Why Is DIRECTV Ignoring HDTV?

eHDMI · 09-10-2009, 06:01 AM

Quote:

What the hell happened to DIRECTV?

The nation's largest satcaster once was the darling of high-def viewers, offering more HD channels than any other TV provider. In 2007 and early 2008, DIRECTV boosted its HD lineup from nine to more than 100 channels.

Story

JPL · 09-10-2009, 09:21 AM

I think Swanni is pretty off the mark with this. Granted, it appears that DirecTV has stopped expanding its HD lineup. However, why this catches anyone off-guard is amazing to me. When DirecTV launched D10, the goal was clear - serious expansion of national HD channels. D11's goal, which seemed pretty clear at the time it was launched, was very different. First off, DirecTV went on a local HD bender - they've been adding HD locals at a brisk clip. That was part of what D11 was all about - that and the fact that from what I understand part of the spot-beam capability of D10 was damaged, and wasn't operating to full capacity, limiting what that satellite could do for local HD feeds.

A second goal of D11 was to complete their migration of HD channels from mpeg-2 to mpeg-4. All of their legacy HD channels were still mpeg-2... D11 changed that. Add all that up, and you quickly see how much space on D11 all of that consumed.

Their next satellite is D12, set to go up late this year/early next year. The goal for that one will clearly be to expand national HD channels once again. It wouldn't shock me to see them add 50 national HD channels early in 2010.

I know there's an impression that all of these changes 'happen overnight'. Why, DirecTV came out of nowhere to become the HD leader! Nowhere? You mean there wasn't years of planning that went into that little coup? Of course there was. The fact that cable providers have been catching up should catch noone by surprise either. Of course they were going to catch up. And what's more, DirecTV pretty much forced these other providers to get past alot of the bandwidth issues that they'd been dealing with. Because DirecTV drew that line in the sand, these other providers got past their squeamishness with things like analog elimination, or doing SDV/IP for video.

Now its DirecTV's turn to play catch-up again. It takes time for these things to turn around. When DirecTV became the HD leader, I said that they would hold that spot for maybe 12 - 18 months. That within that time other providers would not only catch up with them, but would surpass them. And shazaam! That's happened. Why, exactly, is this a shock to anyone?

Finally, I do think DirecTV has made some bad moves lately. Dropping Vs., to me, was a biggie. Adding a boatload of HD PPV feeds, when they could be using some of that space for linear HD channels was another. But I think, overall, their strategy makes sense. For example, serious expansion of locals puts them more on par with cable outfits (when I had DirecTV, and was looking to go HD, one big stumbling block for me was the lack of HD locals that they offered - Verizon offered alot more, which was one reason I switched to FiOS). Locals are clearly important to subscribers, and DirecTV had some serious catching up to do on that front.

As for wanting to be a better buy-out candidate - huh? That just makes no sense. They want to keep costs down... so they're about to launch another satellite? Huh? I think they're just grinding through the normal ebb and flow of the business world. Besides, if you look at their subscriber rates, its hard to claim that they've been making the wrong moves. Even after many other providers have played catch-up, DirecTV still keeps adding customers hand over fist. They were adding them so fast that after the first quarter they made a conscious decision to find ways to slow down new subscriber additions. They didn't want to grow too fast.

I think Swanni made some interesting observations, but I think his basic premise is just crap.

hoorta · 09-11-2009, 12:34 AM

Wow, no VS HD? That had better get resolved before next year's Tour de France or there's gonna be a lot of seriously POed cycling fans calling customer retention.

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09-10-2009, 09:21 AM	#2
JPL High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Downingtown, PA Posts: 2,095	I think Swanni is pretty off the mark with this. Granted, it appears that DirecTV has stopped expanding its HD lineup. However, why this catches anyone off-guard is amazing to me. When DirecTV launched D10, the goal was clear - serious expansion of national HD channels. D11's goal, which seemed pretty clear at the time it was launched, was very different. First off, DirecTV went on a local HD bender - they've been adding HD locals at a brisk clip. That was part of what D11 was all about - that and the fact that from what I understand part of the spot-beam capability of D10 was damaged, and wasn't operating to full capacity, limiting what that satellite could do for local HD feeds. A second goal of D11 was to complete their migration of HD channels from mpeg-2 to mpeg-4. All of their legacy HD channels were still mpeg-2... D11 changed that. Add all that up, and you quickly see how much space on D11 all of that consumed. Their next satellite is D12, set to go up late this year/early next year. The goal for that one will clearly be to expand national HD channels once again. It wouldn't shock me to see them add 50 national HD channels early in 2010. I know there's an impression that all of these changes 'happen overnight'. Why, DirecTV came out of nowhere to become the HD leader! Nowhere? You mean there wasn't years of planning that went into that little coup? Of course there was. The fact that cable providers have been catching up should catch noone by surprise either. Of course they were going to catch up. And what's more, DirecTV pretty much forced these other providers to get past alot of the bandwidth issues that they'd been dealing with. Because DirecTV drew that line in the sand, these other providers got past their squeamishness with things like analog elimination, or doing SDV/IP for video. Now its DirecTV's turn to play catch-up again. It takes time for these things to turn around. When DirecTV became the HD leader, I said that they would hold that spot for maybe 12 - 18 months. That within that time other providers would not only catch up with them, but would surpass them. And shazaam! That's happened. Why, exactly, is this a shock to anyone? Finally, I do think DirecTV has made some bad moves lately. Dropping Vs., to me, was a biggie. Adding a boatload of HD PPV feeds, when they could be using some of that space for linear HD channels was another. But I think, overall, their strategy makes sense. For example, serious expansion of locals puts them more on par with cable outfits (when I had DirecTV, and was looking to go HD, one big stumbling block for me was the lack of HD locals that they offered - Verizon offered alot more, which was one reason I switched to FiOS). Locals are clearly important to subscribers, and DirecTV had some serious catching up to do on that front. As for wanting to be a better buy-out candidate - huh? That just makes no sense. They want to keep costs down... so they're about to launch another satellite? Huh? I think they're just grinding through the normal ebb and flow of the business world. Besides, if you look at their subscriber rates, its hard to claim that they've been making the wrong moves. Even after many other providers have played catch-up, DirecTV still keeps adding customers hand over fist. They were adding them so fast that after the first quarter they made a conscious decision to find ways to slow down new subscriber additions. They didn't want to grow too fast. I think Swanni made some interesting observations, but I think his basic premise is just crap.

09-11-2009, 12:34 AM	#3
hoorta High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 255	Wow, no VS HD? That had better get resolved before next year's Tour de France or there's gonna be a lot of seriously POed cycling fans calling customer retention.