Directv vs. Fox Suite

[Sooner5030]

Anyone know the first potential OU game I may miss if this is not resolved? I just switched to DTV this season as the NFL ticket was free for signing up.

[cvsooner]

Iowa State for sure. KSU is this weekend. A & M game is on Disney-owned property (ABC/ESPN). OSewe game will probably be on Disney. No word on Baylor.

[jumperstop]

I've heard more people complain about Directv than any other tv provider. Hopefully you can just make it to BWW or the game itself if this happens.

[nighttrain12]

I love DirecTV. They give me a lot more choices than Cox did.

[OU_Sooners75]

I love DirecTV. They give me a lot more choices than Cox did.

Should have went with Dish Network....last season was their season of arguing with Fox. :)

[cvsooner]

Which is all pretty ironic, considering Newscorp (Fox parent) used to own 1/3 of Directv....

[jkjsooner]

I've heard more people complain about Directv than any other tv provider. Hopefully you can just make it to BWW or the game itself if this happens.

I just got directv for the first time since 2003. I originally had them for 5 years but had to go the cable route when I moved and started renting. I've never had a problem with them. I can only remember a handful of times where it rained hard enough to lose signal.

As for cable, I got sick of having it go out, calling customer support, and hearing, "Oh we have an outage in your area." While that may be true sometimes it definitely seemed like a stock response. At least with satellite based service they can't use that excuse and you don't have to worry about construction crews cutting a line who knows where. Plus, every cable DVR I've had recently (Comcast, FiOS, Time Warner) have been crap. DirecTv's DVR's actually work and seem to have the horsepower to do the job.

Given, when I first got DirecTv in '98 the local cable company was horrible. We had no interactive guide. They didn't offer the ESPN Gameplan. You could only buy one of the gameplan games a week and it was always the PAC 10 game. (I lived in Virginia where the local game was always ACC, Big East, or Big 10.)

No matter who you like, DirecTv and Dish really lit a fire under the cable companies. Without them cable would still be in the stone ages.


Anyway, about DirecTv and Fox. It's going to suck for sure but let's not be too quick to blame DirecTv. First, cable companies have gone through the same thing. Second, you better hope the cable/satellite companies exert some pressure on these networks or we're going to be seeing $200/month cable bills.

ESPN is the worst offender. They expand their channels every other year and segment games to each of the channels. That makes you and I buy more ESPN channels just to get the same games you always got. I believe they also force cable companies into an all-or-nothing proposition. You can't offer ESPN without ESPN2, etc.

Then of course they added ESPN3 which is either added to your Internet bill (even if you don't want it) or, as in the Time Warner case, is only available if you also have a cable package with ESPN channels (pretty much screwing dish subscribers who use Time Warner for Internet).


Someone has to stand up to the networks. Since subscribers have a limit on how much of an price increase they will tolerate, the cable/satellite companies have no choice but to play hardball.


The real solution is ala carte TV with standardized channel pricing no matter who you get the service from. That wouldn't solve all of the problems and you might end up with fewer channels at close to the price you pay now but at least then you'd have some control over the situation. But it appears that ain't happening...

[Sooner Cal]

I was one of Directv's first subscribers in LA and have been loyal ever since. But this is unacceptable. Fox and Directv will resolve it or I will find another carrier. That's a fact Directv should you be reading this. You will lose more customers if you don't have Fox than you would lose with a price increase.

[LASooner]

Should have went with Dish Network....last season was their season of arguing with Fox. :)

I'm glad I didn't switch when that happened, I was so mad I almost did, but I noticed Direct and Uverse were both coming up next for Fox, so I stayed with Dish. As I said, I think it's slimy that they use sports fans as leverage in these disputes. You notice they aren't doing this during college baseball season.

[nighttrain12]

Hell, just go to Hooters to watch the game for free if DirecTV loses Fox for a short time. It won't be permanent if they do.

[jkjsooner]

I was one of Directv's first subscribers in LA and have been loyal ever since. But this is unacceptable. Fox and Directv will resolve it or I will find another carrier. That's a fact Directv should you be reading this. You will lose more customers if you don't have Fox than you would lose with a price increase.

But whose fault is it? It seems to me that Fox is the common denominator here. In addition, if the service providers won't try to control the cost who will? Are you willing to pay more for your service? Would you be upset if DirecTv (and in turn you) had to pay more for the Fox channels than Dish because they weren't willing to play hardball?

[pphilfran]

As in the past this will be resolved...

Fox and DTV ain't gonna throw away millions in revenue...

JK is correct...if DTV just folded and paid the higher price the customer would see higher rates....then in the future other networks would start playing hardball to get their higher rates...

[soonercoop1]

As in the past this will be resolved...

Fox and DTV ain't gonna throw away millions in revenue...

JK is correct...if DTV just folded and paid the higher price the customer would see higher rates....then in the future other networks would start playing hardball to get their higher rates...

They'll come to an agreement but will the season be over when they figure it out?

[jumperstop]

Uverse is the best tv. You get the choices and interface that satellite provides without the ****ty list of channels and customer service of cable.

[KantoSooner]

Very pleased with my directv. Had Dish before and it was a nightmare. Truly set new lows in bad service and bad functionality.

[bluedogok]

Uverse is the best tv. You get the choices and interface that satellite provides without the ****ty list of channels and customer service of cable.
They don't have NFL Sunday Ticket or MLB Extra Innings, so they are not an option for me. I will be able to drop NHL Center Ice soon since I am moving to Denver this weekend and the Avs games will be local and on non-Fox Altitude.

The interesting this will be how does it affect Sunday Ticket and their Fox broadcast games....if they withhold those that might get the NFL involved to get something resolved.

[pac10SUX]

If DirectV ends up dropping some of those channels, I'll just call them up & threaten to cancel to get a big reduction in my bill. They'll ususally do that to keep customers. I suspect they'll work things out with FOX. In the mean time, I'll stream the games online or hit a sports bar.

[LASooner]

Uverse is the best tv. You get the choices and interface that satellite provides without the ****ty list of channels and customer service of cable.

Except the picture is poop and it kills the internet bandwidth, a very very small percentage actually get fiber to the home, most everyone gets fiber to the node, copper to the house. I have Uverse for internet and phone, I get 18Mbps internet speed, but when I pick up my phone it drops to 11. 4 HD streams must just kill it.

[Soonerfan88]

I wonder what those that left Dish for DTV over this last year are now thinking.


I would be in favor of ala carte channels. I doubt I would pay more than I do now and maybe even less. And it doesn't matter that I wouldn't have as many channel choices since I never watch most of them anyway.

[jumperstop]

Except the picture is poop and it kills the internet bandwidth, a very very small percentage actually get fiber to the home, most everyone gets fiber to the node, copper to the house. I have Uverse for internet and phone, I get 18Mbps internet speed, but when I pick up my phone it drops to 11. 4 HD streams must just kill it.
I have it and the hd appears fine to me on a three my tv's. And the internet seems to work fine. I do know that the at&t box is in my backyard so that may help. At my old house I guess I did get some lag but they came out and fixed it.

[bluedogok]

I have it and the hd appears fine to me on a three my tv's. And the internet seems to work fine. I do know that the at&t box is in my backyard so that may help. At my old house I guess I did get some lag but they came out and fixed it.
When I lived in OKC I had Sprint Broadband Direct fixed wireless with Earthlink, that was not available here in Austin. When I got the Earthlink high speed I had the option of DSL or cable, the Earthlink guy said that I was on the outer edge of the DSL service ring and was real close to the service head for my side of the street for cable, yeah I was, the cable box and UPS is in my backyard. I have had very few issues with the Earthlink/Time Warner cable internet, there are times when it is nice to have that equipment in your yard.

[nighttrain12]

http://www.myfoxphilly.com/dpp/entertainment/fox-reaches-deal-with-directv

Deal was completed earlier today.