Review: DirecTV HDTV Video On Demand Service
DirecTV last week introduced a new, nationwide Video On Demand service (VOD) that is only available to its customers who use the company’s HDTV capable receivers and Digital Video Recorders (DVRs).
There are actually quite a number of requirements you must meet in order to use the new service, which offers movies, news clips, documentaries and other content that is recorded directly to a customer’s DVR. First of all, DirecTV customers must own or lease a combination DirecTV HDTV receiver and DVR. Obviously, the customer must already also have an HDTV capable television or converter box in order to view any HDTV content that the company offers as well. Subscribers must also have access to a broadband Internet connection, as all content is actually downloaded via the Internet, rather than being recorded via satellite. Lastly, customers must have a subscription to DirecTV’s (optional) HDTV programming package. DirecTV charges its customers an extra $9.95 per month in order to have access to any HDTV programming. This is in addition to normal programming subscription fees.
The service claims to currently have up to 4,000 titles available for download. This may sound like a lot, but actually looks pretty paltry when compared to the thousands of hours of programming already available to DirecTV subscribers, who can already use their DVRs to schedule recordings months ahead of time. DirecTV was also the first programming provider to make its DVR features available to control via the Internet and via cellphone, allowing customers to choose what they want to record from almost anywhere. DirecTV is offering this as a “free” addition to their regular programming, so it doesn’t cost anything extra to those who already have the above mentioned services.
Installation
Setup for the service is very straightforward if you already have normal DirecTV service up-and-running. An Ethernet port built into the back of most late model DirecTV receivers plugs directly into your broadband router. It will work using DHCP detection or can be programmed to use a static IP address. I was able to have the service activated and working in less than 5 minutes. It will likely take you longer if you don’t already have an Ethernet port available near your TV set. It is also possible to use a wireless broadband router in order to provide your receiver/DVR with Internet access. However, I would not recommend it due to the high transfer speeds and associated bandwidth bottleneck it would create on your network.
Once activated, you simply use your remote control to surf to channel 1000. From there, you are taken into a sub-menu, where you can browse programming by content type, genre or by individual channels. A number of networks such as The History Channel, HBO and The Smithsonian Channel have their own sub-sub-menus, which allows you to view all available VOD programming available from their respective networks.
The Bad News
Up until this point, I was pretty impressed with what I saw. It was only after I started taking a close look at what programming was available that I began to wonder whether this new service was really worth the effort. The most disappointing aspect of the service, by far, is the large number of movie titles that are only available via pay-per-view. From an economic perspective, this certainly makes sense. DirecTV isn’t making any “extra” money on this, unless you pay extra, so they have to have some type of “value added” programming. Still, the breadth and width of movies and TV programs that are classified as pay-per-view is rather staggering. Some of the movies on PPV are 20 or even 30 years old, and have been shown on network television for free on many occasions. Some network programmers, such as NBC, have also started charging for content that you can normally view for free. Personally, I find it rather insulting being asked to pay $1.99 just to watch a re-run of a network TV show. That’s just me though.
Another let down was the fact that there is no ability to sort through programming based upon what channels you already subscribe to. For example, almost all movies that do not fall into the PPV category are on premium movie channels like STARZ, HBO, Showtime, TMC, Cinemax, etc. Those listings will appear, even if you don’t subscribe to them. So, anyone browsing through the “movies” category that does not subscribe to DirecTV’s most expensive programming packages (which can easily run you well over $100 per month) will find very little that is available to them without paying extra.
Another disappointment is the lack of HDTV programming available to subscribers. Only a small percentage of DirecTV’s overall HDTV content is available via its VOD service. This is likely due to the high cost of bandwidth for transmitting HDTV content across the Internet. Even at broadband speeds, HDTV programs seem to take forever to download. It’s standard definition programming does not transfer all that quickly either. Even with the full bandwidth of a commercial T1 connection, waiting for features to complete downloading can be like watching a teapot and waiting for the water to boil. This is quite obviously not a real-time type of service. It’s nice for scheduling things to download well ahead of when you want to watch them, but not if you want to watch them immediately.
The Good News
The reason that titles take so long to download using this service can easily be justified by watching the final product. Since you are actually downloading an MPEG4 file, which is the same type of compression method used to transmit their programming via satellite, the quality of picture you will receive from their Video On Demand service is literally indistinguishable from DirecTV’s regular programming. In fact, other than the “VOD” label that shows-up next to each title, there is almost no way of telling the difference between programming you have recorded via satellite and VOD titles that you have downloaded over the Internet. They all appear right together when viewing a list of your recorded content.
One benefit of using DirecTV’s VOD service to download titles, rather than recording them to your DVR the traditional way, is that most titles currently have few, if any, commercial interruptions. So, DVR users who are used to hitting the fast-forward button to skip through commercials on recorded content can finally give their fingers a rest. Most shows have been re-edited to include a limited number of commercials, most of them being “teaser” ads for other network shows. It actually makes some network programming tolerable to sit through.
There is also a slew of exclusive content available to DirecTV VOD subscribers. Most of the titles we ran across were compiled by sources such as CNN. They have quite a number of interviews and short segments available that never quite made it on to their regular broadcasts. The presentation style seems to be much more laid-back than you would expect from some of these programmers. You are just as likely to see interviewers wearing a T-Shirt as a tie. I’m guessing that a large number of these shows will never see the light of day on regular television. The same can be said for many of the short clips you will find for reality shows and documentaries on other channels. There are a large number of outtakes, bloopers and other material that normally would never have gone any further than the cutting room floor. Enjoy it while you can. Once the mass public starts watching these services, we doubt that this type of programming will show-up anyplace other than YouTube.
Bottom Line
If you already have HDTV service with DirecTV, this one really is a no-brainer. There is no extra cost involved (besides the broadband connection) and it takes only minutes to get up-and-running. The number of titles is limited at the moment, but everything we have read would tend to indicate that much, much more programming is on the way. DirecTV’s VOD service is a win-win situation for DirecTV, the programmers and consumers. If you don’t already have DirecTV, this is just another reason to make the switch from cable. I’ve been subscribing to DirecTV for well over 10 years now, and you couldn’t pay me to go back to cable. For those of you who have to have “everything” when it comes to television, this is about as close as you can get to TV Nirvana at the moment. If you can’t find something worth viewing with DirecTV HDTV service and video on demand, there truly is nothing to watch!
