DigitalTVDojo

I just came across this news story that I thought was really cool. I’ve written here before about how sports fans are one demographic of the TV-watching public that’s been driving this mass exodus from cable to satellite services, and DirecTV in particular. The problem is that the cable industry just hasn’t been able to get it together with the major sports leagues to get enough of their games on TV, while a company like Direct TV has been all over it (just look at NFL Sunday Ticket, MLB Extra Innings, NASCAR Hotpass and more for evidence).

Anyway, this story goes to show just what a high premium Direct TV puts on satisfying diehard fans. You know how frustrating it is when you want to watch a particular game, but thanks to some stupid blackout rules you don’t understand, and that are no good for anyone, you can’t get it in your area? I hate that. It sucks.

Here’s a cool solution. When you have Direct TV and you tune into a channel where a game is blacked out, the box will automatically scan the entire Direct TV channel lineup to try and find the game that may be broadcast on another channel. Cool huh? Then, if it finds it, it’ll pop up a little window and let you switch right over to it.

And here’s another cool feature — let’s say you’ve set up your DVR to record the game so you can watch it later. If you have that set up, even the DVR will do the automatic searching to find the channel the game is on and record it for you.

I’ve said it before, I’m saying it now, and I’ll say it again. Satellite TV companies just seem to care a heck of a lot more about their customers than cable. Just my two cents.

Tags:   Direct TV · DirecTVNo Comments