June 15th Announcement?

[Neutron]

Anyone know if Directv is still planning on announcing something tomorrow about their future HD offering?

 

[Tonedeaf]

My guess is a resounding NO. No Spaceway 2 launch and no idea of when it will occur puts a damper on any plans from D* unfortunately.

 

[charper1]

My guess is a resounding NO. No Spaceway 2 launch and no idea of when it will occur puts a damper on any plans from D* unfortunately.

It is now tentatively slated for 07/2005, but being on "STANDBY" may mean it could go earlier than that, but no later than 08/2005 I would think.

The launch of a heavy version of the European rocket Ariane has been postponed after one of the two satellites that make up its payload developed 'a technical problem,' the launch operator Arianespace said.

The launch was due to have taken place on the night of June 24-25 from Europe's space base in Kourou, French Guiana. The Ariane-5 ECA was due to have taken up two satellites, Spaceway 2, for the US pay TV operator DirecTV, and Telkom 2, for the Indonesian telecommunications firm Telkom Indonesia.

In order to adequately diagnose and fix the TELKOM-2 satellite, Orbital Sciences Corporation, the manufacturer of the spacecraft, is immediately returning the spacecraft to its facility in Dulles, VA, USA.

DirecTV's Spaceway 2 satellite, manufactured by Boeing, has successfully completed all pre-flight testing and is now ready for fueling. Spaceway 2 will be placed on standby. Arianespace is studying all available options to execute the launch as early as possible.

---2nd Story---

The next launch is now set for the night of Thursday, July 7, using an Ariane 5 vehicle to orbit the IPStar satellite for Thailand's Shinsat telecommunications operator. Originally, DirecTV's Spaceway 2 satellite was set to fly on the Ariane vehicle.

A DirecTV spokesperson said the company is in discussions with Arianespace about the re-scheduling development, and that the company's goal is to launch Spaceway 2 in July. The delay is not tied to an issue aboard the Spaceway satellite, which has been ready for launch for two months.

The Spaceway spacecraft is one of four satellites DirecTV is launching during a two-year period as part of an in-orbit expansion. The satellites will enable DirecTV to deliver more than 1,500 local and more than 150 national HD channels and other advanced programming services to consumers nationwide by 2007.

 

[sltmag]

I would not expect MPEG4 to be rolled out until 4th quarter. Once Spaceway 2 is up, things will probably get more interesting. Until then, it is just wait and see.

 

[Kentstater72]

OK first please remember I know nothing, and yet it does not stop me.

Why can't D* roll out LIL HD? At least in the first 12 markets.
Are they waiting to do it all at once and in Mpeg 4?

 

[CWS_kahuna]

I think we should be planning on something closer to a July 15th announcement.

 

[steverobertson]

I think we should be planning on something closer to a July 15th announcement.

Which year???

 

[riffjim4069]

I'm not a D* customer, but I sure wish they would sh*t some HD or get off the pot. As a former VOOMer, I felt comfortable switching to E* w/VOOM HD Pak because I was tired of hearing how great HD was going to be on D* at some unknown distant time in the future. Actions speak louder than words!

 

[vinnyv07]

If Direct doesnt do announce some plans by July Im going to go over to Dish or cable. I can always go back to Direct once they get their act together. Im an HD man...thats what I want. Directv isnt doing it for me now....and Im not confident I would be able to afford whatever price increase they are going to dream up once the HD becomes available. Its going to be a wait and see...but the time is growing shorter.

 

[Sean Mota]

Reason number one that I am decide to re-connect E* and their HD Package. There always delays on these rumors (and you never know how long is going to take). Anyway, rather than announcing new channels, I would like to fix their HD channels and those Harmonic Encoders.

 

[Hogarth]

Reason number one that I am decide to re-connect E* and their HD Package. There always delays on these rumors (and you never know how long is going to take). Anyway, rather than announcing new channels, I would like to fix their HD channels and those Harmonic Encoders.

Oy vey. With the exception of the VOOM satellite purchase, though, E* is almost always more behind schedule in their rumor fulfillment than D*.

 

[minorthr]

Here is D* big announcement





















.......cricket cricket

 

[markd]

If Direct doesnt do announce some plans by July Im going to go over to Dish or cable. I can always go back to Direct once they get their act together. Im an HD man...thats what I want. Directv isnt doing it for me now....and Im not confident I would be able to afford whatever price increase they are going to dream up once the HD becomes available. Its going to be a wait and see...but the time is growing shorter.

Same here. Except I'm not waiting. Picking up a TWC HD-DVR tomorrow and going to run side-by-side comparison for a month. Maybe D* will have an annoucement by then. Maybe not. You know, if D* hadn't introduced HD-Lite and still had good PQ I, probably, would wait a little longer before trying something else.

 

[Slashwt]

what's going to happen with all the subs that have the old HD receivers, is D* charging for switching? Any one has any info on this?

 

[vinnyv07]

Same here. Except I'm not waiting. Picking up a TWC HD-DVR tomorrow and going to run side-by-side comparison for a month. Maybe D* will have an annoucement by then. Maybe not. You know, if D* hadn't introduced HD-Lite and still had good PQ I, probably, would wait a little longer before trying something else.

The only reason I want to go with Dish is that I want some of the VOOM ch's back and TNTHD. I rarely watch anything on Directv's HD pack. If they dont add something I cant really see keeping the HD pack. The TWC HD-DVR is very tempting.

 

[ramcm7]

Here is D* big announcement



.......cricket cricket

No, they announced the Cricket Ticket package last November. You need the 95W sat to get it.

 

[Apologist]

Anyone have a clue of how long we will be waiting? It is time for D* to stand up or get out. All these promises and half-truthes is getting old.

 

[charper1]

Calm down, they have not reneged or told any half-truths that you keep preaching about. Their newest bird will go up around the 1st or 2nd week of July, so you can at least wait till after that. We are talking about multi 100 million dollar satellites, new software and hardware and some 15 million customers to keep up and running SMOOTHLY in the meantime.

 

[LonghornXP]

Calm down, they have not reneged or told any half-truths that you keep preaching about. Their newest bird will go up around the 1st or 2nd week of July, so you can at least wait till after that. We are talking about multi 100 million dollar satellites, new software and hardware and some 15 million customers to keep up and running SMOOTHLY in the meantime.

I agree and as charper1 has said we cannot start bashing because they didn't meet our rumored dates. Again that is why these are called rumors. Everything that has been stated in a press release has been met as of now and what hasn't been met still does indeed have time left to be met.

Oh and charper1 I'm so glad that you are some of the few here that don't mix up rumor and official released fact because quite a bit of this info hasn't quite been labeled as well as we would like.

 

[Neutron]

I started this thread only because of a certain source saying that Directv may have an announcement by June 15th.

I agree with Longhorn and Charper, anything that's labeled a rumor I won't get pissed at. Now if Directv had a press release with a certain date for something and they didn't come through with no statement then I may get a little peeved.