Dish LIVE Retailer Chat Recap - December 20, 2006

[yaz96]

If the shoe fits, ...

you should put it in your mouth......

or Dish is trying to fit it in our backsides...

 

[Hall]

Do you know how many dish network customers have cancelled their paying service to pirate it, and when the pirate service goes down for extended times, they pay to subscribe again?

As already said, I can't believe that happens very often....

 

[Dish-Direc]

So You Know

Let's see- paying customers moving to be pirates, then moving back? Gee, I just don't see that happening often.

Ask the retailers/installers that deal with chargebacks and have to repossess four receivers, and leave the dish, and when they go back the custoimer has 4 FTA boxes connected.

 

[minnow]

If the major players(TWC, Comcast, Direct, Dish and maybe others I didn't mention) could agree collectively that their not taking it in the shorts any longer from the programmers, then you'd see these BS prices drop like a rock. The programmers could no longer make the case that if you lose ESPN on Dish, you can get it on cable because ESPN wouldn't be their either. But I doubt that the signal providers have the guts to stick together on this issue so that leaves the consumers to finally stand up and say enough is enough.

 

[Greg Bimson]

That is because if Time-Warner, Comcast, Brighthouse, DirecTV and Dish Network sat together in a room and made an agreement to take a stand against ESPN, then those companies will be found guilty with respect to anti-trust laws, specifically collusion to control the marketplace.

 

[Juan]

If the major players(TWC, Comcast, Direct, Dish and maybe others I didn't mention) could agree collectively that their not taking it in the shorts any longer from the programmers, then you'd see these BS prices drop like a rock. The programmers could no longer make the case that if you lose ESPN on Dish, you can get it on cable because ESPN wouldn't be their either. But I doubt that the signal providers have the guts to stick together on this issue so that leaves the consumers to finally stand up and say enough is enough.

A lot of these same cable companies OWN the cable channels responsible for the increases (TNT,TBS,HBO,VS,etc) I really see no desire on the cable co"s part to keep prices down

 

[Allin4greeN]

...The top package is still a good deal, just not as good as before...

The top package is the only deal, after accounting for all the various fees associated with HD and DVR equipment and the channels that I want to watch. I'd be paying more to drop down a tier. Brilliant business tactics on the part of E*but, annoying as hell to this consumer.

I guess that's what Dish takes us for......SUCKERS!

And I don't think it makes me a sucker to keep AEP. I'd suggest it means that E* does good market research and designs their packages and fee structure with demographics in mind, corralling subs toward their sweet spot. I simply fit within a demographic they were looking to capture. Lucky me

I want to know what's coming out of my wallet in real money every month. To do this, gotta put taxes into the mix because they really add to the bottom line. My real increase is greater than $10 and greater than 10%!!! That's not the generally accepted 3-4% COL kind of inflation, that's just plain old gouge me and bolt without saying goodbye in the morning kind of inflation ...IMHO

 

[AT&TDishman]

Who is James Defranco? He owns 4,358,527 shares of Dish @$37/share and just sold a boatload too. I would like to become his best friend. I wonder if he gets AEP+locals+HD for free?

INSIDER HOLDERS*

Individual/Entity Most Recent Trans. Shares Owned as of Trans. Date
DAINES O NOLAN
Officer Option Exercise
9-Nov-06 15
9-Nov-06
DEFRANCO JAMES
Officer Automatic Sale
18-Dec-06 4,358,527
18-Dec-06
DUGAN MICHAEL T
Director Option Exercise
14-Dec-06 3,354
14-Dec-06
ERGEN CHARLES W
Officer Acquisition (Non Open Market)
7-Mar-06 214,262
7-Mar-06
GOODBARN STEVEN R
Director Purchase
23-Nov-05 5,000
23-Nov-05
HOWARD GARY S
Director Ownership Statement
8-Nov-05 100

8-Nov-05
JACKSON MARK W
Officer Option Exercise
10-Nov-06 415
10-Nov-06
KELLY MICHAEL
Officer Acquisition (Non Open Market)
7-Mar-06 156,185
7-Mar-06
KISER KYLE J
Officer Acquisition (Non Open Market)
7-Mar-06 39,791
7-Mar-06
MARTIN JODY F
Officer Option Exercise
27-Nov-06 5
27-Nov-06
MOSKOWITZ DAVID K
Officer Automatic Sale
5-Dec-06 326,729
5-Dec-06
ORBAN PAUL W
Officer Sale
10-Nov-06 2,656
10-Nov-06
ORTOLF TOM A
Director Acquisition (Non Open Market)
10-Nov-06 200

10-Nov-06
RAYNER DAVID
Officer Acquisition (Non Open Market)
7-Mar-06 5
7-Mar-06
SCHAVER STEVEN B
Officer Acquisition (Non Open Market)
7-Mar-06 410
7-Mar-06
SCHWIMMER MICHAEL S
Officer Sale
12-Aug-05 190
12-Aug-05
STRICKLAND ROBERT A
Other Option Exercise
12-Dec-06 5
12-Dec-06
VOGEL CARL E
Officer Option Exercise
30-Jun-06 20,165
30-Jun-06

 

[Tom Bombadil]

The top package is the only deal, after accounting for all the various fees associated with HD and DVR equipment and the channels that I want to watch. I'd be paying more to drop down a tier. Brilliant business tactics on the part of E* ...

The truth of the matter is that the lower tier deals have terrible prices for the multi-DVR owner because of E*'s onerous pricing policies. It isn't that the top deal is great, it is that the other "deals" are lousy.

For someone with HD DVRs, the alternative deals can be staggeringly bad.

Let's say someone has 3 HD DVRs. And they pretty much exclusively watch HD. To get Dish's 25+ HD channels at anything less than the "Platinum" deal requires one to buy AT250 plus the HD pack plus HBO, Showtime, and Starz, then on top of all of that, 3 DVR fees and lease fees.

All of this just to watch 25-30 HD channels and be able to record them for 3 different TVs in the same household.

This pricing policy drives people to the "Platinum" level and enables Dish to hit them with a 10% increase.

If Dish did not have such an onerous DVR fee schedule, instead chosing to charge a single DVR fee per household, then that would give their subs more options. But it is not E*'s intent to give those options.

Meanwhile the low end customers who have one non-DVR receiver are getting no price increase. It looks to me like Dish is choosing to hold this price down in order to market it while they increasingly slide their profit-making crosshairs onto their higher-end customers. They need to remember that their "higher-end" customers are not all owners of fancy houses and BMWs.

 

[MikeD-C05]

Presently I pay 104.99 for Plat pack with locals. In February I will be paying $94.99 for AEP w locals + hd pack $20.00= 114.99. NO more plat pack is goes bye -bye with the renaming pricing scheme. I was receiving a $5.00 discount with hd because it was AEP w locals for 89.99 + 15.00 for hd pack = $104.99. NO MORE $5.00 discount

So if you take 114.99 -104.99 = $10.00 increase Scott. This is ridiculous and if the intention this year was to get people to upgrade to Dish Hd by offering the $5.00 discount then what do you call next year? Screw us in the butt with a red hot poker or down grade and get all kinds of extra fees.

So you are boxed in with Dish hd and they are taking full advantage of us by this rip off $10.00 price increase. Why couldn't they keep the $5.00 discount on the AEP + hd like they did with the Plat pack? THe answer FULL GREED on Dish 's part. This will keep people from upgrading to HD once they find out how much more it is.

I wish I had never upgraded to HD now that I see that I am taking it up the butt with all these damn fees.

HD enabeling fees -$6.00 PER HD DVR RECEIVER- IF no hd pack. I have two 622 dvrs so that means it will cost me $12.00 NOT to sub to hd pack - so only $8.00 savings and I lose 27 - 30 hd channels.

DVR FEES - PER DVR RECEIVER- means $11.96 on top of the $12.00 hd enabeling fees to NOT sub to AEP + hd pack = $23.96 in additional fees to NOT SUB To Hd pack or AEP and go to a lower priced programming pack without hd.

So in the end I am facing over $23.96 to not sub to hd or I can downgrade to say the top 180 w locals + hd pack for =$ 52.99 + $20.00 =$72.99 . Then add in the dvr fees for $11.96 = $84.95 . Add in the additional receiver fee for$ 6.00 and you get $90.95 before tax . Then take the new price $114.99+ $6.00 additional receiver fee and you arive at $120.99 before tax. $120.99-$90.95 = $30.04. A $30.00 savings right?


WRong! I lose all the premium channels in both sd and hd and have to sub to Blockbuster or Netflix to supplement my movie watching. That goes back up to about $20.00 to go with a reasonable plan with tax and now I am only $10.00 a month savings . Oh well I guess I have my answer. I will give my money to Blockbuster or Netflix and save myself the extra $7.00 I would be paying to Dish to maintain AEP with locals + hd pack. I will still get hit by the $3.00 increase but I will save the extra $7.00 a month x 12 months = $84.00 a year.

Great going Dish ! It looks like I will be giving all my extra money to another company to escape your outrageous $10.00 price hike in one year. Oh and you can forget about me buying anymore pay per views.

 

[Greg Bimson]

Didn't this site run some kind of "stop the HD tax NOW?".

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

That had to do with football on DirecTV.

 

[SmityWhity]

They need to remember that their "higher-end" customers are not all owners of fancy houses and BMWs.

That's right, we gave it up to watch Dish Network, but can easily downsize/cancel Dish and buy a new car and house.

 

[NpaulTodd]

This is Crazy $ went up $3 this year , now gonna go up $5 in o7 , and dish wonders why piracy is out of control , we should not be paying more than $100 for Aep ( 4 receivers, Including tax ) So my bill will be $115 and I haven't even added HD YET ! Now my question is WHy the Increase for SD Packages? have we seen ANY NEw ch to warrant paying more every month, Hell NO! Charlie is Raping his Customers!

 

[kstuart]

Another factor that people need to consider is that E* subsidizes a large part of the cost of receivers - often something roughly like $500.

They cost far more to manufacture than most people would guess.

(Similar situation to PS3 - Sony is taking several hundred dollar loss on each sale of those.)

 

[minnow]

Another factor that people need to consider is that E* subsidizes a large part of the cost of receivers - often something roughly like $500.

They cost far more to manufacture than most people would guess.

(Similar situation to PS3 - Sony is taking several hundred dollar loss on each sale of those.)

Well how many new sub's could E* reasonably expect if they start charging MSRP for receivers. Sorry but that's the cost of doing business. I still argue that this kind of sharp monthly increase is just plain STUPID coming on the heels of shutting off of 900,000 DNS subs. Not good customer P.R.

 

[Dish-Direc]

I think this is where Congress and this site needs to get involved. If we can get excited when distant networks are lost, we can surely rise up against this abuse. This is beyond rape.....you call it abuse of power. I do not care what side of the fence this site falls on. This is a bad time to shove it to paying customers. Scott, I have to disagree with you. Dish needs to repent.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

If you dont like it you can always cancel, face it rate increases are a way of life, Dish has to pay more which means we have to pay more.

I may be seeing Joe Leiberman tommorow, if I mentioned it to him I think he would laugh, its free enterprise, and you are free to go if you dont like the way they do things.

 

[mike123abc]

I decided that the majority I watch/record is either in AT60 or OTA... I guess I will be looking for an OTA HD recording option, and give up one of my 622s.

It should be noted that $3 was in AT180 and $3 in premium channel increases in AEP.

 

[Dish-Direc]

Good One

If you dont like it you can always cancel. You are free to go if you dont like the way they do things.

And keep the dish....