Oh, they dropped all the major broadcast nets, the ESPN channels, the Fox Sports channels, NBCSN, TBS, TNT, etc? Didn't think so. DISH dropped the Fox Sports RSNs is all. (And in some areas where they still carried an RSN, they added a separate RSN fee on those packages that included them.)
AT&T disappointed with offers for struggling DirecTV
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If the RSN is a separate fee as it is in pretty much all providers, dropping the RSN only eliminates that fee. That's a fraction of the ~ $35 of the average bill that goes to pay for sports from locals, the ESPN networks, FS1/BTN, and TNT/TBS.
It is also a lot easier to find packages that don't include RSNs than to find packages that don't include the above. You can get packages that don't include the above, but you will also miss out on other non-sports channels like Disney where such packages are offered.
However, Directv could do like some providers do and break out the locals fee separately, and do like Dish does and allow you to get the locals yourself via the LCC and save money. Why they don't do that, and allow many of their subscribers to potentially save $20+ a month, I don't know. Maybe it didn't make sense a decade ago when the locals fee would have been around $2, but it sure does now. They probably would have lost fewer subscribers if people were able to save that much money every month!
Yeah, about the only way to avoid those mainstream cable channels that carry a significant amount of sports (ESPN, FS1, TBS, TNT, soon to include USA) is if you go with a basic locals-only package from your local cableco, or, from a national provider, if you go with something like Philo, which doesn't have anything owned by Disney, NBCU, or Fox, including even the major broadcast nets. For folks with a certain set of tastes, Philo's 64 cable channels at $20/mo combined with free OTA TV is a pretty great deal.
In this article it's suggested that if DirecTV loses the rights to Sunday Ticket that DirecTV could add some exclusive original programming to entice subscribers to stay? I can't see that happening as they only got rid of Audience last year and they seem to be putting all their programming into HBO Max The New DIRECTV: 4 Things That Might Happen - The TV Answer Man!
Any one can write an article and say things that MIGHT happen ....
My currently employed DirecTV friends say things should be getting back to the good old days before ATT stuck their fingers in it within about a month. It can't get completely back to normal but at least it sounds like ATT management wont be in charge of making stupid decisions in areas where they have no clue how the business works or what it needs to operate. I have not heard but I hope it includes continuing with satellites and considering possible replacements in the future.
Sadly, I can only like this once ...
Lets see if it actually gets there, say back to around 2010 or so ...
I'm thinking it will stay the same or worse (can that possibly happen ).
I HOPE Inclined Orbit's friend is correct.
I heard ATT and the new investor would let DirecTV management run it more like they did in the past. A lot of that management is gone but having El Segundo in charge instead of Dallas sounds like a good start.
Unless they decouple the services from AT&T nothing will change.
Dish has lost much more percentage wise..pay tv is morphing into ip based services
