OT: Direct TV again.

[forty_three]

Seems another family of networks has decided that it's completely reasonable to raise their prices by 30% on one provider only. The Viacom group:

MTV, VH1, Spike, Comedy Central, Logo, BET, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr, Teen Nick, TV Land, and CMT.

Realistically, the only thing that bugs me is Comedy Central. And only for that glorious hour between 11 and 12. Which I can watch online later.

Or I can go to the dark corners of the Interwebs and download whatever I want.


I just wonder what makes giant corporations think that arbitrarily raising their prices 30% is just fine? "Hi, welcome to McDonald's. Big Mac value meals are now 8 dollars, dah dah dadada."

And why can't I, as a consumer, just arbitrarily decide that I'm going to pay 30% less at some point? "Mortgage company, I'm sorry. I'm just not going to pay you as much anymore." or "Those were some good wings, but I'm only going to give you 4 dollars for them."

 

[BOSSMANPC]

I have tried to decide if it's best to stick with cable or go to DTV the dish or whatever but it seems like they just take turns screwing their costumers over so it's like choose your poison they all seem like fucking crooks to me.

I hear good and bad about all of them, ask three people and get three different opinions.

 

[abaskin18]

It's a tactic (over reaching and hoping to be satisfied with the eventual compromise) that's part of a complex negotiation. It would be like a GM asking for non starter player(s) in trade... I'll try to think of an example... Hmmm...

Seriously though, as someone who works in entertainment production, I kindly ask that you not download anything from the dark corners of the web.

 

[Cali Steel]

So true, they're all a bunch of friggin schiesters...

 

[forty_three]

I have tried to decide if it's best to stick with cable or go to DTV the dish or whatever but it seems like they just take turns screwing their costumers over so it's like choose your poison they all seem like fucking crooks to me.

I hear good and bad about all of them, ask three people and get three different opinions.

Overall, I am happy with Direct TV. The picture quality is exceptional and their service is second to none. Honestly, if I called them right now to complain I can almost guarantee they'd give me a month or more free. But it's not worth it to me.

I like that they are standing up for their customers on this every time it comes up. Cable companies just agree in dark rooms and pass the expense on to their customers. Plus they have to deal with companies that have cable systems that are pissed that they have NFL Sunday ticket exclusively so they raise prices on them ridiculously.

Seriously though, as someone who works in entertainment production, I kindly ask that you not download anything from the dark corners of the web.

Yeah. The big bad industry that pays Tom Cruise fifty million to pretend to be a rockstar is afraid of what my irresponsibility will do to their profits.

Normally, I don't. And in this case, Jersey Shore, Dora the Explorer, Matlock reruns, and Tyler Perry's project about Tyler Perry featuring Tyler Perry as Tyler Perry are not anything I am going to miss. I will just watch Daily Show and Colbert online.

Now, if they took away BBC America or blocked my ability to watch Storage Wars, I'd go postal.

 

[abaskin18]

Yeah. The big bad industry that pays Tom Cruise fifty million to pretend to be a rockstar is afraid of what my irresponsibility will do to their profits.

The big bad industry simply offsets any losses to piracy by cutting costs. Commonly that cost cutting involves not paying production people like myself what we're worth or simply not hiring them at all. You're not sticking it to The Man, just forcing them to screw over your fellow man.

I suppose it's because it affects me personally that I'm bothering to explain it to someone who likens a corporate negotiation to the prices they pay at Wingstop.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

I hope they NEVER come to an agreement with Viacom. I hate the MTV family of networks. I'm stuck having them because of the stupid tier system Direc TV has. I know I don't have to watch them & I don't, but it still bugs me that I have the stations. Obviously it's too much to ask for us to be able to pick say 30 channels that we want along with the main network stations.

 

[evolver115]

I wouldn't be too concerned, 43. This is a pretty common cat and mouse game these companies like to play with one another. When push comes to shove and a decision has to be made, I won't be surprised to see a compromise reached. I personally don't think Viacom will be willing to play chicken for very long when they stand to lose a sizeable chunk of their audience.

For the record... I love DirecTV. Wouldn't trade them for the world. IMO, they've got the best customer service in the business.

 

[elocomotive]

For the record... I love DirecTV. Wouldn't trade them for the world. IMO, they've got the best customer service in the business.

They've got to be better than Comcast, or as I call them, the worst private company in the history of business.

 

[Slimpikins]

They've got to be better than Comcast, or as I call them, the worst private company in the history of business.

AT&T give Comcast a run for it's money in shitty customer service.

I have DirecTv as well and they have been great.

 

[Vadered]

I returned a cable modem to Comcast once.

They have attempted to bill me four times for not returning that modem.

Fuck 'em.

 

[Cali Steel]

They've got to be better than Comcast, or as I call them, the worst private company in the history of business.

Try Charter cable the abso- fucking- positively- loutely worst damn bunch in the business..

 

[forty_three]

The big bad industry simply offsets any losses to piracy by cutting costs. Commonly that cost cutting involves not paying production people like myself what we're worth or simply not hiring them at all. You're not sticking it to The Man, just forcing them to screw over your fellow man.

I suppose it's because it affects me personally that I'm bothering to explain it to someone who likens a corporate negotiation to the prices they pay at Wingstop.

Wow, corporations totally screw over the bitter populous? And might go ahead and pay millions to hire a multi millionaire to go out there and create a PSA about how piracy hurts them? I had no idea. This is earth shattering.

I guess it's just that I was in Information Security for Comcast and was tasked with protecting the emails and contract paperwork about all their "negotiations" that makes me want to say lighten the fuck up Francis.

But then again, it must really suck to work in an industry where the execs will throw you away to offset the loss if 15 bucks.

 

[esls79]

Try Charter cable the abso- fucking- positively- loutely worst damn bunch in the business..

I loved Charter when I had them in Montana. I ordered my Center Ice package and when the season ended, the Extra Innings package was on the same channels and they didn't shut that off until usually early August - so I got 2/3 of the baseball season for free.

 

[Comeds]

I returned a cable modem to Comcast once.

They have attempted to bill me four times for not returning that modem.

Fuck 'em.

I had a cable modem go bad when I was with Comcast. They came out, replaced it, and left telling me it would take a few minutes to set up on their end. Hours later it still didnt work. If I went to Google the page might open in a minute or so, anything else would time out. I called Comcast, they pinged me and it went through. So to them it was working and they told me I had a virus that was slowing me down. After a few days of them refusing to do anything because I "had a virus", I formatted the machine and reinstalled everything. It still didnt work. Then they told me there must be a hardware problem. I took the PC to my brothers house, hooked it up to his Comcast cable modem and it worked fine. I called Comcast and they told me that it wouldnt work if I did that and they didnt believe me.

After refusing to help me I sent an angry email stating how many times I called, the steps I took, and how unhelpful their support was being. Immediately I got a response, they sent a higher level of tech out the next day. He checked something and found the cable modem was only (i do not know the correct terms) letting a small percentage of the information packets through. So they replaced my bad cable modem with a bad cable modem.

From then on, whenever I had a problem I emailed them. I always got a decent response that way.

 

[abaskin18]

Wow, corporations totally screw over the bitter populous? And might go ahead and pay millions to hire a multi millionaire to go out there and create a PSA about how piracy hurts them? I had no idea. This is earth shattering.

I guess it's just that I was in Information Security for Comcast and was tasked with protecting the emails and contract paperwork about all their "negotiations" that makes me want to say lighten the fuck up Francis.

But then again, it must really suck to work in an industry where the execs will throw you away to offset the loss if 15 bucks.

I think it's a rough biz like many, hell most, industries. But sometimes you're lucky enough to work with some great artists and create something together that will be around long after you're gone.

Anyway, I didn't/don't mean to hijack your thread. It's just frustrating when I see someone who, while seemingly both intelligent and knowledgeable, views media piracy as a harmless, victimless crime against a faceless industry that has money to spend on things you and I would consider wasteful, like paying Tom Cruise to do anything but another Mission Impossible.

All I can do is humbly ask again that you not engage in media piracy, and it sounds like you don't do it very often at all, but if you can't manage to do that the least you could do is avoid perpetuating the notion that media piracy is harmless when discussing it.

Cheers.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

Viacom wants 30% more money than what they got before. Viacom can go stick it where the sun don't shine. I DON'T WANT MY MTV!!