DirecTV NFL Sunday Ticket 2005 HD RATE HIKE

[teampozer]

Well football fans... looks like we're gonna get the screw job on this one. DirecTV not only increases the price of Sunday Ticket to $219.... but is actually asking for $100 more to get the HD feeds. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? $319!!!!!! I gotta tell ya... I love Sunday Ticket but this is insane. I'm gonna really have to think about this one... I always watch the Bucs and I'll get that HD OTA anyway... so I guess the question is how many other games/teams am I really gonna watch or even have a chance to watch in HD. Probably not many. Bottom line is I already pay $11 for basicly ESPN-HD since I rarely watch the other HD channels AND they raised the basic rates 2 months ago. As much as I hate BHN... I may have to look at going back. Will I get all the NFL games? No, but I'm not about to get bent over for $319. Thoughts?????

[rgreenpc]

With a massive upswing in OTA HD sporting events, I am not even bothering to get NFLSD this year.

How many games can I really watch.. I don't even have time to watch the entire Bics at times... but then again... I didn't miss much last season did I? :roll:

[tampatom]

I'm just waiting for the Verizon Fios TV service to start, hopefully before football season. I saw a press release that said Verizon signed the Football channel, and Football on Demand. That would be great if I can pick and choose the games I want to watch. Of course, we'll have to see how much it's going to cost per game. Just figuring $30 a game, which I don't think is way out of the ballpark, and 10 games later, you've almost got the $319 covered.

But, I'm pretty sure I'll be pulling the DirecTV antenna down as soon as Verizon kicks off their service.

[bdraw]

Man that does seem insane, I agree I will have to think hard before I buy it this year.

Won't consider switching back to BHN till they I can get a HD Tivo, plus UPN and WB are nice.

Man 50% more just for the HD feed that is pretty crazy. I will tell you one thing for sure, I won't get the non-hd ST, those games look terrible. Maybe I will just watch 5 HD games a week this season.

[teampozer]

I totally agree on the DVR/Tivo situation. BHN needs to get that solved before I consider switching. I also agree about the SD Sunday Ticket channels. Those looked like crap last year. Kinda wish I could just buy into the HD feeds for like $200. That I could accept. No reason to pay $320 for duplicate games in SD you're never gonna watch.

By the way... ST starts to renew automaticly this time of year so if you're gonna cancel or not sure what you wanna do, you may wanna log in and shut it off. Yeah, you may end up losing out on the "early bird special", but what's another 20-30 when you're already paying a quarter of a grand?!!

[LonghornXP]

I'm just waiting for the Verizon Fios TV service to start, hopefully before football season. I saw a press release that said Verizon signed the Football channel, and Football on Demand. That would be great if I can pick and choose the games I want to watch. Of course, we'll have to see how much it's going to cost per game. Just figuring $30 a game, which I don't think is way out of the ballpark, and 10 games later, you've almost got the $319 covered.

But, I'm pretty sure I'll be pulling the DirecTV antenna down as soon as Verizon kicks off their service.

The football channel and its on demand offering are the NFL Network and NFL Network On Demand and having these channels "WILL NOT" get you any extra NFL games than what you get today from your local stations. These channels aren't the same as the NFL Sunday Ticket package which is a PPV package like MLB EI, NHL Center Ice but the big difference with those other sports packages and the NFL Sunday Ticket Package is that DirecTV has exclusive rights to this package until 2010 which means no other company can offer extra games beyond your local station games except DirecTV. So that means Verizon nor any company besides DirecTV can give you more games in HDTV than your locals regardless of HDTV.

[Todd]

It was my impression that Directv was charging an extra $100.00, not for the hd games, but for a single channel that will broadcast 8 games at the same time on one channel.

[bdraw]

The lowered it to $50 for previous ST subscribers.

[rcmckissick]

Thanks everyone for actually making me question this NFL ticket status. I have been with Directv for 8-9 years...really because of the football and then the HD feeds pulled me in. But, their HD is not as complete as others and the NFL is getting a little out of hand. I read their words on the directv site as having to be this 'superfan' to get HD too...which is just another way of them charging extra for their HD...probably to help pay for these HD locals that they say will happen.

When I get this info...will clarify from them. If they are charging me extra...I pull the plug on directv and go to BHN. I will have to just hit a pub for some extra games and/or switch over from XM to Sirius to at least listen to any game I want.

Bob

[rcmckissick]

Thanks everyone for actually making me question this NFL ticket status. I have been with Directv for 8-9 years...really because of the football and then the HD feeds pulled me in. But, their HD is not as complete as others and the NFL is getting a little out of hand. I read their words on the directv site as having to be this 'superfan' to get HD too...which is just another way of them charging extra for their HD...probably to help pay for these HD locals that they say will happen.

When I get this info...will clarify from them. If they are charging me extra...I pull the plug on directv and go to BHN. I will have to just hit a pub for some extra games and/or switch over from XM to Sirius to at least listen to any game I want.

Bob

[rcmckissick]

Hi...Directv reply to my e-mail. Tired of their nickel and dime game of charging for every little thing...bad enough that you have to pay for the equipment to watch them...but this is the last straw. I am dropping them this month...may as well go with BHN since I am putting another flatscreen in the home (won't have to dish out the bucks for another receiver...).


"Thanks for writing. I understand you concerned about getting games in HD. Last season, we were able to provide some HD games as a free bonus to NFL Sunday Ticket customers who had HD equipment. But this season we created NFL Sunday Ticket SuperFan as a new optional add-on package due to the high costs to deliver HD programming. As you may know, High definition is some of the most expensive programming we carry due to what we pay to distribute it and the bandwidth we use to deliver it. This is why we can no longer offer the HD games for free."

[bdraw]

As expensive as it might be for the equipment and the ST.
I am with D* for just those two reasons.

The only reason for me is the ST, and the HD Tivo.
I could go without one or the other but not both. I will switch back to BHN, when I can get one of the two from BHN.

For now I look forward to another season of my HD Tivo and the NFL ST.

[Roger 9]

I just ordered DirecTV and got the NFL package for four payments of $69.95 ($279.80). I guess tha't an early bird price.