NFL Sunday Ticket only from DIRECTV is here!

NFL Sunday Ticket is finally here and DIRECTV is offering everything that they have for only $69.99/month for 4 months.

NFL Sunday Ticket offers fans the ultimate NFL experience. With the ticket you get:

• Enhanced Games - With your DIRECTV interactive receiver you'll get detailed player and team stats, real-time scores and live updates from other games without missing any of the live action from the game you're watching.**

• NFL SUNDAY TICKET Highlights-on-Demand - Will automatically download Monday morning highlights of NFL SUNDAY TICKET games to your DIRECTV® DVR.***

• NFL SUNDAY SNAP - Every Sunday on channel 700 check real-time stats and scores.

• The NFL Network - The NFL Network gives you 24 hours per day, seven days a week of original news and information shows, weekly game preview shows, coaches' shows, press conferences, fantasy football shows, memorable game replays and live games during the four-week pre-season.

• NFL Europe League - NFL SUNDAY TICKET also brings you action from the NFL Europe League regular season. Over 230 NFL players from all 32 NFL teams play in the NFL Europe League during the 10 week season. (April through June on channel 704).

• Pregame Coaches' Shows - View pregame coaches' shows from outside your local area at the start of the NFL SUNDAY TICKET broadcast day.

• Player Tracker - Select your favorite players and follow their performance throughout the day. With your DIRECTV interactive receiver track up to 9 players with up to the minute alerts and stats. With Player Tracker you can:

- Pick or edit up to 9 players 24/7 during the NFL regular season

- Receive live "Big Play" Alerts for your players on all your Sunday Ticket Channels

- Real-time Cumulative Stats available at the touch of a button, whenever you want

- Alerts available on all standard-definition and high-definition Sunday Ticket game channels, Game Mix 1 & 2 and Red Zone Channel

PLUS – when you order NFL Sunday Ticket for $69.99/month, for 4 months you get DIRECTV’s top package (The Premier Package) for FREE. The Premier Package includes over 250 channels, Free DVR service, FREE HBO, SHOWTIME, CINEMAX and STARZ and a free DVR or HD receiver upgrade... you get all of this for free for 4 months when you order NFL Sunday Ticket.

DIRECTV also offers NFL SuperFan. SuperFan can be added to your NFL SUNDAY TICKET package to create the ultimate NFL viewing experience. Perfect for true fans and fantasy football players everywhere!

Links to the 2007 NFL Schedules: NFC Team Schedules; AFC Team Schedules

DIRECTV's HDTV Satellite Launches Friday

SOURCE: TvPredictions.com 07.02.07

'Washington, D.C. (July 2, 2007) -- DIRECTV this Friday night is scheduled to launch the first of two new satellites to expand its High-Definition programming lineup.

Called DIRECTV 10, the spacecraft will launch on July 6 at 9:16 p.m. ET from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, using an International Launch Services Proton rocket.

If successful, the satellite should be operational in roughly 30-45 days, although DIRECTV is not likely to begin adding high-def channels until early September. The satcaster will require some time to test the satellite under real conditions.

DIRECTV says it will offer 100 HD channels by year's end, but many are scheduled to be added in September.

The satellite service is expected to launch the second satellite designated for HD next year. After that satellite is operational, DIRECTV says it will have the capacity for up to 150 HDTV channels and local HD channels in most markets.'

DIRECTV Adds More HD (High-Definition) Channels

As part of DIRECTV's highly anticipated high-def expansion, the nation's largest satellite TV company has added nearly a dozen more HD channels just in time for the summer season.

Hoping to stay on track with its "100 high-definition channels by year's end" goal, the nation's largest satellite TV provider unveiled plans this week to launch four Discovery HD channels, five HD channels from Starz and CNBC and Chiller in HD.

Under terms of the agreement with Discovery, DIRECTV will launch four simulcasts - Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet and The Science Channel - and two other channels yet to be named (or launched) by Discovery sometime in the near future. The HD feeds of the four existing networks will launch in September, DIRECTV said.

Terms of the deal with Starz include the launch of three new HD movie channels: Starz Edge, Starz Comedy and Starz Kids & Family, as well as Starz's East and West coast HD feeds. The new Starz HD channels, which the company said will feature first-run movies, and the coastal HD feeds will also launch in September.

The news comes on the heels of DIRECTV's recent announcement that it will be the first to launch the History Channel HD, a new 24-hour HD network, and A&E HD later this year. DIRECTV also said it has inked a deal with Disney Channel for the exclusive rights to broadcast the premiere HD version of High School Musical 2.

HDTV’s Most Reliable Brands

SOURCE: TvPredictions.com. 4.11.07

Washington, D.C. (April 11, 2007) -- When buying a High-Definition TV, you need to be sure that the set will not require frequent repairs. Reliability is almost as important as the picture.

With that in mind, Consumer Reports has just published a comprehensive review of the reliability of dozens of major brands, including big-screen TV makers.

Although the magazine said LCD, Plasma and some rear projection technologies are too new to draw final conclusions, it did offer some judgments based on data over the last two years.

LCD
In the LCD category, Consumer Reports said the following brands have shown "promising reliability," meaning they have needed few repairs:

JVC; Magnavox; Panasonic; Philips; Samsung; Sanyo; Sharp; Sony; and Toshiba

However, the magazine said Dell LCD sets have needed "more repairs than average."

Plasma
In the Plasma category, Consumer Reports said the following TV makers have shown "promising reliability":

Fujitsu; Hitachi; Panasonic; Pioneer; Sony; and Toshiba.

Consumer Reports said Philips and Vizio Plasma sets have needed "more repairs than average."

Microdisplay Rear Projection
In the Microdisplay Rear Projection category, the magazine said the following brands have demonstrated "promising reliability."

Panasonic and Sony

However, it said RCA (DLP) and JVC (LCoS/D-ILA) have needed 'more repairs than average."

Based on data from 2001 to 2006, Consumer Reports also rated tube TVs from 30 to 36 inches. It said JVC, Sharp, Sanyo and Toshiba needed repairs only three percent of the time.

In the 34 to 36-inch category, the magazine said Toshiba tube TVs needed repairs only four percent of the time while Sony sets needed repairs just five percent of the time.

DirecTV Rolls Out VOD

SOURCE: multichannelnews.com; 04.02.07

'El Segundo, Calif.— Looking to make up ground against cable operators and their interactive networks, DirecTV is preparing to roll out a new service that will essentially give basic-cable networks their own dedicated channels for programming delivered on-demand to viewers.

Food Network and Discovery Channel are among more than a dozen programming services that are expected to be available when the big satellite broadcaster launches its new on-demand service in July, according to DirecTV.

LEVELING THE FIELD

The service will allow DirecTV to better compete with cable operators that have been offering on-demand content for years. The biggest cable operator, Comcast, claims to have served up 3.7 billion streams of video on customers’ requests since 2004, for instance.

Now, the largest satellite operator will try to match that. DirecTV executive vice president for entertainment Eric Shanks said the satellite giant has the technological capacity to download video via a broadband connection at speeds that will allow consumers to watch the content in real time.

Shanks said the service will give individual networks complete control over their own channel, including content and marketing messages; and that DirecTV has more than a dozen networks signed up to provide on-demand content.

Scripps Networks confirmed that it will provide content from its Food Network and HGTV-owned channels. Executives close to DirecTV also said Discovery Channel will be part of the service when it debuts. Discovery executives would not comment.

DIFFERENT DEMANDS

The satellite provider’s network branded on-demand strategy differs somewhat from that of many cable operators that amass free on-demand cable-network content within such genres as kids, news and entertainment. Programming executives say such categorization prohibits networks from effectively marketing their brands and content to viewers.

DirecTV subscribers with the company’s high-definition DVR receiver and a high-speed modem connection will be able to access more than 2,000 on-demand movies — many of which will be in high-definition — as well as the cable-network content. Shanks said DirecTV will begin beta-testing the service in April and expects to roll it out to customers in July.

“It depends on your connection,” Shanks said. “A lot of times the content will download faster than real time. There’s nothing technically on our side that limits the consumer’s ability to watch it in real time.”

In other DirecTV new-media news, Shanks said the company will serve up multiple-court coverage of the French Open to support the Tennis Channel’s presentation of the Grand Slam tournament this spring. Similar to the coverage it provided for last summer’s U.S. Open, DirecTV will offer multiple live channels from the tournament, which begins in May, as well as a special “French Open Mix” channel that will feature all live feeds, according to Shanks.

ORIGINAL SERIES

Shanks said the company is also prepping several series for its The 101 original programming channel. DirecTV later this year will launch a game show dubbed Between a Rock and a Hard Place, which will pit bands against each other Family Feud style. “Half the questions will be about rock and roll, but the other half will be about pop culture,” Shanks said.

In August, the network will premiere Championship Gaming Series, a team-based video gaming league. The two shows will join other original shows such as Web user-generated series Project MyWorld and The Fizz, plus a slate of concerts featuring such acts as Beyoncé and Nine Inch Nails.

“The goal is to have your sales sheet out in front of customers at Best Buy and other retailers and to have a set of programming that no one else has that appeals to the women, males and kids in the house,” he said.

On the video-gaming front, Shanks said DirecTV has already signed up 20,000 subscribers to its month-old Game Lounge interactive gaming service without any significant promotion.

He added that poker, solitaire and the Mattel-produced Barbie games are among the service’s most popular games.

Shanks also said that 60% of customers have created their own “avatars” or personal characters with Game Lounge and are posting their high scores for the various games.

“People are really getting involved in the games,” he said.'

DIRECTV Activates HD Local Channel Service in Four New Markets

SOURCE: DIRECTV, Inc., 03.28.07

DIRECTV Activates HD Local Channel Service in Four New Markets

ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC Now Available in HD in Greenville, S.C., Harrisburg, Pa., Jacksonville Fla., and Spokane, Wash.;

DIRECTV Now offers Local HD Channels in 53 Markets

WHAT: DIRECTV, Inc., the nation's leading satellite television service provider, is now offering local HD programming from ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC to customers in Greenville, S.C., Harrisburg, Pa., Jacksonville Fla., and Spokane, Wash. DIRECTV now offers local HD broadcast channels in 53 cities, representing more than 67 percent of U.S. TV households.

DIRECTV's local HD channel rollout is part of an aggressive nationwide expansion of HD programming that includes plans to offer local HD channels in up to 75 markets and up to 100 national channels by year end. When DIRECTV's capacity expansion is complete next year, it will offer more than 1,500 local HD channels and more than 150 national HD channels, establishing DIRECTV as the nation's leading provider of HD programming.

WHEN: Beginning today, Wednesday, March 28, 2007

HOW: Customers who subscribe to a programming package that includes local channels receive both the standard-definition and HD signals at no extra monthly charge. Customers can receive local HD channels by leasing an H20 HD receiver or the new HR20 DIRECTV Plus® HD DVR and satellite dish. Existing HD customers can upgrade their HD receiver and dish for $99 per receiver. New customers can take advantage of a $100 mail-in rebate on all DIRECTV HD and HDDVR receivers.

DIRECTV Tops Installer Preference

SOURCE: SKYReport.com03.14.07

'A new national survey suggests that the nation's fleet of professional home theater technicians do have a preference when it comes to best picture quality: DIRECTV. The survey said that by a four-to-one margin, home theater installers chose DIRECTV as the service that provides the best video over cable.

Conducted by the Alliance Consulting Group with 500 professional home theater professionals, the study also showed that many installers prefer DIRECTV in a few other categories as well.

According to the survey, installers chose DIRECTV two-to-one over cable for having the best overall television experience; three-to-one over cable for best home theater experience on a high-def system; more than two-to-one for best overall picture quality on a high-def system; and three-to-one for the best home theater experience.

No word if the study will show up as evidence in the lawsuit Time Warner Cable filed against DIRECTV over the DBS company's ads claiming high-def supremacy.'