As of today Directv subscribers will no longer be able to view a Pay Per View (PPV) movie purchase for more than 24 hours (link). The ability to watch a movie in several sittings has been a major plus for my wife and I over the last 12 years as Directv subscriber. When I upgraded to HD, this was one of the major selling points for us to stay with Directv. This weekend we watched "Into the Wild" and it would have been a drag to watch the 2 and 1/2 hours in one evening. Watching a movie over multiple sittings may be heresy to movie buffs, but I find that it allows you to ponder the story.
What I find interesting about this whole situation is that we seem to be in the minority. There does not seem to be a major uproar from subscribers. I googled forums on the subject and found very little dissension. I could not even find a post on the subject on the dbstalk.com forum, although they seem to be less and less independent.
For our use this probably means we won't be purchasing any more PPV movies, we may become NetFlix subscribers and it opens up the door to switch to FIOS TV. Since I currently use FIOS Internet, the current triple play promotions is probably a cheaper solution than Directv. I would have to balance the promotion against the purchase cost of a Tivo HD DVR, since it looks like the current FIOS Motorola DVR does not allow the use of the eSATA port for my 1 Terabyte hard disk array. As telecommunications, the internet and television technologies merge, it seems that flexible consumer solutions are becoming harder and harder to find. I understand the fear of piracy, however I feel Digital Rights Management is hampering my legal rights to use the content I purchase.
I can understand movie studios not wanting us to keep a PPV movie indefinitely but 24 hours is a ridiculous time frame. I think 72 hours would be more appropriate and would work for us. I agree that if someone wants to keep a movie indefinitely they should purchase a DVD or permanent download.
In the end this is a big step backwards for Directv who has been a leader in providing advanced technology and content to users. It seems to only advantage they have left is for the die hard sports fan. However, as those contracts come to an end and the cable/telcos offers the same packages, Directv may have a real problem on their hands.
I agree, I also am one who hates watching a movie from start to finish. First, because of my schedule and other interests it's almost impossible to block out 2-3 hours to do anything. Sometimes just the fact that it's nice outside in the evenings is enough to deter me. Second, because this is so hard to do I find I almost never rent or download a movie. I recently purchased an Apple TV and thought I would be "renting" movies from the iTunes store. So far I haven't done it once because of the 24 hour restriction. I have at least 25 DVDs in my collection that I have only watched once, but purchased to watch in multiple sittings. I thought I was the only one who thought that way. Glad to see I'm in good company!
Posted by: Chris Beard | April 15, 2008 at 10:05 AM