DISH Network Reports First Quarter 2011 Financial Results

[satjay]

I think I understand. You would only pay for it separately if it were in HD full time. Whereas being part of a basic package, people will tolerate it being in HD part time. Being a la cart may force Dish to put it in HD full time in order to get more people to sign up with it

Yes, thats kind of what I was thinking

 

[Jhon69]

Swanni at Tv predictions is saying that since T-mobile and Att are merging there is nothing stopping DISH and DIRECTV from doing the same. Now granted Swanni predicts there will be a DISH /DIRECTV merger every single year, but what if he is right ? On the other hand , I am also reading in other posts that CHarlie is moving to offer ALL sports and regional sports networks ala carte for a price. No more including the sports networks in the basic programming packs so that he can keep costs low and still compete with cable . Now that would be very very cool if Charlie could pull that one off. I would love to save some money off my bill every month since I do NOT watch any sports channels.

Yep! me too!.

But the main problem with sports channels is they all want to be in the lowest package(like ESPN) so more would have to pay for it and they would make more money.

 

[Juan]

How many subs did DIRECTV add minus the latin American growth?

I meant D* mixes them in with Regular subs while E* reports the separately..will have to wait for the D* report

 

[Bob Haller]

I am stunned, sub growth.

Perhaps after 3 losing quarters someone at E decided to start being nice to subs? Rather than the let demanding subs leave approach.

Only a current E sub who is out of contract will know if E is being nicer, or E retention CSRs who may have given the tools back to make subs happy

 

[MikeD-C05]

Or maybe the commitments to Directv are ending and subs are now swinging back to DISH for new customer deals.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

It's because we have the DIRT team here at SatelliteGuys!

They saved many customers in the short time they have been here.

Sent from my iPad using The SatelliteGuys app!

 

[CK SatGuy]

Is this True?

In regards to sports programming, Charlie said this today at his earnings conference: "Only 15 percent of the people actually watch the sports programming… there is a strategy potentially out there for one video provider not to carry regional sports, and I think there might be some short-term pain, but they (would) probably do pretty well long-term." Dish CEO: Netflix Has an ‘Insurmountable’ Lead in Streaming: Online Video News « I think there are more than 15% of subs that watch sports programming. What do you guys think?

 

[satjay]

So are you thinking they may eliminate rsn's and espn or move them to a el la carte type package or like a sports tier like comcast has. I think you would still want to have it but in a sports tier? If you thinking about making a change like that

 

[CK SatGuy]

As I said in post #16:

He can probably make the RSNs a la carte for the smaller packages like the DISH America packs and AT 120 but I think the ESPN channels will still be standard. And here's a rumor for you. When the contract with ESPN comes up, Disney is going to ask for a 100% increase and if that doesn't work, then Disney will use the Disney channel as leverage. Inside Charlie's Brain - what's he planning? - DBSTalk.Com

 

[cosmo_kramer]

In regards to sports programming, Charlie said this today at his earnings conference: "Only 15 percent of the people actually watch the sports programming… there is a strategy potentially out there for one video provider not to carry regional sports, and I think there might be some short-term pain, but they (would) probably do pretty well long-term." Dish CEO: Netflix Has an ‘Insurmountable’ Lead in Streaming: Online Video News « I think there are more than 15% of subs that watch sports programming. What do you guys think?

Gee, I wonder who that provider may be??

I posted this in a Pub forum thread on 4/26. Maybe I wasn't too far off....

Makes perfect economic sense. One by one, Dish is dropping the expensive RSNs as soon as contracts are up, and adding cheap, national, niche HD in their place. Watch the HD channel count rise!

How else can they afford to lose subs, freeze prices, and still make a profit!! Genius!!!

 

[mike123abc]

In regards to sports programming, Charlie said this today at his earnings conference: "Only 15 percent of the people actually watch the sports programming… there is a strategy potentially out there for one video provider not to carry regional sports, and I think there might be some short-term pain, but they (would) probably do pretty well long-term." Dish CEO: Netflix Has an ‘Insurmountable’ Lead in Streaming: Online Video News « I think there are more than 15% of subs that watch sports programming. What do you guys think?

Dish knows exactly how many of its customers watch which channels. The receivers report back what you watch. It is quite possible that only 15% of Dish customers watch RSNs regularly. There is still a lot of other sports outlets (locals, espn, etc).

But, then again what % of customers watch any particular cable channel? Local TV (ABC/CBS/NBC/FOX) still has the most viewers over any cable network.

I bet most Dish customers would not select RSNs if they were a $5 or $10 add on package. Probably more than 70%.

 

[n0qcu]

In regards to sports programming, Charlie said this today at his earnings conference: "Only 15 percent of the people actually watch the sports programming… there is a strategy potentially out there for one video provider not to carry regional sports, and I think there might be some short-term pain, but they (would) probably do pretty well long-term." Dish CEO: Netflix Has an ‘Insurmountable’ Lead in Streaming: Online Video News « I think there are more than 15% of subs that watch sports programming. What do you guys think?

Since they can tell how many watch a channel, I think it's most likely true that only 15% waste their time watching sports.

 

[MikeD-C05]

So are you thinking they may eliminate rsn's and espn or move them to a el la carte type package or like a sports tier like comcast has. I think you would still want to have it but in a sports tier? If you thinking about making a change like that

This is what I posted earlier in another post that Charlie is indeed thinking. The point is that most people do not watch sports and that is what is pushing the price of normal programming packs to go up every year. If he did do ala carte sports pack , they would be able to remain the low cost provider and leader against Directv & cable. If you want sports you have to pay for it EXTRA, instead of everyone subsidizing the cost. If sports is what you really want then Directv would be your choice. I think Charlie is definitely on to something here and should pursue it whole heartedly. It would be similar to the Canadian sat companies where you can add sports pack to the family pack and to the variety pack, etc, to create your own programming. This would also lead to all hd rsns if you had to pay for them separately. This is probably why DISH hasn't done full time rsns in hd anyway ,other than bandwith limitations due to western arc mpeg2 instead of mpeg 4 like eastern arc.

 

[MikeD-C05]

Dish knows exactly how many of its customers watch which channels. The receivers report back what you watch. It is quite possible that only 15% of Dish customers watch RSNs regularly. There is still a lot of other sports outlets (locals, espn, etc).

But, then again what % of customers watch any particular cable channel? Local TV (ABC/CBS/NBC/FOX) still has the most viewers over any cable network.

I bet most Dish customers would not select RSNs if they were a $5 or $10 add on package. Probably more than 70%.

DEFINITELY. I would eliminate the rsn in a hear beat in order to save $5.00 - $10.00 a month. Then I could add plat pack instead .

 

[cosmo_kramer]

DEFINITELY. I would eliminate the rsn in a hear beat in order to save $5.00 - $10.00 a month. Then I could add plat pack instead .

And, if that did happen, I would do the reverse, drop Plat to add an HD RSN pack...

 

[Bob Haller]

Or maybe the commitments to Directv are ending and subs are now swinging back to DISH for new customer deals.

D has been growing nicely for a long time, of course it might be a accounting experiment.

like stacking the deck for end of month sales, all new subs show up on schedule, departing ones dont shw up till next quarter, after all they are still getting our special free view pack so thechically they are still with us

 

[navychop]

I recall reading an article which stated that, very roughly, one third of Americans follow sports regularly, one third casually, and one third not at all.

At work, I'd say over half follow sports. My wife and I, and my in-laws: NONE follow sports at all.

Curling, anyone?

 

[tigerfan33]

Dish knows exactly how many of its customers watch which channels. The receivers report back what you watch. It is quite possible that only 15% of Dish customers watch RSNs regularly. There is still a lot of other sports outlets (locals, espn, etc).

But, then again what % of customers watch any particular cable channel? Local TV (ABC/CBS/NBC/FOX) still has the most viewers over any cable network.

I bet most Dish customers would not select RSNs if they were a $5 or $10 add on package. Probably more than 70%.

How can Dish follow a channel that doesn't exist? There are no full time hd rsn. Some game only are hit and miss in hd.
I know I watch my rsn hd a lot more since I get them full time in hd.
Would I switch back?
Deals are great with providers after two years. Dish will have to get whole home dvr (this has ruined me!) ESPNU hd and my full time hd rsn.

 

[mike11]

Fr

 

[navychop]

Fr

Brevity is the soul of wisdom.