Satellite TV Sees First Quarterly Subscriber Loss Ever > They didn't keep prices down

reply to jmallory

Re: They didn't keep prices down

reply to uid1307457
All you have proven is that USA is the most watched cable network. I never said ESPN was. In fact, if you actually go back and read my posts I have never claimed that anyone other than myself has watched it. My entire point has been is that the reason it is in the basic tier is that the average consumer is expecting it to be part of the basic tier (along with their RSN) and to be a competitive service in THE CURRENT REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT you have to offer the channel as well.

That is all I said.

Never said anyone watched the channel
Never said it was the first place channel in ratings or in the middle of the pack, or even in last place.

I have said, that we all pay for channels we don't want. Now if you have no interest in sports, you probably are getting the short end of the stick but if you feel that strongly about it I can only suggest two things.

1.) Vote for people who will work to change the regulatory environment to enable ala carte programming.

2.) Vote with your wallet and don't subscribe to cable / satellite service. There are other ways of supporting the programming you like.

If you are unwilling to do either or both. Then you are just whining.

Don't need to. FCC proposals being worked out now include kicking off expanded basic into a la carte, channels that cost $0.75 or more. I'll just bide my time. Come next year we'll likely have an FCC that doesn't lick the ass of industry and will actually act in the interest of consumers.

Meanwhile, you want to chip in to pay my Anime Network or HowardTV fee? Would only be fair considering how much I've contributed to your channels.

reply to jmallory
It seems to me that one point everyone agrees on is that in a free market, the demand of the consumers should dictate the supply of the producers. It is obvious to me, an everything pack subscriber with Dish, that there is enough of a demand for ESPN and every channel package to justify the corporate decision to keep the structure the way it is.

If Dish was to take the risk on it's own to offer a-la-carte programming, who can guarantee that Direct TV will do the same? Who's to say that an a-la-carte programming scheme will not adversely affect the current channel pricing structure? I would love to create my own package and cut my bill in half, but as long as the market demands stay relatively the same, the programming options will not change.

The price per channel with any pay tv service is seriously discounted when it's in a bundle. It's more cost effective and profitable for the networks and service providers that way, and believe it or not, cheaper for the consumer. Breaking these packages up would simply create an increase in the cost per channel to the point where you could easily pay more for less channels and still not be able to reasonably afford the channels you want.

Yes, supply and demand ideally control the market, but the market can break down, and then what do we do? Dish's loss of 25,000 customers is hardly a drop in the bucket, considering the 13+ million that still pay for extra channels they don't watch, be they ESPN or TNT.

Do the math on that. 39.99 a month x 13,000,000 is $519,870,000 a month, x 12 months = $6,238,440,000 per year if every subscriber is only paying for the DVR Advantage top 100 with locals. Do you have any idea how much money 6 billion dollars is? Warren Buffet was at one point the richest man in the world with a net worth of 8 billion dollars, a net worth, not annual gross proceeds! The last quarter's loss of 25,000 customers equates to $999,750 which is nothing considering the slowed growth was still over 150,000 new customers.

When i stop and look at these figures, the Nielsen ratings and my personal preferences don't really make a difference since Dish Network is not a consumer based democracy, but rather a corporation that, like any entity, has to find ways to survive amongst its competition for vital resources, namely you and I. The one we feed is the one that survives, and choose to feed Dish, for the time being, to get what i want out of it. When Dish becomes unreasonable, I can leave it behind for something else. For now, it's the most reasonable option I have for what I want.

reply to Dogfather
Already chip in for Anime (its available here On Demand for free). HowardTV is a premium On-Demand channel so sorry there.

reply to jmallory

reply to jmallory
See, I have to pay for Anime Channel. That's it. I'm moving to Mars.

reply to jmallory
Disney has convinced you of that fallacy. Remember when you pay that $6 for ESPN every month the vast majority of it goes to support all the other BS channels Disney offers. If the providers of the channels (not the delivery companies like the cable and satellite) were forced to unbundle their channels and sell them to the providers individually your bill would go DOWN. ESPN would drop significantly in price without 90% of the charge for it being used to subsidize a dozen channels you don't watch.

By forcing unbundled the Sat. and Cable companies could offer REAL packages that people want a drop all the BS channels that have less than a 1000 people watching them. Half your TV bill supports mostly channels you don't watch and likely never will because Disney and the other content providers force the delivery companies to buy them and sell them to subscribers.

reply to jmallory