Jonbo298
join:2004-01-12
Council Bluffs, IA | Weak economy and...
Programming that is not worth the cost anymore. I dropped cable months ago (not totally relevant to dish but programming is similar) and I'm honestly not missing much of anything when I can view it online when I feel like it. |
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Dogfather
Premium
join:2007-12-26
Laguna Hills, CA | They didn't keep prices down
After a long history of fighting the channel extortionists Charlie seems to give in often as of late, passing on increases to customers. The result is higher prices and fewer customers. |
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supergirl
join:2007-03-20
Pensacola, FL
 ·Cox VOIP
·Skype
 ·Cox HSI
 ·AT&T Southeast
·magicjack.com
| reply to Jonbo298
Re: Weak economy and...
said by Jonbo298  :Programming that is not worth the cost anymore. I dropped cable months ago (not totally relevant to dish but programming is similar) and I'm honestly not missing much of anything when I can view it online when I feel like it. You can't tell me you ain't missing the Simpsons!
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Saving the world keeps me busy. However, I find Earth very primitive from my home planet of Krypton.
-Supergirl |
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TKJunkMail
Enjoy the sun
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·Comcast
|  Cable & telco triple plays are eating in to their base
Given how hard Dish has pushed their HD expansion, this is a big blow to them. Wall St thought they would add 72,000 customers( »news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080804/bs_nm/dish_dc ) and they end up losing 25,000 instead.
The stock market has punished their stock for this. Down over 6% as this is posted:
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My BLOG .. .. Internet News .. .. My Web Page
Ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya punk? |
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EPS
join:2008-02-13
Hingham, MA | reply to supergirl
Re: Weak economy and...
You don't need cable or satellite to watch FOX, though... (well, I suppose if you get bad reception, which is an especially large problem with FOX as it has more UHF affiliates than the other major networks) |
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JSRoman
Premium
join:2005-03-10
Callahan, FL
| Promo and Marketing Crazy
In my area DISH is promo and marketing crazy. They are offering deals that there is no way they can be making money on unless the sub stays around for 2-3 years. Combine that with amount of deadbeats that just go from cable to sat and never pay their bill and you get quarters like this. SAT and especially DISH Network IMO has the weaker credit and collection policy and the numbers are starting to show that.
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»www.seabee.navy.mil |
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Matt
Take me down to the paradise city
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
·North State Commun..
|  Too expensive, not reliable
I'm not sure if this issue hit Dish as well, but I realized the cost savings are simply not there by switching to satellite (DirecTV). Additionally, I had nothing but trouble with my satellite dropping my picture.
I was paying ~$63/month (after taxes) for their middle tier with no premium channels, plus their $9.99 HD access fee. Time Warner gave me the same channels (minus a few HD channels I don't watch, so no loss), plus a HD DVR for ~$54 after taxes. I could knock $8 more a month off that if I didn't want the HD DVR. So, that makes DirecTV $20/month more expensive.
DTV was cheaper until they decided to up their rates. Now I'm stuck with an ETF fee (even though they raised *MY* rates) and the cost to have the dish removed.
My experience with satellite has been less than stellar. |
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pcme2000
join:2008-01-17
Bangor, ME
·Verizon Online DSL
| Dish loses 25,000 TV customers to economy, competition
I can clearly see why Dish Network lost so many people. I have DirecTv and called Dish Network to see what it would cost me if I wanted to switch to Dish network and have the same 3 room HDDVR recievers when I turned on the service with about the same programming that I have with DirecTv. And Dish network said the start up cost would be $745.00 for the hardware alone. I laughed so hard the lady on the phone hung up. |
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TKJunkMail
Enjoy the sun
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·Comcast
| said by pcme2000 : I have DirecTv and called Dish Network to see what it would cost me if I wanted to switch to Dish network and have the same 3 room HDDVR recievers when I turned on the service with about the same programming that I have with DirecTv. We'll get to see how DirecTV is doing on Thursday when they release their earning report. It will be interesting to see if it was them that picked up Dish customers. Or will DirecTV lose subscribers too - meaning cable/telco is getting customers from both satellite services.
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My BLOG .. .. Internet News .. .. My Web Page
Ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya punk? |
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Jeffrey
Merry Christmas
Premium
join:2002-12-24
Dix Hills,NY
clubs:
·Optimum Online
 ·Verizon FIOS
·Vonage
·magicjack.com
| reply to Matt
Re: Too expensive, not reliable
said by Matt :My experience with satellite has been less than stellar. I guess it's one of those YMMV type of things. We've had Dish for a few years now, and couldn't be happier with the service and the DVR. Obviously, there are some issues with the DVR litigation, and I'm not sure at what step in the legal process they are at with it. Aside from some recent reception issues (we've had some good wind storms over the last 5 years or so, and I think we might need a "realignment"). When the signal NEVER went out, it's going out for a few seconds to a few minutes during some thunderstorms.
With all that being said, I won't be getting Dish when I move---I'll be doing the triple play from Cablevision or Verizon, depending if Fios is in the area. Can't beat the pricing on those services when cost is an issue.
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"Honesty may be the best policy, but it's important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy." - George Carlin
[my ramblings] |
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jmallory
join:2005-11-02
Clawson, MI
3 edits | It's a Factor of a bad economy in action
I think you we see a lot more churn in all providers numbers as the fuel and food prices increase and people shop around to get the best deal on TV, Phone, and Internet as I think most people do not want to give up their cable/satellite TV entirely but do need to keep the costs as low as possible. Cable and Telco Triple-Pay packages certainly have Dish and DirecTV at a disadvantage. I know I was paying about $162 a month for Digital Cable with 2 premiums, 8M/768K Internet Service, and Vonage for voice. Went to the Comcast Triple Play for two years and now I pay $160 for the same thing + 3 additional premiums (Total of 5 - HBO, Max, TMC, Showtime, and Starz). More service for a little less money is hard to say no to. Not to mention the convenience of only one bill. |
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tstolze
Premium
join:2003-08-08
O Fallon, MO | reply to TKJunkMail
Re: Dish loses 25,000 TV customers to economy, competition
Or maybe people are trying to save money by cutting back on monthly expenses? 
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Ofallon, Mo Weather |
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FLengineer
Premium
join:2007-06-26
Leesburg, FL | Who's subscriber?
When you get a triple play package from Embarq that include satellite tv, are you counted as a Dish Network customer or an Embarq customer? |
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FLengineer
Premium
join:2007-06-26
Leesburg, FL | an example would be, If I pay Embarq for voice and data, and I also pay Dish for video. Then I switch to Embarq triple play package and start paying Embarq for my video from Dish. Does that count as a lost subscriber for Dish? |
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dslwanter
Why would I want DSL? I have FTTH
Premium
join:2002-12-16
Lowellville, OH
·Armstrong Zoom In..
·AT&T Midwest
1 edit | Cable is catching on
It has taken a while but I think cable companies are starting to realize just how many homes on their systems have satellite dishes, so at least around here they've introduced some really nice bundle packages. I did the math for what we pay for DirecTV, DSL from AT&T, and phone service from AT&T, it's cheaper for about the first year to switch to a cable bundle then the price is about equal when the bundle expires after 12 months. The different cable tiers are also similar to the different tiers of DirecTV.
So people are probably jumping over to cable for the promo rate then either keeping it or switching back to the dish side because they didn't like the cable after the promo rate. Plus you have those who don't even watch TV, things have changed and this is a sure sign.
Also with this digital age, "over-the-air" TV is far better than what it was 10 years ago. In our market, there was only 4 channels, 21, 27, 33, & 45. Now you have 21-1, 21-2, 27-1, 27-2, 33-1, 33-2, 33-3 (A local weather feed), & 45-1. 33-2 shows all older sitcoms kind of like what "Nick at nite" would do plus you still get your local news and weather & 21-2 is a different network (CW) than 21-1 (NBC). For most people, that's getting to the point where it's good enough. Get yourself an HDTV or a digital converter box & you're set.
EDIT: Another reason I think Dish lost customers: They don't extend these new deals to their current customers and neither does DirecTV. You see these nice ads like "Get HBO for free for 3 months", or "Get NFL Sunday ticket free for 2 months" but when you as a subscriber call, you get "Oh, that's only for new customers". Perhaps if they extended these to current customers, they might be able to retain them.
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Need a DJ within 60 miles of Youngstown, OH? Check out my service: »www.thebomb102djservice.com |
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KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK
·AT&T Yahoo
·AT&T DSL Service
·Cox HSI
| reply to TKJunkMail
Re: Cable & telco triple plays are eating in to their base
The biggest problem that Dish (and DirecTV) have is they can't do the bundled deals.
Cable, and now TelcoTV have the big market advantage of being able to bundle TV WITH Broadband (And phone, VOIP, even wireless in some cases.)
Satellite operators can provide great TV service but that's it really. They can't cut you a deal on some Broadband. So the competition is beating them with the bundles.
So all the Dish companies can do is lower prices to compete.... which cuts their margins and profits. Long term, Satellite may be in trouble.
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"Regulatory capitalism is when companies invest in lawyers, lobbyists, and politicians, instead of plant, people, and customer service." - former FCC Chairman William Kennard (A real FCC Chairman, unlike the current Corporate Spokesperson in the job!) |
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KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK
·AT&T Yahoo
·AT&T DSL Service
·Cox HSI
| reply to Jeffrey
Re: Too expensive, not reliable
said by Jeffrey :With all that being said, I won't be getting Dish when I move---I'll be doing the triple play from Cablevision or Verizon, depending if Fios is in the area. Can't beat the pricing on those services when cost is an issue. ...and that is Dish's (and DirecTV's) main problem right there in a nutshell. They cannot compete with bundled services they cannot offer. So they're losing subs in the cities to competition.
Dish and DirecTV have ONE advantage over TelcoTV and CableTV... Rural users. Rural users who cannot get Cable or TelcoTV can get Dish service.
... but ... Many people who live outside of town are stuck with long drives and commutes. Gas prices are eating them alive, and so they are cutting back on expenses (Like Dish Network!) to survive.
Really, it's just a bad deal right now for Dish all around.
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"Regulatory capitalism is when companies invest in lawyers, lobbyists, and politicians, instead of plant, people, and customer service." - former FCC Chairman William Kennard (A real FCC Chairman, unlike the current Corporate Spokesperson in the job!) |
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NewMariner
join:2005-06-24
| reply to dslwanter
Re: Cable is catching on
said by dslwanter :Also with this digital age, "over-the-air" TV is far better than what it was 10 years ago. In our market, there was only 4 channels, 21, 27, 33, & 45. Now you have 21-1, 21-2, 27-1, 27-2, 33-1, 33-2, 33-3 (A local weather feed), & 45-1. 33-2 shows all older sitcoms kind of like what "Nick at nite" would do plus you still get your local news and weather & 21-2 is a different network (CW) than 21-1 (NBC). For most people, that's getting to the point where it's good enough. Get yourself an HDTV or a digital converter box & you're set. Thats what I did, I dropped down to the lowest dish tier. I then decided to get an Antenna and do OTA, and now I couldnt be happier. I get all the stations I want either OTA or on the internet, and pocked the the money I was spending with dish...it now goes for gas money... |
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jmallory
join:2005-11-02
Clawson, MI
| reply to Dogfather
Re: They didn't keep prices down
said by Dogfather :After a long history of fighting the channel extortionists Charlie seems to give in often as of late, passing on increases to customers. The result is higher prices and fewer customers. That's because as much as you may hate ESPN, FSN, etc ... you simply cannot offer a Pay-TV service without them. Plus, I don't how much of Charley "fighting" them was actually "fighting" ... when you have good growth you can absorb a lot of the increases...but new sub growth has been slowing for awhile now and those increases now have to be passed on to customers. |
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Dogfather
Premium
join:2007-12-26
Laguna Hills, CA | Sports should be on its own tier. |
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