Will On Demand remain a free service?

1611 Views 14 Replies 8 Participants Last post by myselfalso, Aug 26, 2008

xtc

Discussion Starter · Aug 25, 2008

On the DirecTV bill, it says there is no charge for On Demand. Does that mean they are eventually planning to charge customers for this service in the future? If not, then why is it even on the bill as "complimentary"

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tcusta00

· #2 · Aug 25, 2008

There's really no telling what they'll do in the future, but I'd imagine they will remain "free" as long as long as cable's VOD is. Free is a relative term - there is no separate line item on your bill for it, but rest assured you're paying for it.

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xtc

Discussion Starter · #3 · Aug 25, 2008

tcusta00 said:
Free is a relative term - there is no separate line item on your bill for it, but rest assured you're paying for it.

There is on my bill!

"07/06 8/05 DIRECTV on DEMAND .00
-Complimentary"

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tcusta00

· #4 · Aug 25, 2008

xtc said:
There is on my bill!

"07/06 8/05 DIRECTV on DEMAND .00
-Complimentary"

Ok, I stand corrected. There is no separate line item on your bill with a corresponding charge greater than zero, but rest assured you're paying for it.

How's that? :sure:

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xtc

Discussion Starter · #5 · Aug 25, 2008

tcusta00 said:
Ok, I stand corrected. There is no separate line item on your bill with a corresponding charge greater than zero, but rest assured you're paying for it.

How's that? :sure:

How am I paying for it? My DirecTV bill is the same amount as it was before this service was introduced. So it is literally free.

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spartanstew

· #6 · Aug 25, 2008

xtc said:
How am I paying for it? My DirecTV bill is the same amount as it was before this service was introduced. So it is literally free.

Several ways. Perhaps the price increase that occured in March (?) was in anticipation of DOD. Perhaps next years price increase will be to subsidize DOD. Perhaps part of the cost of new equipment goes towards DOD. Perhaps part of the Sunday Ticket increase helps pay for DOD.

The point is that even if you don't specifically pay for it, somebody usually is. Nothing's free. Costs are just worked into the business model.

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tcusta00

· #7 · Aug 25, 2008

xtc said:
How am I paying for it? My DirecTV bill is the same amount as it was before this service was introduced. So it is literally free.

It's part of your service. It's literally included with the rest of your bill, just not broken out as a separate line item with a fee. Do you pay for HGTV/MTV/ESPN/etc.? Do you pay for your on-screen guide? Do you pay for your remote? Do you pay for the tech support that available if you call 1800-DIRECTV? Do you pay for the little clock that appears in the upper left corner of your HR21's OSD? :grin:

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xtc

Discussion Starter · #8 · Aug 25, 2008

Sounds like a lot of BS to me... the price increases you are mentioning would have taken place regardless even if this service didn't exist. Just like we have seen price increases in the past when no new services were introduced. It's basically inflation or rising costs.

It is a free service and I am not paying a dime for it right now. One way they are able to keep it free is allowing the networks to place ads before the program begins and when it ends, which is what they have been doing.

They added this service so that it would not look like Cable had an advantage over DirecTV by having an on demand service.

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tcusta00

· #9 · Aug 25, 2008

So cable's on-demand service is "free" too? Never mind, it's a rhetorical question.

DirecTV pays for the carriage rights for most networks (shopping and religious channels excluded). I'd imagine they have to do the same for the on-demand versions of the channels.

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harsh

· #10 · Aug 25, 2008

tcusta00 said:
So cable's on-demand service is "free" too? Never mind, it's a rhetorical question.

On demand with CATV requires an STB or CableCard. While you may get one for free, you usually have to pay for more than one.

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tcusta00

· #11 · Aug 25, 2008

harsh said:
On demand with CATV requires an STB or CableCard. While you may get one for free, you usually have to pay for more than one.

Directv's on-demand requires an STB too, by the way. Oh, and you have to pay if you want more than one.

So what's your point?

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JoeTheDragon

· #12 · Aug 26, 2008

The movies are not free and I don't think they will make you pay fee just so you can pay more for a PPV movie.

The Show time stuff is free with show time.

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vollmey

· #13 · Aug 26, 2008

tcusta00 said:
Directv's on-demand requires an STB too, by the way. Oh, and you have to pay if you want more than one.

So what's your point?

Don't leave out internet service, routers etc..... tcusta. So it's not free, many costs involved. But, I'm ok with it.

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Grentz

· #14 · Aug 26, 2008

xtc said:
Sounds like a lot of BS to me... the price increases you are mentioning would have taken place regardless even if this service didn't exist. Just like we have seen price increases in the past when no new services were introduced. It's basically inflation or rising costs.

It is a free service and I am not paying a dime for it right now. One way they are able to keep it free is allowing the networks to place ads before the program begins and when it ends, which is what they have been doing.

They added this service so that it would not look like Cable had an advantage over DirecTV by having an on demand service.

Its business. Rest assured that the costs are being recouped somewhere in subscribers fees. If they werent, whos pocket are they coming out of? It maybe one of Directv's pockets...but we fill said pockets

Just like we have all paid a share of the multimillion dollar satellites that are being launched

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myselfalso

· #15 · Aug 26, 2008

There's no such thing as a free lunch.

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