DirecTV Plans Netflix Competitor

jfruhlinger writes "DirecTV isn't sitting still in the long-simmering war between traditional TV providers and digital streaming services. A survey the satellite network sent to customers this week indicates that it may be planning a streaming service of its own."

Re:Of course it is.

[quiet down]

Well, the market for video media is changing. If they didn't do this or come up with something that raised the competitive bar dramatically, they would just be left in the dust. Whether this is a good or bad thing is another matter. It could cause Netflix to expand its selection - which it really needs to do, it's way to small even at this point - or it may just as easily cut the market for this kind of thing into smaller sections - for example, Netflix having a monopoly over Disney movies or something of the sort.

The have actual satellites

[submain]

The main difference of netflix and DirecTV is that DirecTV might as well use your ISPs internet for upload only. They already have an entire satellite system, and I wouldn't be surprised if they used that to stream their movies to a receiver, instead of using crowded ISP pipes, bypassing ISPs stupid caps. If that indeed happens, it will be definitely a game changer.

I've got a crazy idea.

[Hohlraum]

How about charging $1 for PPV movies instead of $4-6. There you go. Now ya don't have to waste a bunch of money on a service that is going to fail.

In fairness

[Voyager529]

DirecTV has something in their favor over Netflix: a set of pipes. Satellite internet is AFAIK still expensive and inherently very high latency (Counterstrike players, day traders, and VoIP users need not apply; you'll never see a two-digit ping), but it's an option that would be especially lucrative in rural areas where dial-up or wireless tethering are the only options. They've already got the backhaul circling the globe, so it's really a matter of whether they can match Comcast/Time Warner/Cablevision + Netflix subscription at the price point. On top of that, they've already got enough pull in Hollywood for their garden variety broadcast licensing. It'd be separate of course, but they've got the precedent. If they can ensure that the service can scale while keeping the prices competitive with the other guys without having to deal with the bandwidth caps, then they could actually be a serious threat to the present system for large groups of people.

Re:Of course it is.

[thynk]

The problem, as I see it, is that they will include this service as an add on rather than an "instead of" service. I dropped DirecTV this past week because for $110 less a month I can get every show I watch on netflix, hulu plus and TED.