AT&T Wants low ARPU customers gone

[ncted]

I was aware of that. That’s why I said (regardless if you get a DVR)

But yes you can configure the package without a DVR, I think last time I did the math it was a few dollars more in year 1, but the real increase was in year 2.

At least Directv does not charge a no DVR Fee like Dish.

They don't? What is this on my dad's bill?

Can he somehow get rid of this fee? He is really unhappy with how much he is paying. I think he and my mom would be perfect candidates for YTTV, but there are serious gaps between channels they want to watch and what streaming offers.

 

[Claude Greiner]

They don't? What is this on my dad's bill?

View attachment 138970
Can he somehow get rid of this fee? He is really unhappy with how much he is paying. I think he and my mom would be perfect candidates for YTTV, but there are serious gaps between channels they want to watch and what streaming offers.

Get rid of the DVR.

That is basically the $10 HD access fee, $10 DVR fee, and $3 whole home DVR fee rolled into 1

 

[ncted]

Get rid of the DVR.

That is basically the $10 HD access fee, $10 DVR fee, and $3 whole home DVR fee rolled into 1

Sorry. I don't follow. They have 1 HR44 and 1 Client box. Should they ask for different hardware?

 

[Jimbo]

Sorry. I don't follow. They have 1 HR44 and 1 Client box. Should they ask for different hardware?

Thats just how the $25 fee your parents don't like breaks down.

 

[Claude Greiner]

Sorry. I don't follow. They have 1 HR44 and 1 Client box. Should they ask for different hardware?

If they want to get rid of the DVR and exchange it for a non DVR, they will save $25

 

[Jimbo]

If they want to get rid of the DVR and exchange it for a non DVR, they will save $25

If thats true, then your saying that only DVRs get an HD Fee ... is that correct ?

 

[ncted]

If they want to get rid of the DVR and exchange it for a non DVR, they will save $25

OK, well they want the DVR. I guess I just misunderstood your original comment about the no DVR fee. My mistake.

 

[Claude Greiner]

If thats true, then your saying that only DVRs get an HD Fee ... is that correct ?

Actually they could pay $7 for the first Tv, and it would be a savings of $18.

Some accounts require a $10 HD fee but no charge for first receiver.

Other accounts have a $7 fee for the first receiver but no HD fee

 

[mdram]

Actually they could pay $7 for the first Tv, and it would be a savings of $18.

Some accounts require a $10 HD fee but no charge for first receiver.

Other accounts have a $7 fee for the first receiver but no HD fee

some accounts have no first receiver fee, and hd free for life

 

[Claude Greiner]

some accounts have no first receiver fee, and hd free for life

Yeah that was short lived. I remember we once had that promotion.

 

[NashGuy]

some accounts have no first receiver fee, and hd free for life

Isn't that the standard pricing now for new accounts? Looks like all the packages include a single HD DVR with service for one TV. No extra charge for HD. All hardware is included in the price. Only extra charges come when you add more TVs to the set-up (or, of course, upgrade to a larger package, add premiums, etc.).

That said, I understand that there are all sorts of pricing rules in existence for different accounts, depending on what the policy was when the account was created.

 

[Claude Greiner]

Isn't that the standard pricing now for new accounts? Looks like all the packages include a single HD DVR with service for one TV. No extra charge for HD. All hardware is included in the price. Only extra charges come when you add more TVs to the set-up (or, of course, upgrade to a larger package, add premiums, etc.).

That said, I understand that there are all sorts of pricing rules in existence for different accounts, depending on what the policy was when the account was created.

Yea most pricing includes the DVR and first television.

You can still build it as a regular package and just add $7 per receiver. But the way it’s priced with the DVR, there is not much or a difference.

 

[NashGuy]

Yea most pricing includes the DVR and first television.

You can still build it as a regular package and just add $7 per receiver. But the way it’s priced with the DVR, there is not much or a difference.

I'm guessing that you dealers have access to various options that aren't offered on the DirecTV/AT&T website, where they only place the standard configuration that AT&T prefers the vast majority of sign-ups to take.

 

[Claude Greiner]

I'm guessing that you dealers have access to various options that aren't offered on the DirecTV/AT&T website, where they only place the standard configuration that AT&T prefers the vast majority of sign-ups to take.

The only other option we have is configuring a package without a DVR.

You can do the same by calling Directv directly, but everyone including dealers are going to push the plans with the DVR, as it’s simple and easy as all the fees are combined and not broken down.

 

[ncted]

Now it is more than just Dish and AT&T:

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

 

[DS0816]

Now it is more than just Dish and AT&T:

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

Interesting article.

Part of this depends on, “Who needs who more?”

I think we are in a period in which the providers are more in need of customers.

(The article does not say but it does suggest the following: Telling a provider one may cancel a television subscription is not going to work as much as inquiring about possible discounts.)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[NashGuy]

Now it is more than just Dish and AT&T:

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

I think what this article states is consistent with what AT&T leadership has been saying about "cleaning up" their TV subscriber base and getting rid of those customers who only stick around if they're continually given discounts.

I think the new game plan going forward will be to offer slimmed-down slightly less expensive packages that are sold for an everyday regular price starting the first month, as opposed to having big discounts the first year, followed by sticker-shock price jumps up to the regular price in year two. Set the prices so that the packages earn a small but worthwhile profit margin for the provider. (Cable TV packages earn a lot of profit for the cable networks but not very much for the cable operators.) If customers are happy with the service for the price, great. If they decide the level of entertainment offered isn't worth the price, that's fine, they can drop it. But I think the days of repetitive haggling for discounts are fading away. Think how much time and money is spent by the operators on customer service reps who deal with those requests all day long.

 

[ncted]

More comments about "customer cleanup"

https://www.multichannel.com/news/d...-video-offering-radically-reshapes-tv-concept

 

[NashGuy]

More comments about "customer cleanup"

https://www.multichannel.com/news/d...-video-offering-radically-reshapes-tv-concept

Wall Street is projecting another quarter of brutal subscriber losses for DTV satellite in Q2. I think AT&T expects the situation to start turning around in the fall, which is typically a better time for TV given football season and the new fall shows.

Sounds like their aim is to have this new OTT/IPTV service (based on DTV Now, but with the option to use a dedicated STB) in place before the fall, as Donovan yesterday said it would launch in Q3. This upcoming service was recently referred to by Stephenson as their "satellite replacement product," although AT&T has also gone on record stating that they'll continue offering satellite service for the foreseeable future, but with a focus on rural areas (presumably because that's where there's the least access to the broadband services necessary to support the new OTT/IPTV product).

Given that the new Plus and Max channel packages that originated on DTV Now are also showing up in the DTV satellite ordering system at ATT.com, I'm betting that they'll become the new default options across all of AT&T's ongoing TV services. Admittedly, that's just hunch on my part. But if someone is looking to sign up for DTV satellite and definitely wants one of the current packages (Entertainment, Choice, Xtra, etc.), they might want to sign up soon because it's possible that if/when this new OTT/IPTV service launches this summer, the new channel packages it offers will also be the only choices offered on DTV satellite.

 

[slice1900]

I saw an article that said all the cable providers are doing the same thing. They no longer offer a deal if someone wants to cancel TV, they just let them do it. Having a customer that's internet only is higher margin for them because they don't pay all the programming costs.

So the people who change providers every year or two chasing specials or asking for discounts regularly will probably not be able to continue that with any provider going forward. Some of them will cut the cord, the rest will have to accept paying more.