Talk about stupid. DirecTV raising prices in March

[Snake Doctor]

As of March 4, 2009, DirecTV will be raising prices.

What kind of fucking idiot signed off on this? In the middle of the worst recession since the depression when everyone is cutting back on everything discretionary....they're going to raise prices?

I bet they lose a shitload of customers over this. The idiot who made this decision will probably be looking for a job soon.

[dyna mo]

welp, good thing they have their customers locked down with contracts

[stickyfingerz]

Probably because there are no more airborne stations as of feb 19th or something. So a lot of people in rural areas with no other option will go dtv.

[dial]

welp, good thing they have their customers locked down with contracts

what contracts? I have been with them for over 8 years and you are the FIRST person I have ever seen mention any contract

i will NEVER change from DirecTV, even with a price change, they are by far the best pay tv service out there, comcast can't even come CLOSE to what they provide, especially with my dual tuner tivo built into my directv unit

[dyna mo]

only way to get the service now is a 2 year contract with direct tv.

[collegeboobies]

Hmm I'm gonna lower my package I guess if they raise the price.. I"m giving them $100 a month and I'm pissed about it already

[Angry Jew Cat - Banned for Life]

DirectTv is uncrackable as far as I know, they have no worries about people stealing their service via FTA, and if people want it the have to pay for it. FTA receivers are taking a hit right now. ExpressVu has been switching over to the new Nagra3 encyption, and has probably migrated all their channels over by now. DishNetwork is still opened up, but can be a bit of a bitch. It sounds like they are gonna jump on board with Nagra3 soon too, which will tie up A LOT of the people who are leaching these companies services. There's no better time than now to up the prices...

[dyna mo]

only way to get the service now is a 2 year contract with direct tv.

correction, 18 months service leases are an option for regualr service but HD+ requires a 2 year commitment.

[MetaMan]

you're the idiot.

[Barefootsies]

There's no better time than now to up the prices...

[IllTestYourGirls]

Comcast has been raising their prices AND taking away channels

[dial]

correction, 18 months service leases are an option for regualr service but HD+ requires a 2 year commitment.

rofl, glad I don't give a shit about HD

[dyna mo]

not sure what your point is, directv still has a large majority of it's customers on lockdown via contracts, so my original post still stands.

[mynameisjim]

I'm tempted to buy a rooftop antenna and see what the OTA HD signal looks like. I only get cable for the picture as there is never anything worthwhile to watch and it's over $100 a month. Seriously, how many times can you watch the same episode of Mythbusters or the same movie aired over and over again every weekend. It's all crap.

[Phil21]

That does suck.. Going up $6 for me. bleh.

[Brad Mitchell]

Everyone has an imperative to be profitable... hopefully they are making the right choice.

Brad

[tony286]

Everyone has an imperative to be profitable... hopefully they are making the right choice.

Brad

They do but good business is dont kick the customer on the way down.

[After Shock Media]

They do but good business is dont kick the customer on the way down.

Nor do they lay people off, nor fire people, nor start sending jobs offshore to cut costs, nor cut health insurance (dental, vision, drug), nor cut retirement plans, and blah blah.
Sometimes companies have to do something to stay profitable and it is very hard to have it all ways.

Often I would rather see companies fire people instead of raising prices, especially since often to many have redundant jobs or people that will only do one particular job even if they could do another only because it is not in their job description. Of course this would be highly unpopular as well and I suppose even worse for todays markets.

[Jim_Gunn]

rofl, glad I don't give a shit about HD

I used to not care about HD with my DirecTV service and DirecTivo device, but then I purchased a 52" LCD HDTV and got the HD package and the difference is night and day! I can hardly bear to watch SD tv shows anymore! My price actually went down a bit since I had an old plan and got some incentives to sign a new contract like $10 off a month and a free DirecTV HD DVR.

[geedub]

I'm tempted to buy a rooftop antenna and see what the OTA HD signal looks like. I only get cable for the picture as there is never anything worthwhile to watch and it's over $100 a month. Seriously, how many times can you watch the same episode of Mythbusters or the same movie aired over and over again every weekend. It's all crap.

www.antennaweb.org

punch in your addy, it'll tell you how far away the towers are and where to point your antenna. you'll be quite surprised in the quality

[dial]

I used to not care about HD with my DirecTV service and DirecTivo device, but then I purchased a 52" LCD HDTV and got the HD package and the difference is night and day! I can hardly bear to watch SD tv shows anymore! My price actually went down a bit since I had an old plan and got some incentives to sign a new contract like $10 off a month and a free DirecTV HD DVR.

oh, i have a HD tv, I just don't care enough about quality to warrant paying that much more for the directivo hd, etc

shit, I am ok with watching bootlegged movies filmed by a camcorder in the theatre

[Jim_Gunn]

oh, i have a HD tv, I just don't care enough about quality to warrant paying that much more for the directivo hd, etc

shit, I am ok with watching bootlegged movies filmed by a camcorder in the theatre

You don't have to pay more. If you are a new DirecTV customer or your contract is coming up or you are out of contract you can easily get a free two line HD DVR and discounts that make it cost the same or less than you are paying now for murky SD programming.

[dial]

You don't have to pay more. If you are a new DirecTV customer or your contract is coming up or you are out of contract you can easily get a free two line HD DVR and discounts that make it cost the same or less than you are paying now for murky SD programming.

and give up TIVO? FUCK NO...LOL

I will wait til tivo and directv start making new units this year and get another one for $50 like I got this one

[jmcb420]

rofl, glad I don't give a shit about HD

If you saw it, you would. I just got all hooked up with it in the fall and its amazing.

I can tell when Conan O'Brian hasn't shaved or when Matt Lauer needs to get more sleep.

I cant wait for sundays game, HDTV football is great.

[gooddomains]

damn it, that really sucks

[dial]

If you saw it, you would. I just got all hooked up with it in the fall and its amazing.

I can tell when Conan O'Brian hasn't shaved or when Matt Lauer needs to get more sleep.

I cant wait for sundays game, HDTV football is great.

like I mentioned already, I have an HD set, just don't get into the whole full time HD thing

I don't wanna see conan's zits

[Jim_Gunn]

and give up TIVO? FUCK NO...LOL

I will wait til tivo and directv start making new units this year and get another one for $50 like I got this one

I was a big Tivo fan as well for years, but switching to the DirecTV branded DVR has been pretty painless to me. The interface is a bit different, but still pretty user friendly and it emulates the core functions of a Tivo DVR pretty well like season passes, an 6 second rewind, and a to do list, priorities, only recording new episodes etc.. As a matter of fact the DirecTV DVR has a couple of features that I like more such including a faster fast forward.

[dial]

I was a big Tivo fan as well for years, but switching to the DirecTV branded DVR has been pretty painless to me. The interface is a bit different, but still pretty user friendly and it emulates the core functions of a Tivo DVR pretty well like season passes, an 6 second rewind, and a to do list, priorities, only recording new episodes etc.. As a matter of fact the DirecTV DVR has a couple of features that I like more such including a faster fast forward.

what about netflix built in, amazon online movies and suggestions? those are some of my favorite features

[dial]

I was a big Tivo fan as well for years, but switching to the DirecTV branded DVR has been pretty painless to me. The interface is a bit different, but still pretty user friendly and it emulates the core functions of a Tivo DVR pretty well like season passes, an 6 second rewind, and a to do list, priorities, only recording new episodes etc.. As a matter of fact the DirecTV DVR has a couple of features that I like more such including a faster fast forward.

oh, and I can't forget tivo sharing from the other tivos in our household....we can share shows and movies from each others tivos, and there are 4 of them in this house, so that is pretty cool, I can browse anyone elses tivo in the house and grab shit

[dial]

I was a big Tivo fan as well for years, but switching to the DirecTV branded DVR has been pretty painless to me. The interface is a bit different, but still pretty user friendly and it emulates the core functions of a Tivo DVR pretty well like season passes, an 6 second rewind, and a to do list, priorities, only recording new episodes etc.. As a matter of fact the DirecTV DVR has a couple of features that I like more such including a faster fast forward.

OH, shit...one more thing...controlling my tivo over the internet from anywhere in the world via an http address ;)

[TheDoc]

Nice thing with DirectTV is you can quit or threaten to quit, and they will lower the price. You can get the package you have now, cut in half.. even if you have a contract, buying it out is worth it since they will come back and offer you the same cable package you had for half the price.

[The Truth Hurts]

comcast can't even come CLOSE to what they provide, especially with my dual tuner tivo built into my directv unit

comcast has a dual tuner hd dvr that works just fine....

[Hank_Heartland]

As of March 4, 2009, DirecTV will be raising prices.

What kind of fucking idiot signed off on this? In the middle of the worst recession since the depression when everyone is cutting back on everything discretionary....they're going to raise prices?

I bet they lose a shitload of customers over this. The idiot who made this decision will probably be looking for a job soon.

No, he'll probably get a $ 10,000,000 bonus

[MikeSmoke]

As much as I'd like to drop DirectTV, I can't until they lose their exclusive on the NFL Sunday Ticket - which is why I bought it years ago. And I've never been on a contract - haven't heard a word from them about one, either.

[Kard63]

DirectTv is uncrackable as far as I know, they have no worries about people stealing their service via FTA, and if people want it the have to pay for it. FTA receivers are taking a hit right now. ExpressVu has been switching over to the new Nagra3 encyption, and has probably migrated all their channels over by now. DishNetwork is still opened up, but can be a bit of a bitch. It sounds like they are gonna jump on board with Nagra3 soon too, which will tie up A LOT of the people who are leaching these companies services. There's no better time than now to up the prices...

I read the new Directv technology only hasn't been hacked because the hacked stuff can no longer be legally marketed in Canada so it isn't worth major R&D. Since everything else was hacked within a year and it has been about 4 years I tend to believe that.

[dyna mo]

from their website:

Overview of what you're agreeing to as a DIRECTV customer.
Fees/Frequency Explanation
Programming Agreements 18-24 months of service for at least $29.99/month You agree to pay for 18 consecutive months (for standard receivers) or 24 consecutive months (for HD and/or DVR receivers) of a $29.99/month or greater programming package.

[candyflip]

I'm tempted to buy a rooftop antenna and see what the OTA HD signal looks like.

Doesn't look any different from the HD content you'd get from the cable channel.

[tony286]

Nor do they lay people off, nor fire people, nor start sending jobs offshore to cut costs, nor cut health insurance (dental, vision, drug), nor cut retirement plans, and blah blah.
Sometimes companies have to do something to stay profitable and it is very hard to have it all ways.

Often I would rather see companies fire people instead of raising prices, especially since often to many have redundant jobs or people that will only do one particular job even if they could do another only because it is not in their job description. Of course this would be highly unpopular as well and I suppose even worse for todays markets.

Nice rant but it has nothing to do with what I said.actually its not the same thing. you have customers mistaken with employees.I said nothing about employees. Raising prices in difficult times just for the sake of raising them creates customer disloyality. once something else comes along they are gone.

[Azoy?]

They probably did it and going to see the reaction from people. If they see customers complain they will drop rates again but my opinion is they should have dropped the rates to begin with to get more customers on board and lower their cost per customer overall.

[baddog]

Nice rant but it has nothing to do with what I said.actually its not the same thing. you have customers mistaken with employees.I said nothing about employees. Raising prices in difficult times just for the sake of raising them creates customer disloyality. once something else comes along they are gone.

Raising for the sake of raising? I highly doubt it they are just doing it to fuck with people.

COLA has gone up. They are going to lose customers because of the economy. They are going to gain customers because of TV going digital.

People watch TV, It is cheap entertainment. I would be willing to be this price increase is not going to have a negative effect on their bottom line.

[dyna mo]

directv is doing just fine::


So DirecTV(DTV Quote - Cramer on DTV - Stock Picks) is as close to a "consumer staple" provider as any "consumer discretionary" firm might hope to be.
Analysts expect DirecTV's earnings per share to increase 15.5% to $1.35 for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31 from $1.20 a year earlier. Bleak prospects for the overall economy haven't discouraged analysts from forecasting a 28.1% gain for the current year, to $1.78 per share.

[selena]

Doesn't look any different from the HD content you'd get from the cable channel.

I've read a good bit about OTA anntennas, in my quest to keep Sunday Ticket and get local stations. From everything I've read, OTA HD quality surpasses anything that cable delivers.

[selena]

As much as I'd like to drop DirectTV, I can't until they lose their exclusive on the NFL Sunday Ticket - which is why I bought it years ago. And I've never been on a contract - haven't heard a word from them about one, either.

Sunday Ticket is why I went with them. From the small talk I've made with their support/installation people, I think they'll fight like crazy to keep NFL ST, as that is a huge draw in terms of their customer base.

And I can see why, because having it is a football lover's dream. That said, I did pay for the Super Fan package this year, and I don't think I'd pay that again. I love seeing the games in HD, but I'm not sure it is worth the extra $.

[clickhappy]

Comcast has been raising their prices AND taking away channels

comcast raised my price from $125/month (phone/internet/cable tv) to $155/month. I took the bill to their office and said cancel my account, Im not paying this higher price and im going to Verizon Fios.
They changed me right back to $125/month on the spot

[dyna mo]

just got the email

Dear DIRECTV Customer,

Because your business is important to us, we want you to know about any changes to your DIRECTV service as far in advance as possible.

On March 4, 2009, new pricing will be applied to DIRECTV® programming packages and services. Click here for more complete details.

[brassmonkey]

fuckin raping thats what makes warez strong

[Angry Jew Cat - Banned for Life]

I read the new Directv technology only hasn't been hacked because the hacked stuff can no longer be legally marketed in Canada so it isn't worth major R&D. Since everything else was hacked within a year and it has been about 4 years I tend to believe that.

Well uncrackable isn't the right word, just extremely difficult. People most definitely tried, but it was quite a task. Why bother when ExpressVu and DishNetwork were still wide open? With the two of them sealed up who knows, maybe it will be worth it for satellite pirates to take another shot at DTV? I still have a feeling someone will crack the Nagra3 encryption before we see DTV open up.