Charlie and Joe Speak on NY Sports

[cditty]

It's just a negotiating tactic and a shot across the bow to the sports providers.

Personally, I think there is a great market for an HD provider with either no or ala carte sports. If it just has every other HD channel and the price reflects all the savings from no sports, it would be quite profitable.

 

[dishcomm]

I cant aggree more except that we will need to do a much better job of serving our deep suburban and rural areas with affordable broadband Internet services. Wired or wireless.

From financial angle, that is not practical. Especially on the wire line side.
Imagine a cable or tel co having to run miles of cable to far flung areas in the hopes that they may catch 2 out of 50 homes as customers.
What happens then? Easy, subscribers end up with rate increases to subsidize the lost revenue in serving low penetration areas.
I am not inclined to pay extra for my internet so that people who live in the sticks can have cables run past their homes and not buy the service.
There are certain trade offs one must endure for living in peace and quiet. One of those is losing access to wire line broadband internet service.
Besides, there is always Hughes Net.

 

[HanoverPretzel]

From financial angle, that is not practical. Especially on the wire line side.
Imagine a cable or tel co having to run miles of cable to far flung areas in the hopes that they may catch 2 out of 50 homes as customers.
What happens then? Easy, subscribers end up with rate increases to subsidize the lost revenue in serving low penetration areas.
I am not inclined to pay extra for my internet so that people who live in the sticks can have cables run past their homes and not buy the service.
There are certain trade offs one must endure for living in peace and quiet. One of those is losing access to wire line broadband internet service.
Besides, there is always Hughes Net.

As a legal matter, the public (i.e. the government) owns the airwaves. They often bid out licenses to private companies and those licenses can be issued with restrictions. A while back, the FCC was talking about selling wireless spectrum to companies with the restriction that they had to offer a free broadband service that would cover, I think it was, something like 97% of households within 10 years. The license would have sold for less, but the public would have derived non-monetary benefits (i.e. everyone who could get their hands on an Internet capable computer or device would have been able to go online for free). The idea was that the company that bought the license could use the remaining bandwidth to offer a faster paid service that people could upgrade to.

I get the feeling that the big Internet companies put the kibosh on it. It's a shame, because that would have been a good plan. Having at least basic access to the Internet is very important in this day and age. I believe at least one country in Europe has now categorized it as a human right. We don't want to leave people behind due to financial status or geography as we move into the digital age.

 

[mike123abc]

From financial angle, that is not practical. Especially on the wire line side.
Imagine a cable or tel co having to run miles of cable to far flung areas in the hopes that they may catch 2 out of 50 homes as customers.
What happens then? Easy, subscribers end up with rate increases to subsidize the lost revenue in serving low penetration areas.
I am not inclined to pay extra for my internet so that people who live in the sticks can have cables run past their homes and not buy the service.
There are certain trade offs one must endure for living in peace and quiet. One of those is losing access to wire line broadband internet service.
Besides, there is always Hughes Net.

Well actually there is a 15.5% tax on telecommunications to provide service to remote areas. Of course with any government program it is not used as well as it could be used. Essentially they have collected enough since 1996 to have run fiber to the premises for every home in the US, no matter how remote (the current collection rate is about $5.4 billion a year). Most of the fund goes to other things like paying low income phone bills and maintaining the old copper lines rather than running new fiber.

 

[Islandguy43]

Actually, the first part of the quote was not mine....I'm was just agreeing (dreaming) with the original poster. (The "amen" part)


This being said, I have no illusions that MSG, SNY or YES will be back on Dish in my lifetime. This is a business decision that Dish is making and I respect it. The fact that DN has not reduced my bill substituting SportsOhio (Cleveland Indians) is the part that I dont like. (I've written about this before). It is what it is...I have DN at my cottage in Catt County (my only choice for HDTV....out of range for OTA, no LOS for DircecTV, no broadband Internet available), I've got TWC at my home near Buffalo. So right now I'm missing only a few games a year. This will be a much bigger deal for me when I sell my main home (no more kids) and move to the country permanently.

Well there is always the Canadian Solution and get either Shaw or Bell (which basically is the same equipment as dish).

 

[AntiMoz]

Well there is always the Canadian Solution and get either Shaw or Bell (which basically is the same equipment as dish).

Got it...thanks. I can see the Bell sats just fine so its either go with Bell or "move" to northern PA and sub to NHLCI.

 

[Dah-Henny]

Well actually there is a 15.5% tax on telecommunications to provide service to remote areas. Of course with any government program it is not used as well as it could be used. Essentially they have collected enough since 1996 to have run fiber to the premises for every home in the US, no matter how remote (the current collection rate is about $5.4 billion a year). Most of the fund goes to other things like paying low income phone bills and maintaining the old copper lines rather than running new fiber.

The gov incentives/taxes/subsidies have worked well in my area. I'm in the boonies, and my telephone co-op has FTTP available to me since last spring. My telephone and internet is now fiber, and I may well buy their TV package in February if Dish doesn't treat this 12 year subscriber like they appreciate my business.

 

[Tampa8]

My telephone and internet is now fiber, and I may well buy their TV package in February if Dish doesn't treat this 12 year subscriber like they appreciate my business.

Because cable has treated it's customers so well?? Hey, if you are unhappy with any provider of any service, of course switch if you want to. But I see all the time Dish does many things for subscribers and there are threads about that already. I guess it depends on how reasonable your idea is of being treated reasonably.

 

[Dah-Henny]

Because cable has treated it's customers so well?? Hey, if you are unhappy with any provider of any service, of course switch if you want to. But I see all the time Dish does many things for subscribers and there are threads about that already. I guess it depends on how reasonable your idea is of being treated reasonably.

Cable will never be in my area of the hills. My telephone co-operative (member owned) ran the fiber. I guess I'm still a little sore from losing the absolute package. Anyway, when the HD absolute peace offerings run out, I'll see what works for me. I'm not unhappy with Dish, but just not too sure how much money I'm willing to spend for TV. The greater point of my post was, that the gov incentives to get rural america connected has been successful in my area.

 

[dwarren2]

Was at a party last Sat. Friend of mine told me that TW was offering a "no sports" package at a considerable savings.

 

[MikeD-C05]

I've seen similar stories about TWC offering NO sports packs . Looks like Cable will lead the pack this time. I only wish DISH would jump on that train a little quicker. I would love to knock off $10.00 off my bill and delete ALL SPORTS channels.

 

[inazsully]

As we all know, in the real world it all boils down to profit margins. Dish as well as Directv and every cable company and every broadcasting company employ bean counters that do one thing. They dig into the bowels of everything we are discussing here and come up with profit scenarios which in turn dictate the choices made by whom ever is employing them. Millions of dollars are expended to reach these end game revelations. THEY will always do what best suits THEIR bottom line.

 

[Islandguy43]

Got it...thanks. I can see the Bell sats just fine so its either go with Bell or "move" to northern PA and sub to NHLCI.

If you could move to northern PA and not get stuck with Crosby Love Nation that would be the way I go. I am glad the guy is back, but will soon be so sick of hearing how the rest of league got along with out him.

 

[AntiMoz]

If you could move to northern PA and not get stuck with Crosby Love Nation that would be the way I go. I am glad the guy is back, but will soon be so sick of hearing how the rest of league got along with out him.

2 goals, 2 assists in the first game back. We will never hear the end of it.......

 

[goaliebob99]

If you could move to northern PA and not get stuck with Crosby Love Nation that would be the way I go. I am glad the guy is back, but will soon be so sick of hearing how the rest of league got along with out him.

LOL yea there is not love lost between the league and Crosby. He's a talented player no doubt, but that's all he is. He's no better than Towes, Sharp, Kane, or any of those guys. But with that said he might as well get used to not winning because my Hawks are steam rolling their way to the cup this year!

 

[Voyager6]

Well actually there is a 15.5% tax on telecommunications to provide service to remote areas. Of course with any government program it is not used as well as it could be used. Essentially they have collected enough since 1996 to have run fiber to the premises for every home in the US, no matter how remote (the current collection rate is about $5.4 billion a year). Most of the fund goes to other things like paying low income phone bills and maintaining the old copper lines rather than running new fiber.

AKA the "Gore Tax". Here a review of how the "Gore Tax" is being spent. Time to End the “Gore Tax” | Cato @ Liberty

The FCC’s list of the top ten recipients and the subsidies they received in 2007, 2008, and 2009 show hundreds of millions of dollars going to large telecom firms, more than a billion each to AT&T and Verizon.

A state by state list of subsidies under each of the four universal service programs also shows each state’s “contribution” and whether it was a net winner or loser. The total “dollar flow” is negative by some $187 million in 2009. That’s the money that went to administrative expenses—essentially Washington, D.C.’s take.
Then there’s the shocking list of the largest per line subsidies. Westgate Communications in Washington state received $301,966 in 2009 to support 17 subscribers to their services—a subsidy of $17,763 per line. Adak Eagle Enterprises in Hawaii received $23,945,376 for 2,192 customers, a subsidy of $10,926 per customer. Subscription news service TechLawJournal notes that the top five per line subsidies are all in states with representation on the Senate Commerce Committee.