'll keep an eye on it, but I'll need multiple instances of a specific ad causing such an action to report to our ad network.

[Scuzz]

U-Verse just went through this with the AMC Channel family. I guess it was resolved as the channels are still there, but for a week there was an additional channel next to the AMC channel explaining why it might disappear.

[Jag]

How is Uverse?

[Crusis]

So Directv dumped the channels or did Viacom yank them? The only channel I care about out of the mess is Comedy Central.

[th'FOOL]

I was waiting for my contract with DTV to end next month anyway, this pretty much seals it for me. Placing U-Verse order right now, oh, and looky there- less than half the price a month for more than what I have now. Thank you!

[EngineNo9]

So Directv dumped the channels or did Viacom yank them? The only channel I care about out of the mess is Comedy Central.

Sounds like a bit of both (or neither): Viacom demands more money, DirectTV won't pay it, so the channels go away.  

[rshetts2]

So Directv dumped the channels or did Viacom yank them? The only channel I care about out of the mess is Comedy Central.

Sounds like a bit of both (or neither): Viacom demands more money, DirectTV won't pay it, so the channels go away.  

Viacom pulled them.  they had the option of allowing the broadcasts while negotiations were being continued but decided to pull the stations to try to get the customers pissed off and back lash against DTV. The root of this battle is that viacom packages all of their stations and doesnt allow any choice so the average consumer who watches maybe 2 or 3 of viacoms offerings ends up paying for another 23 useless stations.  This is a business battle and theres no side completely clean but Viacoms tactics are worse than DTV's from what Ive gathered.  Just realize if you switch, you will be facing the same battle with your new provider most likely in the near future.

[Jag]

Salty Directv!

I’ve already seen commercials with the stars and even animated characters from Viacom shows talking about DIRECTV. What’s going on?
A:

The people who create or star in Viacom shows aren’t independent spokespeople but paid employees at Viacom who oftentimes make millions. These clips and commercials are sometimes clever, sometimes not, yet they’re all like political advertising without any full disclosure. Independent studios typically won’t allow their people to participate, so Viacom (or others) are left to use only the people on their own payroll. It’s always wrong to have an actor or comedian say things in support of people who can make them even richer, and especially when it comes at our customers’ expense, but it’s indefensible to try to use children’s trusted cartoon characters like Dora the Explorer to try to trick and scare them.

 

[hepcat]

It's a good, old fashioned dick fight!

[Scuzz]

How is Uverse?

We went to U-Verse from Dish and like it much better. They give you the opening cheap deal and then the cost ends up expensive but they have a better DVR set up and we never loose the picture in bad weather.

[JuniorDan]

How many TV can be viewed with U-verse at the same time. I have 5 TV 2 of which are HD. Last time I tried U-verse when the HDTV were on the standard tv could not be viewed. With in a month U-verse was gone.
So here I am faced with changing service again and me being with ATT wireless for 14 years, I want to give them a chance plus I like the every room DVR.
Can I get some user input. 
HD quality compared to DTV?
Number of simultaneous live TVs that can be viewed?
Do the channel change when I hit the button? (people with DTV know what Iam talking about)
Is the hardware reliable?
Do the channel go out when it rains? kidding.

[Calavera]

How many TV can be viewed with U-verse at the same time. I have 5 TV 2 of which are HD. Last time I tried U-verse when the HDTV were on the standard tv could not be viewed. With in a month U-verse was gone.
So here I am faced with changing service again and me being with ATT wireless for 14 years, I want to give them a chance plus I like the every room DVR.
Can I get some user input. 
HD quality compared to DTV?
Number of simultaneous live TVs that can be viewed?
Do the channel change when I hit the button? (people with DTV know what Iam talking about)
Is the hardware reliable?
Do the channel go out when it rains? kidding.

1. HD quality is great. I don't see any macroblocking, but I have FTTP (new construction, yay 20ms pings!). I had FTTN at an apartment before this and didn't have any problems then either. Granted, I was about 1500 ft to the VRAD wire distance, so I trained at max.

2. 4 streams max. Period. Can be 4 HD, 4 SD, this doesn't matter, just a max of 4 channels going at the same time. Anything recording counts toward this, watching recorded TV does not. You can pause live TV on any box. You can be limited to less if your wire distance to the VRAD is too long and you can't train at the highest profile.

3. Yes, it's pretty much instant. No lag.

4. Yes. Never had problems with the boxes. I've had problems with the 2wire gateway (it's been replaced twice over 3 years), but they don't use the model I have anymore. (3800B)

[th'FOOL]

2. 4 streams max. Period. Can be 4 HD, 4 SD, this doesn't matter, just a max of 4 channels going at the same time. Anything recording counts toward this, watching recorded TV does not. You can pause live TV on any box. You can be limited to less if your wire distance to the VRAD is too long and you can't train at the highest profile.

Having formerly been a subscriber to U-Verse and forced to choose something else when I moved (and went with DirecTV), I was disappointed to discover that the DirecTV box would only let me record 2 at a time and I had to watch one of them. 4 streams independent of watching is pretty great, can't imagine needing more.

[Zinfan]

2. 4 streams max. Period. Can be 4 HD, 4 SD, this doesn't matter, just a max of 4 channels going at the same time. Anything recording counts toward this, watching recorded TV does not. You can pause live TV on any box. You can be limited to less if your wire distance to the VRAD is too long and you can't train at the highest profile.

Having formerly been a subscriber to U-Verse and forced to choose something else when I moved (and went with DirecTV), I was disappointed to discover that the DirecTV box would only let me record 2 at a time and I had to watch one of them. 4 streams independent of watching is pretty great, can't imagine needing more.

New customers of DirecTV can get the HD-34 DVR that can record up to 5 shows at once.  I called to see if I could get an upgrade but they wanted $399 for the DVR. 

[CeeKay]

I almost went with UVerse, but then found out they didn't support TiVo's so I skipped them, but damn, if they had the 4 HD channels at a time DVR I'd have changed my mind.  too bad the area I'm in currently only has Time Warner Cable, but hell, AT&T didn't even have cell phone service in the area until late last year.

[th'FOOL]

2. 4 streams max. Period. Can be 4 HD, 4 SD, this doesn't matter, just a max of 4 channels going at the same time. Anything recording counts toward this, watching recorded TV does not. You can pause live TV on any box. You can be limited to less if your wire distance to the VRAD is too long and you can't train at the highest profile.

Having formerly been a subscriber to U-Verse and forced to choose something else when I moved (and went with DirecTV), I was disappointed to discover that the DirecTV box would only let me record 2 at a time and I had to watch one of them. 4 streams independent of watching is pretty great, can't imagine needing more.

New customers of DirecTV can get the HD-34 DVR that can record up to 5 shows at once.  I called to see if I could get an upgrade but they wanted $399 for the DVR. 

The first nail in the coffin for DirecTV for me was when I wanted to add another receiver for my daughter's room for her birthday and they wanted $250 plus $15/month for it. (she got a $99 Apple TV instead). I wasn't holding my breath for any kind of new DVR...

[JuniorDan]

2. 4 streams max. Period. Can be 4 HD, 4 SD, this doesn't matter, just a max of 4 channels going at the same time. Anything recording counts toward this, watching recorded TV does not. You can pause live TV on any box. You can be limited to less if your wire distance to the VRAD is too long and you can't train at the highest profile.

I just called ATT to cancel my installation and they put the tech manager on the phone who insist its 8 stream total.
With my 5 tv streaming I can only record 3 shows while viewing TV but a max of 4 can be recorded.
This will work.
I would just hate for the tech to install then have to pull it out because its not so.

[Calavera]

2. 4 streams max. Period. Can be 4 HD, 4 SD, this doesn't matter, just a max of 4 channels going at the same time. Anything recording counts toward this, watching recorded TV does not. You can pause live TV on any box. You can be limited to less if your wire distance to the VRAD is too long and you can't train at the highest profile.

I just called ATT to cancel my installation and they put the tech manager on the phone who insist its 8 stream total.
With my 5 tv streaming I can only record 3 shows while viewing TV but a max of 4 can be recorded.
This will work.
I would just hate for the tech to install then have to pull it out because its not so.

That tech manager was very mistaken.

I should clarify. The max number of unique live TV channels is 4 channels. It doesn't matter, assuming you're on the highest profile, HD vs SD. On lower profiles, you get less HD channels, but you're still limited to 4 "live TV" channels.

For example, say you want to watch/record NBC, ABC, CBS and FOX at the same time.

1. You can watch NBC on one TV, ABC on one TV, CBS on one TV and FOX on one TV. On the 5th TV, you would have to watch recorded TV or the same channel as one of the other TVs.

2. You are recording NBC and ABC on the DVR. You can watch CBS on one TV and FOX on one TV. On the other 3 TVs, you would have to watch recorded TV or the same channel as one of the other TVs.

3. You are recording NBC, ABC, CBS, and FOX on the DVR. On all 5 TVs, you have to watch recorded TV or the same channel as is being recorded.

For all of these, if someone wanted to watch Cartoon Network, they wouldn't be able to without someone changing from NBC, ABC, CBS or FOX to Cartoon Network.

Here is AT&T's official explaination:
http://www.att.com/esupport/article.jsp?sid=KB401042&title=Understanding+U-verse+TV+streams#fbid=mdidjeQRxJX

[Scuzz]

How many TV can be viewed with U-verse at the same time. I have 5 TV 2 of which are HD. Last time I tried U-verse when the HDTV were on the standard tv could not be viewed. With in a month U-verse was gone.
So here I am faced with changing service again and me being with ATT wireless for 14 years, I want to give them a chance plus I like the every room DVR.
Can I get some user input. 
HD quality compared to DTV?
Number of simultaneous live TVs that can be viewed?
Do the channel change when I hit the button? (people with DTV know what Iam talking about)
Is the hardware reliable?
Do the channel go out when it rains? kidding.

Don't know about the HD questions. We use 3 TV's but I haven't heard of any limitations. The DVR will record/play four items at a time and we have never filled it up. The channels change quick enough. The system has been much more reliable than Dish and other than the occasional blip we have had no problems. With Dish we would have to re-boot the system from time to time and in bad weather we would lose the signal, that doesn't happen with u-verse.

[Scuzz]

2. 4 streams max. Period. Can be 4 HD, 4 SD, this doesn't matter, just a max of 4 channels going at the same time. Anything recording counts toward this, watching recorded TV does not. You can pause live TV on any box. You can be limited to less if your wire distance to the VRAD is too long and you can't train at the highest profile.

I just called ATT to cancel my installation and they put the tech manager on the phone who insist its 8 stream total.
With my 5 tv streaming I can only record 3 shows while viewing TV but a max of 4 can be recorded.
This will work.
I would just hate for the tech to install then have to pull it out because its not so.

That tech manager was very mistaken.

I should clarify. The max number of unique live TV channels is 4 channels. It doesn't matter, assuming you're on the highest profile, HD vs SD. On lower profiles, you get less HD channels, but you're still limited to 4 "live TV" channels.

For example, say you want to watch/record NBC, ABC, CBS and FOX at the same time.

1. You can watch NBC on one TV, ABC on one TV, CBS on one TV and FOX on one TV. On the 5th TV, you would have to watch recorded TV or the same channel as one of the other TVs.

2. You are recording NBC and ABC on the DVR. You can watch CBS on one TV and FOX on one TV. On the other 3 TVs, you would have to watch recorded TV or the same channel as one of the other TVs.

3. You are recording NBC, ABC, CBS, and FOX on the DVR. On all 5 TVs, you have to watch recorded TV or the same channel as is being recorded.

For all of these, if someone wanted to watch Cartoon Network, they wouldn't be able to without someone changing from NBC, ABC, CBS or FOX to Cartoon Network.

Here is AT&T's official explaination:
http://www.att.com/esupport/article.jsp?sid=KB401042&title=Understanding+U-verse+TV+streams#fbid=mdidjeQRxJX

I do believe that is all correct as explained.

[rickfc]

Why, when viewing this thread, did my iPod launch the App Store and load the Slots Journey page? Is this some new form of advertising, or is it one of my background Apps doing it?

I peruse the forums on my iphone constantly, and I have yet to see anything like this. For it to launch the app store it would have to autoload the web page for the app first, which would trigger the app store to open to the equivalent page there. I'll keep an eye on it, but I'll need multiple instances of a specific ad causing such an action to report to our ad network.

I have had this happen more than twice now using Chrome for iOS on different threads.

[th'FOOL]

Ok, I need to know which ad it is specifically

[rickfc]

Ok, I need to know which ad it is specifically

Same one that heloder mentioned. Slots Journey.

[th'FOOL]

Ok, I need to know which ad it is specifically

Same one that heloder mentioned. Slots Journey.

Did you see an actual Slots Journey ad? I need to be very explicit when I request a blacklist from our ad network

[corruptrelic]

2. 4 streams max. Period. Can be 4 HD, 4 SD, this doesn't matter, just a max of 4 channels going at the same time. Anything recording counts toward this, watching recorded TV does not. You can pause live TV on any box. You can be limited to less if your wire distance to the VRAD is too long and you can't train at the highest profile.

Having formerly been a subscriber to U-Verse and forced to choose something else when I moved (and went with DirecTV), I was disappointed to discover that the DirecTV box would only let me record 2 at a time and I had to watch one of them. 4 streams independent of watching is pretty great, can't imagine needing more.

New customers of DirecTV can get the HD-34 DVR that can record up to 5 shows at once.  I called to see if I could get an upgrade but they wanted $399 for the DVR. 

Have you threatened to cancel service? Tell them you can get it free with Dish or Comcast they might work with you. When I signed up for DTV
I originally got a SDR DVR. About 6 months into my 2 year contract I got a HDTV and wanted to upgrade. When calling they first said they'd need to charge me $199 for the HD DVR, told them I was ready to go to Dish because I could get it for free and they had "HD for life free" so was transferred to retentions and they offered me the HD DVR for free if I extended my 2 year contract. (Being 6 months in it wasn't that big of a deal.) They also gave me a 2 year $10 credit for the HD.

I had no intention of leaving, but it didn't hurt to try.. and it worked.

[Soulchilde]

So Viacom has decided to pull the shows from the internet and tells users to call DirecTV to give them more money..  


Sheesh

[rickfc]

Ok, I need to know which ad it is specifically

Same one that heloder mentioned. Slots Journey.

Did you see an actual Slots Journey ad? I need to be very explicit when I request a blacklist from our ad network

Nope. The thread starts to load, and then you're taken to the app store to the app page.

[heloder]

I've had it happen three times now but I'm almost certain two of those times were when I was on the Futuremark forums, so it's definitely not just Gaming Trend.

[Isgrimnur]

So Viacom has decided to pull the shows from the internet and tells users to call DirecTV to give them more money.. 

Sheesh

While I was willing to see the overall dispute as business as usual, one that I've seen played out a handful of times before, this move puts me solidly in the anti-Viacom camp.  That's dirty pool to impact everyone else that has no stake in their DirecTV negotiations.

[Crusis]

Quick story about Directv:

When I wanted to upgrade my DVR last year I went through the steps of ordering one from their website for a $100 (they had a special). I had the older box - can't remember the model number,  but it was slow as molasses. They advertised the latest model so I ordered it as an upgrade. I was shocked when I got the exact same box in the mail that I already owned. I called to complain and process a refund. I sent the new box back and after a month of not getting my upgrade I called to bitch them out for the shoddy customer service as well as the fact that they sent me an old box.

The guy that helped me was amazing. Not only did he refund my money, and shipping, he setup an appointment with a local rep to deliver a brand new box. A few days later the tech showed up and installed the box as well as checked my dish and lines. Best of all, they did it all for free.

After years of crap service from other companies I am still shocked at how well I was treated by DTV. They certainly bought some loyalty.

[Jag]

Quick story about Directv:

When I wanted to upgrade my DVR last year I went through the steps of ordering one from their website for a $100 (they had a special). I had the older box - can't remember the model number,  but it was slow as molasses. They advertised the latest model so I ordered it as an upgrade. I was shocked when I got the exact same box in the mail that I already owned. I called to complain and process a refund. I sent the new box back and after a month of not getting my upgrade I called to bitch them out for the shoddy customer service as well as the fact that they sent me an old box.

The guy that helped me was amazing. Not only did he refund my money, and shipping, he setup an appointment with a local rep to deliver a brand new box. A few days later the tech showed up and installed the box as well as checked my dish and lines. Best of all, they did it all for free.

After years of crap service from other companies I am still shocked at how well I was treated by DTV. They certainly bought some loyalty.

Their CS is definitely hit or miss. I've had some great reps and some bad ones. I've gone the retention route a few times but I'm tired of doing it and yelling at them. It takes a toll on me. I don't want to have to keep fighting my cable company.

[corruptrelic]

I've always had good experiences with DTV. Them allowing me to upgrade to a HD DVR (from SD) only 6 months into my contract was generous and anytime I've had any issue they've always fixed it.

Apparently today DirecTV offered to put Viacom's channels back on the air while negotiations continue, but Viacom won't allow it.

Even though it sucks missing so many channels, I do hope DirecTV stands their ground on this one as the more they give in to Viacom the more we'll see it on our monthly bill. (And they've already said they offered more money to them  - just not the 30% increase Viacom wants.)