# DirecTV R-15 DVR: Are “Showcases” ADWARE? Write or Call DirecTV!



## lschwarcz (Sep 1, 2006)

I've been reading this forum for a little while now and it seem that most of you know quite a bit about the R-15. I wrote this to send to friends and to post on some other forums too. Hopefully it'll be interesting to some of you .

On their last software update DirecTV activated a new feature called, "Showcases." This is where they download to your DVR in the middle of the night shows that they'd like for you to watch. The first one was an 8 minute long introduction to the R-15 DVR. Others include shows with popular bands and NFL highlight shows. If you check your R-15 and you have a software revision of 0x104B or 0x10D3 (MENU -> Settings -> Info & Test) then you have this problem.

*HOW SHOWCASES WORK:*

You view the shows you've recorded by viewing the MyVOD list. There are two ways to view this:


Press MENU on your remote to get the Quick Menu and then select, MyVOD. The Quick Menu is a much faster way of finding and viewing the shows you've recorded.
Press List on your remote to display the Playlist which has two tabs on top: MyVOD and Showcase.

Prior to this last update, the Showcase tab in the Playlist was always empty. Now, they're actually downloading shows that appear there.
*THE PROBLEM:*

The problem is that these Showcase shows are listed in the MyVOD listing in the Quick Menu. So, if you use the Quick Menu to get to the programs you've chosen to record, you now also have to wade through an ever growing list of shows that DirecTV is downloading to your DVR just to see the shows that you're actually interested in viewing. And, the Showcase shows are not neatly listed at the top or bottom, they're in the middle! So far, they've all been grouped together but I don't think it'll stay that way.

Please keep in mind:

You can't delete these Showcase shows
You can't disable this feature
You can't block that channel (channel 1010)
And yes, there are ads in these shows so it's obvious that DirecTV is thinking of this as a new revenue stream. The more people who watch them, the more they can charge for the ads! This is why (again, in my opinion) they won't let us delete the shows or disable this feature. They want us to see these shows listed and to view them (and the ads in them).

In my opinion, that last software update included ADWARE! They're downloading ads to my DVR. Why do I call it "adware?" Adware, loosely speaking, is software that some user innocently downloads under the pretext of getting something useful (like bug fixes for your defective/malfunctioning R-15) that installs malicious software that displays ads/tracks your web surfing/etc without the user's advanced consent or knowledge. In this case, DirecTV is displaying the listing of these unwanted shows (which is a source of advertising revenue for DirecTV). I didn't want them in the first place and I'm unable to remove them!

In my opinion, DirecTV needs to do one of two things to fix this issue:


Give us the ability to turn Showcases off
Instead of lumping the Showcase listings in with the MyVOD listings from the Quick Menu, simply have one additional selection, "Showcases" from the top level Quick Menu! Then, a user can choose to see their MyVOD listings or the Showcase lists. After all, they separate the listings in the Playlist screen. Why not do the same in the Quick Menu?
The good news about this is that these programs do not take up any of the disk space on the DVR allocated for the recording of our shows. They have a partition on the disk reserved for their exclusive use.

And, to be fair to DirecTV, there are lots of people out there that are thrilled with this new feature. They watch these programs and enjoy them.

All I'm asking is to keep the Showcase listings separate or allow me the ability to disable them from being recorded. They could even leave the default action to have it enabled!

*PLEASE CALL, WRITE or E-MAIL:*

Please call or write DirecTV and let them know what you think of this idea. The more people that call or write, the greater the chance that they'll actually fix this.
Phone number: 1-800-531-5000​
Or, you can e-mail them directly from their web site:


From the DirecTV home page, select "Contact Us" on the far left.
Then, select "E-mail us now." (the first selection)
From there you'll get a web form to send them an e-mail.

If you'd like to take this a step higher than the normal Customer Service Representative, you can write or call The Office of the President. He won't personally reply, but there's a separate department that responds to mail and calls to that office. They are actually more responsive. I sent a letter to them on a Tues. I got a return phone call from them that Thurs (yes, two days later)!

Chase Carey
President and Chief Executive Officer
DirecTV
P.O. Box 6550
Greenwood Village, CO 80155-6550
1-888-237-8327​*TIPS:*

If you choose to call or write, here are a few tips (most of you probably already know these anyway):


Be polite but firm. 
Don't yell or call the person names or be rude to them in any way. They're basically there (for this call or letter) to pass it on to the engineering department.
Be explicit about what you're asking for and why you feel this bug fix/enhancement is needed.
Think about how you'll word this before writing or calling so that you can clearly articulate your request to them.
Thank them for taking the time to listen to your request and for passing it on. Yes, it's their job but they are people and their time is valuable like yours. Treat them like you would like to be treated.
Be positive about the service that DirecTV provides in general (show that you're likely to remain a customer). "Great picture and channel selection and a real value for my money except for this DVR!"
In my opinion, the R-15 has the potential to be a really great DVR, once the bugs have been fixed. It seems obvious that in their rush to get it out the door (and to start making money from it) they released it a good year and a half too early! They didn't take the time to make sure that it actually worked as advertised.

Thanks!
Larry.


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## qwerty (Feb 19, 2006)

:icon_lame 

It's not adware. You don't see any of the ads unless you choose to watch one of the programs.

I would also like to be able to disable it. I haven't seen anything that interests me. But, the unit was designed to do this! The Showcases tab has been there since day one. Instead of telling D* they need to change their product because you don't like it, try using list and don't ever go to the Showcases tab!


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

I'll give you credit for the quality post...

But the only thing I see changing, is that the showcases won't appear on the Quick Menu MyVod


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## BattleScott (Aug 29, 2006)

qwerty said:


> :icon_lame
> 
> It's not adware. You don't see any of the ads unless you choose to watch one of the programs.
> 
> I would also like to be able to disable it. I haven't seen anything that interests me. But, the unit was designed to do this! The Showcases tab has been there since day one. Instead of telling D* they need to change their product because you don't like it, try using list and don't ever go to the Showcases tab!


I would like to see them out of the quick menu too, but showcases were sent to me on my TiVo box too. It would be different if we 'HAD' to watch them. But as long as they stay passive and don't allocate any of my promised 100 Hrs of recording space, I won't complain.

There's no such thing as a free lunch...


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## ApK (Mar 6, 2006)

Why does the phrase "mountains out of molehills" come to mind? Are you serious?

Here's more breaking news: Ever watch network TV? You know those 30 or 60 second productions between show segments? Those are ADS!!!! Oh dear! Network TV is ADWARE! How did our leaders allow this? Think of the children! Write your congressman!

Oh and this just in: Newspapers...they contain ADS on almost everypage and THERE IS NO WAY TO TURN THEM OFF!!! Demand Justice people!

And by the way, Larry, you are totally wrong about what adware is. It's advertisment supported software, nothing more. Nothing malicious about it. There is adware that is also malicious software (malware) and spyware, true, but you are unfairly misdefining adware. Your crusade is totally misplaced.

:nono:


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## jimbo09 (Sep 26, 2006)

ApK said:


> Why does the phrase "mountains out of molehills" come to mind? Are you serious?
> 
> Here's more breaking news: Ever watch network TV? You know those 30 or 60 second productions between show segments? Those are ADS!!!! Oh dear! Network TV is ADWARE! How did our leaders allow this? Think of the children! Write your congressman!
> 
> ...


The NFL Highlights are great, the best plays from NFLST broadcast with local radio broadcasts for the audio.

In week 1: Bears/Packers and the local radio guy calls Devin Hester "the Windy City Flyer!" after a TD return .... too cool!


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## Lantian (Aug 26, 2006)

as long as they don't get in the way of my recording of favorite programs i don't care


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

Push the list button. You go directly to MyVOD without any menu's or listing of showcases.

I don't think I have ever used the menu to get to MyVOD, so I never even noticed the listing of showcase entries there.

Carl


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## wohlfie (Dec 28, 2005)

C'mon. Give the guy a break!!

Here we have a well written post from a guy trying to rally support behind his pet peeve ( a peeve a number of others have complained about, btw).

Do we all agree with the description of showcases as "adware"? No.
But thats not the point.

Is there a way around his problem (i.e. using the list button rather than the menu)? Yes.

Should he be taken to task for posting his opinions? No.

Should we all be using the contact info he provides to complain about myriad other things that are MAJOR issues? Hell yeah!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## Upstream (Jul 4, 2006)

wohlfie -- good point. Although I don't think the showcases are a big deal, lschwarcz gives very good tips on how to contact DTV with a complaint.


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## Bobman (Jan 3, 2006)

Press the list button and the entire problem is gone. I have never used the quick menu once and I have had the R-15 over 10 months.

If someone chooses to not use the list button when it solves their problem and continues to frustrate themself by seeing so called "adware" thats on them.

I get the feeling there is more to this guys post than his complaint that could have been summed up in two sentences.


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## walters (Nov 18, 2005)

Bobman said:


> Press the list button and the entire problem is gone. I have never used the quick menu once and I have had the R-15 over 10 months.
> 
> If someone chooses to not use the list button when it solves their problem and continues to frustrate themself by seeing so called "adware" thats on them.
> 
> I get the feeling there is more to this guys post than his complaint that could have been summed up in two sentences.


Maybe the PIG is too small for them and they'd prefer to use the quick menu (a supported feature).

No, I agree with original poster (however I'd call it spam rather than adware). But only because of what I can only hope is a bug: showcases being listed in MyVOD of the quick menu.

Just to anticipate the obvious: Do I consider TiVo yellow star items spam? No. Why? Because they don't interfere in any way of the use of the menu in which they appear. Quick menu, on the other hand, reserves a limited space for the top items of MyVOD, and showcases kick those useful recordings off the bottom of the list.


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## cabanaboy1977 (Nov 16, 2005)

Earl Bonovich said:


> I'll give you credit for the quality post...
> 
> But the only thing I see changing, is that the showcases won't appear on the Quick Menu MyVod


I have to agree. nice post but the only issue that is there is them being in the quick menu (and the quick menu should have some order to it too). You knew when you got it that 60GB's is for them.

I do think that the showcases might be causing other issues and not because it's spyware. I have a feeling that the showcase could be messing up the R15's recording habit's and therefore making you miss recordings. Do I think this was suppose to happen, no, but I do think there might be an issue with the R15 know when to use the tuners or when to let go of them.


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## rlambert7 (Feb 7, 2006)

DTV could make just one change regarding Showcases that might make all of customers happy: Give the customer a function whereby they could change the amount of disk space used by Showcases. Create a option window with a sliding bar in it. Move the sliding bar towards the right (using the "right arrow"), and you take away disk space allocation from Showcases, and add it to the MyVOD disk space allocation. I'd slide it ALL the way to the right.


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## BattleScott (Aug 29, 2006)

Actually, this post seemed more like an unsolicited message trying to convince me that it is in my best interests to do something that would have and equal or greater benefit for the posting entity.

Was this an ADPOST?...


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## walters (Nov 18, 2005)

BattleScott said:


> Was this an ADPOST?...


Nope. It was an on-topic post in an appropriate discussion forum.


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## gomezma1 (Mar 28, 2006)

I have yet to see the NFL showcase like I had with my TIVO DVR? Is this available?


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## paulman182 (Aug 4, 2006)

The Showcase listings appearing in the Quick Menu version of MyVOD is the only real complaint I have with the R15 and HR20 GUI. 

I have to admit that I did not realize VOD meant things that were forced on us, but that's no biggie.


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

gomezma1 said:


> I have yet to see the NFL showcase like I had with my TIVO DVR? Is this available?


No, not yet... they are not auto-recording like they do on the TiVos


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## ApK (Mar 6, 2006)

OK, OK. Wohlfie has a point. What set me off was, 1, the OP is mistaken about (or is choosing to misrepresent) what adware is, and 2, It struck me that such effort and concern was wasted on a trivial matter like this, when there are so many more significant prolems with R15, not to mention more worthy issues altogether like real spam, or a revolving door criminal justice system, and 3, that he's talking to this forum like there weren't already multiple threads discussing the issue and as if we couldn't decide if it was good or bad for ourselves. Oh, and the whole "unwanted stuff on my DVR" doesn't really apply to leased units, now does it? It's is always DTV's DVR and your agreement says they can put what they want on it.

I do think the showcase items need to come off the quick menu though, of course (as I've mentioned in the several other threads on the topic.).


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## lschwarcz (Sep 1, 2006)

WOW! I didn't ever expect to get this many replies to my posting.

A big thanks to everyone who took the time to reply and give me feedback!

All I was really hoping for was to maybe get a few people here to let DirecTV know that they'd like this changed. And, at a minimum maybe I could at least contribute a bit to this forum. I've been reading it for a while and that was my first posting. Maybe the address and phone number of The Office of the President would be useful to others.

Some of the feedback basically said "Just use LIST instead of MENU" or "Aren't there bigger issues on the R-15 to worry about?" Well, you're right. There are bigger issues like it not recording shows or only recording the audio or freezing up. But, I figured that these were big enough and common enough that many have already contacted DirecTV about them. According to the last person I spoke with there, I was the only person to call or to write them about the issue of listing the Showcases in the MyVOD listing from the Quick Menu.

And, was I totally wrong about it being adware? Perhaps I overstated it a bit. I didn't have the strict definition of adware handy and tried to cover myself by putting the "In my opinion" and "loosely speaking" bits in there. I thought that it fit the mold close enough.



Earl Bonovich said:


> But the only thing I see changing, is that the showcases won't appear on the Quick Menu MyVod


If they did that, I would be totally satisfied! I hope I didn't give the impression that they should completely remove the Showcase feature. It seems that there are a LOT of people out there that really like those shows! I just would like to be able to use the Quick Menu without having to wade through their Showcase shows! Keeping the Showcases separate from the MyVOD list is the logical thing to do (in my opinion  ).

Anyway, thanks again to everyone! And, please start calling or writing DirecTV with the issues like this one and for all of the other (yes, more critical) bugs on the R-15.

Thanks!
Larry.


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## ApK (Mar 6, 2006)

lschwarcz said:


> WOW! I didn't ever expect to get this many replies to my posting.


Oh yeah, we're a pretty talkative, opinionated bunch.



lschwarcz said:


> According to the last person I spoke with there, I was the only person to call or to write them about the issue of listing the Showcases in the MyVOD listing from the Quick Menu.


Never believe a CSR when they say this.

At worst, they lie. At best, THEY personally may have not handled a call on the issue, and they just don't know that dozens of other CSRs at other call centers have.

They say this about every problem.


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## paulman182 (Aug 4, 2006)

Evidently the Showcase listings under MYVOD in the Quick Menu does not bother many people, because not many responded to the issue when I brought it up a few weeks ago.

It does make MYVOD much harder to use under the Quick Menu.


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## ApK (Mar 6, 2006)

paulman182 said:


> Evidently the Showcase listings under MYVOD in the Quick Menu does not bother many people, because not many responded to the issue when I brought it up a few weeks ago.
> 
> It does make MYVOD much harder to use under the Quick Menu.


If I might hazzard a guess, I'd bet that it's because not all that many people use the quickmeu for MyVOD, because of the option of using the List button.

Showcases on the quickmenu bother me in principle, but not on a practical level becuase I never go there. I wouldn't have even known showcases were active if I had not read about them here.


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