# What happened to this forum after AT&T bought Directv?



## dreadlk (Sep 18, 2007)

I have been a long time member of this forum but as with everything in life things changed and I stopped coming here several years ago. At the time Directv was owned by Directv and this forum was full of activity. I was even a member of the testing program at one point and we had loads of new threads and discussions on software updates, new receivers etc.

Fast forward to today and the forum not only looks totally different, it also is pretty dead.
I noticed that forums.att.com has threads going back way past the point when AT&T acquired directv and some threads in there look like ones that use to be on this forum.

In a nutshell what happened? Did they sell the original forums content to AT&T? Did the regulars just leave or was their some sort of dispute? It's just such a night and day difference between DBS talk today and how it was 5 years ago and I am curious as to why.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

Nay, you are over exaggerating !
We still discussing DTV, good or bad things, future, etc
That CE part did go to new dedicated site iamedgecutter.com

Just stop jumping and sit, relax and read DTV news here


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## Eva (Nov 8, 2013)

A few years ago more was on desktop/laptops, but now most are on their phones.

And the forum uses a different software platform now. It's running on the XenForo platform and used to be InvisionBoard.

There are still many areas to post in though.


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## AntAltMike (Nov 21, 2004)

I stopped following the DirecTV part closely at about the same time that a forum moderator passed the members list to the new DirecTV site being formed. Perhaps the threads discussing that new forum, which I never joined, are still here.

I remember long ago someone was posting actively here under the name Earl Bonovich, and he had all the answers, and I mean ALL the answers. I figured he was a DirecTV employee. Then he announced that he would have to stop posting for a while and when he came back, guess what? He had just been hired by DirecTV.

After that, this became the DirecTV suck-up forum for several members. It seemed like they were auditioning for jobs with DirecTV. I was still participating in forums where we gave advice to self-installers, and there were times that they wanted something done that the DirecTV techs would refuse to do, but that doesn't mean that their configuration shouldn't be implemented, but rather that DirecTV, for different reasons that had nothing to do with their utility or technical viability simply did not want to be obligated to support them for business reasons.

One such newbie seeking help was getting insulted by a regular here, and after I authored a rather long post supporting what he was proposing, I mentioned that this had become a DirecTV suck-up forum.

A moderator then took down my whole post and said that if I wanted to rewrite it without that remark, I was welcome to do so. There were other posts in that thread authored by the DirecTV-can-do-no-wrong club that were rude and offensive that were left up, and the moderator could have simply deleted the so-called offensive sentence in mine. That moderator was one of the ones who then jumped ship and ran with DirecTV to the new site. I sent him a private reply telling him to jump in the lake.


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## ejbvt (Aug 14, 2011)

This forum seems to be a lot of old people complaining...


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## jimmie57 (Jun 26, 2010)

dreadlk said:


> I have been a long time member of this forum but as with everything in life things changed and I stopped coming here several years ago. At the time Directv was owned by Directv and this forum was full of activity. I was even a member of the testing program at one point and we had loads of new threads and discussions on software updates, new receivers etc.
> 
> Fast forward to today and the forum not only looks totally different, it also is pretty dead.
> I noticed that forums.att.com has threads going back way past the point when AT&T acquired directv and some threads in there look like ones that use to be on this forum.
> ...


I was on the DirecTV forum before coming here. I did not like how they jumped on you if you gave a conversational answer to a poster looking for help.
Many of the questions used to be about "How do I get my remote to control ???". The majority of those have gone away since the remotes are now 2 way interactive for setups.
Some of the highly technical people that were here have gone to a new site controlled by AT&T called something like edgecutter. They are doing the pre-release testing. Of course from what I read AT&T is not listening to them much either as is evident in the persistent flaws in the new Genine software.
Most new / hot threads are about a new release of equipment or software that is screwing up our viewing pleasure / habits. When a new one is released the board is really busy.

I like it here.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

As a Dish customer I cannot address what changed in Directv threads.

But I am still a Dish customer only because, in my rural area where we have no OTA, when the communications world goes down due to wildfires or idiots with backhoes - Comcast ISP, landline, cellular, all down at once - satellite is still working. It's nice to be able to see the "local" news just to be reassured the world isn't coming to an end.









And having the subscription also allows me to record some stuff from "traditional" cable channels.

With that said, "home" entertainment has changed. We have shifted most of our viewing to streaming without commercials through (in alphabetical order): Acorn TV, Amazon Prime Video (including Britbox plus HBO and other "premium" channels when they are showing something I want), CBS All Access, Hulu (for ABC, Fox, NBC, etc.) and PBS.

My grandkids don't even understand why anyone would want to pay for or mess with cable/satellite TV and their "packages." At least that's what I get from them when they look away from streaming video on their hand-held devices.









So sure, the nature of activity here has changed and as time goes by there will be fewer people under 40. Heck, our household started forum-relevant activity with a big dish in 1988 - some 30+ years ago.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

phrelin said:


> As a Dish customer I cannot address what changed in Directv threads.
> 
> But I am still a Dish customer only because, in my rural area where we have no OTA, when the communications world goes down due to wildfires or idiots with backhoes - Comcast ISP, landline, cellular, all down at once - satellite is still working. It's nice to be able to see the "local" news just to be reassured the world isn't coming to an end.
> 
> ...


Bought my granddaughter a new TV set and when I got thru installing it I asked her if she wanted a DVR on it..."Why?", was the reply. She spends most of the time on her iPad or iPhone.

Rich


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## dreadlk (Sep 18, 2007)

AntAltMike said:


> I stopped following the DirecTV part closely at about the same time that a forum moderator passed the members list to the new DirecTV site being formed. Perhaps the threads discussing that new forum, which I never joined.
> 
> I remember long ago someone was posting actively here under the name Earl Bonovich, and he had all the answers, and I mean ALL the answers. I figured he was a DirecTV employee. Then he announced that he would have to stop posting for a while and when he came back, and guess what? He had just been hired by DirecTV.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the great post. This makes a lot of sense based on what I am seeing. It is evident that the new forum took a lot of the more relevant posts from the this one and integrated them and now it makes sense as to how they got away with that.

I was here at the start of the "Directv can do no wrong" campaign and I remember one of the guys on this forum got a plum job over at Directv before AT&T bought them out. He was the go to guy for new info. Luckily I left the forum before it got as bad as you say. I could see it coming even back then as people were already being pounced on for saying anything negative.

Thanks


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## dreadlk (Sep 18, 2007)

ejbvt said:


> This forum seems to be a lot of old people complaining...


Yeah there is a lot more complaining than I remembered in the old days. I don't know if it's an age thing or its the new age of the internet where everyone feels "I am entitled to ***** and moan" rather than spend some time searching for answers.


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## dreadlk (Sep 18, 2007)

phrelin said:


> As a Dish customer I cannot address what changed in Directv threads.
> 
> But I am still a Dish customer only because, in my rural area where we have no OTA, when the communications world goes down due to wildfires or idiots with backhoes - Comcast ISP, landline, cellular, all down at once - satellite is still working. It's nice to be able to see the "local" news just to be reassured the world isn't coming to an end.


That is ironic LOL!
My ISP went down last night and it took out the basic cable that I had on it along with my high speed internet. Luckily I also have Directv and ADSL. I rigged up a switch over box so if my Cable Internet goes down it auto switches over to the ADSL. It's only a 8mb connection but because of my redundancies I was able to watch everything I wanted to on Directv and catch one of my series on Netflix before going to bed. As of 2:20PM EST time my switch over system is still reporting that the Cable internet is down.


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## raott (Nov 23, 2005)

Personally, I think this site has gotten a lot better from an "attitude" perspective since that core group took their toys (and the email list...which was completely inappropriate in my opinion) and went elsewhere. I see far less attacking of posters and blind defending of Directv since many of those people left.

It's not nearly as active here, but none of the other places are really that active either. Outside of the actual edgecutter thread, that site is pretty much dead. I think it is mostly a result of a mature technology with not a lot going on. It's still a pretty good place here to get help.



AntAltMike said:


> I stopped following the DirecTV part closely at about the same time that a forum moderator passed the members list to the new DirecTV site being formed. Perhaps the threads discussing that new forum, which I never joined.
> 
> I remember long ago someone was posting actively here under the name Earl Bonovich, and he had all the answers, and I mean ALL the answers. I figured he was a DirecTV employee. Then he announced that he would have to stop posting for a while and when he came back, and guess what? He had just been hired by DirecTV.
> 
> ...


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## jimmie57 (Jun 26, 2010)

dreadlk said:


> Yeah there is a lot more complaining than I remembered in the old days. I don't know if it's an age thing or its the new age of the internet where everyone feels "I am entitled to ***** and moan" rather than spend some time searching for answers.


From the forums I have been on and still am, I find the the OP, original poster, has a problem and they are frustrated with the problem and looking to see if they can find someone that knows how to fix it. So yes, lots of complaining.
Searches for answers on forums are hit and miss. Typing in a word to search for brings up lots of results. 9 of 10 of them have nothing to do with your specific problem.
We don't mind complaining here as long as they do not start name calling or belittling someone that is trying to help them.


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## glrush (Jun 29, 2002)

I think some of it is simply that DirecTV has evolved into a mainstream product vs something for enthusiasts. I have had DirecTV since 1994 and the first board I followed was on the old DOS based Prodigy service. There were many posts about how the technology worked, new equipment, channels, etc. Now, there just isn't much of that anymore; most people don't give a rip how any of it works, just that it does. There are people on here whose posts I enjoy and some that I don't; the forum makes it easy to follow the people you want and to ignore the people who you don't.


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## lparsons21 (Mar 4, 2006)

Yes, not quite as active, but a heck of a lot less of the fanboy posts.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro


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## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

AntAltMike said:


> I remember long ago someone was posting actively here under the name Earl Bonovich, and he had all the answers, and I mean ALL the answers. I figured he was a DirecTV employee. Then he announced that he would have to stop posting for a while and when he came back, guess what? He had just been hired by DirecTV.


According to his LinkedIn page, Mr. Bonovich is "Technical Director of Mobile Applications for DIRECTV". If that means he is in charge of the Mobile DVR app for DIRECTV, my previous opinion of him has taken a serious downturn.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

Some things are best left unsaid. I believe we have gon far enough down this path.

Thanks to all who continue to participate on our forum.


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