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AT&T May Ditch DirecTV Brand Name
AT&T might dump the DirecTV brand name if AT&T's acquisition of the satellite company is approved, says AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson. "We haven't decided yet on how we are going to brand it," Stephenson told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "We're testing the DIRECTV brand. We're testing the AT&T brand, so we're doing a lot of thinking." Of course that's assuming regulators approve of AT&T's elimination of one of its biggest competitors in the television space. That's certainly not a given, though Comcast's acquisition of Time Warner Cable appears to be getting the lion's share of media attention.
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Treegravy
Premium Member
join:2011-04-21
Canada

1 recommendation

Treegravy

Premium Member

Vader Vision.

Using the 'Dark Side' to extract money since 1885.
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

1 recommendation

Kearnstd

Premium Member

Re: Vader Vision.

DeathStarTV
en103
join:2011-05-02

en103

Member

Re: Vader Vision.

I second it. AT&T has been seen in many years as the deathstar - its very fitting
Expand your moderator at work

scott2020
join:2008-07-20
MO

scott2020 to Kearnstd

Member

to Kearnstd

Re: Vader Vision.

DirecT&T

jtchadwell
@rr.com

jtchadwell to Treegravy

Anon

to Treegravy
Lmaoooo genius comment!!!
SunnyD
join:2009-03-20
Madison, AL

1 recommendation

SunnyD

Member

They'd do better by ditching the AT&T brand name.

Just sayin'. DirecTV's customer service is ... is ... there's isn't an adjective to describe the quality difference between AT&T and DirecTV's customer service.
Chuck_IV
join:2003-11-18
Connecticut

5 recommendations

Chuck_IV

Member

Re: They'd do better by ditching the AT&T brand name.

Exactly. When I read this I thought "is AT&T really THAT stupid?"... then I remembered this is AT&T, so yes, they CAN be that stupid.
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

4 recommendations

Kearnstd

Premium Member

Re: They'd do better by ditching the AT&T brand name.

My guess is they are like the borg. Once Assimilated you are AT&T.

AnonMe
@comcastbusiness.net

3 recommendations

AnonMe to Chuck_IV

Anon

to Chuck_IV
It is just another example how big AT&T's ego is. They think everyone loves them, and they think the bigger they get, the more they'll be loved (and handed our hard earned $$).

I'm so close to cutting the cord already, if AT&T does buy them, regardless of the name decision, I'll be cancelling my Directv service. AT&T screwed me years ago, and over that $20 ridiculous screwing that I gave them many opportunities to work together on, I will never willingly give them another penny. They can kiss my fat, sweaty, hairy, a**!

This latest rounds of Directv price hikes effective Feb 1, has encouraged me to proactively cut back from 3 Directv receivers to 1. With a little more buy-in from "the boss", Directv will also be out of my household. Constant price increases are not sustainable.

josephf
join:2009-04-26

josephf

Member

Block the merger

It reduces the number of competitive providers from four to three in U-Verse areas. (U-Verse, DirecTV, Dish and the cable company.) And even with the current four, the market isn't very competitive for consumers.

It is a far worse merger than Comcast/TimeWarner Cable, as that one doesn't reduce the number of competitors.
mikesco8
join:2006-02-17
Southwick, MA

mikesco8

Member

Re: Block the merger

From a single focus standpoint the AT&T / Direct TV merger is worse, from a big picture standpoint the Comcast merger is far more damaging, however with that said both mergers should be denied for the sake of competition and consumers.

josephf
join:2009-04-26

1 recommendation

josephf

Member

Re: Block the merger

From a legal standpoint, i.e. the anti-trust laws, the AT&T/DirecTV merger has a far stronger basis to be blocked than the Comcast/TWC merger.

The Engineer
@scansafe.net

The Engineer to josephf

Anon

to josephf
The market isn't "competitive"? What does that mean?

Costs are largely driven by the content providers, and all 4 use the same content providers.

KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium Member
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK
Netgear WNDR3700v2
Zoom 5341J

KrK to josephf

Premium Member

to josephf
It does reduce the number of providers. "Competitive" providers.... well that depends. In the PayTV space, sure. The problem, as well everyone knows, that the DBS PayTV providers can't deliver a real internet product, so if you choose to use them for PayTV you still have to go to someone else for Internet. So your incumbent Telco and your Cable company already have a large advantage.... and then of course, there's the other areas that can't get Cable or Telco Internet/TV. Really I can't see ANY positive sides to this merger for the general public.

at&t absorbing DirecTV into the Empire will only cut choices and competition.

StuartMW
Premium Member
join:2000-08-06

StuartMW

Premium Member

They follow me everywhere

Every time I move away/switch from an AT&T controlled service they catch up with me

Reminds me of the scene in the 1976 version of "Fun with Dick and Jane" where they stick-up the phone company payment office and everyone cheers.

Pegasus
Premium Member
join:2008-01-04
united state

Pegasus

Premium Member

Oh At&t

if they were smart they would look at brand recognition. most people hear directv and its a positive thought because well Directv has great service.

U-verse tv however.. Not so great. But in typical at&t fasion im sure they will screw things up.

so sorry directv customers.

maartena
Elmo
Premium Member
join:2002-05-10
Orange, CA

maartena

Premium Member

The screams will silence....

Although I would HATE to see a brand name like DirecTV disappear... people will get used to it. In mergers usually one is the winning party, and the name sticks.

We all remember Compaq computers, or Adelphia cable, but no one really cares about the brand name. Their computers and cable services have gone up in other companies. HP is still using the "Proliant" brand name for their servers, which was inherited from Compaq who was king in the server market at the time.

Continental Airlines? US Airways? Northwest Airlines? - In the airline industry mergers and brand name changes seem to be commonplace.

Zenit_IIfx
The system is the solution
Premium Member
join:2012-05-07
Purcellville, VA

Zenit_IIfx

Premium Member

Re: The screams will silence....

A bit of NWA lives on in the current Delta livery - the Delta Widget on the tail is oriented in the same direction as the compass mark was on the last NWA silver livery.
biochemistry
Premium Member
join:2003-05-09
92361

biochemistry to maartena

Premium Member

to maartena
It isnt the name people are worried about. It's replacing directv service with at&t.

maartena
Elmo
Premium Member
join:2002-05-10
Orange, CA

maartena

Premium Member

Re: The screams will silence....

said by biochemistry:

It isnt the name people are worried about. It's replacing directv service with at&t.

Yeah. I get it. I had DirecTV for years, and I have nothing bad to say about their service. They were always helpful, always professional, and even when I cancelled (cord cutter) they were courteous, and certainly not like that one Comcast call that has been going around the sites.

But that is what happens in a merger. We sort of had the same thing happening here, although it has gotten a lot better in the last 3 years.

When Adelphia failed in 2008, they had roughly a third of the market. Comcast had another third, TWC the final third. (This isn't quite true because there are also areas with Cox and Charter, but for easy math....)

When Adelphia assets were bought and split by TWC and Comcast, here in the Los Angeles market TWC got both the Adelphia network and the Comcast network virtually overnight, and one of the first thing they did after growing by 200% in this market..... was to fire half the support staff, and combine all the remaining Adelphia and Comcast support into one support group that was a lot larger then TWC orginal, (of course) but not big enough to deal with the problems. On top of that, Adelphia ex-support staff didn't know how to deal with TWC/Comcast equipment, Comcast and TWC ex-support staff had the same problems. In 2009, 2010, pretty much everyone hated TWC because they really, really messed the merger up, and it wasn't till 2011 until all the old networks were interconnected, and things started to get better.
biochemistry
Premium Member
join:2003-05-09
92361

1 recommendation

biochemistry

Premium Member

Re: The screams will silence....

I had Adelphia when TWC took over. Lost NFL network and I wasn't too pleased.
brad152
join:2006-07-27
Chicago, IL

brad152 to maartena

Member

to maartena
The difference was that Adelphia and Compaq products were generally crap.

Even by lame Time Warner Cable standards, adelphia customers certainly got an upgrade and well compaq products (at least the home products) were generally cheap garbage as well.

KennyWest
@sbcglobal.net

KennyWest

Anon

Re: The screams will silence....

Actually depending on the Adelpiha market those customers did not get an upgrade but a downgrade. In Ohio Adelphia already had D2. TWC was 1.0 and 1.1 on Docs is. Adelphia customers were getting base of 20megs down. TWC was still below 15 at the time. TWC has no clue what they're doing let alone refuse to do anything. Including hiring drunk 3rd party contractors like they do in Ohio. Had one show up yesterday to sell me service. Was drunk as hell and driving. TWC didn't care. State police did.
rody_44
Premium Member
join:2004-02-20
Quakertown, PA

rody_44

Premium Member

Re: The screams will silence....

Bullshit docsis 2 wasnt even invented when they went under.

Zenit_IIfx
The system is the solution
Premium Member
join:2012-05-07
Purcellville, VA
·Comcast XFINITY

Zenit_IIfx

Premium Member

Re: The screams will silence....

Your wrong - DOCIS2 was out as early as 2001 (finalized specification - real world deployment started afterward)! DOCSIS 3.0 was released in 2006 and real world deployment really gained traction in 08 when Comcast started with it.

DOCSIS2.0 was what Adelphia was using in my market before the Comcast buyout.

KennyWest
@sbcglobal.net

KennyWest to rody_44

Anon

to rody_44
Yes it was. And Adelpia was ahead of TWC in all aspects.
desarollo
join:2011-10-01
Monroe, MI

desarollo

Member

At Davos?

If the CEO of AT&T were at Davos, it shows what a freaking scam that conference happens to be. AT&T has never been concerned about any social issues except when they can contribute directly to the bottom line.

Shangsta
@65.202.145.x

Shangsta

Anon

Re: At Davos?

»www.fiercecable.com/stor ··· 15-01-23

"Stephenson made his comments during an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, indicating the name change could entail a new moniker as simple as "AT&T."
amungus
Premium Member
join:2004-11-26
America

amungus

Premium Member

Southwestern Bell Corp

Loving some of these comments today.

They're doing "a lot of thinking" are they? ...How can it possibly take more than 2 seconds to see that this is a waste of time.

SBC bought AT&T, but they kept AT&T, as it's certainly more "nationally" recognizable, and that was arguably an OK move to keep that name instead of SBC. It also made sense to "re-combine" parts of the shattered pieces of the "ma bell" network, and it was all "terrestrial" telephony/data.

This, I just don't think so. I mean, come on, DirecTV. It's simple. It works. It makes sense.

Guess they could rip off Echostar
- BORGSTAR
- DeathBorg
- DirecBorg
- DirecBell
- SpaceBell
- SpaceBall
....ok, I give up now

edit: I'm not super hopeful that they merge. It would probably not benefit very many people.
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

Kearnstd

Premium Member

Re: Southwestern Bell Corp

Another thing is that DirectTV is a known name, In some cases its almost become synonymous with that kind of service because they were one of the first in the US small dish business(vs the big C-Band units).
amungus
Premium Member
join:2004-11-26
America

amungus

Premium Member

Re: Southwestern Bell Corp

Indeed.

"dish" or "mini-dish" are usually the terms I use most often, as it's generic, but both they and "Dish/Echostar" are well known for really opening up the "Satellite TV" market by shrinking the size of the things and making it simple/usable/affordable for a great many more people than any of the old C-Band setups.

KennyWest
@sbcglobal.net

KennyWest to Kearnstd

Anon

to Kearnstd
Actually not that well know as people still have no clue how to spell the name. There is only 1 T. DirecTV.

SimbaSeven
I Void Warranties
join:2003-03-24
Billings, MT
·StarLink

SimbaSeven to amungus

Member

to amungus
said by amungus:

- SpaceBall

»www.youtube.com/watch?v= ··· FljlIGhc

Snakeoil
Ignore Button. The coward's feature.
Premium Member
join:2000-08-05
united state

Snakeoil

Premium Member

Amazing how the regulators keep letting companies get bigger.

I guess the lesson of "to big to fail" has been long forgotten.

Comcast eats NBC. Now it's trying to eat Time warner.

AT&T has devoured several companies and looks to add one mote to it's expanding waistline.

How is this possibly good for consumers?

•••

caster
@198.41.85.x

caster

Anon

Will U-verse have NHL network again?

Will U-verse have NHL network again? Also no force people over to U-verse unless they have give you at least 5 HD steams
Bob61571
join:2008-08-08
Washington, IL

Bob61571

Member

This is a D-U-M-M dumb idea!!

AT&T is stupid to give up the DirecTV name. DirecTV has the image of the higher end satellite TV service with more sports options. Dish has had the image of the budget service. 5+ years ago, DirecTV had more HD channels than many Cablecos.

Large areas of US(mostly rural/suburban) have NEVER had AT&T POTS service. They have had GTE, or small regional, or small local phone companies. Many of these places have also been the biggest market share subscribers to satellite TV providers DirecTV and Dish Network. So, these customers may have plenty of goodwill with those 2 companies. And, they probably have a lot less goodwill with the AT&T brand.

Simply a case where the big company believes that they need to rename the acquired company with the big company's name. The big company just can't believe that their brand has a worse image.

rollinraver
join:2002-04-27
Buffalo, NY

rollinraver

Member

Just waiting...

To cancel. I don't really see myself sticking with them WHEN/if the deal goes through. I've purposelly retained my month to month status exclusively for this reason.
etaadmin
join:2002-01-17
united state

etaadmin

Member

AT&T should focus on more important things...

like the color. Should the new logo be AT&T orange or former DTV blue?

cousintim
join:2004-10-10
Dallas, TX

cousintim

Member

Re: AT&T should focus on more important things...

said by etaadmin:

Should the new logo be AT&T orange or former DTV blue?

It's actually Cingular orange. Pre-merger, AT&T was blue.
davidhoffman
Premium Member
join:2009-11-19
Warner Robins, GA

davidhoffman

Premium Member

Bad ideas, like getting rid of the DirecTV name, someone thought were good.

New Coke, merging Sprint with Nextel, deregulating the airlines, bulldozing functioning neighborhoods to build highways for suburbanites, high fructose corn syrup, getting rid of the Saturn V rocket booster system, the ATSC OTA broadcast system, the filibuster in the US Senate, changing the Netflix name, elimination of electric street bus systems, damage resistant tomatoes, cookie dough ice cream, and gasoline blended with alcohol. Unidirectional tires for 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, and 18 wheeled vehicles. Closing Meigs Field.
raydsltech
join:2004-07-04
Concord, NC

raydsltech

Member

One word Cingular

anybody remember Cingular? whether is was correct or not when they changed the name from Cingular to ATT customers complained how terrible the service was. it was so bad they brought back Cingular orange and painted all over the ATT brand to try to smooth things over.

KennyWest
@sbcglobal.net

KennyWest

Anon

Re: One word Cingular

They should use Cingular. Meaning one ONE. One company for phone, TV, wireless and hsi.

caomingpeter
@123.114.164.x

caomingpeter

Anon

I believe people from AT&T would have the sense of righteousness to help us

From AT&T website: "AT&T today launched the AT&T Aspire Accelerator" with Udacity cofounder Sebastian Thrun on board; So it seems AT&T is a royal ally to Udacity cofounder Sebastian Thrun; But who wants to be ally with personnel associated with fascism crimes?

Back on 12/24/2014, in the comments part of an article »t.cn/RZTdHjv, I had informed AT&T people, along with AT&T Chief Mr. Randall Stephenson, about the fascism crimes Sebastian Thrun had involved into; Not sure if it had caught attention by then;

I believe people from AT&T would have the sense of righteousness to help us push forward this decade long criminal case, and clarify this case and find justice to those fascists along with Udacity cofounder Sebastian Thrun, is that right?

Termites
@cox.net

Termites

Anon

switching to dish if this goes thru.

if AT&T does buy them,I'll be cancelling my Directv service.

They screwed me a number of years ago on their ATT Credit card Canceled that! dont want to do anything with them.

PhoenixAZ
Get A Mac
Premium Member
join:2004-01-04
Phoenix, AZ

PhoenixAZ

Premium Member

Remember that Mexican Telephone Company AT&T bought?, And renamed AT&T?

AT&T does NOT like owning other companies that do not bear the AT&T name. If they're AT&T, god damnit it'll be named AT&T. Even when they bought a Mexican cellular company, they just HAD to rename it AT&T.

KennyWest
@sbcglobal.net

KennyWest

Anon

Re: Remember that Mexican Telephone Company AT&T bought?, And renamed AT&T?

Why not?? It makes sense. One brand across everything. The only company that doesn't bare the Att name is ACC.
Joe12345678
join:2003-07-22
Des Plaines, IL

Joe12345678 to PhoenixAZ

Member

to PhoenixAZ
and they can make people think they are on AT&T so they don't think they are roaming

jeff525
@bellsouth.net

jeff525

Anon

directv

if you change directv to at&t you can cancel my service now.

waja
@qwest.net

waja

Anon

Switched to Comcast

Just ended my DirecTv subscription. Been there for 10 years. But price hikes and Comcast improvements have moved me to get a 24 month commitment to Comcast.
I bought a TiVo Roamio Plus (used) and 3 Minis to replace my DirecTv equipment. TiVo equipment all have lifetime subscriptions. $830. Signed up for Comcast XF Preferred (220 channels) plus HBO, Internet speed is 125 Mb/s. Price is $106 ($99+tax) for next 24 months. Some misses compared to what I had with DirecTv (No Fox Sports 2, no MAVTV, DIY is not HD)
Dan2112
join:2001-08-24
San Jose, CA

Dan2112

Member

Re: Switched to Comcast

said by waja :

Just ended my DirecTv subscription. Been there for 10 years. But price hikes and Comcast improvements have moved me to get a 24 month commitment to Comcast.
I bought a TiVo Roamio Plus (used) and 3 Minis to replace my DirecTv equipment. TiVo equipment all have lifetime subscriptions. $830. Signed up for Comcast XF Preferred (220 channels) plus HBO, Internet speed is 125 Mb/s. Price is $106 ($99+tax) for next 24 months. Some misses compared to what I had with DirecTv (No Fox Sports 2, no MAVTV, DIY is not HD)

I did almost exactly the same thing - been with them since 2002. Cancelled and got a TiVo Roamio with a couple of Minis on Comcast Triple Play. When I talked to DirecTV to cancel, they said they could hook me up with UVerse internet and voice if I stayed. I felt sorry for the retentions rep and politely told her that UVerse isn't even remotely competitive here and the offer was almost laughable.
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