DirecTV vs Viacom. Who’s wrong? Who’s rite? What’s the latest?

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I’m sure those of you that have DirecTV have noticed many of your favorite channels missing as of late.  Both Viacom and DirecTV have established websites to give their side of the story.  They are both publishing “up to the minute” updates blaming the other side for not closing the deal.

Here’s what I know…

When the UFC left Spike TV for the Fox group of networks that hurt Viacom BIG time.  The UFC brought millions of viewers and advertising dollars to them.  Since then the ratings have dropped somewhat and their profits have dropped as well.

Beyond that its he said she said really…below are the latest posts from each of their respective websites.  First from DirecTVpromise.com

 

You may have heard that Viacom is trying to upset customers with some very loud rhetoric about negotiations breaking down.  Their statement, intended for dramatic effect, is completely false.  Please know that we are indeed continuing to negotiate with Viacom so they can return the channels to our customers as soon as possible.  Just last night, Viacom made a proposal for the return of the 17 channels they dropped  from DIRECTV. Earlier this morning, we accepted all material terms for those channels including an increase that was more than fair.  We are ready to sign that deal immediately.  What’s holding things up right now is that they are insisting that we launch the EPIX movie channel (an extra channel that DIRECTV has never carried) at the additional cost of more than a half billion dollars. Whatever way you slice it, the main issue remains the same.  Viacom’s total price tag to continue carrying channels is just too high and will adversely affect our customers.  And so, as we have done every day since this began, we will be back on the phones negotiating with the Viacom executives tomorrow so we can get closer to a final deal.  We are too close to turn back now. The fact is Viacom and DIRECTV need each other so we will get this done.

 

Then from blog.viacom.com

UPDATE IN RESPONSE TO DIRECTV’S STATEMENT ON EPIX:

DIRECTV’s most recent press release regarding EPIX is one more complete work of fiction from the company. We’ve offered DIRECTV various compromise proposals — proposals without EPIX, proposals with EPIX, and proposals with significant incentives to carry EPIX. DIRECTV did not accept all material terms for our channels, nor are we asking for a sum of $500 million for EPIX. Nothing in the press release reflects the reality of the negotiations, which, sadly, are at an impasse.

ORIGINAL POST:

In sharp contrast to DIRECTV’s public spin, it’s now clear that they have no intention of working with us to expedite a resolution and return our 26 networks to DIRECTV subscribers.

We know it’s been a long week for frustrated DIRECTV customers who lost their Viacom channels. Unfortunately, we have not seen any urgency from DIRECTV in working constructively with us on the compromise that could have already brought back your channels.

Here’s the official statement on the current impasse from Viacom:

We made a significant and comprehensive compromise proposal to DIRECTV last Thursday that could have resulted in restoring all of our services to DIRECTV subscribers by Friday morning. We have since made several additional compromise proposals – even as recently as last night – to find a resolution acceptable to DIRECTV.

Unfortunately, DIRECTV has moved backwards significantly and created more obstacles to reaching an agreement.

Rather than fulfill its promise to subscribers for a quick resolution of this negotiation, it now appears that DIRECTV will continue to purposefully and indefinitely deprive its subscribers of MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, BET, TV Land, VH1, Spike, CMT and 18 other Viacom channels.

We sympathize with frustrated DIRECTV customers and hope that they will take advantage of the services of the many alternate distributors throughout the U.S. that continue to make Viacom’s popular networks available.

Despite our frustration and yours, we keep working towards resolution with DIRECTV. But we now know that’s not coming soon enough, and we don’t want you to miss our programming. We want to make sure you know that there are other ways to see it.

To find a provider that does carry Viacom channels, head to http://whenDIRECTVdrops.com/what-you-can-do.

Thanks again for your patience and support.

 

Viacom has also launched a campaign telling people to leave DirecTV and go with other cable providers so they can get these channels. Again this is my opinion…but if you leave DirecTV over this you are a fool.  They have the best equipment, customer service and channel selection of any cable/satellite provider out there.  This will get worked out, it just comes down to coming up with the right dollars and cents for each side.  I think we will see these networks back on DirecTV sooner rather than later since Viacom will be loosing viewers and advertising dollars over this and that will hurt them ALOT more in the long run than holding out for a good deal.

 

Opinions…

 

*EDIT*  I find it interesting after giving my opinion of the situation on Viacoms blog I can no longer acess the blog…I keep getting error messages when I try to go on the page…#thingsthatmakeyougohmmmm

 

Simple and affordable Audio/Video upgrades for your yard!!

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How many times have you been to someones house for a bbq or a pool party and the soul form of music is a boom box that can barely be heard out by the pool, but is deafeningly loud as you go to sit down and eat your food.  If you have experienced this or are said “boom boxer”  then pay attention.

 

There are several ways to bring your entertainment sources to your back yard.  Here are a few of our favorites…

1.This is a surface mount speaker from Jamo. This gives you the most flexibility if you have a “2 zone” back yard, think a covered patio and a pool/grass area etc.  I like these because they will give you good sound dispersion in both areas as you can move them up and down or left and right depending on how they are mounted.

 

2.  These are in ceiling speakers from Polk Audio. They make a great addition if you have the traditional covered patio like most homes do here in Arizona.  They are great for adding sound to a localized area, but they do have some minor draw backs.  As they are mounted in to the ceiling they are very directional.  Meaning they will sound great if you are underneath the patio with the speakers, but as soon as you step out of there, the volume drops off significantly.  You get the same effect as the boom box, barely audible in one area, deafening in the other.

3.These are a set of Proficient rock speakers.  I find these are a great addition to a set of in ceiling patio speakers as it gives you sound in different areas with, if set up correctly, volume controls for each set of speakers. There are more sizes, shapes and finishes of rock speakers than you can imagine.  There are even companies that you can send in a sample of your landscape rocks in to and they will color match the rock speakers to what you sent them!  Now this comes at a premium, but it will make them disappear in to your yard.  Even if you dont have a desert type landscape these can be made to disappear by placing them under a bush or in a densely planted area of your yard. Also, they are great out by a pool also as they are waterproof.

 

 

4.This is for the person who spends a lot of time outside. This is a fully weather proof LCD from SunBrite TV’s. They are completely sealed from the elements so you don’t have to worry about them getting wet, dirty, dusty etc.  People always ask me if the extra cost of the weather proof TV’s is worth it.  If you plan on spending a lot of time outside watching TV, then yes.  If you live in an environment like Phoenix where its 115 degrees one day, then its raining mud the next, then yes.  Do you wanna show of to your friends that you can hose off your TV, then YES!!  Now the last one may not seem like its important, but how many of my fellow Phoenicians have they thin layer of brown dust on all their outside furniture, bbq etc?  The other most important factor is that they are specifically made for outdoor use, a regular LCD that you would buy for your living room is not made for the outdoor, high temperatures, dust, moisture etc will destroy a regular LCD. Think of it like this…in March of last year I installed an LCD on the patio of a house in Anthem.  In August I was out there taking it down and replacing it with a weather proofed one. But TV’s come with a 1 year warranty…if they are inside your home they do…but not if you take them back to where you purchased them with it covered in dust and dirt and crud they wont.

 

 

As always The English Guy is available to answer any questions you may have about upgrading your outdoor living space!!   Please contact us via phone @ (623)330-9386 or email : mamcdowall@gmail.com or via the “contact us” link on the side of this page!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unilateral Pricing Part 2

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So since my last blog about unilateral pricing there have been some minor changes to the plans.  I am only going to talk about brands that I offer, but you can easily find the info for whatever brand TV you so desire.

Samsung-ES6100 series LED/LCD TVs and up, all E550 plasma series TVs and up, ES6000  and E6500 Blu-ray players, E6500 and E6730W home theater systems, HW-E550/1 soundbars and DA-E750/1 and DA-E670 docks.

Panasonic-They are doing things a little different. They have adopted what is called MAP pricing. MAP, or minimum advertised pricing, is a policy that allows retailers to sell a TV at any price they want as long as it is above a certain number.  For example, MSRP on a 55″ Plasma is $3099.99, MAP would be $2899.99.  Now there are shifty ways around this, but for the most part pricing will be pretty consistent across the board.

 

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact your favorite English Guy!!

Unilateral Pricing is coming. What is it, What does it mean for the consumer?

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Sony announced it,  joining Samsung, Panasonic and LG Electronics, who made similar announcements.  The long and short of it is that there is no longer going to be 87 different prices from 87 different vendors for each model of TV.  These days you can google the model # of the TV that you want and find pricing that is all over the place.  So unilateral pricing does several things.

1. It makes shopping for a TV alot easier. So instead of driving all over town and spending hours all over the internet looking for umpteen different price quotes to take in to your local store to get the pricing down as low as possible, you can find the model you want and go straight to your favorite retailer and buy and know that you aren’t paying you any more or less that you would somewhere else.

2. It protects the consumer from problems when buying online.  Google a model number of a TV…go ahead…ill wait…so how many prices did you find?  10, 15????  Exactly…so why so many prices if whats in the box is the same thing? Well if you take away the eBay prices your left with 3 different kind of retailers. Your brick and mortar store locations that you can walk in and physically see the TV. Next you have the authorized online retailers, these are websites that are authorized by the manufacturers to sell their products with a full warranty, pricing is usually cheaper than the brick and mortar stores due to the lower running costs of maintaining a website as opposed to a store location. Then you have your unauthorized dealers, this is a seller that got the products sometimes from the manufacturer’s or where ever, but they come with NO warranty. These are the ones that are usually the ones that are significantly cheaper than the rest of the sites you will see.  Problem with an unauthorized dealer is that if you purchase the TV from the site, it gets delivered and you plug it in and its dead…you better hope the site has a good return policy (usually most sites will return the product but there will be a significant restocking or processing, or some other silly fee, I’ve seen as much as $500 to “exchange” the unit). The other problem with these sites are that alot of the time you will place your order, pay your money and then you will get an email with words to the effect of “oh were out of this model right now, but for X amount more you can have this one” or “this model is out of stock, we’ll let you know when its in”, usually several weeks/months later.  The biggest reasoning behind the unilateral pricing is that it will eliminate these unauthorized deals and prevent these things from happening(which i have had 2 customers go through the broken TV showing up at their door scenario)

3. From a sellers standpoint, it will help create margin in TV’s again.  10 Years ago when flat screens first came out there was a ton of profit to be made in TV’s.  Once the warehouse clubs, websites etc started selling TVs the margins plummeted.  So how is me selling you a TV with more profit in it a benefit to the consumer?  Well pricing is going to be coming down over the next few years, these things have been out long enough so that manufacturers have figured out how to make them cheaper. So by eliminating the issues with the unauthorized dealers, which will eliminate angry customers, class action law suits due to these retailers that seem to magically disappear all the time, manufacturers not needing to employee bands of people to chase down these websites and dealing with the claims, and cheaper manufacturing methods it causes manufacturing costs to drop, which in relation is causes retail prices to drop.  Several manufacturers also announced they will eliminate some of the models from their line ups. Lets be honest there is no need for 7 different kinds of 50″ Plasma from the same manufacturer.

 

So if your in the market for a TV…it just got alot easier!!! Personal opinion is that it will take a little bit to actually make a difference in the market place, but once it does it will make a big difference in how easy it is to buy your next TV. And your going to buy it from The English Guy of course…right?  Please?

 

If they’re selling it out of the back of a truck…chances are it isn’t “high end” stuff…

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So what do I mean by this?  Well it looks like our friend the guy with “excess” stock, cancelled orders, missed deliveries, what ever story they come up with, is back.   I have had several calls from new clients over the last week saying they got an amazing deal on some real high end speakers.

“They retail for like 2 g’s and I got them for $150!!” I was told by one rather enthusiastic customer.

I did a little digging and if you google the model #, all that comes up on the first 3 pages of google are “scam alerts” from multiple states about people selling this stuff out of the back of their trucks.  One lady in Chandler stated the guy opened her trunk, put the speakers in and demanded $200!!  There were also a couple mentions of there being rocks in the box when the person got home to unpack the speakers, so they paid X amount for a box and a cinder block!

So lets think about what “high end” really means.  Short of it being stolen merchandise, do you really think that any company that makes a quality product wants their stuff being sold in this manner?  The manufacturers website for this stuff throws up HUGE red flags.  First of all the pricing on their products is ridiculous, they sell a 1 box home theater, supposedly 2000 watts, with a receiver, 5(small) speakers, powered sub and an iPod dock.  This is suggested retail at $5200?!?!?!  Besides that ridiculous pricing, the specs they give are nuts, I think they got some decimal points in the wrong spots or something.  The best part is when you click on the “contact” link at the top of the page all you get is a fax number.  Yes ladies and gentlemen, this manufacturer of high end equipment doesn’t have an email address or a phone number, just FAX!!!

So yes, you are getting 95% off of this speaker system, and yes the speakers should work when hooked up to a receiver, if you get speakers in the box, never tried plugging a brick in to an amp before.  But lets be honest, when a deal seams to be this good, it is too good to be true.

These guys have been mostly seen in parking lots near banks and grocery stores, so not only as a safety precaution because these guys can be VERY pushy. If you can get a license plate # do so and call the police non-emergancy number! And NEVER agree to buy them and let them follow you to an ATM…This is just common sense stuff boys and girls!!

As always if you have questions, concerns or doubts about stuff call you friendly neighborhood English Guy!!

So what would the “TV Guy” put in his own house?? pt.1

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I have recently moved in to a new home and will be embarking on building my own home theater setup.  What I want to do is post blogs on the progress, what components I choose and why, the steps involved in the installation, and of course the final product.

 

Lets start with the parts I already have…

TV-For a monitor I chose a Panasonic TCP-55st30 plasma.  I chose this specific model for a couple reasons.  First and foremost I am a plasma guy. I play video games and watch alot of sports, so the 600hz refresh rate is a must.  Plus I think the coloration on the PDP’s are more life like than and LED or LCD.  This is a 3D model, but I will not be using it for 3D. I went with this over a lower 1080p panel as it does have the single pain and Panasonic’s sub pixel control that allows for better black levels.

Receiver- For this I chose a Pioneer Elite VSX-50.  This is my go to receiver for most of my clients, and I would not recommend something I wouldn’t buy myself.  My favorite thing about this receiver are the AirPlay, which allows wireless streaming of audio, music I’ve bought, Pandora, etc, from my iPad and laptop. This is a fully networked A/V Receiver so anything that is on the same network you can stream audio from. Much easier than having to deal with hundreds of CD’s, and means I don’t have to my iPad plugged in to the receiver. And this has nothing to do with what it does, but I dig the piano black finish.

BluRay/DVD- I chose a Panasonic DMP-BDT110. This is a wireless capable 3D BluRay player. As I stated earlier, I wont be using it for 3D but the option is there should I feel the need one day. I also wanted the wireless capabilities so I can stream things such as NetFlix. It also has a better video and audio processor than the model below, DMP-BD75.

 

That is what I have so far.  I will be choosing speakers and furniture this week so I will blog again later once these choices have been.  I chose these items due to my personal experience installing them and am open to comments, suggestions, critiques on these choices.

Don’t always take “the experts” word for it…

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Maybe I should rephrase that…don’t always trust the experts word.  I say this in response to an experience I had with one of my clients today.  They had purchased a Denon receiver from a major electronics retailer and have been experiencing issues with it. It goes in to protect mode after about an hours use, volume goes up and down at will, sometimes doesn’t pass video, you know the usual things!  She was still under the 24 month manufacturer’s warranty so I suggested to take it back and have them fix it, which she did. This was about 5 weeks ago, and she got it back yesterday. Not a bad turn around in the grand scheme of things (no that wasn’t sarcastic, that actually isn’t bad).

 

So I went over there today and set it up for her, and of course it wasn’t 100%.  They fixed 0 of the 3 major issues. And I know what you HT geeks are saying…”it’s the HDMI cables silly English guy”.  I thought this also, so after the 4th different HDMI that I tried it still wasn’t working, all 6ft cables so no issues with length of cabling.  I digress, so I asked to see the repair invoice she got from repair people. It said the following:

“Factory update firmware; factory reset.  Tested all modes and function, all working”

So here’s the 2 reasons for this blog…

1. There is no physical way that I know of to do a firmware update on a receiver with no USB or Ethernet, or no factory listed firmware update on their support site for the specific model.

2. Obviously they didn’t test ALL modes and function’s because they STILL don’t all work!!

 

So as I said…don’t always trust the so called “experts” word for it.  Ask them to show you that the item is fixed before you leave the shop. Also question anything on the invoice that you don’t understand. My client is a little old lady that didn’t know any better, so I got her on the phone and she questioned the person she was on the phone with.  Lets just put it this way he started talking BS to her for about 2 minutes before I took over the call and asked him to explain how they did said “updates”. After he said “uhhhhhhhhhhhhh…..wellllllllll…..i thiinnnkkkkkkkkk….” I was on the phone with a store manager and my client has a credit for the receiver coming back to her credit card and we are replacing the receiver with one that if it does go wrong, I will fix it and not lie to her about what we’ve done.

Have no fear…The English Guy is here!!!!!!  Seriously though, if you don’t know ask someone. Any reputable install company that I know of will be more than happy to answer any questions that you may have whether you purchased from them or not!! Don’t be stuck taking the “experts” word for it…because some “experts” don’t always know their you know what from their elbow!!!!

Is customer service dead? Depends on where you shop, I think

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ann-brenoff/remember-customer-service_b_1186946.html?icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl7%7Csec3_lnk3%26pLid%3D127010

I came across this article when I was browsing through my favorite web browser’s main page, and it really strikes a chord with me.  As a small business owner I feel that customer service is the life blood of my business. I find that referrals count for about 80% of my new customers. I guess that means I am giving good customer service huh!  So obviously customer service isn’t dead in all aspects of the retail world.  Many of the reasons mentioned in this article are reasons my clients have told me they will no longer shop at this retailer. Great for me, bad for them!  I have always said that doing business with a local small business is always better than some giant company where once they get your money your just a number in the sometimes functional computer system.

Now on the flip side of this I take many comments about poor customer service with a large grain of salt.  Having worked at the retailer mentioned in this article I find that what people remember and what actually happens are sometimes polar opposites. I remember getting a “secret shopper” report on myself once that according to the customer I failed miserably, but when you compared the scores they gave against the comments and the receipt, you could see the issues with it.  There were a couple that stuck out in my mind from this specific one.  The first being that I was given no points for introducing my self and giving my name. Yet in the comments they said I came up and said “hi, I’m Mark” and handed them a business card. In my mind I should have gotten double points for that!  The second being that I did not mention any type of extended warranties or accessories. When looking at their receipt we saw that they had purchased a couple HDMI cables as well as the 4 year in home warranty.  So get those salt licks out when you hear someone complain about poor customer service.

So in closing, I think there is an easy way to make sure you get good customer service when purchasing electronics, sweaters, or anything that you spend your hard earned money on. SUPPORT LOCAL SMALL BUSINESSES!!  Ask your friends, family, neighbors, other businesses that you trust for their recommendations!

 

 

 

 

Scary Wiring!

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This is an install I recently came across in a home.  I wont name the national big box retailer who did the install but the customer was charged almost $600 and this is what they did!   The biggest and scariest problem was that the power cord for the TV was run through the wall.  This is against Arizona building code because the cord is not UL rated.  Secondly it is plugged in to a cheapo extension cord that most people would plug a lamp in to!  Thirdly there are power cords, speaker wires, coax cables, Ethernet cables and HDMIS all intertwined together which not only looks bad, but also can cause interference in your picture and sound, this was the main reason The English Guy was called in, to figure out the intermittent humming noise from the speakers, and the grainy picture. The original installers were called to fix the issue but they couldn’t figure out what the issue was, and charged her $100 to come out and tell her “there’s nothing wrong with it”  So why am I blogging about this?  Mostly because its just ghetto and should never be done like this and people need to realize what bad installations look like.  You also have all the right in the world to complain about this to your installer and make them do it correctly and most importantly SAFELY!

 

Most Common Misconceptions About Flat Panels..

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When you walk in to your local big box retailer your slammed with all the buzz words of the home theater world. 1080p, HDMI 1.4, 120, 240, 600hz, and the list goes on and on.  So do you believe go by what it says on the fact card, or what the young salesmen is telling you is best? Here are some basic things you should know that will make buying your new home theater equipment easier.

1. How many Hertz(Hz) do I need??

The easiest comparison I can make is think of hertz as horsepower, the more you have the faster your car will go.  Same is true in your flat panel.  The higher your Hz are the faster your picture refreshes, thus reducing motion blur and “ghosting” on the screen.  LCD’s and LED’s max out at 240hz.  Plasma’s are 600hz. The human eye can’t noticeably tell a difference much above 120hz. I find this to differ between brands, so trust your eye on this one.

 

2. You have to buy the most expensive HDMI cables on the shelf to get the best picture.

There is alot of opposing opinions on this subject.  But here are the facts.  Unlike an analog cable(component for example), HDMI transfers a digital signal. This means as long as the display receives enough of the signal it will display a picture.  The average system has runs of 10 feet or less, so spending big bucks on HDMI’s will net you no better quality.  Runs significantly longer than 10 feet you will need a cable with better shielding to reduce interference, or an HDMI over CAT5e balun can be used. There are much better places to spend your money when piecing together a home theater system that will net you bigger and better gains than a $100+ 6ft long HDMI!

 

3. You should pay more to hang a 60″ TV as you would for a smaller TV

Total BS. I have hung more TV’s than I can count and the process is exactly the same whether its a 13″ or a 70″! Don’t be fooled in to paying more for this service just because you want to buy a larger TV.

 

4. A Plasma TV wont last as long and takes alot more electricity to run than an LED/LCD

Again not true.  When flat panels first came on the market they all consumed a bunch of power and didn’t last very long. Lets be honest, they didn’t look that great either!  All major brands of TV are now energy star rated, and yes a plasma may cost the better part of a one or two dollars a year to run. As for how long it will last, honestly something else will go wrong with it before it “wares out”. Plug your flat panel in to a proper surge protector, that doesn’t mean that 8 outlet power strip we all have hiding somewhere in out house, and that will dramatically improve the life of your TV.

 

5. 480, 720, 1080, I, P…what do they all mean?

These are all a measurement of lines of resolution.  To keep it simple, the higher the better.  Now this is where you can save some money on a new TV.  High Definition is made up of 720 lines or more of resolution.  HD broadcasts are either 720p or 1080i(not a noticeable difference to the naked eye). 1080p is ONLY going to come from a BluRay DVD, or certain pay per view movie and events. So how will this help me save money?  Well, if your not going to connect a BluRay, then go with a 720p TV.  92% of peoples TV viewing is from their cable or satellite provider so having a higher resolution TV will not make a difference when watching your favorite TV shows!

 

Hopefully this will help you when making your next TV purchase! As always please click the “contact us” link if you have any questions on this or anything home theater! Please feel free to comment on this entry. All feedback is welcome and encouraged!