DISH Loses 135,00 Subs in Second Quarter

[riffjim4069]

Surprisingly, Verizon is having a hard time getting people to switch to Fios in my area. And Cox isn't much competition, IMHO. Inertia is a terrible thing.

That's because they've built-out many areas in Northern VA and they'll now need to focus their attention on other areas where they have Cable TV franchise agreements in place. For example, Spotsylvania (50-miles south of DC) County has had a Cable TV franchise agrement in place since October 2006 yet little outside of the initial service areas has been build-out. Verizon is obligated to provide service to 65% of county residence meeting the population density requirement by 2013 (Year Seven Threshold) but the fiber trunks have not been run nor have the Central Offices been upgraded; they are also obligated to provide service to 80% of county residence by 2016 (Year Ten Threshold).

Our home in Virginia has been 3-miles away from FiOS service for almost 5-years. I will assume that Verizon will continue to build-out in areas where they already have Cable TV franchise agreements in place (e.g., Spotsylvania, Stafford, Prince William, Fauquier counties in VA) so I look for them to continue to add around 200K customers each quarter for the next several years before they consider expanding into new areas. Although the roll-out of fiber-to-the-premise is much slower than many would like, it's an expensive venture and Verizon is making a prudent investment. FiOS TV will probably top-out at around 8 million customers in year 2016 given their existing fingerprint.

Verizon currently has just shy of 4 million FiOS TV customers so I can see almost 4 million customers leaving Cable (Comcast, Time-Warner, etc.) and Satellite in the future. I personally know that more than 50 of the 86 homes in our subdivision will sign-up for FiOS when they finally come to our neck-of-the-woods in Spotsy.

2011
2nd Quarter added 184,000 subscribers (total 3.848 million)
1st Quarter added 192,000 subscribers

2010
4th Quarter added 182K subscribers
3rd Quarter added 204K subscribers
2nd Quarter added 174K subscribers
1st Quarter added 168K subscribers

2009
4th Quarter added 153K subscribers
3rd Quarter added 191K subscribers
2nd Quarter added 300k subscribers
1st Quarter added 299k subscribers

2008
4th Quarter added 303K subscribers
3rd Quarter added 233K subscribers
2nd Quarter added 176K subscribers
1st Quarter added 263K subscribers

2007
1st Quarter added 141K subscribers
2nd Quarter added 167K subscribers
3rd Quarter added 202K subscribers
4th Quarter added 226K subscribers

 

[DodgerKing]

Don't forget your last paragraph, where you detailed how you feel what is "really hurting" Dish...

True...

That was just a general point about satellite vs local providers. IOW, why would many people choose satellite when they can get the same programming and often more with local providers, which includes bundling? What stands out to attract them to satellite over their local cable or fiber are packages that are not offered locally (i.e. sports).

Think about it.

What is the one thing, or more, that separates Direct from the others? Sports

What is the one thing, or more, that separates local cable or fiber from the others? Local programming and bundling

What is the one thing, or more, that separates Dish from the others? I can't really think of anything.

 

[Juan]

That's because they've built-out many areas in Northern VA and they'll now need to focus their attention on other areas where they have Cable TV franchise agreements in place. For example, Spotsylvania (50-miles south of DC) County has had a Cable TV franchise agrement in place since October 2006 yet little outside of the initial service areas has been build-out. Verizon is obligated to provide service to 65% of county residence meeting the population density requirement by 2013 (Year Seven Threshold) but the fiber trunks have not been run nor have the Central Offices been upgraded; they are also obligated to provide service to 80% of county residence by 2016 (Year Ten Threshold).

Our home in Virginia has been 3-miles away from FiOS service for almost 5-years. I will assume that Verizon will continue to build-out in areas where they already have Cable TV franchise agreements in place (e.g., Spotsylvania, Stafford, Prince William, Fauquier counties in VA) so I look for them to continue to add around 200K customers each quarter for the next several years before they consider expanding into new areas. Although the roll-out of fiber-to-the-premise is much slower than many would like, it's an expensive venture and Verizon is making a prudent investment. FiOS TV will probably top-out at around 8 million customers in year 2016 given their existing fingerprint.

Verizon currently has just shy of 4 million FiOS TV customers so I can see almost 4 million customers leaving Cable (Comcast, Time-Warner, etc.) and Satellite in the future. I personally know that more than 50 of the 86 homes in our subdivision will sign-up for FiOS when they finally come to our neck-of-the-woods in Spotsy.

[

Im thinkin fios sales will be minimal in the third quarter

 

[rapidturtle]

I bet 134,999 of them are from the NY area. Pulling SNY, and leaving us with no RSN's was the last straw for a lot of people. I really wish Dish was just a little more sports friendly. I could understand not offering one of the RSN's, but not having any, in one of the largest markets is just alienating a lot of your customers.

 

[isaacmorseMI]

Im thinkin fios sales will be minimal in the third quarter

Why? It's a great service.

 

[navychop]

Good info, riffjim4069, and thank you. But in my neighborhood, for some reason people "just don't bother." I only know of three of us with it. MONTHS after I signed up, a rep I spoke with said I was still the only one sub'd. From him and others, I've learned the uptake isn't what they expected. Far fewer people were taking it that had it available to them than expected. Can't remember the figures, but I think it was below 30%, or maybe that they needed at least 30% and weren't getting it. Or maybe I'm all wet with 30%.

Maybe things have picked up lately, but I think it's bad economic times for that.

 

[goaliebob99]

View attachment Directv vs dish.xls Here is the latest directv versus dish historical trending subcount. Note: this is a generalization as per press releases and may not reflect actual numbers.

 

[satjay]

I read a article as well today saying that Dish was going for the higher end sub. It will be interesting to see if there marketing approach will change as right now the marketing theme seems to be around the package prices.

I am a bit surprised they have not done marketing for redzone that I read here they were going to price sportspack at 99 cents during this football time of the year

Sent from my iPhone using SatelliteGuys!!

 

[CK SatGuy]

I did see a dish commercial today advertising Redzone for the regular $7/month price. No mention of it being 99 cents.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I am a bit surprised they have not done marketing for redzone that I read here they were going to price sportspack at 99 cents during this football time of the year.

A huge advertising campaign starts on August 11th...

 

[isaacmorseMI]

Is the 99 cents Multi Sports deal for existing subs also?

 

[R0ss]

I changed my 622s to 211ks after the credits ran out to save $$, and use a 922 for my main recording unit. I will wait for the XiPs come out to see if I need to change again. But I agree every TV in the house needs and HD DVR I am running 6 TVs now too.[/QUOTE

I realize it is prefernce for your family but out of curiosity why doesevery tv need a dvr. An HD receiver sure but a dvr also..seems like a lot of recording going on. How do u watch it all. Of course I have no idea how many tv watchers in your home either. I barley have time to watch what I record now I can't imagine having a dvr on our second tv...and itsjust my wife and I...

Ross

Sent from my DROIDX using SatelliteGuys

 

[TheKrell]

Skipping the commercials is priceless.

 

[3HaloODST]

Per the following article:

The satellite-television provider is attempting to attract more affluent customers who are willing to spend more each month on video and less likely cancel their service, a reversal of its prior strategy to sign up lower-end customers, who were hit during the economic downturn.

Dish Network Raises Quarterly Profit, But Loses Customers - FoxBusiness.com

Yet every 5 minutes I see DISH commercials (when not watching DVR'd content) stating DISH has so many more cheap packages "under $60 a month" compared to DirecTV. Yeah, if you don't have a DVR or two. Seems to me that their pricing scheme is doing the exact opposite of what this article claims. Trying to appeal to those "lower-end" customers that don't need a DVR. I would think that the more "affluent" customers would want at least 1 or 2 DVRs, but even those with the money aren't willing to spend so much on receiver fees alone.

 

[R0ss]

That's because they've built-out many areas in Northern VA and they'll now need to focus their attention on other areas where they have Cable TV franchise agreements in place. For example, Spotsylvania (50-miles south of DC) County has had a Cable TV franchise agrement in place since October 2006 yet little outside of the initial service areas has been build-out. Verizon is obligated to provide service to 65% of county residence meeting the population density requirement by 2013 (Year Seven Threshold) but the fiber trunks have not been run nor have the Central Offices been upgraded; they are also obligated to provide service to 80% of county residence by 2016 (Year Ten Threshold).

Our home in Virginia has been 3-miles away from FiOS service for almost 5-years. I will assume that Verizon will continue to build-out in areas where they already have Cable TV franchise agreements in place (e.g., Spotsylvania, Stafford, Prince William, Fauquier counties in VA) so I look for them to continue to add around 200K customers each quarter for the next several years before they consider expanding into new areas. Although the roll-out of fiber-to-the-premise is much slower than many would like, it's an expensive venture and Verizon is making a prudent investment. FiOS TV will probably top-out at around 8 million customers in year 2016 given their existing fingerprint.

Verizon currently has just shy of 4 million FiOS TV customers so I can see almost 4 million customers leaving Cable (Comcast, Time-Warner, etc.) and Satellite in the future. I personally know that more than 50 of the 86 homes in our subdivision will sign-up for FiOS when they finally come to our neck-of-the-woods in Spotsy.

2011
2nd Quarter added 184,000 subscribers (total 3.848 million)
1st Quarter added 192,000 subscribers

2010
4th Quarter added 182K subscribers
3rd Quarter added 204K subscribers
2nd Quarter added 174K subscribers
1st Quarter added 168K subscribers

2009
4th Quarter added 153K subscribers
3rd Quarter added 191K subscribers
2nd Quarter added 300k subscribers
1st Quarter added 299k subscribers

2008
4th Quarter added 303K subscribers
3rd Quarter added 233K subscribers
2nd Quarter added 176K subscribers
1st Quarter added 263K subscribers

2007
1st Quarter added 141K subscribers
2nd Quarter added 167K subscribers
3rd Quarter added 202K subscribers
4th Quarter added 226K subscribers

Very interesting. Verizon stopped installing fiber in massachusetts a year or so ago. Only some communitieshave the FIOS option. I realize it is an expensive undertaking but it is odd to just stop. Of course there is CO 100 ft from my house andwe didn't get DSL for at least a year after Verizon started selling it here.
Don't know if I would consider FIOS, have no idea the cost, but it would've goodto have another option besides Comcast if I want to switch to cable...

Ross

Sent from my DROIDX using SatelliteGuys

 

[ScottChez]

Why I think Dish is not gaining customers like DirecTV is listed below. I think they can fix this by this fall just by adding a couple of things.
Hope the folks a DIsh read these forums . . . for customer feedback

My DirecTV contract was up, really thought about switching back to Dish, really miss there super fast and nice to read guide.

Why I DID not?

1. DirecTV has the Sports and News Mix Channels. Dish does not. Its easy to find things.

2. DirecTV has a HD Multi Room DVR, Dish does not (note I said HD, dish only has a SD multi room through TV2 out). I have 3 HD DVRS all connected talk about a Big library.

3. DirecTV keeps giving me FREE movie packs every time I call to cancel say HBO, they offer me 3 free months of something else like starz so I just keep switching Or I get Free Showtime if I pay for HBO, every 3 months I seem to get something free.
I also get free HD for 2 years, guess I am saying DirecTV is better at customer service or keeping customers than Dish was

4. DirecTV has 6,000 shows on demand over there internet, its like a low priced Netfix, with older shows.

5. DireCTV has ALL locals in HD including the CW and BOTH of my PBS stations in HD, and I am in a mid size DMA around 100 on the list.

Again Dish could fix all of these missing things real easy. I hear they have a new HD Multiroom DVR and with Block Busters they will be able to get more movies to people.

Now they just need a least a New Mix channel that shows 8 boxes at once and offer more free promos for movies and they will be all set.

PS The Super Stations in HD would be plus for dish, how about a HBO or Kids Mix channel?

 

[meStevo]

View attachment 68635 Here is the latest directv versus dish historical trending subcount. Note: this is a generalization as per press releases and may not reflect actual numbers.

Should just put this in a google doc - http://docs.google.com

 

[riffjim4069]

Very interesting. Verizon stopped installing fiber in massachusetts a year or so ago. Only some communitieshave the FIOS option. I realize it is an expensive undertaking but it is odd to just stop. Of course there is CO 100 ft from my house andwe didn't get DSL for at least a year after Verizon started selling it here.
Don't know if I would consider FIOS, have no idea the cost, but it would've goodto have another option besides Comcast if I want to switch to cable...

Ross

Sent from my DROIDX using SatelliteGuys

FiOS was initially a lot less expensive than Comcast, but Comcast will typically counter (better bundled savings and improved services) once Verizon competes in one of their areas. Plus, Comcast (DirecTV and Dish too) CANNOT touch the quality picture quality of FiOS TV and reliability of their services.

 

[goaliebob99]

Should just put this in a google doc - http://docs.google.com

Thanks i will do in the next few days!

 

[MikeD-C05]

I've said it before and I will say it again. DROP THE DAMN PRICE on your additional receiver fees !!! That alone is driving people away in droves. Your competition (Directv) doesn't charge a confusing list of fees for all the extra receivers that they have. There was a time that you could escape the Extra dvr fees , now rolled into the OVER PRICED Additional receiver fees.

At one time in the recent past, you could sub to AEP and save on all the extra dvr fees and it was a great bargain. There is NO reason to sub to it now. The price is way to high for it and if you have more than one dual tuner dvr, $17.00 per extra dvr . How about FREE Plat channels for anyone who subs to AEP and LOWER your additional receiver fees? You might actually attract some people with a deal like that. More people who sub to AEP the higher the average revenue per sub would be.

There was a time early in the last decade , when you could dvr without a FEE of any kind! How about throwing in the dvr fees for FREE is you sub to AEP and FREE Plat channels? IF DISH offered a promo like that and reduced the made up, just because we can charge it, additional receiver fees to the same fee that DIRECTV charges, they might actually become a company that would be attractive once again to subs and new subs and the average revenue per sub would soar!

It is obvious the reason why they keep making more profits while they are still losing subs. The Extra FEES they charge are more than making up for the churn. I know I pay $20.00 a month JUST in dvr and additional receiver fees and I have a 722k and two 211ks +dvr software that I paid an additional $40.00 to enable. Change what you are doing CHARLIE! OR keep doing what you have been doing and see which results you get. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing the same way and expecting a different outcome.