# Directv on demand



## mkstretch (Aug 11, 2007)

Why does Directv charge for movies that are say older than 2-3 years old. Shouldn't these be free downloads? I understand paying for PPV movies on demand but movies that are now new releases I don't like.


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## Mertzen (Dec 8, 2006)

So 2-3 year old movies should be free at netflix and blockbuster too?


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## LarryFlowers (Sep 22, 2006)

Do you think the Studios aren't charging for the movies... DirecTV doesn't get the movies for free.



mkstretch said:


> Why does Directv charge for movies that are say older than 2-3 years old. Shouldn't these be free downloads? I understand paying for PPV movies on demand but movies that are now new releases I don't like.


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## sdirv (Dec 14, 2008)

mkstretch said:


> Why does Directv charge for movies that are say older than 2-3 years old. Shouldn't these be free downloads? I understand paying for PPV movies on demand but movies that are now new releases I don't like.


I seem to get lots of those movies on demand at no charge, mainly since I subscribe to a package where those movies find themselves on the schedule.

Examples would be Showtime, The Movie Channel. If you don't subscribe to those packages, why would you expect to get th eprogramming at no cost????


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## Greg Alsobrook (Apr 2, 2007)

I'm moving this to the DIRECTV Extras forum.


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## mkstretch (Aug 11, 2007)

Makes sense guys, I just thought since these older movies are on the movie channels already they would not charge. thanks much for the reply's.


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## dvisthe (May 27, 2007)

I subscribe to no premium packages, but all the the movies on Starz,Showtime, etc. on Demand say "FREE" .
My DSL is only 1mbps so I have not downloaded a full movie yet.
So what happens when the download is complete?
Is it really for free of will it be blocked out?


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## jpl (Jul 9, 2006)

For what it's worth, DirecTV isn't the only one to do this. Verizon (who I have) runs old movies all the time, and charges for them. Granted the fee is small (usually $2 - $3), but you would still pay to watch them. Although I've seen the same older movie being offered up as PPV AND on a premium channel's VOD at the same time - gotta be careful which you select when you search . There have been times I've nearly bought a movie that I meant to watch off of Starz VOD (which would have been free for me). Taught me a lesson to turn on the purchase parental controls (so I can't pay for anything without putting in my pin).


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## jpl (Jul 9, 2006)

dvisthe said:


> I subscribe to no premium packages, but all the the movies on Starz,Showtime, etc. on Demand say "FREE" .
> My DSL is only 1mbps so I have not downloaded a full movie yet.
> So what happens when the download is complete?
> Is it really for free of will it be blocked out?


Again, if it's like other services, you probably won't be able to watch it. Verizon lists their premium stuff as 'free' too - but that really means it's free... if you subscribe to the premium package. If I attempted to play something off of HBO VOD, e.g. (which I don't subscribe to), I'd get a message telling me that I'm not subscribed to that channel. I'm betting DirecTV has some protection mechanism in place to prevent someone who doesn't have the package from downloading a movie from that channel.


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## BattleZone (Nov 13, 2007)

dvisthe said:


> I subscribe to no premium packages, but all the the movies on Starz,Showtime, etc. on Demand say "FREE" .
> My DSL is only 1mbps so I have not downloaded a full movie yet.
> So what happens when the download is complete?
> Is it really for free of will it be blocked out?


You must be subscribed to the channel in order to watch any of that channel's VOD content. You can still download it, but it won't let you play it without a subscription.


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## dcowboy7 (May 23, 2008)

BattleZone said:


> You must be subscribed to the channel in order to watch any of that channel's VOD content. You can still download it, but it won't let you play it without a subscription.


Thats not true....i dont get VH1 Classic yet i can download & watch videos etc. from their on demand channel.


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## sdirv (Dec 14, 2008)

dvisthe said:


> I subscribe to no premium packages, but all the the movies on Starz,Showtime, etc. on Demand say "FREE" .
> My DSL is only 1mbps so I have not downloaded a full movie yet.
> So what happens when the download is complete?
> Is it really for free of will it be blocked out?


I think others answered your question about being able to view the movies for free if you don't subscribe to the channels.

I wanted to comment on your 1mbps DSL.

I was running 3mbps and recently was offered an upgrade to 7mbps at no cost, I knew I was going to be using VOD on the new DVR I'd recently gotten and kept reading about what kind of internet connect speed I needed to do that. So...I upgraded to 12mbps for an extra $5 a month.

After it's all said and done I'm finding that D*'s max transfer speeds run about 6mbps so I would have been fine with the upgrade to 7mbps (which would have cost me no extra.

I guess the only upside is that with 12mbps service I can download a movie to my DVR and still get decent internet/download speeds at the same time (shrug).


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

dcowboy7 said:


> Thats not true....i dont get VH1 Classic yet i can download & watch videos etc. from their on demand channel.


 I think BattleZone was referring to premium channels. I don't have Smithsonian/MGM and can't view their VOD programing.


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## WestDC (Feb 9, 2008)

veryoldschool said:


> I think BattleZone was referring to premium channels. I don't have Smithsonian/MGM and can't view their VOD programing.


Those and other channels (require a Teir fee) but choose to allow VOD of some (not) all of there programing in hopes that will intice the viewer to subcribe to the higher teir to get the channel.

The MOVIE or Premium Channel are Pay all the way - NO pay no VOD- 
The NEtworks Charge $$ per download That is their bussiness model for D* to carry they (D*) would have to add the nework charge + $$ for there business model. They (D*) can't sell enough PPV since going to 24hrs format as the tech move forward it will shrink even more-netfix service anyone


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## dvisthe (May 27, 2007)

sdirv said:


> I think others answered your question about being able to view the movies for free if you don't subscribe to the channels.
> 
> I wanted to comment on your 1mbps DSL.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the replies.

I just got offered 3mbps at no cost for 3 months, then $10 more a month.
7mbps is offered a couple miles away, but not in my area yet.


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