Directv passes 18 million subs and posts very strong numbers

[goaliebob99]

Sorry this is so late guys, I have been busy doing work at work. Imagine that Directv posted some very impressive numbers! You can find that out here!
http://investor.directv.com/released...leaseID=382409


Back to work now

 

[VinceT3]

I bet I know where a large number of those people came from.. Sorry Charlie, your company needs a major re-org, starting at the top!

 

[Matt9876]

Wow,If I read that correctly they added 460,000 subs in the past year.

Somebody out there lost a bunch of customers.

 

[riffjim4069]

I bet I know where a large number of those people came from.. Sorry Charlie, your company needs a major re-org, starting at the top!

With Verizon FiOS TV addding 299K and AT&T U-Verse adding another 284K, the potential for Dish Network posting a big loss of subscribers is very real.

 

[skottey]

Sorry this is so late guys, I have been busy doing work at work. Imagine that Directv posted some very impressive numbers! You can find that out here!
http://investor.directv.com/released...leaseID=382409


Back to work now

Wonderful.... now where are the new HD channels?

Seriously. I got in a 2 year contract with DirecTV about a year ago and then FIOS came to my neighborhood sooner than I expected in Nov 2008. It was just too much HD to pass up on FIOS so I lowered my package to Choice Extra and got rid of all the premiums with D* since I picked them up with FIOS. Being only $75-$100 a month with two HD-DVRs, I decided to keep it rather than pay out the $450 or whatever they told me the contract buyout would be with DirecTV. Not to mention I paid $300 for two HD-DVRs upfront (about two weeks before they changed from $99 for the first HD-DVR to $0 for the first one and that big Football special they ran for Sunday ticket in June of 08). I enjoy having two providers since they offer channels FIOS doesn't offer and $75 a month extra is a drop in the bucket to me (I am not rich but I am willing to put out money for entertainment, some people like clothes or a fancy car. I like entertainment). I enjoy the DirecTV DVRs and I record all my non-premium stuff like the networks on D*. The FIOS DVR sucks.

So here I am with 4 DVRs in the house on two TVs. Why can't I just get it all from one provider? I am willing to spend the money. I'd rather pay the combined amount of FIOS and D* to a single provider if I could get what I want in HD channels, a DVR with massive amounts of space. I have some bitterness towards each company for different reasons.

Why can't these companies just offer what people want??? I am in business for myself and I know what it is to seek a profit but I also know what it is to offer something people want. I don't offer the minimum to build a customer base. I try to actually keep the customers happy, make a profit, and exceed my competition, by a lot, not just by a little.

FIOS has the capability of offering near unlimited amounts of channels, yet they seem to be making no attempt at adding channels people want (Viacom, Rainbow, Comcast) and their DVR is horrible. DirecTV has broken many promises to the public. Where are the 11 additional HBO/MAX channels they promised in June of 2007 for a December of 2007 launch? We haven't forgotten and that is one of the reasons I initially went with D*. I was expecting more HBO/MAX channels than anybody else had in HD at the time.

Being in business for myself, I deal with a lot of middle and upper class residential households and I can tell you that I know of a lot of people that have two or more providers to get what they want. It is very common to have the local cable company and then have DirecTV for sports or Dish for other channels. A company like FIOS has the capacity to pretty much add every channel that is available to them if they would just write up the deals. I'd be more than willing to pay one provider $200 or more if I could consolidate and get what I want. I may not be in the majority but I am certainly not alone.

In 2009, we have a ton of choices for TV. At the very least you can choose from DirecTV or Dish in the lower 48 and in most cases you can select cable from one or more providers. In my neighborhood there are 5 providers (Dish, Direct, FIOS, Knology, and BHN). But none of them offers all that I want.

DirecTV... I was going to keep you beyond the contract as a second provider but you need to start adding stuff. It is totally obvious FIOS is not going to offer all the channels and rent us a better DVR anytime soon. But what are you doing DirecTV??? Great, you are making money. Good for you. So now are you going to start adding channels again?

I see almost monthly Dish Network announcements on Satelliteguys.us of new channels but hardly anything about DirecTV. What was the last thing we got, Comedy Central? Keep it coming or I am leaving.

I don't give a hoot that people are defecting from cable and Dish to go with D*. I don't know why everybody is high fiving about this. It is more of a slap in the face to us customers. Unless you are a shareholder, there is really nothing to get excited about. Excitement is them adding 10 new HD channels.. Excitement is new DVR features we can use. I don't know about the rest of you, but I am not happy just hearing about their earnings and subscribers. I am happy to hear about something I can use. More channels!

 

[pro96]

I referred 5 family members to sub this month, $500.00 coming my way.
And I have like 20 more people to get them into DTV soon

 

[Aridon]

Bunch of ...

Why? You answered your own questions. They don't have to add anything because you me and everyone else is still moving to them in droves with what they have now.

You might not care if people defect to them but DirecTV certainly does. Whatever they are offering and doing is working so don't expect it to change much until it stops.

There is no incentive in adding stations that cost them $$ per sub when they are raking in subs hand over fist and they are really only missing a handful of stations. When the additions slow down and they need to take further steps you can expect some change. Until then be happy if they throw us a bone and add a station or two this year.

 

[jacmyoung]

Equally significant numbers: net profit down 46%, earning per share down 38%. Mostly the result of the new sub acquisition cost and retention cost I think.

 

[skottey]

they are really only missing a handful of stations

This statement couldn't be further from the truth actually. But I guess if they have just about everything you want then you could say that. I mean, if you as a viewer only watch Spike TV, CNN, and your RSN(s), then you are covered in HD. But what if you are a movie fan? There are 22+ HBO/MAX stations they don't carry. What about HD nationals like AMC, G4, E!, Style, etc. The list goes on. I'm sure I don't need to copy and paste a link for you to the comparison chart that we have all seen pasted around here.

 

[marcschibig]

really --oh brother be thankful

 

[DishSubLA]

This is really the result of Direct TV's superior advertising campaign and its much deeper pockets, compared to Dish, that allow Direct TV to have better media buys. Dish was hurt a lot by the AMC 14 failure, but they also suffer from not having the money to really compete with Direct TV's ubiquitous advertising. Dish just doesn't have the $$ to get the word out about what the ViP boxes can do, etc. Verizon FiOS has a great ad out now with the man showing the viewer how the FiOS service looks like on the TV, promoting the widgets feature. Direct TV has and ad (funny) with the perennial kiss a## executive showing the neat features on Direct TV's advanced boxes. Yet, nothing from Dish except still focusing on price, yet the ViP is the best DVR out there today. Keep in mind that the media buys for Direct and Verizon are far superior (really hitting the target audience), while Dish still places their ads in the cheapish slots.

The ad campaigns above require a lot of $$$ for several versions air over several months in a kind of story arc. This is way outside the resources of Dish. Charlie has always known that his small resources were his biggest weaknesses in competition. What he feared years ago is happening. He knew then he only had a few more years left of being "independent." At some point, very soon, and not necessarily because Dish is doing poorly--it could be doing well when it happens--Dish will have to bring in a major investor or buy a big company or sell in order to compete. Dish has always been the scrappy, little company that somehow kept up with the much deeper pocket competition. I think those days are gone. This is a different point in the growth of satellite. Now, with the new competition in the mix, it really is all about the advertising, marketing and deeper pockets to endure the setbacks. However, let us not forget that while subs were down at Dish, profit was UP, where at Direct TV profits are troublesomely DOWN. We shall see what happens in the not too distant future.

 

[skottey]

This is really the result of Direct TV's superior advertising campaign and its much deeper pockets, compared to Dish, that allow Direct TV to have better media buys. Dish was hurt a lot by the AMC 14 failure, but they also suffer from not having the money to really compete with Direct TV's ubiquitous advertising. Dish just doesn't have the $$ to get the word out about what the ViP boxes can do, etc. Verizon FiOS has a great ad out now with the man showing the viewer how the FiOS service looks like on the TV, promoting the widgets feature. Direct TV has and ad (funny) with the perennial kiss a## executive showing the neat features on Direct TV's advanced boxes. Yet, nothing from Dish except still focusing on price, yet the ViP is the best DVR out there today. Keep in mind that the media buys for Direct and Verizon are far superior (really hitting the target audience), while Dish still places their ads in the cheapish slots.

The ad campaigns above require a lot of $$$ for several versions air over several months in a kind of story arc. This is way outside the resources of Dish. Charlie has always known that his small resources were his biggest weaknesses in competition. What he feared years ago is happening. He knew then he only had a few more years left of being "independent." At some point, very soon, and not necessarily because Dish is doing poorly--it could be doing well when it happens--Dish will have to bring in a major investor or buy a big company or sell in order to compete. Dish has always been the scrappy, little company that somehow kept up with the much deeper pocket competition. I think those days are gone. This is a different point in the growth of satellite. Now, with the new competition in the mix, it really is all about the advertising, marketing and deeper pockets to endure the setbacks. However, let us not forget that while subs were down at Dish, profit was UP, where at Direct TV profits are troublesomely DOWN. We shall see what happens in the not too distant future.

I don't know if I agree with you here on DirecTV doing such a great job of advertising. If I was a non sat and cable industry follower and just an average guy working and paying bills and I was just looking for value or a value/service balance I would say the Dish ads saturating the market would be pretty effective. If in fact it is true that Dish Network is cheaper than DirecTV (it wasn't when I got it and a bunch of add ons in 2007) and offers mostly the same programming, then that ad is pretty convincing. They say, "why pay more for the same channels on DirecTV?" "Is the programming any better if you pay more for it with DirecTV?" To a non-industry savvy person just looking to save a dollar in this economy, that is good advertising.

When I subscribed to DirecTV it was not because of the advertising. In fact, I think DirecTV's advertising is pretty crummy. Not that I like Dish's any more, but it seems more effective. They both lie. Neither one of them has the most HD channels.

 

[DodgerKing]

Equally significant numbers: net profit down 46%, earning per share down 38%. Mostly the result of the new sub acquisition cost and retention cost I think.

Which probably explains the lack of new channels???