D* Channel Groupings

[tds4182]

Is there a reason why D* doesn't group their channels together the way E* does, i.e. all news channel together, all movie channel together, etc. ?

I just switched and other than this I'm very happy. My new Sony SAT 200 receiver gives a great picture on both OTA HD and satellite HD.

Just wondering!

[Mike D-CO5]

Yes I have asked Directv several times in e-mails and on the phone and I have never received even a credible answer from either source. I guess they don't care what the customer thinks about their lineup. That is one big advantage to Dish's guide: its organized and doesnot have all those cluttered station symbols, etc, muking up the guide. :D

[DCSholtis]

Wait till Rupe takes control you'll see FNC up in the 200s quicker than you can snap your fingers.:D

[Bill R]

DirecTV is LONG overdue for a channel realignment. Their arrangement of their channels is almost as bad as my local cable company (which looks like it was done with a dart board).

[durl]

When I signed on with Directv 6-7 years ago, the channels were grouped together much better. I even found one of the original channel guide helps that came with my first receiver and it had the groupings defined along with their channel ranges.

But when you add literally dozens of channels over the years, you have to assume that there's going to be some hit-and-miss when it comes to channel placement. A channel re-alignment would help but I'm sure they're not going to mess with it unless a lot of people complain. It's a bit of an annoyance, I agree, but I can live with it for now.

By the way, in regards to the earlier post that mentioned all of the station logos cluttering the channel guide, I believe that's more of an issue for the manufacturer of the receiver, not Directv. I recently hooked up a Philips receiver for my boss and it had no logos on the guide. I also have a Sony receiver that doesn't put logos down with the show descriptions and it has a very clean listing.

[DS0816]

If DirecTV ever expands its premium channels lineup -- HBOs, Cinemaxes, Showtimes, Starzes! and Encores, et al. -- to the level of digital cable's (multiscreens galore!), they'll have to do a channel realignment. That's because there are dozens upon dozens of these multiscreens that add up, and a 100-channel neighborhood (in DirecTV's case, the 500s) isn't enough to contain them all.

Something else that I wanna mention: the home-shopping services are sporadically placed (Shop at Home on 234; Home Shopping Network on 240; QVC on 317; America's Collectibles Network on 367; ShopNBC on 370; not to mention others that pop up occasionally), I'd like to see them all in the same neighborhood. (Something tells me there are contractual issues between cable and satellite services and their agreements with the programmers that cover, among other things, channel locations; e.g. CNN is not anywhere near Fox News Channel of MSNBC, and QVC and HSN are so far apart they might as well be considered bitter enemies.)

[dswallow]

I would suspect some of the placement is an attempt to catch your attention when you are moving through channels, too. For example, putting shopping channels scattered everywhere is more likely to catch the attention of people who don't usually specifically tune to shopping channels... you catch a glimpse, even in the guide, you might otherwise not ever see if they were all together someplace.

[Smoot]

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I really like the logos on my Hughes receiver, and it certainly beats E*'s bland grayscale look. My kids know to find the "logo" and to look what's on it. Brand recognition.

Yes, I'd like to see a channel realignment in the future, but I've almost memorized (after 3 months) the key channels I'll go to . . . or, I'll get pretty darned close. I guess that's the benefit of the "Turbo" button.

[SamC]

Among other reasons, DirecTV is paid to carry certain channels in certain places. As are many cable companies.

CNN, CourTV, and ESPN actually charge less per month if they are on the "low channels". ESPN even dicates the order they come in (Mothership, News, Classic, 2) . Likewise the home shopping scamers want to be mixed into the regular line up in a random manner. If they were all the, say 270s, then we would just make jokes about the 270s and skip them all.

[Steve Mehs]

If they were all the, say 270s, then we would just make jokes about the 270s and skip them all.

Kind of like E* :) I prefer it that way, shopping in the 220s, PI in the 9400s, two areas to avoid.

DirecTVs line up does have me saying, what were they thinking, and I like E*s better, but I suppose after you have the service for a while you get used to it. I can't remember, when DirecTV had the channel realignment after the USSB buy out, did they redo the entire line up or just move the USSB offered premiums from the 900s to the 500s?

[Mike D-CO5]

How hard is it to switch the channels around? Dish did it in the past and will probably do it again in the future so why can't Directv? That is one thing Dish actually does better than Directv ; the guide looks better and is organized in groups, news, variety, movies,payperviews.

Maybe Rupert will do this when he gets his buyout done of Directv.

[ChrisPC]

D* and USSB both realigned once or twice, and still had channels on both numbers for months. Moving the channels around isn't the problem. The reaction of the subscribers is the real problem. I agree, when News Corp buys D*, they probably will do a huge realignment.

[music_beans]

Kind of like E* :) I prefer it that way, shopping in the 220s, PI in the 9400s, two areas to avoid.


Shopping channels, Check.
PI Channels, Check

What do I want? PI Channels. :D

Really, PI channels are interesting sometimes, and you should check them out once in awhile.

[Steve Mehs]

I avoid the 9400s at all costs, boring monotone talking heads, lackluster lectures, religious preaching, educational stuff, no thanks. FSTV is good for laughs now and then with people making total idiots of themselves over some asinine causes. That's one thing I will not miss about E*, hordes of public interest channels, with a few more being added each winter.