DISH Reaches Long Term Agreement with DISNEY / ESPN / ABC

[Scherrman]

I've said it for years that they should do like the Canadian Satellite systems do with theme packs you add to a basic locals + public service channels and shopping, religious channel pack( yes some people take shopping religiously) . Your locals plus sports pack, movie pack, news pack, children's pack,womens pack etc. It would make many people happy and everyone would feel less like they are subsidizing a channel they don't want to. They could even hide some of the cost of other channels in the basic locals pack if they wanted to and it would feel psychologically like we are not paying for something we don't watch. I can see DISH charging like $19.99 (same as welcome pack)for basic locals pack and you add your theme packs in till you get what you want. But that would take ending Forced bundling at a congressional level or legislation to that affect, or there would be contract disputes like crazy and you might end up with no channels at all due to black outs.

Dish does this with commercial packages for businesses and it's not good at all. It may be a good deal if all you want are a few channels and they happen to be in the same group but that's not likely to happen. Once you find the channels you want spread out into different small packages you find yourself in the same position, paying a lot for channels you don't want.

Maybe all you want is ESPN but you have to pay $25 to get the entire sports pack. Then you only want CNN but have to pay $10 for MSNBC, Fox News and some other news channels you don't want. You may only want 10 channels but they're spread out between 5 different packages and now you're spending $70 and have the same problem you do now.

?I may be wrong but I can't imagine it changing to make TV viewing in our advantage.

 

[Yespage]

Dish does this with commercial packages for businesses and it's not good at all. It may be a good deal if all you want are a few channels and they happen to be in the same group but that's not likely to happen. Once you find the channels you want spread out into different small packages you find yourself in the same position, paying a lot for channels you don't want.

Looking at a Canadian provider, it looked like I could get exactly what I wanted, for less money thanks to how they bundle their quasi a la carte system. I'd get fewer channels overall, but I'd be quite happy.

But a la carte (or really any sort of consumer choice) in the US is communism and we can't have communism in the US.

 

[TheKrell]

Dish does this with commercial packages for businesses and it's not good at all. It may be a good deal if all you want are a few channels and they happen to be in the same group but that's not likely to happen. Once you find the channels you want spread out into different small packages you find yourself in the same position, paying a lot for channels you don't want.

I took a look at the Dish commercial packs and that's exactly what happened; channels were bunded in a perverse fashion, the same as the current AT-etc packs. You pay a lot for a very few channels in the top packs, and I think Dish does this on purpose. Note that this is NOT how the Canadians do it, and it's not what Mike is proposing. Mike proposed themed packs, e.g. news, kids, educational, sports, etc. I'd be happy with themed quasi a la carte. But I'd be even more happy with true a la carte on everything, and let the chips fall where they may.

 

[Scherrman]

I took a look at the Dish commercial packs and that's exactly what happened; channels were bunded in a perverse fashion, the same as the current AT-etc packs. You pay a lot for a very few channels in the top packs, and I think Dish does this on purpose. Note that this is NOT how the Canadians do it, and it's not what Mike is proposing. Mike proposed themed packs, e.g. news, kids, educational, sports, etc. I'd be happy with themed quasi a la carte. But I'd be even more happy with true a la carte on everything, and let the chips fall where they may.

I'm not so sure this is completely Dish's doing. I think it has a lot to do with how the networks want their channels packaged.

I'll have to take a look at the Canadian packages. I've heard a lot about them and most seems to be pretty positive.

 

[Yespage]

I'm not so sure this is completely Dish's doing. I think it has a lot to do with how the networks want their channels packaged.

I'll have to take a look at the Canadian packages. I've heard a lot about them and most seems to be pretty positive.

I would recommend against looking. It'll depress you seeing what consumer choice is actually like.

An energy surplus, health care, a la carte sat programming, national broadcast curling, winter 13 months a year, competent hockey announcers. *sobs*

 

[Scherrman]

I would recommend against looking. It'll depress you seeing what consumer choice is actually like.

An energy surplus, health care, a la carte sat programming, national broadcast curling, winter 13 months a year, competent hockey announcers. *sobs*

LOL. I wouldn't care about their TV packages. I'm happy with what I have but I like to watch a wide variety of TV and love sports. I subscribe to the AT250 because I like to be able to watch what I want and I'm willing to pay for it. I would like lower equipment fees though, I'm paying $31 in extra equipment fees.

 

[wallyhts]

I'll have to take a look at the Canadian packages. I've heard a lot about them and most seems to be pretty positive.

I would I enjoy mine I mean when I'm in Canada of of course lol. The PQ is the best hands down.

 

[JTBenson]

LOL. I wouldn't care about their TV packages. I'm happy with what I have but I like to watch a wide variety of TV and love sports. I subscribe to the AT250 because I like to be able to watch what I want and I'm willing to pay for it. I would like lower equipment fees though, I'm paying $31 in extra equipment fees.

I agree. I don't mind the programming costs. I have AT250 and don't subscribe to any add-on packages (I used to in the past). However, I think the equipment fees are ridiculous. I am paying more than that ($54) and is the reason I dropped a lot of the extra packages.

 

[dvrexpander]

Yes the equipment fee's were a bunch of bull if you purchased it out right you still had to pay the fee to have it connected. The DVR fee is another that shouldn't be there either just like HD its a feature that really shouldn't have a fee. Issue is you can't get rid of them now cause they know they have that income coming in otherwise they could dump those and add another to make up for it.

 

[Yespage]

Yes the equipment fee's were a bunch of bull if you purchased it out right you still had to pay the fee to have it connected. The DVR fee is another that shouldn't be there either just like HD its a feature that really shouldn't have a fee. Issue is you can't get rid of them now cause they know they have that income coming in otherwise they could dump those and add another to make up for it.

I don't think I could live without a DVR anymore, so $7 or $8 a month seems fair.

 

[Gobucks]

I don't think I could live without a DVR anymore, so $7 or $8 a month seems fair.

Same here. We have two Hoppers just because of the convenience. This has been said before.... if you want just a HD box with some good channels that includes sports $55 including tax isn't bad at all (you can't really bitch about that price). I have my grandmother set up with that and she loves it. Now if you want more channels, DVR's, protection plan and so on yea it can get pricy. We don't have to have a 2nd Hopper and the everything pack but as of right now we can afford it. When the times comes we can't I will drop to AT120 or 200. If it gets even more expensive I'll drop the whole damn thing. It is just TV. Hell there are so many options where I live we could get deals for years and years if we had to. I feel bad for the people who don't have many provider options.

 

[jagowar]

I don't think I could live without a DVR anymore, so $7 or $8 a month seems fair.

I don't think the base fee is bad but to add each additional hopper/tv at that price is a ripoff.... The joey has practically no value on its own as it is completely dependent on the hopper being there.

What they should do is charge $15 or $20/month for each hopper and let me pay a one time fee of $99/$149 for each joey with no extra monthly fee (and tivo should do the same with their system).

On my package my equipment costs are over 1/3 of my total bill.... that is entirely too much imo. And it will likely get much worse if I stay with dish after my contract is up I will likely add a second hopper.

 

[lucky86]

A second Hopper is $12 per month I believe and the Joey is $7. At $19 per month, why would you want to pay $20 per month plus $99/$149 one time? It would take 21 months at $7 per month to cover the cost of paying $149 one time. I guess I'm confused about your logic.

 

[king3pj]

A second Hopper is $12 per month I believe and the Joey is $7. At $19 per month, why would you want to pay $20 per month plus $99/$149 one time? It would take 21 months at $7 per month to cover the cost of paying $149 one time. I guess I'm confused about your logic.

$149 is still less than you would pay going with $7 per month for a standard 2 year contract. If you know you are going to stay with your hopper and joey system for more than 2 years you could save some decent money if they let you pay upfront instead of a monthly fee.

I'm not volunteering to have my Hopper price raised but I would be willing to buy my Joeys if I didn't have to pay a monthly fee. Heck I would be willing to buy all my equipment if I didn't have to pay monthly fees for it. Yes it costs a lot up front but it saves you money in the long term. Plus that would give people an incentive to stay with one provider longer. If I owned my Dish equipment and didn't have to pay equipment fees I would be much less likely to switch to Directv at the end of my contract. The longer you stay with Dish and your current equipment in that scenario the more money you save.

They could still offer "free" equipment with monthly fees for those who don't want all that extra up front cost.

 

[Gobucks]

I was on TWC's site looking up prices. If Dish and ESPN doesn't work out I'm going to suspend Dish and get TWC. Just till it gets resolved. Here are some prices for their DVR's and boxes. I copied and paste them

[TABLE="class: IncludedBoxTable"]
[TR="class: header"]
[TH]Select[/TH]
[TH] Type of Box[/TH]
[TH="align: center"] Monthly
Price/Box[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]Whole House HD-DVR & HD Box Package[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]$42.99[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]Whole House 2 HD-DVRs Package[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]$55.98[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]HD-DVR Box and Service[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]$22.99[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]HD Box[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]$10.00[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]CableCARD™[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]$2.50[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]CableCARD™ with Tuning Adapter[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]$2.50[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]


As you can see Dish isn't that bad. Now that is regular price. They don't have promotional. My plan is to get their standard service with just a box at the promo price. My question to some of you guys is do you really need all that equipment? If not then that will lower your bill. The more extra's you get the more you will pay.
[TABLE="class: IncludedBoxTable"]
[TR]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"][/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

 

[king3pj]

I was on TWC's site looking up prices. If Dish and ESPN doesn't work out I'm going to suspend Dish and get TWC. Just till it gets resolved. Here are some prices for their DVR's and boxes. I copied and paste them

[TABLE="class: IncludedBoxTable"]
[TR="class: header"]
[TH]Select[/TH]
[TH] Type of Box[/TH]
[TH="align: center"] Monthly
Price/Box[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]Whole House HD-DVR & HD Box Package[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]$42.99[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]Whole House 2 HD-DVRs Package[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]$55.98[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]HD-DVR Box and Service[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]$22.99[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]HD Box[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]$10.00[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]CableCARD™[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]$2.50[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]CableCARD™ with Tuning Adapter[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]$2.50[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]


As you can see Dish isn't that bad. Now that is regular price. They don't have promotional. My plan is to get their standard service with just a box at the promo price. My question to some of you guys is do you really need all that equipment? If not then that will lower your bill. The more extra's you get the more you will pay.
[TABLE="class: IncludedBoxTable"]
[TR]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"][/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

I'm not leaving any time soon because of my contract situation and I love my hopper with sling. Charter's equipment fees as well as the equipment itself is terrible. However, the idea of going back to cable doesn't sound as bad to me now that Tivo has those 6 tuner Roamio boxes and Mini Tivo clients out.

I would pick up 1 of each with lifetime service on both of them. Once that one time fee is paid off I wouldn't have equipment fees anymore outside of the $2-$3 I would need for a single cable card. The Charter prices aren't so bad once you take their ridiculous DVR fees out of the equation. If I ever do this I will probably stay with Charter for a very long time to make sure I get my money's worth out of those lifetime subscriptions.

That is why I think Dish should do the same thing. Give us the option to buy our equipment for a price in the ballpark of what 2 years worth of equipment fees would be and drop monthly fees from owned equipment. This would reward loyalty because the longer you stay with Dish the more money you would save. You can still offer new customer promo's and the old free equipment with monthly fee deals but this would be giving those people who stay for years a bit of value for their loyalty too.

 

[Yespage]

What I don't get is this idea that Dish just has to drop the fees. It costs x for a second receiver, so I just don't get another receiver and deal with it. If one doesn't like the price...

That is why I think Dish should do the same thing. Give us the option to buy our equipment for a price in the ballpark of what 2 years worth of equipment fees would be and drop monthly fees from owned equipment. This would reward loyalty because the longer you stay with Dish the more money you would save. You can still offer new customer promo's and the old free equipment with monthly fee deals but this would be giving those people who stay for years a bit of value for their loyalty too.

Most people would probably want to pay a smaller monthly fee than pay a much larger fee up front for something they may want to replace anyway in two years. Value of my dollar today is more than in 20 months.

 

[king3pj]

What I don't get is this idea that Dish just has to drop the fees. It costs x for a second receiver, so I just don't get another receiver and deal with it. If one doesn't like the price...

Because there is no benefit to paying more to own your equipment if they make you pay the exact same monthly fee as those who get the equipment for free. I can afford it so I do deal with it. I could buy a hopper for $229 on amazon and own it right now. I would gladly do it and likely stay with Dish and that hopper for several years if it meant I could pay a smaller monthly fee.

Most people would probably want to pay a smaller monthly fee than pay a much larger fee up front for something they may want to replace anyway in two years. Value of my dollar today is more than in 20 months.

You're right. Lots of people would rather get their equipment free and pay a monthly equipment fee even if that means you pay more over the life of your contract. People who have to have the newest DVR every year or two would be better off letting Dish pay for the equipment too. I'm not suggesting that they do away with that option.

Like I said, I just think it would be a nice loyalty program if they let you have a reduced monthly bill for owned equipment. My parents spend $38 in equipment fees for their hopper/joey system. My account isn't quite that crazy but lots of other people's are. If they could have bought their 2 hoppers and 3 joeys up front and avoided that $38 per month they would have been all over that. See they will likely have that exact same equipment for the next 5-7 years. Paying more for equipment now is better than paying $38 per month for 7 years.

Right now everything is geared toward bringing in new customers. There is some pretty nice value for Dish in keeping an account on the same equipment for long periods of time too though.

 

[fhsucade07]

Things have to be going good or I'm pretty certain, at this point, you'd be hearing warnings from ESPN themselves. Should be interesting to see where things stand by next Tuesday morning.


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[satjay]

Can we make it through the weekend