Captain Caveman Posted March 24, 2009 Posted March 24, 2009 Fixed. There is no practical way they can determine who can and who cannot receive DirecTV, unless they want to send people out to individual homes for site surveys. That to me says that they worded the press release in a poor way, and that anyone who wants it will be able to receive it online. Actually, they pretty much already use the same language on getting a refund when you buy DirecTV equipment / service. The practical way to determine if you can't get service is to try and buy it. Someone comes to your house to hook it up, and if they're unable to get signal, you'll get some paperwork which says so. I'm pretty sure they're not going to be selling Sunday Ticket to anyone unless you've tried, and been unable to get normal DirecTV service.
Chandler#81 Posted March 24, 2009 Posted March 24, 2009 Wait, is $1 billion a year correct? Yep! Dispersed among all teams. Cha-freakin' Ching!
KD in CA Posted March 24, 2009 Posted March 24, 2009 So....in 3 years I still won't have Sunday Ticket available via my cable provider, but I might be able to get some watered down NFL Network-lite station that has yet to be created. Hang on, let me grab the champaign.
Ned Flanders Posted March 24, 2009 Posted March 24, 2009 http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=206...&refer=home So, Bloomberg is reporting that the price DTV will be paying the NFL will go up 43 percent? I wonder who that "increase" will be passed down to? With Super Fan, I'm already paying north of $300/year...but like Chandler81 sez, I can't imagine Sundays without the Ticket...but jeeziz, a 43 percent hike?!?!
sweatpantsjoe Posted March 24, 2009 Posted March 24, 2009 I used to fall into this category because I lived in an apartment building and they wouldn't allow us to have direct tv because I didn't have a balcony. I have since moved, but who knows where I'll be living by 2012, so this is huge. Also, if any of you have ever seen the NHL Center Ice or MLB Extra Innings online package you would know that the quality is very good, it is television broadcast quality, and the viewing options are great. The NFL should have came out with this idea a long time ago.
Stl Bills Posted March 24, 2009 Posted March 24, 2009 Am I the only one here who thinks this sucks, I was hoping DirectTV wouldn't get an exclusive contract....I remember when Sunday Ticket was like $150 not $360 like it is now with Superfan. Now DirectTV can keep raising the price as the please since once again there is no competition. FYI- YOU CAN GET SUPERFAN FOR FREE!!!!! If you are getting Sunday Ticket for the first time just call and ask about it and tell them you want superfan. Then when they tell you the price just tell them that its too expensive and that you might consider Sunday Ticket at the normal price but that you don't won't it if its not in HD. If you are a renewing subscriber with superfan you can call to cancel your sunday ticket and tell them its too expensive, and they will offer to throw it in for free. The only year I had to pay for Superfan was the year before last because I forgot to call before the renew date (which is in like Freaking April, when the last thing on your mind is getting billed for something that starts in September ).
May Day 10 Posted March 24, 2009 Posted March 24, 2009 I was angry about the exclusivity contract. Last summer I got Directv after I became fed up with yet another cable company. I have moved around the country and ALWAYS have issues with cable companies. I couldnt be happier with Directv.
agilen Posted March 24, 2009 Posted March 24, 2009 Am I the only one here who thinks this sucks, I was hoping DirectTV wouldn't get an exclusive contract....I remember when Sunday Ticket was like $150 not $360 like it is now with Superfan. Now DirectTV can keep raising the price as the please since once again there is no competition. Yeah, I think this is awful. I don't understand why anyone can think this is a good deal....MLB and NHL show their games online for a (reasonable) price. You can pay ala carte to watch a large number of college sports online. The NFL and DirecTV are in the stone age, and it looks like that isn't going to change any time soon. This is pretty much awful news
LabattBlue Posted March 24, 2009 Posted March 24, 2009 Somebody wake me up when the NFL opens up the season ticket to all cable providers. Until that time, I will continue to pass on putting a giant wok on the side of my house.
muddy waters Posted March 24, 2009 Posted March 24, 2009 I'm so tired of this Direct TV stuff. I do not understand why the NFL does not institute some kind of a pay-per-view for fans who want to watch one game that is not televised locally. I would think that there is a big market for this. It is not practical for me to get Direct TV, and I just want to watch the Bills games at home. Give me a price and I will pay it. By sticking with the exclusive Direct TV contract, it seems to me that the NFL is missing out on customers like me who are willing to pay for one game each week. I'm sick and tired of having to go to a local bar every Sunday and spend all kinds of money or food and drinks while putting up with obnoxious crowds.
Chandler#81 Posted March 24, 2009 Posted March 24, 2009 One aspect of this article not yet covered is the offering of the RedZone channel to eveyone -cable subscribers as well, in the near future. I gotta tell ya folks, this is a great channel!! I have come to ONLY watch this channel after/before the Bills games. Every game is being watched in studio and they quickly send the viewers to any game where there's about to be a score. Often, they'll split screen for any 2 games nearing a score. If they miss a big scoring play from a game, they immediately show the replay. It's exciting as hell! Oh, and the best part: absolutely NO COMMERCIALS!! You'll love it, I'm sure!
Fezmid Posted March 25, 2009 Posted March 25, 2009 Am I the only one here who thinks this sucks, I was hoping DirectTV wouldn't get an exclusive contract....I remember when Sunday Ticket was like $150 not $360 like it is now with Superfan. Now DirectTV can keep raising the price as the please since once again there is no competition. I remember when player contracts were only $2,000,000/season instead of $12,000,000/season. You can't expect salaries to spiral out of control, but everything else stay the same - where do you think they get the cash to pay the contracts?
slyng1 Posted March 25, 2009 Posted March 25, 2009 Welcome to Monopoly economics. Since the NFL has a monopoly on their product they can charge pretty much whatever they want. Why charge $10/game a la carte vs. $300/yr for the ticket? The marginal person who pays for the single-games doesn't outweigh the money lost from the people who then don't subscribe the ticket. I'll use myself as an example - I live near NYC, so I get the 2 jets games every year, 2-4 more i'll probably watch at a bar, so at most i'm in the market for maybe 10 bills games. If I buy a la cart, that's around $100 for the NFL. If I buy the ticket, it's that more like $300 for the NFL, not to mention all the money I'll be paying DTV on an ongoing basis for my cable service. The NFL would need 3 of me to make up for every 1 DTV subscriber they lose. Maybe that math works, but my guess is that it doesn't. From DTV's perspective, if NFL were available online in a widespread manner, they'd lose god knows how many subscribers. If NFL were available on cable or online it would diminish the value of the contracts that are in place with CBS & Fox. So everyone wins with the DTV deal -- that is, everyone benefits except for consumers like you and me. As one wall street analyst said, the NFL contract is like a drug for DirectTV - you need it to survive (i.e. retain customers) but each time you take the drug, it gets you less high (i.e. DTV isn't gaining any customers by doing the deal, just retaining the ones they have). As for me, when i don't feel like wasting money at a bar, I'll just go over to justin.tv, sopcast, or just give my relatives in Buffalo a slingbox for Christmas.
Miyagi-Do Karate Posted March 25, 2009 Posted March 25, 2009 FWIW, as a 19 year subscriber to Sunday Ticket -now with 'Superfan', I feel like I'm paying a billion bucks for it.. Can't comprehend life without it though. Ditto. I've actually told people that there is no price that would be too high for Sunday Ticket. It is a necessity for any self-respecting, out-of-state Bills fan.
Fezmid Posted March 25, 2009 Posted March 25, 2009 If I buy a la cart, that's around $100 for the NFL. If I buy the ticket, it's that more like $300 for the NFL, Actually, the NFL doesn't get anything... DirecTV has already paid for the rights to do the broadcasts, the NFL doesn't get any more money by how many people sign up. As one wall street analyst said, the NFL contract is like a drug for DirectTV - you need it to survive (i.e. retain customers) but each time you take the drug, it gets you less high (i.e. DTV isn't gaining any customers by doing the deal, just retaining the ones they have). Maybe you meant this as a major oversimplification -- but DirecTV doesn't need the Ticket to survive. Dish is doing just fine without it, and they're basically providing the same service. It helps their business, but isn't needed to survive. If the Ticket were available on cable and DirecTV, I doubt DirecTV would lose all that many customers as most people who have them, love their service. At the same time, they are definitely gaining customers by keeping the Ticket. Every year on TSW you see folks saying that they've switched because of the Ticket and that they now love DirecTV. Heck, there's at least one person in this thread who said that.
Chandler#81 Posted March 25, 2009 Posted March 25, 2009 -- but DirecTV doesn't need the Ticket to survive. Dish is doing just fine without it, and they're basically providing the same service. It helps their business, but isn't needed to survive. If the Ticket were available on cable and DirecTV, I doubt DirecTV would lose all that many customers as most people who have them, love their service. Spot on. DTV has about 120 HD channels and adds more every month. Their service -on line or on site- is great, and their channel formatting is a breeze. Talk to another subscriber 3000 miles away and you're still talking about the same channel and time frame. They had a bad name early on in the '90's with service and weather issues, and cable lovers have hung to that as reason to avoid it. Simply not true. Did I mention it's the ONLY place to see the NFL??
Fezmid Posted March 25, 2009 Posted March 25, 2009 Spot on. DTV has about 120 HD channels and adds more every month. Their service -on line or on site- is great, and their channel formatting is a breeze. Talk to another subscriber 3000 miles away and you're still talking about the same channel and time frame. They had a bad name early on in the '90's with service and weather issues, and cable lovers have hung to that as reason to avoid it. Simply not true. Did I mention it's the ONLY place to see the NFL?? Yeah, the weather thing is completely overblown now. I used to lose signal during major downpours about 5-6 times a year, and only for about 5-10 minutes at most each time. However since I upgraded to the 5-LNB dish (required for all of the HD channels), I haven't lost signal at all -- more surface area on the dish makes the signal stronger and less prone to rain fade. So now I get over 100 HD channels PLUS I never have to worry about losing the signal. Three people where I work have switched in the past 6 months or so, and they're all love it as well -- and one of them even referred a family member to switch over too. Only 1 of those 4 people bought Sunday Ticket.
NorthWesternBill Posted March 25, 2009 Posted March 25, 2009 DirectTV sounds wonderful... But I have been unable to get the service due to the apts i have lived in the past few years. Currently, I live on the north side of a huge building... COMCAST owns the cables in the walls, so management is unable to put a dish on top of buildings or anywhere really to allow ppl like me to suscribe. Good game comcast, sounds like they came here and installed rg-6 in the walls for dang near free when this place was built (1996), and now has "rights". phooey.
Fezmid Posted March 25, 2009 Posted March 25, 2009 DirectTV sounds wonderful... But I have been unable to get the service due to the apts i have lived in the past few years. Currently, I live on the north side of a huge building... COMCAST owns the cables in the walls, so management is unable to put a dish on top of buildings or anywhere really to allow ppl like me to suscribe. Good game comcast, sounds like they came here and installed rg-6 in the walls for dang near free when this place was built (1996), and now has "rights". phooey. Well there's nothing stopping you from installing your own dish, if you can put it somewhere that gives you line of sight (a patio, balcony, driveway, etc). But since you're on the north side of the building, it's not very likely.... Those laws were put in for the very reason you noted -- cable companies were making deals with landlords to force tenants to buy their service. It still happens -- lumping cable TV into the rent, for example -- but the FCC stepped in and made it illegal to stop tenants from having dishes. Time to move.
NorthWesternBill Posted March 25, 2009 Posted March 25, 2009 Time to move. Well, Luckily I have a good friend ( he frequents this board) who lets me sign into his directTV gamecast! Quality is pretty low but, I get the games for free! I have been forced into a life of crime
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