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Cinema Field Trial - Final Thoughts

Discussion in 'DIRECTV - Cinema Field Trial (private)' started by geaux tigers, Jul 10, 2010.

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  1. Jul 10, 2010 #1 of 2
    geaux tigers

    geaux tigers Icon

    551
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    Nov 10, 2005
    I want to thank Greg for administrating the Cinema Field Trial and DirecTv for allowing me to participate.

    It is hard for me to give a complete evaluation because I am unsure of exactly what we were suppose to be testing. The video quality and sound quality of all the movies I watched were all very good. I did not have any video or audio stutter that some of the other testers reported.

    I subscribe to Netflix and liked the fact that I was able to watch several movies before I would have been able to watch them through Netflix. However, I pay around $22.80 a per month for my Netflix subscription that includes Blu-ray and 3 movies at a time unlimited. If I switched to using DirecTv then I could only watch 3 - 4 movies per month and spend the same amount. If DirecTv offered an unlimited program like Netflix then I would be more interested.

    With Netflix I am also able to watch a movie longer than 24 hours before I incur additional charges. I have a 3 year old and it is often difficult to watch a long movie with in 24 hours. Another complaint I had was that there was no release information regarding when a movie would be available. The availability of specific movies was hit or miss. I had in my queue around 50 movies during this trial at all times and only watched a total of 9 movies. I also was using 4 DVRs during the trial as well. There were some additional movies I could of watched but I had already watched them through Netflix. Those additional titles were probably around 5 movies.

    I know that VOD is a big money maker for DirecTv as they keep on adding more channels to the VOD lineup. I am only speaking for myself personally but I would not be interested in buying HD movies for $5.99 a movie under the system as I understand it. If DirecTv offered an unlimited buffet style system that offered movies on a consistent and dependable time table then I would be interested. I would also like to see a larger viewing window than 24 hours.

    Most of my comments would appear to be negative and that is not my intention. I truly appreciate the opportunity to participate in this trial and I hope that I have given DirecTv feed back that may be useful for them. I also appreciate them allowing me to watch 9 movies at no charge.
     
  2. Jul 10, 2010 #2 of 2
    LarryFlowers

    LarryFlowers New Member

    4,290
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    Sep 22, 2006
    Unfortunately, you will never see a buffet style DirecTV Cinema. These movies are at their prime and they are PPV Pay Per View... the studios expect to be paid each time a movie is viewed and as such would preclude any type of lump sum watch all you want system.

    This system doesn't eliminate the things we have found to be wrong with PPV in the past: cost and the 24 hr rule.

    I think the intent here is to do 2 things:

    1. To greatly expand the title base of movies in the DirecTV Cinema library and to make those movies available as quickly as possible by placing them in your playlist.

    2. To use the "In Theaters Now" (poorly named) to allow people to put in the Que movies that they would like to see but haven't been released yet. This will allow DirecTV to place those films in your playlist the first day the become legally available.

    I had at least 4 of the movies that I placed in my Que that appeared in my playlist the day they became legally available. This is how it should work.

    Movies that are already available should be ready for viewing within minutes of selection.

    My biggest issue I had, other than the lack of official information on how the system was supposed to work, was the fact that not all the available movies were placed in the Playlist when they became available. SOme you had to access from the listing on ch 1096.

    I currently have 3 at a time Blu-Ray subscriptions for both Netflix and Blockbuster. I do this to compensate for the 28 day delay that Netflix has agreed to and Blockbuster has not.

    If they get this working I may shift the Blockbuster money over to DirecTV PPV. That's not a sure thing but I will give it a serious look when the time comes.

    Enjoyed participating as always.
     

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