# NBC On Demand!!



## drx792

Its Here channel 1004!!!

and there's HD Content!

Complete seasons of 30 Rock, Heroes, and the Office are all there, but unfortunately all the content has to be paid for. 
HD is $1.99 SD is $0.99

Oh and there is a DirecTV Training Channel On Demand, but i cant access content on it. Ch. 1578


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## krock918316

Super Awesome! Now we just need the rest! (ABC, CBS, Fox)


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## Michael D'Angelo

Great find but it looks like everything is PPV.


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## krock918316

Michael D'Angelo;1646458 said:


> Great find but it looks like everything is PPV.


Not so awesome after all.....


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## tcusta00

Is that a complete season for 1.99 or per episode?


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## drx792

tcusta00 said:


> Is that a complete season for 1.99 or per episode?


per episode


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## jamieh1

Plus everything is 24 Hour Rental.


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## mhayes70

Michael D'Angelo;1646458 said:


> Great find but it looks like everything is PPV.


That is a horrible idea. There is no way I am going to pay to watch any shows. I will just wait for reruns.


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## drx792

im not too thrilled with this 24 hour PPV either. If it wasnt 24 hour rentals i would possibly consider a purchase, but this is just stupid.


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## mhayes70

drx792 said:


> im not too thrilled with this 24 hour PPV either. If it wasnt 24 hour rentals i would possibly consider a purchase, but this is just stupid.


Yes, it is. I would bet this is NBC demanding money to watch these episodes. :nono:


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## jal

Charging for this reminds me of Charlie from that other service provider.


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## Drew2k

Yeah that it's here, boo that it's PPV.

$0.99 for SD and $1.99 for HD for the same half-hour episode or 30 Rock?

That better be without commercials!


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## vansmack

Heroes Season One on DVD: $49.

Heroes Season One from DirecTV: $24.

Heroes Season One in HD-DVD: $70.

Heroes Season One in HD from DirecTV: $48.

If you don't plan on watching them over and over again, this sounds like a bargain to me.


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## Drew2k

With PPV, you CAN'T watch beyond 24 hours ... so is VOD PPV is excluded from the general 24-hour expiration for "regular" PPV?


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## drx792

vansmack said:


> Heroes Season One on DVD: $49.
> 
> Heroes Season One from DirecTV: $24.
> 
> Heroes Season One in HD-DVD: $70.
> 
> Heroes Season One in HD from DirecTV: $48.
> 
> If you don't plan on watching them over and over again, this sounds like a bargain to me.


ehh i guess, but your still stuck to 24 hours.....

oh and ill throw this out here, Heroes Season 1 and 2 are being released on Blu-Ray
Season 1 is $70 and Season Two is $50


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## Stuart Sweet

I'm not surprised that it's PPV, they know you can zap through commercials and this brings it in line with other avenues for getting the same kind of programming (like iTunes).


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## Drew2k

I was hoping more for the model that the Big Four have used for web streaming, with limited commercial blocks of approximately 30 seconds each at the beginning, middle and end of the program. I would much rather have that On Demand than a PPV model ...


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## dave29

Drew2k said:


> With PPV, you CAN'T watch beyond 24 hours ... so is VOD PPV is excluded from the general 24-hour expiration for "regular" PPV?


vod ppv is also 24 hour:nono2:


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## vansmack

drx792 said:


> Season Two is $50


Season 2 was only 11 episodes (writers strike).

So Season 2 will only cost $22 on DirecTV.


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## Drew2k

Stuart Sweet said:


> they know you can zap through commercials and this brings it in line with other avenues for getting the same kind of programming (like iTunes).


I'm pretty sure NBC On-Demand is free on Comcast, with commercial support, so why not On Demand for DIRECTV as well? Do Comcast DVRs prohibit FFW during commercials maybe? That would be something DIRECTV would have to develop for on-demand, but there would be many that would fear that being the tip of the iceberg ... that if they can disable commercials we would start to see further rights erode on regular non-demand recordings...


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## dog6869

Who can WE (US) start E-Mailing to to make this madness stop!! before it gets to far!!! there are 1000's of us here on the net that use VOD.. We can swamp them with 1000's of Emails 24 X7.. lets get or **** together NOW!!!!!!


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## tfederov

Watching them at nbc.com should be free still IIRC. It's been a while since I looked.


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## vansmack

There's usually no archive at NBC.com beyond the last three episodes (although I just checked and it seems that the writers strike may have changed this policy as the entire season of some shows are there). 

My limited exposure to Comcasts On Demand was very similar. It was free, but it was only the last 3 episodes (I'm happy to be corrected here if this has changed).

We don't know yet that DirecTV is doing anything differently with recent episodes (when the programs air again in the fall). But the prospect of having an archive of all the shows of a program, even if there is an associated cost, is something I'm excited about.


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## Stuart Sweet

I don't see people knocking down Apple's door because they're charging for TV episodes...


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## drx792

Stuart Sweet said:


> I don't see people knocking down Apple's door because they're charging for TV episodes...


i think its the fact that everyone was thinking the network programming VOD would be exactly like it is on the network websites.
I personally dont mind the charge as much as i mine the 24 Hour Rental. think we need a little more time than 24 hours for the rental.


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## Drew2k

Stuart Sweet said:


> I don't see people knocking down Apple's door because they're charging for TV episodes...


Just looking to understand what you're saying Stuart ...

Yes, Apple provides a service to download episodes on-demand, but they permit and support playing those episodes on portable devices. So the fee is for commercial-free mobile playback.

DIRECTV controls the on-demand downloads and only permits viewing within the home network (now that MediaShare PC Playback is on the horizon for general release), but currently doesn't support mobile playback.

Other providers support on-demand downloads of network content with commercials embedded. I think the question many of us have here is why is DIRECTV not doing the same? Perhaps it's early and we just need to be more patient to see what else will be offered ...


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## MikeW

I had been lookinjg forward to nets on demand. I had missed a couple of shows at the beginning of last season and hooked up the laptop to watch the program feed from the web. It wasn't convenient and the program was maxed out in a window that would not fill my screen.

I won't pay to watch network programming so I won't paricipate with NBC On Demand. I was equally disappointed with X-Box charging such an outrageous price for CBS programming. I wanted to start from Season 1, Episode 1 of NCIS and found it was going to cost way too much.


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## alexjb12

vansmack said:


> Heroes Season One on DVD: $49.
> 
> Heroes Season One from DirecTV: $24.
> 
> Heroes Season One in HD-DVD: $70.
> 
> Heroes Season One in HD from DirecTV: $48.
> 
> If you don't plan on watching them over and over again, this sounds like a bargain to me.


or you can watch all the heros episodes instantly for $17 at netflix.com.


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## vansmack

Apple is not HD. I'll happily pay for HD.

Streaming should be free. I'll happy pay for a quality that is better than streaming.


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## MikeW

I noticed that "Beta" is not applied to this channel and has been removed from a few others (SHO/TMC). Does this mean that VOD is moving away from a Beta project?


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## CopyCat

WinMX is still alive and most of this is available in SD. 

I'll wait for reruns like the rest of us.


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## Ryan

The thing that really gets me is the extra change for the HD. Are they still going to offer a SD version after the analog shut off? Then the difference in price will more accurately be called a SD discount.


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## jeeperman

Go to Hulu.com and you see can all the shows for free. They only show 10 to 15 sec. commercials. They also have movies and past tv shows.


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## morbid_fun

alexjb12 said:


> or you can watch all the heros episodes instantly for $17 at netflix.com.


Got a Netflix subscription and love it.
I do not agree with the networks charging for the On Demand. Especially disagree with the 24 hour window on any type of PPV.


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## mstanka

Stuart Sweet said:


> I don't see people knocking down Apple's door because they're charging for TV episodes...


Also because when you buy content from Apple, you can watch as many times as you want.

With the Directv on Demand, you can watch as many times, but you are limited to 24 hours, then you have to pay again.

I am a GREAT supporter of Directv and like all the offerings, but this will not be something that I would use.

I also will not send an email, or call and complain. If there are no downloads, or not many, then they will get the hint and try to redo the contract with NBC.

Just my opinion.

Michael.


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## dervari

Perhaps the last "x" Eps for free and charge for the older ones.


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## looney2ns

The simple solution is to vote with your wallet. If you don't agree with their business model of charging, simply never purchase anything. Speaks louder than any email.


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## Greg Alsobrook

jamieh1 said:


> Plus everything is 24 Hour Rental.


Booo... I'm out... I'll stick to my apple tv...



mstanka said:


> Also because when you buy content from Apple, you can watch as many times as you want.


eggzactly


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## Sirshagg

drx792 said:


> Its Here channel 1004!!!
> 
> and there's HD Content!
> 
> Complete seasons of 30 Rock, Heroes, and the Office are all there, but unfortunately *all the content has to be paid for*.
> HD is $1.99 SD is $0.99


This pretty much sums up my thoughts on that


Spoiler


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## kevinwmsn

It will be nice to have 1 of the big 4 networks on DoD. I would rather have free and limited commercial interruption like the other DoD channels. Why this extra $1 for the HD version? I know its takes more space but it takes us to have a big internet pipe and paying extra for it too(5 or 6 Meg connection) to be able to download and watch that in real time. SD needs about 3 meg connection to get it in real time. I'm wondering if $1 extra is because of the precedent that had been set by PPVs?


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## tcusta00

Ryan said:


> The thing that really gets me is the extra change for the HD. Are they still going to offer a SD version after the analog shut off? Then the difference in price will more accurately be called a SD discount.


SD ≠ analog
DirecTV has no analog

... and therefore the digital switch has no bearing. All DirecTV programming is digital.


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## trekologer

Well this is not a surprise. NBC, unhappy with how much they were getting from distributing through iTunes, planned to pull their shows from iTunes. Out of the other networks, NBC seems to be the one that wants viewer to pay for each viewing the most. Stuff like this is what drives folks who would pay a reasonable price for a legitimate distribution of a program to download a pirated one.


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## RunnerFL

Pay $1.99 per HD episode and keep it for 24 hours...

OR

Go to nbc.com and watch them anytime for free...

Not a tough choice!

Burn In Hell F... errr NBC!!


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## ajc68

vansmack said:


> Heroes Season One on DVD: $49.
> 
> Heroes Season One from DirecTV: $24.
> 
> Heroes Season One in HD-DVD: $70.
> 
> Heroes Season One in HD from DirecTV: $48.
> 
> If you don't plan on watching them over and over again, this sounds like a bargain to me.


It doesn't sound like a good deal to me at all. When I'm done watching a season of a show on DVD or BD, I then loan it out, trade it, or sell it on ebay. I get way more bang for my buck that way and I can watch it at my leisure.


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## wilbur_the_goose

Why the uproar? XBOX (Microsoft) charges the exact same fee for this product.

In case you've forgotten, NBC is a for-profit enterprise.


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## mrpull

drx792 said:


> Complete seasons of 30 Rock, Heroes, and the Office are all there, but unfortunately all the content has to be paid for.
> HD is $1.99 SD is $0.99


So when my DVR fails to properly record a 30 Rock (like it did on multiple occasions last season) I can pay a SECOND time to download it and have the pleasure of a 24 hour window to watch it before it vanishes? No thanks!

If i get a botched recording, I'll download it from a P2P site (hey, i DID pay to receive NBC this month and is freely available OTA) and stream it to my XBox 360 (which by the way is a far superior Media Share platform).

mr.


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## ProfLonghair

Wow, so, via my internet connection, I have two (legal) choices:
$1.99 for The Office on VOD, with a 24 hour window
OR
hulu, The Office, for free.


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## ProfLonghair

wilbur_the_goose said:


> Why the uproar? XBOX (Microsoft) charges the exact same fee for this product.
> 
> In case you've forgotten, NBC is a for-profit enterprise.


Because, I didn't pay to dl it from XBOX, either. Their model stinks for that, too. A show that is in current production, AND has reruns on all the time, who pays to dl and watch that?


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## raott

vansmack said:


> Heroes Season One on DVD: $49.
> 
> Heroes Season One from DirecTV: $24.
> 
> Heroes Season One in HD-DVD: $70.
> 
> Heroes Season One in HD from DirecTV: $48.
> 
> If you don't plan on watching them over and over again, this sounds like a bargain to me.


A bargain is renting them through netflix and blockbuster. IMO, $48 is not a bargain and I will not be purchasing any network shows.


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## mrpull

Now that DirecTV has established and assigned a value to NBC's programs, can we request a $1.99 refund or credit for gray/blank recordings on NBC that are clearly the fault of the buggy equipment?

Don't we already pay for NBC AND an uplift for HD and DVR?


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## BlueSnake

trekologer said:


> Well this is not a surprise. NBC, unhappy with how much they were getting from distributing through iTunes, planned to pull their shows from iTunes. Out of the other networks, NBC seems to be the one that wants viewer to pay for each viewing the most. Stuff like this is what drives folks who would pay a reasonable price for a legitimate distribution of a program to download a pirated one.


If NBC was unhappy with what they received from iTunes, I wouldn't think they would be any happier with Directv, because I can't imagine that many people will be willing to pay for this programming.:nono2:


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## Greg Alsobrook

I have a feeling alot of people will be very angry when they figure out the program is only good for 24 hours.. It doesn't say that anywhere... 

It does say "Available Until 7/31"... I wonder what that's about?


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## tcusta00

AirRocker said:


> I have a feeling alot of people will be very angry when they figure out the program is only good for 24 hours.. It doesn't say that anywhere...
> 
> It does say "Available Until 7/31"... I wonder what that's about?


Says it on mine.


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## Michael D'Angelo

AirRocker said:


> It does say "Available Until 7/31"... I wonder what that's about?


That means that is how long it will be available on DoD before it is removed.


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## bgottschalk

Man - this really stinks!

I was all excited when I saw the thread title - then I read the first post...  

No way am I paying to watch the episodes when I can watch them on the net for free. And if I really love the series and am willing to pay for it, I already bought the DVD.

NBC always has been one of the worst for online content.

Check out abc.com - they have all episodes of Lost in HD for free. Can't beat that! Maybe when they add an on demand channel, they'll show NBC how it should be! :nono:


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## Greg Alsobrook

Michael D'Angelo;1646936 said:


> That means that is how long it will be available on DoD before it is removed.


Ahh... Well, I bet alot of people are going to mistake that with how long they can view it until... Either way, once people find out it's only 24 hours, especially since it's not stated, i bet there are going to be alot of calls demanding credits...


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## drx792

AirRocker said:


> Ahh... Well, I bet alot of people are going to mistake that with how long they can view it until... Either way, once people find out it's only 24 hours, especially since it's not stated, i bet there are going to be alot of calls demanding credits...


It says in the Episode Description that its a 24 Hour Rental.


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## Drew2k

As already said, when the choice is to watch free, for as many times as you want online for as many days as you want, or watch for a fee only within a 24-hour window, I can see a lot of people opting for "Free". I think DIRECTV and NBC are each missing out on eyeballs by charging PPV fees for the NBC shows. Offer it will commercials for no fee, and people will watch....


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## mrpull

Perhaps this is the last step before the Broadcast Flag (or similar) is enforced on NBC programs. How long until we cant use or normal DVR functions to timeshift or trickplay NBC's Thursday night block?

WHY would something that costs more have more restrictions (24 hour limit) than the product that is "free" (or more accurately already included in our monthly fees)? 

I fear this means our standard features are going to be downgraded to make the for-pay features seem more attractive.


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## mauijiminar

If you dont want to pay then dont ORDER IT!


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## Greg Alsobrook

drx792 said:


> It says in the Episode Description that its a 24 Hour Rental.


Not in the one I looked at... 30 Rock HD... Season 2... Episode 10...

But it does appear that the rest of them do...


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## Drew2k

mauijiminar said:


> If you dont want to pay then dont ORDER IT!


Umm, yeah, that's the general consensus here. I could switch that around and say, if you want it on demand for free, don't watch it on DIRECTV. Pretty sure DIRECTV would hate to hear that ...


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## Steve

Drew2k said:


> As already said, when the choice is to watch free, for as many times as you want online for as many days as you want, or watch for a fee only within a 24-hour window, I can see a lot of people opting for "Free". I think DIRECTV and NBC are each missing out on eyeballs by charging PPV fees for the NBC shows. Offer it will commercials for no fee, and people will watch....


Agree 1000%. /steve


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## pprather

This is lame. NBC VOD is free on Time Warner and It's free streaming on the net. Why in the world would I pay for this? Then to top it off, 24 hr limit!


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## BubblePuppy

I'm certainly not going to pay to watch a show that if I was already interested in I would have already recorded it and watched it.



mrpull said:


> Perhaps this is the last step before the Broadcast Flag (or similar) is enforced on NBC programs. How long until we cant use or normal DVR functions to timeshift or trickplay NBC's Thursday night block?
> 
> WHY would something that costs more have more restrictions (24 hour limit) than the product that is "free" (or more accurately already included in our monthly fees)?
> 
> I fear this means our standard features are going to be downgraded to make the for-pay features seem more attractive.


Interesting point.


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## mrpull

Drew2k said:


> Offer it [with] commercials for no fee, and people will watch....


I think it would be perfectly acceptable to have a commercial (even one you can't trickplay) in the beginning and every 15 minutes to offset the cost of the infrastructure to deliver the program over the Internet.

However, the content providers seem to forget that I am paying for my end of the Internet connection. Comcast's on-demand doesn't have delays for streaming and you don't need to have an additional broadband connection to use it.

mr.


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## trekologer

pprather said:


> NBC VOD is free on Time Warner


There is probablly a high likelyhood that Time Warner (and other cable companies that have NBC on demand without charge) negotiated before NBC decided on demand was a cash generating opportinuty. Those later to the game (DirecTV, possibly AT&T U-Verse, Verizon FiOS, smaller cable companies) and the rest when it comes time to re-negotiate agreements, NBC will want them to start charging as well.


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## trekologer

mrpull said:


> Comcast's on-demand doesn't have delays for streaming and you don't need to have an additional broadband connection to use it.


Comcast (and other cable companies') digital cable set top boxes are both TV tuners and DOCSIS cable modems. It is actually using a broadband commention, although both limited purpose and hidden from the user.


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## Guest

Drew2k said:


> As already said, when the choice is to watch free, for as many times as you want online for as many days as you want, or watch for a fee only within a 24-hour window, I can see a lot of people opting for "Free". I think DIRECTV and NBC are each missing out on eyeballs by charging PPV fees for the NBC shows. Offer it will commercials for no fee, and people will watch....


Agreed. When you can watch the episodes on the network's website for free with some brief commercials, why pay $1.99 to watch it from DirecTV with a 24-hour limit? It doesn't make a lot of sense.


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## Guest

mrpull said:


> Perhaps this is the last step before the Broadcast Flag (or similar) is enforced on NBC programs. How long until we cant use or normal DVR functions to timeshift or trickplay NBC's Thursday night block?


Can't happen under current FCC rules.


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## Guest

mauijiminar said:


> If you dont want to pay then dont ORDER IT!


Gee, thanks for the advice. If I don't like it, I shouldn't buy it. I'll have to remember that one.


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## shaun-ohio

what a crock of bull, im glad im staying with netflix player.


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## mrpull

rcoleman111 said:



> Can't happen under current FCC rules.


Can you direct me to a source that says the FCC bans the use of Broadcast Flag functionality?


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## edpowers

mrpull said:


> Can you direct me to a source that says the FCC bans the use of Broadcast Flag functionality?


"The FCC has no authority to regulate consumer electronic devices that can be used for receipt of wire or radio communication when those devices are not engaged in the process of radio or wire transmission."

http://news.cnet.com/Court-says-FCCs-broadcast-flag-is-toast/2100-1030_3-5697719.html

I don't really understand why NBC thinks they can get away with charging $1.99 per episode to DVR users. Are they hoping a large % of DVR users don't know how to hit the record button twice? You'd think the lowest ranked major network in America would be dying to increase exposure to their shows. Then again, there is a reason they are in last place. Even if the FCC could enforce the broadcast flag ... is NBC stupid enough to think that would help their current situation? I think that would be the last straw for many of their few remaining viewers. I would literally remove NBC from my guide if they turned on a broadcast flag.


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## mrpull

rcoleman111 said:


> Can't happen under current FCC rules.





edpowers said:


> http://news.cnet.com/Court-says-FCCs-broadcast-flag-is-toast/2100-1030_3-5697719.html


My understanding of that ruling was that the FCC could not force manufactures to include Broadcast Flag functionality.

I don't think it made it unlawful for content and hardware providers to enforce such restrictions.

Some cite the 24 hour restriction on PPV 24 hour restriction on PPV  to be one of the first real world enforcements of Broadcast Flag functionality.

Just recently Microsoft stated that Windows Media Center would adhere to the Broadcast Flag source.

Guess what network already had a flub in marking content as "Do not record"...our pals at NBC.


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## Thaedron

I'm paying $9.99 a month for my HD "technology fee", I shouldn't have to pay extra for every stinking thing I want in HD rather than SD.

24 hour limits on this are a deal breaker. My wife and I can't always watch things together or on the same night.


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## jdmac29

I want pay for it either. Free on the web and honestly I would rather pay for the dvds/blu ray to watch it when I want as much as I want. Since they let us record the season anyway and watch it whenever we wish and how ever many times we want I don't understand with charging for the dod.


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## dog6869

Stuart Sweet said:


> I don't see people knocking down Apple's door because they're charging for TV episodes...


 yeah But all the stuff NBC has is avbl via OTA.. Apple can charge what it wants for any thing that have becasuse it is NOT avble over OTA!!! and Free to start off with...


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## drx792

dog6869 said:


> yeah But all the stuff NBC has is avbl via OTA.. Apple can charge what it wants for any thing that have becasuse it is NOT avble over OTA!!! and Free to start off with...


so the NBC TV series episodes available on through Apple that you have to pay for are not on OTA?


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## GaryPotter

In my opinion, it's fundamentally a bad idea to make a service whose complete functionality is dependent on a completely different service. Charging for things that others get for free certainly doesn't help.


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## Nofences

Seriously, hasn't anyone heard of bit torrent. Search any of the well know torrent sites and you can find every single episode of the 3 shows on NBC VOD in HD for free! If I miss an episode of Heroes, it is normally posted the same day for download... I can watch it as much as I want.


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## GaryPotter

Let's face it, Hollywood has NEVER been happy with the idea of viewers being able to pick and choose when to watch programs. If they had their way, the VCR would never have happened, nevermind this.


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## curbside

I haven't ordered a PPV movie since since Directv use to give 2 free PPV coupons each month in the bill. I doubt if I would pay for a TV show when they are available for free on the internet.


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## gully_foyle

dave29 said:


> vod ppv is also 24 hour:nono2:


I've never understood this limitation. Hard disk storage is limited, so what's the big deal? Why not let someone keep a show and watch it over and over? There's only so many shows you can do this with.

This is a limitation that gains the seller nearly nothing -- someone who really likes a show is still going to get a hard copy, and no one is going to rebuy the same show on VOD -- but decreases the utility to the casual buyer a great deal. To the point where it's more trouble than it's worth.

Seems like a negative-sum situation, which means of course that lawyers are involved.


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## Billzebub

Drew2k said:


> I'm pretty sure NBC On-Demand is free on Comcast, with commercial support, so why not On Demand for DIRECTV as well? Do Comcast DVRs prohibit FFW during commercials maybe? That would be something DIRECTV would have to develop for on-demand, but there would be many that would fear that being the tip of the iceberg ... that if they can disable commercials we would start to see further rights erode on regular non-demand recordings...


I'm in the unique position of having Directv at home in Pittsburgh and Comcast at my aparment in Harrisburg. There is no NBC on Demand with Comcast, just CBS. CBS is free with limited comercials.


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## braven

jdmac29 said:


> I want pay for it either. Free on the web and honestly I would rather pay for the dvds/blu ray to watch it when I want as much as I want. Since they let us record the season anyway and watch it whenever we wish and how ever many times we want I don't understand with charging for the dod.


I don't understand this either. Why would anyone pay for something they can get for free? DIRECTV won't get a penny from me for this.


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## cbeckner80

I'm sure not paying for it. I haven't brought PPV or paid for any of the VOD and don't plan on it.

What's next? Doing what the ISP's are doing, charging us by how much TV we watch.:lol: :rant:


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## sgluck

When do we get HBO on demand ?


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## AFH

sgluck said:


> When do we get HBO on demand ?


Don't ask that. Directv will probably strike a deal with HBO that includes a charge of $4.99 for a HD movie, $2.99 for an SD movies, $3.99 for HD shows like Entourage and Big Love and $2.99 for the SD version of those shows.


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## mikey6719

Stuart Sweet said:


> I don't see people knocking down Apple's door because they're charging for TV episodes...


...that you can save it forever on your iPod, computer with iTunes, and watch it anywhere you can hook up RCA jack cables (granted NOT HD).... I think we are simply feeling the growing pains of the digital media age. Price will somewhat dictate content sales at this point and ease/convenience of delivery methods are the deciding factor.


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## VARTV

How is the HD quality of DirecTV's On-Demand??


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## EricRobins

Isn't this just one step from program-by-program a la carte?


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## tcusta00

VARTV said:


> How is the HD quality of DirecTV's On-Demand??


I've only watched a few HD things via On-demand but everything I've seen is up to par with the MPEG4 channel's quality.


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## Greg Alsobrook

Billzebub said:


> CBS is free with limited comercials.


ding ding ding ding


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## edpowers

EricRobins said:


> Isn't this just one step from program-by-program a la carte?


Maybe, if NBC plans on shutting down every local affiliate broadcasting the same shows for free from their OTA towers.


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## justlgi

Stuart Sweet said:


> I don't see people knocking down Apple's door because they're charging for TV episodes...


I think the uproar has to do with the fact that a lot of us already pay 90-100+ for D* including $10 for HD. And most of us have friends and family who have Comcast with VOD for FREE and they don't have to pay extra for an internet connection to get it.

Compared to other VOD D*'s VOD was already a joke. This was just the punch line.

:icon_lame

*Edit
I was corrected by *tcusta00* in another thread.



> Nope, they charge for NBC shows too:
> 
> http://www.comcast.com/About/PressRe...l.ashx?PRID=79
> 
> This is apparently an NBC decision, not DirecTVs.


It's still :icon_lame and it still uses my bandwidth to deliver. I should get a rebate on my DSL bill for using it. Instead they are looking to charge more. AT&T May Charge Heavy Broadband Users Extra


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## Aztec Pilot

You can get most of this on Hulu.com for free. No HD, but they do have 480P. Great on my laptop, but noght the big stuff. It is free, though. Just a 30 second commercial at the beginning.


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## Aztec Pilot

vansmack said:


> Heroes Season One on DVD: $49.
> 
> Heroes Season One from DirecTV: $24.
> 
> Heroes Season One in HD-DVD: $70.
> 
> Heroes Season One in HD from DirecTV: $48.
> 
> If you don't plan on watching them over and over again, this sounds like a bargain to me.


Season Two in 480P Free at hulu.com

Just a 30 second promo at beginning.


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## anopro

sgluck said:


> When do we get HBO on demand ?


That my question we pay 14.00 bucks a month and no VOD!

As far as PPV ever since 24 limit I will never buy another PPV


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## monkeydrum

I think I will use my state-of-art HR20-700 to record these shows in re-run and then watch them over a 25 hour period.


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## diggumsmax

wilbur_the_goose said:


> Why the uproar? XBOX (Microsoft) charges the exact same fee for this product.
> 
> In case you've forgotten, NBC is a for-profit enterprise.


The difference is on Xbox TV shows are bought and you own them. This seems like your paying roughly what you pay on xbox just to rent them for 24 hours which is what sucks. Movies on xbox are rentals but TV shows are bought and you own them once you purchased them. If you delete them from your hard drive you can download them again for free because everything is linked to your gamercard.


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## Tiebmbr

Worthless...especially when all summer long we can be watching re-runs of these shows for free.


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## edpowers

wilbur_the_goose said:


> Why the uproar? XBOX (Microsoft) charges the exact same fee for this product.
> 
> In case you've forgotten, NBC is a for-profit enterprise.





diggumsmax said:


> The difference is on Xbox TV shows are bought and you own them. This seems like your paying roughly what you pay on xbox just to rent them for 24 hours which is what sucks. Movies on xbox are rentals but TV shows are bought and you own them once you purchased them. If you delete them from your hard drive you can download them again for free because everything is linked to your gamercard.


Also, the Xbox doesn't have a feature where you can get all of the episodes for free simply by hitting the record button twice and waiting a few weeks for the shows to pile up. Especially with a show like 'The Office' which is now in sydication on TBS-HD. I wouldn't say I'm upset about the new NBC VOD ... I just find it funny that NBC has the nerve to think that the avg. Directv DVR subscriber is willing to pay $2 per show.

I could be wrong, but I've always assumed that the true heavy users of services like xbox downloads and Itunes are people who don't want to pay $100+ monthly cable/Sat fees...so its easier for them to justify downloading the occasaional $1-$2 show. In other words, they can download 50-100 shows per month instead of paying Directv.


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## mfeinstein

It is totally reasonable for NBC to charge for their content if they want to. And, it is just as reasonable for people to choose not to download it if they don't like either the quality of the content or the business model under which it is available. If NBC sees that their current business model doesn't draw enough downloaders and there are other models that generate revenue and draw viewers -- more than 24 hours of time to 'rent' the content, embedded commercials, etc. -- then they will have to adjust their model or lose their audience.

The best thing you can do to send a message to NBC is not to vent here but to download and watch as much of the free VOD content you can without downloading anything from NBC. Then, the NBC executives will see that their 'for pay' content is losing out to the free stuff...

In case any NBC programming execs are lurking: I love 30 Rock and the Office but wouldn't pay $1-2 to rent an episode for 24 hours, particularly because I saw them the first time around. I would pay to keep them on my hard drive for as long as I like and will probably end up buying the DVDs when they come out anyway...


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## edpowers

mfeinstein said:


> In case any NBC programming execs are lurking: I love 30 Rock and the Office but wouldn't pay $1-2 to rent an episode for 24 hours, particularly because I saw them the first time around. I would pay to keep them on my hard drive for as long as I like and will probably end up buying the DVDs when they come out anyway...


In the case of The Office, I'm just curious why you'd rather pay to keep VOD downloads on your hard drive as opposed to just recording the episodes for free on NBC or TBS and marking them as 'keep until I delete'? The only reason I can think of would be so you don't have to hit the 30-skip button through commercials. Is there any other reason? I think the real value would come if (like Xbox) you didn't need to permanently store the shows on your own drive ... but the system knows that you already purchased a particular episode. That way, you don't waste drive space and you can watch the episode on VOD whenever you please. I still wouldn't pay a dime for that, but at least they'd be adding some value to the purchase.


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## ziggy29

vansmack said:


> Heroes Season One on DVD: $49.
> 
> Heroes Season One from DirecTV: $24.
> 
> Heroes Season One in HD-DVD: $70.
> 
> Heroes Season One in HD from DirecTV: $48.
> 
> If you don't plan on watching them over and over again, this sounds like a bargain to me.


If you don't intend to watch them over and over again, seems like Netflix would be a far superior offer, especially since a lot of people can't watch an entire season of a show within 24 hours.


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## mattgwyther

The Office Season 4: Free on HULU
The Office Season 1-3: Free on DVD at the Library

I don't see the justification for $1.99 / HD episode other than "it's similar to iTunes model."


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## reweiss

I think NBC and these other companies are missing the boat on the pricing structure. NBC gets paid by advertisers on the number of people that watch their shows. If I watch "The Office" live, I can skip through commericals.

If I missed watching/recording "The Office" on a given Thursday, and would like a 2nd chance to see it on DOD, but had to pay for it to see it on my big TV, I personally would not be willing to pay for it. Instead I could just watch my show online. Is that the most convenient or comfortable way to watch the show? No.

However, it comes down to how much is it worth to me for the added convenience to watch my show on a big TV instead of a laptop...

If I could get the content for free but was forced to watch 2 -3 commericals during the course of the show, it would be worth it to me (probably not everyone agrees it would be worth it for them). This would give NBC and other companies to show advertisers better numbers. Either we have to pay for the content or advertisers. I would rather the advertisers pay for it.

Mind you, if I was able record the show when it was live, I would be able to zip through all of the commercials. But for some reason (in this example) I did not and getting another chance to see my show has got to be worth something.

However, to justify the cost of making content available for DOD, there needs to be an equitable trade-off. I think forcing users to watch commericals is a good tradeoff. If they embed 2 -3 commercials in their content and remove the ability to fast forward or fast rewind, this should work.


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## sdicomp

vansmack said:


> Heroes Season One on DVD: $49.
> 
> Heroes Season One from DirecTV: $24.
> 
> Heroes Season One in HD-DVD: $70.
> 
> Heroes Season One in HD from DirecTV: $48.
> 
> If you don't plan on watching them over and over again, this sounds like a bargain to me.


Heroes Season One in reruns-FREE!

No brainer here!!


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## cdizzy

Tiebmbr said:


> Worthless...especially when all summer long we can be watching re-runs of these shows for free.


Or watch them online about as fast as they come out.

Bad, bad, bad idea! Just another way of getting more out of its customers. :nono2:


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## pdawg17

I too was first excited to see it was available and then pissed to see the charge...I agree that they could make older epis have a charge but the most recent 3 should be free...I have access to Comcast in my area and VOD has ABC and CBS with the last 3 episodes of each for free...plus it's much faster to start than D*'s model...there are occasional commercials but nothing too irritating...I would use it for that third show in a busy timeslot that I can't record...

I use bittorrent currently but the quality seems slightly lower than what D* gives me...

This is why we will never see divx support through Mediashare...they want you to buy the episodes - not download it online and then stream it to your D* box for free...they can't control the fact your computer can convert the file first but they won't let it happen on their end...


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## Thaedron

Drew2k said:


> As already said, when the choice is to watch free, for as many times as you want online for as many days as you want, or watch for a fee only within a 24-hour window, I can see a lot of people opting for "Free". I think DIRECTV and NBC are each missing out on eyeballs by charging PPV fees for the NBC shows. Offer it will commercials for no fee, and people will watch....


Or for a fee with no expiration.


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## MikeW

They should insert several 15 second commercials. This will make the 30 sec skip useless, forces the viewer to see the commercial and gets them a revenue stream.

This summer, NBC promised no repeats. This means they only had one chance to make money on some episodes.


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## Greg Alsobrook

MikeW said:


> They should insert several 15 second commercials. This will make the 30 sec skip useless, forces the viewer to see the commercial and gets them a revenue stream.


Please stop posting things that make sense... This is clearly not the path they wish to take... :lol:


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## OverThereTooMuch

mrpull said:


> Now that DirecTV has established and assigned a value to NBC's programs, can we request a $1.99 refund or credit for gray/blank recordings on NBC that are clearly the fault of the buggy equipment?
> 
> Don't we already pay for NBC AND an uplift for HD and DVR?


I think this is a great point. It's now no longer in their best interest to make sure you always receive the programming that you're already paying for. That sucks.

You should start a new thread with this suggestion, and see if there are any reasonable people here that can figure out how such a system could work (I'm usually not very reasonable, so I'm out ). I'm sure some scummy lawyer will figure out a way to make a few bucks off this. I anxiously await the multi-million dollar settlement he gets, and the "one free VOD program" coupon that everyone else here will get.



MikeW said:


> They should insert several 15 second commercials. This will make the 30 sec skip useless, forces the viewer to see the commercial and gets them a revenue stream.
> 
> This summer, NBC promised no repeats. This means they only had one chance to make money on some episodes.


NBC promised no repeats? Guess that explains why they have crap programs on like celebrity circus :nono2: I'd prefer the reruns.

I don't see that it makes sense for advertisers to purchase commercials in VOD programs, at least not for DTV.

For cable, VOD works without a DVR, meaning not everyone has the ability to FFW through any commercials.

But for DTV, it takes time for the show to download, and it's going to a DVR. I'm sure there are stats somewhere on what % of people with DVR's pay attention to the commercials, and it's probably not enough to make the content provider a reasonable amount of money.

I also don't like the different SD/HD prices, but I think $2 is pretty reasonable. People aren't going to be purchasing whole seasons that way (esp. not with the system DTV has). There have been several web-based options suggested, but that means you're probably not watching it on the biggest screen in your house. You probably don't have a nice comfy couch in front of your main PC either.


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## iotp

Pay?

You have got to be kidding me.

I pay $100 month for my directv services and related entertainment.

What BS.

I have one thing to say to that --- "F" that.


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## Kurgan

I'd rather they had found a way to show their programs on DirecTV VOD for free with commercials that can't be skipped (a la on-line on-demand video playlist) than have to pay on a per-episode basis.


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## Kash76

And some wonder why bittorrent is so popular!

I know they have to pay for bandwidth, etc but if they released these shows with commercials in high quality over BT I would download that rather than a ripped copy.


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## dreadlk

LOL a $1.99 they have got to be kidding.
Anyway there is no need to Rant and Rave since Directv will learn very soon that this was a bad idea. Most likely when the monthly revenue's are near $0 and the operating fee's are in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.


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## Stuart Sweet

dreadlk, 

You're right that if it doesn't make economic sense to do it, they won't. However, I don't see where the operating costs would be as high as you say. I'd be surprised if DIRECTV isn't just giving NBC a percentage of that money, meaning there is little or no fixed licensing cost. As far as the cost of operating a file server with a couple hundred gigs of space, even with redundant backups... it's not that high.


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## Kash76

What do our unfortunate friends that use Comcast pay for this stuff? I though a lot of it was free?


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## tcusta00

dreadlk said:


> LOL a $1.99 they have got to be kidding.
> Anyway there is no need to Rant and Rave since Directv will learn very soon that this was a bad idea. Most likely when the monthly revenue's are near $0 and the operating fee's are in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.





Stuart Sweet said:


> dreadlk,
> 
> You're right that if it doesn't make economic sense to do it, they won't. However, I don't see where the operating costs would be as high as you say. I'd be surprised if DIRECTV isn't just giving NBC a percentage of that money, meaning there is little or no fixed licensing cost. As far as the cost of operating a file server with a couple hundred gigs of space, even with redundant backups... it's not that high.


Plus, it's been determined that DirecTV isn't the entity choosing to charge the fee here, it's NBC, since they charge for their content on cable's VOD product, AppleTV, Itunes, etc. Direct your criticisms at the correct party. Sure, there's the argument that DireTV is the largest provider of pay TV so they should have some leverage to fight for us (blah blah) but why would they? NBC has decided that this is how they'd like their product delivered and DirecTV gets a cut. If they see it's not selling they can adjust the price accordingly.


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## Stuart Sweet

Well said, Yev Kasem.


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## Greg Alsobrook

Stuart Sweet said:


> Well said, Yev Kasem.


:lol: ... nice....


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## tcusta00

Time for a new avatar.  :lol:


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## Button Pusher

mhayes70 said:


> That is a horrible idea. There is no way I am going to pay to watch any shows. I will just wait for reruns.


Same for me.


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## jutley

Drew2k said:


> I was hoping more for the model that the Big Four have used for web streaming, with limited commercial blocks of approximately 30 seconds each at the beginning, middle and end of the program. I would much rather have that On Demand than a PPV model ...


+1

This format makes much more sense to me. I love watching shows on my big screen HDTV, but I wouldn't even consider paying $1.99 to download a missed show and then only have 24 hours to watch it. I would just watch it streaming online which I have done on several occasions in the past. I would, however, be fine with downloading HD content structured as Drew details above. I realize that we could skip the commercials with that format, but we can do that now with our DVRs so I don't see the big loss. I know I am oversimplifying the issue, but come on NBC, wake up! :nono2:


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## shaun-ohio

do like i did, buy a netflix player, all these shows are available for free to watch instant, and they are the entire seasons, check it out, its well worth the 99 price tag.


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## mrhoads

I will never pay to watch a TV program. I will also wait for reruns.


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## Kash76

Why don't they put in a "feature" on the DVR's to not be able to advance through this type of programming to prevent us from avoiding commercials?

I could deal with that but I won't pay.


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## dhhaines

My biggest problem here isn't that you're being charged, it's that it's for 24hrs. If you're going to charge me then I should be able to keep it for, at the very least, 30 days. But the same goes for the PPV movies also. I won't pay for only a 24hr window.:nono2:


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## ralphfurley

"Blurg"
--Liz Lemon


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## mluntz

Drew2k said:


> Yeah that it's here, boo that it's PPV.
> 
> $0.99 for SD and $1.99 for HD for the same half-hour episode or 30 Rock?
> 
> That better be without commercials!


$1.99 without commercials? That'll end up being about 18 minutes! :lol: :lol:


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## Igmond

There are other options:

Hulu - Lots of NBC and FOX shows for free
Netflix - Unlimited Streaming of The Office, 30 Rock, etc. free with my $8.99 plan
Summer Reruns - Free


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## AZTracker

I also got excited when I saw it in my list. But Directv and NBC can shove it where the sun don't shine, because I will never ever pay for something I can get free OTA or by their going to their (NBC) website.


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## drx792

the DOD page has been down for 3 days now, perhaps NBC is adding more content, or changing the page look.........

maybe they are changing the pricing around too! :lol: all i want is the 24 hour thing removed, that will satisfy me.


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## djzack67

drx792 said:


> the DOD page has been down for 3 days now, perhaps NBC is adding more content, or changing the page look.........
> 
> maybe they are changing the pricing around too! :lol: all i want is the 24 hour thing removed, that will satisfy me.


agreed, I would be okay with the pricing if i could keep the programing longer then 24 hours.


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## mx6bfast

Does NBC also throw up a bunch of snipes about what you are watching and promoting another show?

For the record, like others, I won't pay for this.


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## Tomball

vansmack said:


> There's usually no archive at NBC.com beyond the last three episodes ... [T]he prospect of having an archive of all the shows of a program, even if there is an associated cost, is something I'm excited about.





Stuart Sweet said:


> I don't see people knocking down Apple's door because they're charging for TV episodes...


I don't mind paying for the content if I can get it. The problem with NBC shows is you can't get it - free or for fee.

NBC & iTunes had a falling out so buying an episode on iTunes is out. And like vansmack points out not all episodes are available at NBC.com.

What I'd love to see is a TV season rental on iTunes. For say $20 I could rent a season. On my AppleTV I'd go into My TV Series which would show each of my series. Opening, for example, Desperate Housewives would show me the episodes I've not watched. I'd have 48 hours to watch it once I started watching.

Do that and the need for a DVR drops.


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## edpowers

Tomball said:


> I don't mind paying for the content if I can get it. The problem with NBC shows is you can't get it - free or for fee.
> 
> NBC & iTunes had a falling out so buying an episode on iTunes is out. And like vansmack points out not all episodes are available at NBC.com.
> 
> What I'd love to see is a TV season rental on iTunes. For say $20 I could rent a season. On my AppleTV I'd go into My TV Series which would show each of my series. Opening, for example, Desperate Housewives would show me the episodes I've not watched. I'd have 48 hours to watch it once I started watching.
> 
> Do that and the need for a DVR drops.


You could also flip your logic around ...
The need to pay $20 and be restricted to a 48 hour limit drops when you can hit 2 buttons to record the season on your DVR for free with no time limit.


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## VARTV

Decided to check this out today by downloading the first episode of The Office. With my new d/l speed from Verizon (20Mbps), the 45 minute show is actually downloading faster than I can watch it...  

PQ is quite nice... Is it being sent in MPEG4?


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## dhhaines

VARTV said:


> Decided to check this out today by downloading the first episode of The Office. With my new d/l speed from Verizon (20Mbps), the 45 minute show is actually downloading faster than I can watch it...
> 
> PQ is quite nice... Is it being sent in MPEG4?


 This is great to hear. My 20mbps FIOS is being hooked up on Monday.


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## Jace

vansmack said:


> Heroes Season One on DVD: $49.
> 
> Heroes Season One from DirecTV: $24.
> 
> Heroes Season One in HD-DVD: $70.
> 
> Heroes Season One in HD from DirecTV: $48.
> 
> If you don't plan on watching them over and over again, this sounds like a bargain to me.


Heroes Season One from eztv.it: $0


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## RawisTheGameHhH

Does anyone know if Heroes Season 2 will be re-ran in HD before season 3 starts?


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## rjf

sounds like much ado about nothing. i could care less about ppv for network tv. isn't that what a dvr is for? so i can rec and watch for free with no 24hr time limit?? what a crappy feature network vod is if this is how it's going to be.


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## tcusta00

rjf said:


> sounds like much ado about nothing. i could care less about ppv for network tv. isn't that what a dvr is for? so i can rec and watch for free with no 24hr time limit?? what a crappy feature network vod is if this is how it's going to be.


Talk to NBC.


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