Channel 77 Info..

[marty1966]

Why do you think they are moving HDNET Movies and UHD? I liked these together in the 70's...man, I hate change :)

[Dansport]

Those 2 channels are in the "HD Extra" package. They're in HD only in the Mpeg-4 codec (soon, no longer in Mpeg-2) and are probably being moved to the range of channels associated with HD because they aren't available to SD subs.

[JoeP]

When I followed the instructions on channel 77 to see if my equipment would accomodate the movement of three channels to another satllite, I found my Tivo unit would not, I received only 1 of the three channels.

At first I was told , when I called into the number to see if I "qualified" for a free upgrade of dish or receiver that they had not started broadcasting on those channels yet. However I told the guy that I have two HD DVR's and the one received all three channels while the Tivo Unit did not. I was then told that that unit will not work and they would check to see if I qualified for hte free upgrade.

They told me I was, and transferred me to the ordering department. That department told me that they were mistaken and I would have to pay for the upgrade.

I was livid because I have the equipment protection plan. I was on the phone with them from 7:30 PM till 10:45 PM, trying to get it resolved.

My belief is no one will qualify for a free upgrade...and they are using this to convince customers to forego those three channels and any others they which to move, or pay to get a new HD DVR.

As with most equipment manufacturer of a high tech nature, they should have been required to notify us of an end of life for the TIVO unit.

From a customer service aspect they gave me ove a 3 hour run around passing me from person to person, and conveniently disconnecting me during hold times.

[beavis]

The Protection Plan is for replacement of defective/broken equipment and service calls. It has nothing to do with upgrading receivers. That being said it's puzzling why your HR10-250 wasn't replaced when your HR2x was installed.

[colts19]

A lot of time the 10-250 was not taken back by directv at the time they gave the upgrade for the first new hd dvr. so a couple years later the person dosen't realize they have already been given a upgrade for the 10-250.

[tonyd79]

Why do you think they are moving HDNET Movies and UHD? I liked these together in the 70's...man, I hate change :)

If you have an MPEG4 set up and have been watching HDNET and UHD in the 70s, then you have been cheating yourself of PQ for several months. They have been in better quality MPEG4 on their "new" numbers for quite some time.

[JoeP]

This is the same philosophical argument I got from DTV. Why would they have taken my Tivo unit when i got the other..it was not like they gave it to me..the Tivo unit is not leased and belongs to me...the newer unit is leased, but was "purchased as an additional receiver, not an upgrade to the HR10-250....
That is what they tried to tell me that I got one "free" upgrade already...I do not see how, I paid full price, $198 Lease fee and it was added to my total amount of equipment, was installed in a different room and all.

Even this time I asked if they wanted me to return it, and they said , no it is your personal property....I asked if I could use it to replace the standard recceiver I have on a regular TV in my home office, and they said yes it would work, even though that room is set up with only the one standard cable, but that way I could at least use it as a DVR for the channels it does pick up.

I paid over $700 just over 3 years ago for the installation of the Tivo HD DVR and 2 standard Receivers,, including an outdoor antenna set up for locals. A year later I deactivatred one standard receiver and replaced it with the newer model HD DVR receiver.

From my perspective that is tantamount to them telling you the newer HD DVR will not receive some channels after only a couple of years of service. I have been a customer for close to 12 years, and have been paying well over $100 per month "forever" And they have no idea of how close they came to having it all replaced with either Dish or Comcast last night

[myselfalso]

What channel numbers are these moving to?

[DogLover]

This is the same philosophical argument I got from DTV. Why would they have taken my Tivo unit when i got the other..it was not like they gave it to me..the Tivo unit is not leased and belongs to me...the newer unit is leased, but was "purchased as an additional receiver, not an upgrade to the HR10-250....
That is what they tried to tell me that I got one "free" upgrade already...I do not see how, I paid full price, $198 Lease fee and it was added to my total amount of equipment, was installed in a different room and all.

Even this time I asked if they wanted me to return it, and they said , no it is your personal property....I asked if I could use it to replace the standard recceiver I have on a regular TV in my home office, and they said yes it would work, even though that room is set up with only the one standard cable, but that way I could at least use it as a DVR for the channels it does pick up.

I paid over $700 just over 3 years ago for the installation of the Tivo HD DVR and 2 standard Receivers,, including an outdoor antenna set up for locals. A year later I deactivatred one standard receiver and replaced it with the newer model HD DVR receiver.

From my perspective that is tantamount to them telling you the newer HD DVR will not receive some channels after only a couple of years of service. I have been a customer for close to 12 years, and have been paying well over $100 per month "forever" And they have no idea of how close they came to having it all replaced with either Dish or Comcast last night

Man, I know that must have been frustrating. If you can find documention that you paid the lease fee for the previous HD DVR, rather than getting a free upgrade, then you should try again to have them give you the free upgrade. I'm sure that there was just a mix up in how someone entered the previous receiver order. (They did do many free upgrades where they allowed the customer to keep the "upgraded" DTivo activated. That generosity is certainly the cause of this mix up.)

[JoeP]

to Myself also:

Showtime is moving to 537
HD Net is moving to 552
Universal HD is moving to 259

From what i know they are currently broadcast form both channels for a bit.then they will delete the former channel numbers

To all else..You are all probably correct. finally one CSR recognized and documented everything from my records, and they did agree to send me the new hd dvr free of charge. even offered free installation, which I did not need. I received many apologies, but they did not seem genuinely concerned over my treatment.

And i really resent having spent over three hours onthe phone getting hte run around to straighten it out.

Thanks all,

Joe

[litzdog911]

to Myself also:

Showtime is moving to 537
HD Net is moving to 552
Universal HD is moving to 259

....
Joe

Those channels already "moved" there several months ago. In fact, all of the channels in the 70-80s already have MPEG4 equivalents on higher channels. They've just remained in their old MPEG2 format on the old channel numbers while folks transition to the newer equipment.

[JoeP]

Yes, but from what I can see they just recently put the information on channel 77 telling peopel to check to see if their equipment will handle it once they do stop the former transmissions.

I understand hte sound issue withthe new channels being Mpeg4 and the old receiver not being capable, but why woudl the PQ be any different?

[tonyd79]

Because the MPEG4 encoding is very much more efficient and allows for more end data to be streamed into a small bandwidth than the MPEG2 encoding. Part of the problem was that the MPEG2 was squeezed to fit and that meant what some folks call HD-Lite.

Also, they have been moving people. They have concentrated on the sports package people as they dropped MPEG2 HD for the NFL and for the other sports packages (MLB, NHL, etc). And they worked on DNS folks as they dropped half the MPEG2 DNS HD.

Otherwise, they have been making offers and figured that the new HD channels would bring people off the HR10s into the H20 and HR20 realm.

This is really the last phase starting. The elimination of the channels in the 70s.

[FlBillsfan]

I paid about $400 to lease a HR20 while I still had a HD TIVO that I paid $900 for & OWN. The TIVO later broke & was replaced for free under the protection plan with a HR20 which I own. I was never upgraded.

[Homebrew101]

Those channels already "moved" there several months ago. In fact, all of the channels in the 70-80s already have MPEG4 equivalents on higher channels. They've just remained in their old MPEG2 format on the old channel numbers while folks transition to the newer equipment.


ESPN-HD and ESPN2-HD are not on any other channels numbers that I am aware of.

[DogLover]

ESPN-HD and ESPN2-HD are not on any other channels numbers that I am aware of.

Along with the channels in the 70's, they are on 206 and 209.

[Satelliteracer]

When I followed the instructions on channel 77 to see if my equipment would accomodate the movement of three channels to another satllite, I found my Tivo unit would not, I received only 1 of the three channels.

At first I was told , when I called into the number to see if I "qualified" for a free upgrade of dish or receiver that they had not started broadcasting on those channels yet. However I told the guy that I have two HD DVR's and the one received all three channels while the Tivo Unit did not. I was then told that that unit will not work and they would check to see if I qualified for hte free upgrade.

They told me I was, and transferred me to the ordering department. That department told me that they were mistaken and I would have to pay for the upgrade.

I was livid because I have the equipment protection plan. I was on the phone with them from 7:30 PM till 10:45 PM, trying to get it resolved.

My belief is no one will qualify for a free upgrade...and they are using this to convince customers to forego those three channels and any others they which to move, or pay to get a new HD DVR.

As with most equipment manufacturer of a high tech nature, they should have been required to notify us of an end of life for the TIVO unit.

From a customer service aspect they gave me ove a 3 hour run around passing me from person to person, and conveniently disconnecting me during hold times.



Many people qualify for the free upgrade so it is not true to say no one does. I'd argue that most people qualify

And actually the TiVo unit doesn't have an end of life as it still can be used as a SD DVR.

I'm happy to look into it for you if you wish, PM me your account number. If you've already had your HD receiver exchanged or upgraded (sounds like you have with your second HD DVR), then you would not be eligible for the free swap. But I can verify that for you if you wish.

[Satelliteracer]

A lot of time the 10-250 was not taken back by directv at the time they gave the upgrade for the first new hd dvr. so a couple years later the person dosen't realize they have already been given a upgrade for the 10-250.

That is exactly what happens. Once the original HD box is tagged as being upgraded, it's no longer eligible. Otherwise, D* would have to continue to exchange the same box over and over and over and over again.

So when an upgrade is done, the installer either takes the old box back with them or lets the customer keep it but at that point that specific box is tagged as no longer eligible to be swapped.

[Satelliteracer]

Yes, but from what I can see they just recently put the information on channel 77 telling peopel to check to see if their equipment will handle it once they do stop the former transmissions.

I understand hte sound issue withthe new channels being Mpeg4 and the old receiver not being capable, but why woudl the PQ be any different?

That is correct, just recently the information was put on channel 77, but for the past 12 months customers with the wrong equipment have been sent letters, emails, been called, etc. about the upcoming transition.

However, customers that are listed as already swapped, which would be your situation if I'm reading your comments correctly, would not have received those communications as it appears to D* that the HR10-250 is just a SD DVR at this point.

[Satelliteracer]

Along with the channels in the 70's, they are on 206 and 209.

Yup, and TNT, HD NET, HBO, etc all have MPEG4 versions while still having MPEG2 versions in the 70's and 80's. Those channels are next as the last few customers that haven't exchanged their hardware are given these last notifications.

[robmadden1]

77 showing up SD equipment lol.

[bonscott87]

ESPN-HD and ESPN2-HD are not on any other channels numbers that I am aware of.

They've been in MPEG4 in the 200s for over 6 months now.

To clarify: This is nothing new. MPEG2 HD channels have been shutting down for a couple years now. As of last summer *all* the ones that are left have been in MPEG4 in the 200s/300s/500s. The MPEG2 versions left in the 70s/80s have only been left because not enough MDU's (apartments) have gotten the new dishes. Now they have so they are shutting down the MPEG2 versions, a year later then they wanted to.

[Sixto]

They've been in MPEG4 in the 200s for over 6 months now.

To clarify: This is nothing new. MPEG2 HD channels have been shutting down for a couple years now. As of last summer *all* the ones that are left have been in MPEG4 in the 200s/300s/500s. The MPEG2 versions left in the 70s/80s have only been left because not enough MDU's (apartments) have gotten the new dishes. Now they have so they are shutting down the MPEG2 versions, a year later then they wanted to.Yep, been dual MPEG2 and MPEG4 of all legacy HD channels since 7/31/2008. 9 channels in both formats. MPEG2 at 110°/119°. MPEG4 on D11 at 99°.

[Stuart Sweet]

(...)
My belief is no one will qualify for a free upgrade...and they are using this to convince customers to forego those three channels and any others they which to move, or pay to get a new HD DVR.

As with most equipment manufacturer of a high tech nature, they should have been required to notify us of an end of life for the TIVO unit.


This information was made available at this site, through DIRECTV's newsletters, and other places across the web 6 months ago:

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=131774

At that time it was made clear that the HR10 TiVo was approaching end of life and DIRECTV was doing everything in their power to get people off that receiver.

With due respect, I think DIRECTV has done quite a bit to get the message out about the HR10 and make sure people have new hardware.

[JoeP]

SatRacer, I appreciate your offer, but eventually after over 3 hours onthe phone with them, they were able to come to the same conclusion..that i had purchased (leased) a new HD DVR receiver and was not "upgraded" They did the right hting and sent me the replacement for free....and you are right, i now use it as a standard receiver since it has DVR capability. They really just assumed that since my account had two HD DVRs and a STD Receiver on it that i must have been "upgraded" Was not the case, but one person tookt he time to research and personally present my case to upper management.

As far as giving proper notice, I do not agree that after paying $700 for the inital installation of the Tivo unit and two Standard Receivers 3.5 years ago, that it is proper to make it obsolte without some kind of return or trade in policy. Being that mine was owned and not leased, it further complicated the matter. However it now appears to have been resolved..but thanks to my persistence and one DTV employee who took the time to understand and research. I wish I had his name so he could be recognized.

Joe