EchoStar Announces Conference Call for First Quarter 2009 Financial Results

[riffjim4069]

I just pulled up the Quarterly subscriber numbers...

2008 1st Quarter +35,000
2008 2nd Quarter -25,000 (Post VOOM)
2008 3rd Quarter -10,000
2008 4th Quarter -102,000

2009 1st Quarter -95,000+ (expert estimates)

IMO, Viacom and Fisher are not going to help matters.

 

[Apologist]

2008 1st Quarter +35,000
2008 2nd Quarter -25,000 (Post VOOM)
2008 3rd Quarter -10,000
2008 4th Quarter -102,000

2009 1st Quarter -95,000+ (expert estimates)

IMO, Viacom and Fisher are not going to help matters.

Yet many on this site say that Voom had/has nothing to do with the loss of subscribers??? Voom was the best programming Dish has ever had. They are pretty lame now. Nothing to make them different and nothing to make them stand out.

 

[riffjim4069]

Yet many on this site say that Voom had/has nothing to do with the loss of subscribers??? Voom was the best programming Dish has ever had. They are pretty lame now. Nothing to make them different and nothing to make them stand out.

Although VOOM is a factor, there are certainly a combination of other factors involed. It's just odd how their numbers stared tanking once they gave VOOM a yanking.

 

[MikeD-C05]

I used to think Dish Network followed these threads, cared what we thought, and tried to formulate a business strategy to keep their best and brightest customers happy. Apparently I was wrong because Dish Network is getting ready to post yet another quarter of subscriber losses and higher churn. If memory serves, I believe this will be their 4th straight quarter in which they post a shrinking customer base.

Maybe they don't read them , but I can always hope someone at Dish will notice.

 

[Pen15head]

i hope they at least read the part about simplifying the names/packages. that is like the one thing everybody on this site agrees with in any post where the subject of package titles comes up.

 

[DodgerKing]

Direct just came out with their Q1 numbers and they are reporting one of their best quarters ever. One of the large net sub gains. One of the lowest churn rates. Very good profits.

DirecTV 1st Qtr 2009 Results and Call - Added 460K subs - DBSTalk.Com

Maybe this may be a good sign for Dish as well. A lot more people are staying home and watching TV.

 

[riffjim4069]

Direct just came out with their Q1 numbers and they are reporting one of their best quarters ever. One of the large net sub gains. One of the lowest churn rates. Very good profits.

DirecTV 1st Qtr 2009 Results and Call - Added 460K subs - DBSTalk.Com

Maybe this may be a good sign for Dish as well. A lot more people are staying home and watching TV.

How can this be good news for Dish Network since DirecTV's gains have to be coming from somewhere. Plus, Verizon added 299K, AT&T added 284K, and the losses I've seen posted so far by Cable aren't bad at all. This leads me to believe Dish Network could post a record 1st quarter subscriber loss. We shall see...

 

[tomcrown1]

Dish will have a bad quarter---lose of ATT tie, real bad marketing department and lastly the worst customer service in the industry.

Unless Dish gets serious and let go of their current marketing department and start putting more resources into customer service Dish will be doing a slow death.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

Direct just came out with their Q1 numbers and they are reporting one of their best quarters ever. One of the large net sub gains. One of the lowest churn rates. Very good profits.

DirecTV 1st Qtr 2009 Results and Call - Added 460K subs - DBSTalk.Com

Maybe this may be a good sign for Dish as well. A lot more people are staying home and watching TV.

Its a good sign , But E* pisses off their customers to many times between Quarters. Thats what hurts them!

 

[HDRoberts]

How can this be good news for Dish Network since DirecTV's gains have to be coming from somewhere. Plus, Verizon added 299K, AT&T added 284K, and the losses I've seen posted so far by Cable aren't bad at all. This leads me to believe Dish Network could post a record 1st quarter subscriber loss. We shall see...

Could you share the cable losses?

 

[riffjim4069]

Could you share the cable losses?

Considering AT&T U-Verse and Verizon FiOS TV are Cable, here are the numbers I pulled up for the 1st Quarter:

Charter lost -22,200 customers
Comcast lost -78,000 customers
Cablevision lost -23,100 customers
Time Warner gained +36,000 customers
Verizon FiOS gained +299,000 customers
AT&T U-Verse gained +284,000 customers

 

[Laddyboy]

I can't see that many new additions to satellite these days, so with the large Fios and Uverse additions and the record additions for D*, it would seem a pretty good bet that E* lost subs again. That's been the pattern for the last year anyway, hasn't it?

 

[DodgerKing]

How can this be good news for Dish Network since DirecTV's gains have to be coming from somewhere. Plus, Verizon added 299K, AT&T added 284K, and the losses I've seen posted so far by Cable aren't bad at all. This leads me to believe Dish Network could post a record 1st quarter subscriber loss. We shall see...

Don't think of it as being a finite number of subs and the only gains by one company must come from another. Think of it as new paid TV subs that never paid for TV service before.

 

[HDRoberts]

Considering AT&T U-Verse and Verizon FiOS TV are Cable, here are the numbers I pulled up for the 1st Quarter:

Charter lost -22,000 customers
Comcast lost -78,000 customers
Cablevision lost -23,100 customers
Time Warner gained +36,000 customers
Verizon FiOS gained +299,000 customers
AT&T U-Verse gained +284,000 customers

Given DirecTV's 460k addition, that takes us to a net 955,900 additions amongst providers. I hope Dish didn't lose that many.

 

[riffjim4069]

Don't think of it as being a finite number of subs and the only gains by one company must come from another. Think of it as new paid TV subs that never paid for TV service before.

I agree the MSOs are going to gain some basic subscribers due to the DTV transition, but the numbers being posted by D*, F*, and U* are huge...more than 1 million homes in a single quarter.

 

[riffjim4069]

Given DirecTV's 460k addition, that takes us to a net 955,900 additions amongst providers. I hope Dish didn't lose that many.

The "expert" estimates place Dish Network's losses at 95K+. Offhand, I would like to know what Cox and Brighthouse posted during the 1st quarter since they are Top 7 Cable MSOs, and both operate in Verizon territories.

 

[RandallA]

Dish will have a bad quarter---lose of ATT tie, real bad marketing department and lastly the worst customer service in the industry.

Unless Dish gets serious and let go of their current marketing department and start putting more resources into customer service Dish will be doing a slow death.

They also need to stop fighting with the channel providers. Customers will leave or switch to another provider if the channels they watch are being removed. I agree with riffjim4069, Dish Network will be posting record subscribers loss this quarter.

But as usual, we'll read all the excuses given by the apologists that Charlie is their hero by being a tough negotiator with all these providers. While the rest of us are just a bunch of ignorants that don't know how to negotiate when buying a new car.

 

[satjay]

Dish will have a bad quarter---lose of ATT tie, real bad marketing department and lastly the worst customer service in the industry.

Unless Dish gets serious and let go of their current marketing department and start putting more resources into customer service Dish will be doing a slow death.

Maybe, just maybe after the last quarter they had in 2008, they are trying to make changes in customer service. I am new to Dish, so I know that I have a lot to learn about their customer service, but the few times I have had to call thus far have gone well with customer service. Just a few thoughts, as I switched from Direct to Dish and its gone well.....

 

[DodgerKing]

They also need to stop fighting with the channel providers. Customers will leave or switch to another provider if the channels they watch are being removed. I agree with riffjim4069, Dish Network will be posting record subscribers loss this quarter.

But as usual, we'll read all the excuses given by the apologists that Charlie is their hero by being a tough negotiator with all these providers. While the rest of us are just a bunch of ignorants that don't know how to negotiate when buying a new car.

He will blame the economy even though there was a net gain by all providers combined and the average sub cost has increased.

 

[riffjim4069]

Maybe, just maybe after the last quarter they had in 2008, they are trying to make changes in customer service. I am new to Dish, so I know that I have a lot to learn about their customer service, but the few times I have had to call thus far have gone well with customer service. Just a few thoughts, as I switched from Direct to Dish and its gone well.....

Although the numbers are going to be bad, I don't share others "Doom and Gloom" scenarios for Dish Network. They have made some boneheaded mistakes, but are still earning a profit and, basically, stuck in stagflation. This is sad because they used to be the value, technology and HD leader...until it all went wrong. What has me completely confused about this company is they continue to make all the same mistakes that has brought them to this point:

- Yanking channels off the air, with no warming, in heated public disputes (Lifetime, VOOM, Fisher, Viacom, GolTV, etc.)
- Value leader no more; AEP used to be a value, but with prices increases higher than cable, they are the new Cable Pig.
- HD Leader no more. They used to offer both the most and best quality HD...those days are long gone since D*, FiOS TV, and U-Verse all offer more HD channels, and their HD-Lite quality speaks for itself.
- Best HD DVRs on the market. Although this is still true, D* had caught-up and, as many of us have discovered, the TivoHD does a pretty good job and Moxi HD is now an option.
- Unlike D*, E* customers pay a DVR fee for each and every DVR on their account - for the most part. I can only assume we're still paying multiple DVR fees to help pay E*'s infringement of Tivo IP.
- Customer service tanked when call centers were outsourced to the Philippines, and I don't see any improvement.
- Thanks to Charlie's admitted "stubborn" position with Tivo, there is a good chance this will cost E* another $200+ million dollars in the near future.
- E* is engaged in a billion dollar lawsuit with VOOM for allegedly illegally terminating their franchise agreement.
- E* does not offer a number of sports channels (mostly sports) that are carried by D*.