Apr 7, 2008

DirecTV On Demand - so what?

After getting my second piece of the puzzle from DirecTV and experiencing satellite/internet convergence - I'm asking - okay? So what?

I mean, the offerings are predictable. Lot of Spongebob and a lot of music videos. I was expecting a lot more than what's available. Specifically, I was hoping for much more PBS and kids oriented fare... That isn't crap. The biggest bummer was that there are shows offered, but you have to subscribe to them to get them on-Demand. That's nutty.

But if I want that, and since it's on a machine that's a DVR -- why shouldn't I just search for it off the programming guide and tape it? That's why this doesn't make a lot of sense.

How about trying new stuff that I normally don't have access to? Ah, now we're thinking progressively...

And they've failed. Here's an opportunity to offer programming that I normally wouldn't see, and if given the chance, might even pay a buck to download through on-Demand. Let's say I even like a show - I might actually get hooked on it! For example, I have a friend who works on Californication. I've told him that I will not order Showtime just to watch his show. But look - it's on-Demand satellite! Click to download and - what? I can't watch it because I'm not a subscriber to Showtime? What a missed opportunity for a buck, and maybe even a potential subscriber -- if I liked the show enough to warrant the expenditure for a subscription... I should note - I've had Showtime for free before, and it was so awful (RoboCop 2 and 3 on primetime for a month.) I didn't even watch it for free.

Or, maybe they could offer ad revenue to Showtime - an add for Showtime and an ad for Ramsey's Condoms (I HAVE seen the show, just not all of them) or KY Jelly warming jell for her -- perfect targeted marketing? Absolutely. Are they thinking like that - nope.

And another thing - there's a couple of HD offerings in there - specifically a couple shows from the HD only network the Smithsonian channel. Here's a shot for Smithsonian channel to SHOW me why I should spend the extra couple bucks on top of my 10 dollar HD package to get their channel. (I have, and I canceled it due to lack of interest, the temperature outside, and recessionary cutbacks) But for people who have bothered to set up their HD satellite box to the internet MIGHT have that extra couple bucks laying around - or might want a SAMPLE before they pull the trigger. Nope. Not a subscriber - you're not getting it on-Demand either.

Why are these things offered but locked out? It seems asinine. I'm not going to subscribe to a channel so that I can watch it on-Demand, when said channel probably re-runs said show so often, I won't NEED the on-Demand. See the circle of silliness here? Again, let me remind you that this on-Demand internet thing only works on HD DVR box tops. If I have a DVR, and the channel, I'll get the show from the DVR -- not on-Demand. Silly.

So why not unlock the shows on-Demand -- slap some ads on it, geared to the people who are watching it -- or charge a buck for the show -- and make some money? At least pay for the server space. In the case of episodic television, don't be stupid and offer EVERY episode of Dexter or Penn and Teller's Bullsh*t, offer the first three. Get us hooked.

It just doesn't make a lot of sense.

DirecTV will be fighting for relevance against cable companies and new telcom TV services, that's the point... It's an attempt to keep subscribers from ditching satellite for competing TV services -- and to fend off rival Internet-based "on-demand" options from Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), and Netflix (NFLX).

Will any of this boost revenues? Not likely. Cable companies have lied for years that on-demand programming would increase sales, but it's not happening. However, plenty of people are watching on-demand programming: Comcast says its 15 million digital cable subs watch 275 million pieces of on-demand content a month, or about 18 titles per person, per month. But most of it's free. The cable giant reported $774 million in pay-per-view revenue last year -- up 22% year-over-year and nothing to sneeze at, but just 2.5% of its overall $31 billion of sales.

And it's not "on-Demand" in the traditional sense - it's on-Download. That's different. Cable can actually offer a show BLAM in an instant. This is a qued download to your hard drive in your receiver. That's already a drawback.

I'll be looking forward to the Netflix box top device due out soon.
- Perhaps those folks would be interested in contacting me for a Beta test? hint - hint?

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