Charlie Approaches DIRECTV about a Merger.

[Scott Greczkowski]

I really don't think so Scott. The government won't let that many companies merge down to just two. Even if you think there will only be two because everyone else will go out of business the government still has the power to break up companies that control the entire market.

Unfortunately we are almost there now.

Look at NBC / Comcast. Look at the channels they own. Now imagine them merging with Time Warner and look at the channels they will own.

It would be different of Comcast was a service provider only... but when you own some of the top rated channels it changes the game greatly.

 

[Hall]

...keep my Dish Hopper equipment.

...swm technology, E's DVR's...

I say do it as long as he intends to keep the hopper system over the Genie.

If the two companies were to combine, I'm certain on the hardware side, customers would NOT see any change for 5+ years, if not longer.

 

[navychop]

....... Charlie should just retire and join the World Series of Poker or something.

I don't think he CAN. Didn't they ban him from the casinos? Suspected card counting, IIRC, which should hardly be barred - you're not allowed to think in certain ways?

 

[cave1376]

All for it, as long as Dish Equipment and Charlie's way of doing things prevails.

DIRECTV MRV, Dish EHDD implementation and Charlies way ...

That is part of the problem. What equipment to to keep. And who will run the company, Mike or Charlie.

What satellites would be used, D* and there 99, 101, 103, 110 and 119 or E* with their EA or WA sats. Or would it be a mix of two or three sat locations.

 

[Hall]

I really don't think so Scott. The government won't let that many companies merge down to just two.

Your thinking is 30-40 years old or like you say, "back in the day". Without getting political, it's pretty clear that the government favors big business vs lots of smaller companies, i.e. more competition and favoring the people.

 

[king3pj]

Unfortunately we are almost there now.

Look at NBC / Comcast. Look at the channels they own. Now imagine them merging with Time Warner and look at the channels they will own.

It would be different of Comcast was a service provider only... but when you own some of the top rated channels it changes the game greatly.

That can be a condition in a merger too. When Verizon bought out Alltel a few years ago certain Alltel markets were required to be divested as a condition of the purchase. They had to sell the Alltel customers and towers to AT&T or other providers in areas where Verizon would now be the only provider as a result of the merger.

They could easily require Comcast to sell off those TV channels as a requirement of a merger with TWC.

 

[navychop]

I am against both mergers.

But frankly, I'm more concerned about losing my Hopper than anything else. And if it were to happen, it would be so many years down the pike it would hardly matter. By then I might move to Fios or cut the cord entirely. Or be next to dead.

AND: Service providers should not be allowed to own ANY programming whatsoever!

 

[Tank]

As a rural customer, I'm against it. Sat tv is the only choice for me. All I need is for Charlie to buy things and dump all my sports channels and packages. I know most people on this board worship Chuck for this stance and prefer to watch movies. As a customer of both, the only thing I like better about Dish is the equipment and the option to buy instead of getting stuck with contracts. Charlie should just retire and join the World Series of Poker or something.

agreed. or in my case i get distants due to directv not carrying my locals. I know dish does but only in SD

I like having ABC & FOX in HD from Los Angeles and New York
(there is no ABC or FOX in my market)

 

[Tank]

Charlie, leave things alone ... if I wanted DirecTV, I would have subscribed to DirecTV.

and the same here the other way. If I WANTED dish I would have subscribed to it.

 

[Hall]

That is part of the problem. What equipment to to keep. And who will run the company, Mike or Charlie.

Most mergers aren't "friendly" when it comes to internal issues, i.e. it won't be a 50/50 merger, but will more likely be (at least), a 51/49 merger. That way, one side or the other makes the rules. Let's presume Charlie ends up in charge for the sake of discussion... Trust me, "Mike" won't care - he'll stay on board for a year or so "to ease the transition" and will walk away with a check in the 8-digit range.

Technical decisions will be made for technical reasons, not necessarily what's best for the end-users. Imagine that the primary receiver from D* costs $93 to produce while the primary receiver from E* costs $88. Guess which one end-users will end up with ?

 

[king3pj]

Your thinking is 30-40 years old or like you say, "back in the day". Without getting political, it's pretty clear that the government favors big business vs lots of smaller companies, i.e. more competition and favoring the people.

The Verizon/Alltel thing wasn't so long ago and they still required them to sell one network or they other off in lots of areas. Some of them were in Michigan and I remember it being a big deal. Some Alltel customers were sold to Verizon, some were sold to AT&T and in some markets Verizon sold off their own customers and kept the Alltel network because it was superior in that area.

 

[KAB]

What's different now from 2002 when it got shot down the first time.


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[Teehar]

Not for it at all,furthermore,I don't see it happening,it's already been tried and failed.Do the powers that be,want there to be no competition?This in no way will benefit the consumer,neither will a Time Warner Comcast deal.At some point someone with some sense is going to have to step up and say enough is enough.

 

[navychop]

The Verizon/Alltel thing wasn't so long ago and they still required them to sell one network or they other off in lots of areas. Some of them were in Michigan and I remember it being a big deal. Some Alltel customers were sold to Verizon, some were sold to AT&T and in some markets Verizon sold off their own customers and kept the Alltel network because it was superior in that area.

You are making me picture a raised platform and an auction.

Those "sold" customers can shift elsewhere in short order, so I don't imagine there's a great deal of value there.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

US Channel Owned by Time Warner

HBO
Cinemax
truTV
TBS
TNT
TCM
WPCH
Cartoon Network
Adult Swim
Boomerang
CNN
HLN
Airport Network

(Plus they own all NASCAR Races, NCAA.COM, PGA.COM, NBA.COM, NBA.TV, NBA League Pass, WNBA.COM)

On the Comcast Side:

NBC
TCN
CSN Mid-Atlantic
CSN Philadelphia
CSN Chicago
CSN Washington
CSN Northwest
CSN New England
CSN Bay Area
E! Entertainment
NBCSN
Golf Channel
ExcercizeTV
MLB Network
Sportnet New York
Comcast Sports Southeast
NHL Network
TV One
PBS Kids / Sprout
FEARnet
SyFy
Chiller
Cloo
USA Network
Universal HD
Bravo
Esquire Network
Oxygen
TV One
Telemundo
Mun2
CNBC
MSNBC
The Weather Channel

 

[navychop]

Most mergers aren't "friendly" when it comes to internal issues, i.e. it won't be a 50/50 merger, but will more likely be (at least), a 51/49 merger. That way, one side or the other makes the rules. Let's presume Charlie ends up in charge for the sake of discussion... Trust me, "Mike" won't care - he'll stay on board for a year or so "to ease the transition" and will walk away with a check in the 8-digit range.

Technical decisions will be made for technical reasons, not necessarily what's best for the end-users. Imagine that the primary receiver from D* costs $93 to produce while the primary receiver from E* costs $88. Guess which one end-users will end up with ?

I'm sure they'll look at life cycle costs- manufacturing, installation, service life, # deployed, etc. And then decide based on political reasons.

 

[king3pj]

You are making me picture a raised platform and an auction.

Those "sold" customers can shift elsewhere in short order, so I don't imagine there's a great deal of value there.

Depends on whether they are under a 2 year contract or not. I remember some Verizon customers being pretty upset when they were told that they were now AT&T customers and their phones were no longer any good. Same goes for Alltel customers who had cheaper plans now being told they were Verizon customers. Verizon honored their plans for a while but eventually made them switch to Verizon plans as a requirement to upgrade phones.

The contract was still valid even though they originally signed it with a different company. It's just like how my mortgage is still valid even though it was sold to Chase. If customers were outside of their contract they were welcome to switch but many people are always under contract so they can get new phones at a better price.

I imagine the same would apply here. If you were under contract with a hopper and they said you needed to switch out to a genie you would have no choice but to do it or pay an ETF. Of course, this probably won't happen and if it does it won't be for years.

 

[D. Manley]

See ultimately what I see is there will only be two companies

DISH/DIRECTV and Comcast

Comcast will own most of the programming out there and make DISH/DIRECTV pay through the nose if they want to carry them. Of course those high costs will be passed on to the DISH/DIRECTV customers who are not in an area served by Comcast.

Scary thought. For anyone (like me) with no cable competition available to impede Comcast the premise this scenario could spread nationally is chilling. For those who complain about DISH customer service, you have no idea what true incompetence is until you deal with Comcast. I've managed to divest myself of all but their Internet service but having no competition to provide equal speed, I'm essentially married to them...and believe me, they know it.

I've mixed feelings about the DISH/DirecTV merger for several reasons some, mentioned by Scott. I have to balance that with the knowledge of the risks an unfettered Comcast would pose. Tough choice for me personally but in the end I'd have to go with Charlie over Comcast when it comes to a trust factor.

Sent from my Droid RAZR MAXX using Tapatalk2

 

[Teehar]

Now here is a scary thought,one sat provider,with what 34 million subscribers,give or take.Contract comes up for CBS as an example,CBS demands outrageous fees,sat company balks,now 34 million customers have no CBS.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

But since CBS is the top ranked network, many of those 34 million customers go to where they can get CBS.

Look at what happened when Time Warner Cable dropped CBS in NYC last year. How many customers did TWC lose in NY?