robl27
Premium
join:2008-07-16
Mary Esther, FL
 ·Cox HSI
 ·Vonage
| no more satellite radio competition, why not tv?
xm and sirius are now one company, why can't dish and direct.
it's all about pushing the little folks (us) wallet's even shorter and shorter.
the service fades out in the rain due to the fact the dishes are too small and, their is nothing on tv worth watching anymore.
if i want satellite, i'd get a free to air system that covers both the c and ku spectrum.. over 500 channels there and FREE
-Rob
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»www.cband.info come join our IRC chat room and meet some new friends and listen to some good radio. We don't bite unless it's a piece of steak! |
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Dogfather
Premium
join:2007-12-26
Laguna Hills, CA
1 edit | Because neither satellite radio company was profitable, not even close.
Both Dish Network and DirecTV are profitable and despite the subscriber losses, profit for Dish Network is up in the 2Q as was DirecTV. |
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Ammler
Premium
join:2005-04-19
Pittsburgh, PA | I'm not buying that. I believe the same argument Sirius and XM used to merge (competition from terrestrial radio, CDs, MP3s, etc.), can be applied here as well (competition from cable, terrestrial tv, internet, iTunes, dvd, blue-ray, etc.). |
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Camelot One
Premium,MVM
join:2001-11-21
Sarasota, FL
clubs:
| reply to robl27
said by robl27  :the service fades out in the rain due to the fact the dishes are too small and, their is nothing on tv worth watching anymore. I have to disagree with the first part. I've been with DirecTV for almost 7 years now. I have no shortage of complaints about various things, but as long as the dish is PROPERLY lined up, you won't get rain fade. I had mine working during 2 hurricanes back in Florida, and only lost the signal for about 30 minutes in each. I've had 0 problems here in Austin. Mind you I said when the dish is PROPERLY lined up, and most of the DTV sub-contractors don't bother to make sure it actually is. They shoot for a signal of any kind on a clear sunny day, and call it a day.
I will agree however that there is little worth watching these days, certainly little worth paying the price for.
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Intel Q6600 @3400Mhz/GA-EP35-DS3P/2x 2048Mb G.Skill/Seagate 750.10/EVGA 8800GT's SLI/Silverstone 850W/Custom water cooler |
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Corehhi
join:2002-01-28
Bluffton, SC | I second that. I rarely lose Directv. The only times I can remember were a hurricane and a couple of bad electrical storms. For that matter my power goes off about every month or two so directv is more reliable than my power company. |
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DaveNJ
No Fear
join:1999-09-01
New Jersey
·Comcast
·Patriot Media
| reply to Dogfather
said by Dogfather :Because neither satellite radio company was profitable, not even close. Both Dish Network and DirecTV are profitable and despite the subscriber losses, profit for Dish Network is up in the 2Q as was DirecTV. If Dish and Direct are profitable and sustainable they shouldnt be allowed to merge. Satellite radio wasnt and it needed to merge to survive. Why doesn't Dish buy Sirius XM ?
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“Say no to fear. Don’t let anxiety crush your life. Live life free and unfettered.”
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Dogfather
Premium
join:2007-12-26
Laguna Hills, CA
·Cox HSI
 ·Verizon FIOS
·Cox VOIP
·ViaTalk
·RoadRunner Cable
 ·MegaPath
·Verizon west (ex G..
·Time Warner VOIP
1 edit | reply to Ammler
Satellite radio has much more competition from far more independent sources that DBS has. And unlike satellite radio, DBS is highly profitable and leads their industry in content, price and service.
As far as mobile competition, they again can't be compared because of the cost of movies and the listening/watching patterns of people.
In general, you will listen to the same song over and over and over again while there are few if any individual movies you will watch that many times. So for the $1 you may pay for a song, you get far more value and it's far more competitive than an $8-$15 DVD you may watch a few times. |
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Dogfather
Premium
join:2007-12-26
Laguna Hills, CA
·Cox HSI
·Verizon FIOS
·Cox VOIP
·ViaTalk
·RoadRunner Cable
·MegaPath
·Verizon west (ex G..
·Time Warner VOIP
| reply to DaveNJ
said by DaveNJ :Why doesn't Dish buy Sirius XM ? I doubt Mel would be that interested. Sirius XM now has more subscribers than any company other than Comcast. |
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DaveNJ
No Fear
join:1999-09-01
New Jersey
·Comcast
·Patriot Media
| wait read this ! dang
»www.fmqb.com/article.asp?id=827268&spid=1314
Would Mel Sell Sirius XM Radio?
August 6, 2008
In a new interview with the New York Times, Sirius XM CEO Mel Karmazin floats the idea that once the merged satcaster turns a profit, he could flip the company and sell it off. Karmazin says that his goal is to turn Sirius XM into a profitable company, which could happen in just a year or two, "then we can argue about what the company is worth."
Karmazin suggests that he could then sell off the satcaster once it is profitable. "I’m not a visionary; I’m an operator,” he told the Times. "And I’ve been a seller. The bankers all want the next transaction."
Discussing the upcoming cost cutting at the merged satcaster, Karmazin said he aims to cut approximately $400 million in annual costs and half-jokes that "When I became the CEO of CBS, the first thing I did was sell the artwork."
Karmazin also discussed the recently completed merger, saying that the outcry from terrestrial radio and the NAB against it was "the best thing that happened," because it proved his argument that satellite radio was indeed their competition.
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“Say no to fear. Don’t let anxiety crush your life. Live life free and unfettered.”
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Dogfather
Premium
join:2007-12-26
Laguna Hills, CA
1 edit | Crap. Hopefully the next company won't ruin it like Infinity got ruined with the lame Free FM and Jack FM cookie cutter formats. |
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raw
War Eagle
Premium
join:2001-01-17
Madison, AL
clubs:
| reply to Corehhi
said by Corehhi :I second that. I rarely lose Directv. On the flip side, my parents had to drop DirecTV because their house backs up to thick woods in the due southwesterly direction (from Knoxville, TN), and eventually the tree growth got so thick that signal strength was in single digits on a clear sunny summer day. Sad day indeed, because they certainly enjoyed it while it lasted. |
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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
·AT&T Southwest
| reply to robl27
I've never had the rain fade issue on Dish. I've only had the "extremely severe thunderstorm outage" and even then I think the longest outage I remember was 15 minutes.
Course, your Dish needs to be perfectly aligned for strong signal strength. I knew some friends who had DirecTV and their dish was mounted on the corner rail of a large wooden deck. I think the deck would move a little with heating and cooling, wood swelling, etc. They had signal problems a lot. They went with cable eventually though.
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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 | reply to Dogfather
Is DTV finally making money? It lost money for years. |
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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
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·AT&T Southwest
| reply to DaveNJ
said by DaveNJ :If Dish and Direct are profitable and sustainable they shouldnt be allowed to merge. Hmmm. SBC and Bellsouth was profitable. They merged. Citi merged with Travellers.... etc etc. I don't think profitable is really a standard they use.
They weigh in on competition. A merger of DBS would create one provider for rural subs--- not so good.... *but* DBS is facing STRONG competion from Telco and Cable offerings that they have a hard time competing with due to the fact they cannot offer other services to sweeten the pot. (IE Bundles.) A stronger DBS competitor here would be good for these consumers.
SO, the argument could go either way.
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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
·AT&T Southwest
| reply to raw
There's some options. Relocate the dish to the front of their property, or, elevate the dish so it can see clearly above the trees. I had trees behind my property for years, and I found that if I checked around the property there was several places I could get clear signal... surprisingly. I went with a TV antenna style pole on the roof with the dish mounted to the pole. It gave me elevation that I needed and still the dish was out of sight.
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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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Corydon
Cultivant son jardin
Premium
join:2008-02-18
Denver, CO
clubs:
·Comcast
| reply to KrK
I don't see how a merger would do much of anything to change your analysis. The DBS company would still face competition from cable (and more and more, telcos).
Sure they could save some money by eliminating positions. Sure they might make a bit more by putting more of a squeeze on rural customers who have nowhere else to go.
But they still will not be able to offer a viable bundle alternative and would end up getting squeezed by triple play companies who can.
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"Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so too." |
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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
·AT&T Southwest
| The advantages I see are:
1) Bandwith. They would gain control of both companies satellite spectrum. Result: They could dump duplicate services and use the bandwidth to bring more channels, more HD, less compression, etc etc
2) Numbers of subscribers. With a larger group of subscribers, it gives them more clout with the content providers--- ie puts them in a better position to negotiate on prices. If they can keep programming costs lower, then they can compete better on price. (And still remain profitable.)
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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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jt4
@comcast.net | reply to robl27
its not free. you have to buy all the equipment. so you still pay for it. |
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fiberguy
My views are my own.
Premium
join:2005-05-20
| reply to robl27
Satellite isn't its only competitive market, rather, satellite (both of them) are considered to be "video providers" period. If that wasn't the case, then they're going to have some hard times explaining what happened in the L.A. area.. In LA, satellite penetration raise to a percentage of that of cable to allow for cable to escape the rule of franchise as they were no considered a monopoly.
Satellite is either a video provider, or not... to clear it up, satellite IS simply another video provider. I don't care to see the two merge, however, in reality, people talk like satellite is in it's own classification when it's not. |
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SliiyBoy
@charter.com
| reply to Ammler
said by Ammler :I'm not buying that. I believe the same argument Sirius and XM used to merge (competition from terrestrial radio, CDs, MP3s, etc.), can be applied here as well (competition from cable, terrestrial tv, internet, iTunes, dvd, blue-ray, etc.). I totally agree with them. Let these two merge as well. This would give the cable companies real competition for a change. |
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