DirecTV sees 18 million subscribers by year end '08

[lee78221]

NEW YORK, Feb 22 (Reuters) - DirecTV Group Inc. (DTV.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the largest U.S. satellite television service, on Wednesday said it expects to have 18 million subscribers by the end of 2008.

Earlier this month, the company said it would add 1 million subscribers in 2006, which would bring its total to 16.1 million. This would imply a continuing rate of nearly 1 million subscribers additions a year through 2008
http://today.reuters.com/business/newsArticle.aspx?type=media&storyID=nN22362822

 

[Stargazer]

So it looks like between Dish and DirecTv we will have around 34 million subscribers by the end of 2008 and probably around 38 million by the end of 2010. If they get this WiMax thing going and have a great competitive bundling deal then it could be 40-45 million subscribers easily.

They knew that the first step in competing against cable was to get the locals and now they are doing that with locals in HD. Their next step will be to get the high speed internet and the bundling. This will allow them to do VOD and will be very important to stay competitive. Even if television comes the way of IPTV they could still offer the broadband service that gets IPTV wirelessly instead of with a wire. This could get satellite a huge advantage in that they could offer it on the go instead of requiring a wire in your home.

Cable would probably figure out a way to do their own wireless though by having transmitters on the poles every so far using their cabling. Dish and DirecTv is working on a solution for those farther out though.

 

[Andyman33]

DISH/DTV first need to learn that people won't put up 299 for an HDDVR box and will stick with cable until that price becomes FREE!!

 

[Stargazer]

Subscribers would rather pay a $5-10 monthly fee even if it costs them more in the longrun than pay the huge amount upfront. The reason being is that their cable hardware is covered if it fails even after a manufacturer's warranty without an extra fee per month.

 

[Roger]

Subscribers would rather pay a $5-10 monthly fee even if it costs them more in the longrun than pay the huge amount upfront. The reason being is that their cable hardware is covered if it fails even after a manufacturer's warranty without an extra fee per month.

Not me. I won't spend a dime on equipment for a lease. If I wanted no upfront cost and higher rental fees then I'd go with cable. I prefer to have higher upfront cost for equipment to own rather than a nagging higher fee every month. And if a box breaks and they won't replace it then I don't need their service anymore.

 

[NVBlue]

18million * $416 ($50 per avg. subscriber (est.) *12)=$7.488 trillion in annual revenues. Not to shabby!

 

[dragon002]

18million * $416 ($50 per avg. subscriber (est.) *12)=$7.488 trillion in annual revenues. Not to shabby!

blue,

18mil subs X $50 per sub (that is low) X 12 mo(year) is $10.8 billion.

dude i dont think the us budget is 7.5 billion.

 

[lee78221]

18million * $416 ($50 per avg. subscriber (est.) *12)=$7.488 trillion in annual revenues. Not to shabby!

my math shows ten billion eight hundred million

18million x $50 a month x 12 months=ten billion eight hundred million


No way in hell DIRECTV is moving $7.488 trillion a year

 

[GeorgeLV]

Not me. I won't spend a dime on equipment for a lease. If I wanted no upfront cost and higher rental fees then I'd go with cable. I prefer to have higher upfront cost for equipment to own rather than a nagging higher fee every month. And if a box breaks and they won't replace it then I don't need their service anymore.

But you can't own any equipment from either provider now. You're paying $299 for the ability to LEASE a hd-dvr.

 

[dragon002]

George,

i own a r-10, a r-15 and a couple of Hughes gaebos. are they going to start to charge me a lease? no. are they going to come and get them ? no. so how cant you own eq from either provider?

hell i have some mis-informed friends who have dish, they own their eq and aren't paying lease fees/rentals.

 

[GeorgeLV]

dragon002, you could own you equipment then, but you can't now. To be more pedantic you can still own equipment, but you won't get any subsidies and will be paying upwards of $700 for an hd-dvr.

 

[dragon002]

dragon002, you could own you equipment then, but you can't now. To be more pedantic you can still own equipment, but you won't get any subsidies and will be paying upwards of $700 for an hd-dvr.

yes i can and i do. only the new subs and upgrades and replaced eq is affected.

hd dvr is listed as 450 less 175 buy down in dsi catalog.. i bet the hd-dvr is down to 199 after rebate by late summer. ill go one further, i bet its 99 after rebate for next christmas season.

if you own now, you will continue to own.