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The Future Of URGE

DToTheJ

DToTheJ

Earlier this month, MTV Networks' URGE collection of music channels, which was created to compete with Music Choice, was dropped by Verizon FiOS citing "the provider's decision to discontinue the service:"
http://www.multichannel.com/article/456706-MTVN_Loses_Urge_.php

For now, URGE is still carried by AT&T's U-Verse, which actually dropped Music Choice a few years ago in favor of URGE. And it appears that's about it. Most major cable and satellite providers carry Music Choice. Not a good sign for URGE.
 
I've had FiOS for a couple years and often tuned between MC & Urge. Music Choice had good quality, but just short of CD. Urge always sounded fair, equivalent to 96kbit mp3 which often caused me to switch back to Music Choice.

FiOS only gave Urge channels 128kbit ac3 audio channels, but I've encoded at that rate in ac3 and the tracks always sounded much better than what I got from Urge. So I'm sure the bad audio came from Urge itself.

So goodbye to bad audio. If I get the urge for Urge I'll just rip a CD to 96kbit mp3 and I won't miss it for long. :D
 
I think Insight Communcations also has it if I remember correctly, so I don't know what they're going to do when it ends.

I also remember in March 2007 MTV was going to rebrand MTV Hits as Urge TV. They went as far as changing the EPG slot for it on March 1st, but for whatever reason, be it be market research calling it a bad name or a last-second reprieve from management the rebranding never went through.

The Urge branding was always troubled. The online service was doomed from the moment the Zune was released (it had been a JV between Microsoft and MTV Networks to start), while the MTV/Rhapsody effort has always come off as a 'hip and wit' it' mediocre competitor to iTunes and Amazon MP3. It also reminded me more of a regional convenience store's junk food branding more than it ever did music :D.
 
Forget about URGE, when is DirecTV going to get a clue and dump DMX/SonicTap and return to Music Choice?
 
Don't look for that to happen anytime soon... D* has only been with SonicTap since FEB... Could be worse though with E* having Muzak, but atleast E* does have Sirius which is cool... CC1
 
Eric Stein said:
Forget about URGE, when is DirecTV going to get a clue and dump DMX/SonicTap and return to Music Choice?
Click to expand...
No.....You DO NOT want MC. You want a service that offers SIRIUS or XM music channels (DirecTV had these last time I checked as does DISH Network).

Music Choice is nothing more than AN AUTOMATED JUKEBOX (And not a very good one at that). At least SIRIUS & XM have DJs who know the music they're playing.

Want an automated jukebox - TURN ON TERRESTRIAL RADIO At least you get what you pay for there

Just my opinion.....

Cheers :D
 
Pat Cook said:
No.....You DO NOT want MC. You want a service that offers SIRIUS or XM music channels (DirecTV had these last time I checked as does DISH Network).

Music Choice is nothing more than AN AUTOMATED JUKEBOX (And not a very good one at that). At least SIRIUS & XM have DJs who know the music they're playing.
Click to expand...


DirecTV dropped Sirius/XM Music for SonicTap, which is basically DMX rebranded. The reason is unknown, but DirecTV claims there was too many interruptions with XM (although I still hear Sirius/XM at places which have DirecTV for the sports packages!).

Sure, Music Choice is a "jukebox" service, but I find it to be a better music jukebox service than DMX, in my opinion. DirecTV dropped the ball, and they claim to be the premium satellite TV service.
 
>> Could be worse, though, with Echostar having Muzak. At least Echostar does have Sirius, which is cool.

>> You want a service that offers Sirius or XM programming. (DirecTV had these last time I checked, as does DISH Network.)

Muzak's probably the only reason I pay what little attention I do to Echostar. If I want to hear the same stale, bland 300 "hits" repeated throughout the week I don't need Sirius, I'll just turn on my radio and tune any of the FMs available in the Portland area. Unfortunately Music Choice runs quite a close second to Portland radio. Kind of a shame.

Of the "jukebox" services I've always favoured Muzak in that (1) the sound quality is quite good abd (2) the programming is far more interesing. DMX is decent, but is really only a "fall-back" as far as I am concerned. (Ever heard Foreground Music 1 or Environmental on DMX? And I don't mean via AEI, either.)

But then, Muzak have also been at this stuff for way longer than any of the others.....

@Eric Stein:
Direct TV dropped the ball when they decided to stick with DSS, despite there being a cheaper and far more practical (and far less proprietary) encoding system available! Haven't seen too many off-the-shelf third party IRD's that can decode DSS data transmissions. (I understand Motorola did make one about a decade and a half ago, but I highly doubt that one's still available.)
 
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