DIRECTV Price Increase 3/1/06???

[Captain TV]

Originally Posted by syphix
These things come in three's, and March 1st seems to be D-Day..so what's the third??

1.) moving to leasing equipment,

2.) raising rates, and...

3.) ????

Comeon, D*...kick us in the balls just one more time...


Number 3 has already occurred. No more Tanya Memme. I'd be happy with the increase if she returned to Directv.

 

[syphix]

How did you determine TC+ has more channels than Top 180?? Being very favorable to Directv and not counting the Sirius, Aud, or Digital Aud for Dish, and not counting XM for Direct, I count from their websites approximtely 137 channels in Top 180, and 114 channels in TC+. I only counted two regional sports channels for each an did not count Turner sports for either. Included in that 137 are several movie channels for Dish.

Just going off what they advertised. DirecTV's TC+ states "over 185 channels", Dish Network's AT180 states "180 channels". If D* is fudging the numbers a bit, that wouldn't surprise me. But I didn't go and count the lineups...don't have enough time or will.

 

[Warren C]

Do you guys really expect D* and E* and cable to carry more and more channels, each with their own fees, and each with annual increases - and not have annual increases in their pricing?

CPanther95,

I wouldn't mind paying extra if we got more channels. At least E*is getting the Voom channels added. I don't give a rats a$$ about another home shopping channel. D* is so far behind in the HD arena, glad to see all that money that they are spending(our increases) is being put to good use.

Regarding cable, 10 years ago cable had 1 HBO, 1 Cinemax, 1 Showtime, etc. When I went to D* it was great, 8 HBO's etc. If you look at the cable channels they have a bigger selection of each of the premiums. D* has to decide to either $^%$ or get off the pot.

Give us something to justify a rate increase!!!!!!!

 

[farleyruskz]

Hmm, I'm wondering what this does to me. I signed up for Seleccion Mas when it was $29.99 for existing Opcion Extra subs. I'm still paying $29.99 for Seleccion Mas, how long do I get to keep this price? Are they ever going to bump me to the $39.99 price?

Same here, although I have Ultra. I'm assuming our rates will remain the same, since the Opcion packages aren't getting the rate increase, and our current Opcion rates are grandfathered in.

If so, switching to Para Todos to save money a year ago is really starting to pay off.

 

[lou_do]

Just a question after looking at the FAX. Is it D* policy to send out a fax without it being on Company stationary and without a letterhead?

 

[Tampa8]

Just going off what they advertised. DirecTV's TC+ states "over 185 channels", Dish Network's AT180 states "180 channels". If D* is fudging the numbers a bit, that wouldn't surprise me. But I didn't go and count the lineups...don't have enough time or will.

Fair enough, but making a post sounding like fact when it is no where near true, in fact just the opposite probably is not productive. Neither company is fudging imo, if you count the music channels such as XM and Sirius. But my point is, TOP 180 has many more channels than TC+ whether counting the music channels or not. I have always felt TC+ is more comparable to TOP 120, and in that comparison I it seems to me TC+ is the better deal. TOP 180 does cost more than TC+, but you get many more channels and all the encore movie theme channels plus a couple other movie channels.

 

[cablewithaview]

O' hell, I will be downgrading.

 

[mikedz4]

if it wasn't for the fact that they offered nfl sunday ticket i'd drop direct tv. Plus I just sent in my $100 rebate for my r15 last month so I guess I'm locked in for 2 years now. Let's see total choice plus $50, sports pack $10 (or whatever it is), dvr $5, 3 recievers $12, nfl st 06(either $20 or $70),nfl st super fan free for 06. Yeah my bill is getting up there as well. Dunno if I'm going to keep everything or not. May have to drop some stuff.

 

[HCI]

crap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Stargazer]

If the Opcion package remains the same price then would that make it a better deal than AT60? Isn't the Opcion a better deal than the DirecTv Family Package anyways?

 

[CPanther95]

Do you guys really expect D* and E* and cable to carry more and more channels, each with their own fees, and each with annual increases - and not have annual increases in their pricing?
CPanther95,
I wouldn't mind paying extra if we got more channels. At least E*is getting the Voom channels added. I don't give a rats a$$ about another home shopping channel. D* is so far behind in the HD arena, glad to see all that money that they are spending(our increases) is being put to good use.
Regarding cable, 10 years ago cable had 1 HBO, 1 Cinemax, 1 Showtime, etc. When I went to D* it was great, 8 HBO's etc. If you look at the cable channels they have a bigger selection of each of the premiums. D* has to decide to either $^%$ or get off the pot.
Give us something to justify a rate increase!!!!!!!

I agree with you as far as channel selection, but shopping channels actually pay for carriage, so each additional channel brings D* revenue. The problem is the networks keep piling on all these extra/redundant channels and tack on additional fees. My only point is even if the channel lineup doesn't change, we should all expect annual price increases to offset the programming cost increases which occur annually.

Fox News should be jumping from $0.11 - $0.27 per sub to $1.00 - $1.15 per sub this year. Lifetime received lots of press because of the E* dispute, but these increases will occur with F/X, ESPN (7% / year), TBS, TNT, Disney, Discovery, Cartoon, SciFi, etc. etc.

HBO, SHO, etc. are on an a la carte model. The increase of channels in those packages are free additions to entice subscribers. HBO has 27% penetration because of the padded lineup, the others are forced to offer more in order to compete. The cable nets pad their lineup with additional channels, not to entice subscribership, but to increase the number of channels that we are forced to pay for. Subscribership is guaranted because of the bundling of these channels with "must have" channels. The end result is an ever growing cost of programming for our providers that will result in continual price increass to offset that cost.

 

[herdfan]

if it wasn't for the fact that they offered nfl sunday ticket i'd drop direct tv. Plus I just sent in my $100 rebate for my r15 last month so I guess I'm locked in for 2 years now.

You're not locked into squat. You have a receiver that you paid zero for. Send it back to them and you are released from your commitment.

 

[raymo721]

Can't wait for Verizon FIOS!!--Ray

 

[cablewithaview]

I agree with you as far as channel selection, but shopping channels actually pay for carriage, so each additional channel brings D* revenue. The problem is the networks keep piling on all these extra/redundant channels and tack on additional fees. My only point is even if the channel lineup doesn't change, we should all expect annual price increases to offset the programming cost increases which occur annually.
Fox News should be jumping from $0.11 - $0.27 per sub to $1.00 - $1.15 per sub this year. Lifetime received lots of press because of the E* dispute, but these increases will occur with F/X, ESPN (7% / year), TBS, TNT, Disney, Discovery, Cartoon, SciFi, etc. etc.
HBO, SHO, etc. are on an a la carte model. The increase of channels in those packages are free additions to entice subscribers. HBO has 27% penetration because of the padded lineup, the others are forced to offer more in order to compete. The cable nets pad their lineup with additional channels, not to entice subscribership, but to increase the number of channels that we are forced to pay for. Subscribership is guaranted because of the bundling of these channels with "must have" channels. The end result is an ever growing cost of programming for our providers that will result in continual price increass to offset that cost.

some example as of right now:
Fox News is .28880 per sub.
FX is .40500 per sub
ESPN is $3.8479
TBS is .45 and .41 per sub depending on sub account
Disney is .91 (being neg.)
Discovery is .37710
Sci Fi is .2043 (analog), .27 digital w/ 70% pentration
Cartoon Network is .16800 (charter) and .18700 (non charter)
HBO is $8.72 + 28% of retail over $7.00

 

[Tom B]

Fox News should be jumping from $0.11 - $0.27 per sub to $1.00 - $1.15 per sub this year.

If I had the opportunity, I would gladly give up Fox News from my package!

 

[CPanther95]

some example as of right now:
Fox News is .28880 per sub.
FX is .40500 per sub
ESPN is $3.8479
TBS is .45 and .41 per sub depending on sub account
Disney is .91 (being neg.)
Dsicovery is .37710
Sci Fi is .2043 (analog), .27 digital w/ 70% pentration
Cartoon Network is .16800 (charter) and .18700 (non charter)
HBO is $8.72 + 28% of retail over $7.00

Great info.....

Cartoon and SciFi seem grossly underpriced (relatively speaking) - of course, that's my own biased tastes leading me to that conclusion.

HBO is interesting - the extra percentage helps offset sub losses from carriers trying to overprice the service.

 

[CPanther95]

If I had the opportunity, I would gladly give up Fox News from my package!

You'd probably get a number of people that agree with you (just like with any channel) - but that number would drop if it meant also losing F/X, FMC, Fox Reality (not so much) and your local Fox affiliate (if O&O).

 

[Roger]

I was hoping that DTV wouldn't raise prices until next year. I'm dissapointed because somebody posted here that they wouldn't raise prices this year because they already have done so for the year. It's still better than basic cable which will be 47.00 a month and the TC+ offers a lot more channels.

 

[cablewithaview]

Great info.....
Cartoon and SciFi seem grossly underpriced (relatively speaking) - of course, that's my own biased tastes leading me to that conclusion.
HBO is interesting - the extra percentage helps offset sub losses from carriers trying to overprice the service.

DON'T talk that out load!!! They may go up to $1 per sub.
What gets me about HBO, they don't charge you per sub under a free 3 month deal until you start getting paid for providing it. The others, well that's not the case.

 

[Stargazer]

If DirecTv would not have raised rates this year then next year's increase would have probably been even more making them look bad for raising rates as high as $3-5 at one time.