This morning I woke up and turned on the DirecTV and the screen was blank.  I love when you power cycle the receiver it says one more minute and I have been waiting 10 minutes at least.

DirecTV is much better than other cable tv services, but it does have its hiccups from time to time, and customer service can be hit and miss.

After about 15 minutes DirecTV came back on and appears to be working.  Perhaps the box needs a reboot every couple of weeks?