What will happen if Dish and DirecTV merge?

[Juan]

I'll be fine .... others, thats up to them.

Between Dish and Direct they lost over a million subs...so you figure ( conservativly) ESPN charges $5 per sub per month...ESPN just lost roughly 60 million in yearly revenue...that has to hit sports pretty hard...and then the millions the RSNs lost..just in the last quarter

 

[rvvaquero]

No...the sports addicts will need to find another fix

Football, baseball, golf, basketball, hockey, etc. survived two world wars, the Great Depression, numerous work stoppages, and Howard Cosell. I think they'll survive this also.

 

[Bruce]

Between Dish and Direct they lost over a million subs...so you figure ( conservativly) ESPN charges $5 per sub per month...ESPN just lost roughly 60 million in yearly revenue...that has to hit sports pretty hard...and then the millions the RSNs lost..just in the last quarter

More then that since the loss was 2.15 million subs ( over 5 million last year) last quarter when you also include Sling and Now with the Traditional Providers, but ESPN would not be the only Channel feeling loss from less subscribers.

This is why there is acceleration from Broadcasters towards streaming, Disney+ is already a success ( 23 million here in the US, 55 million worldwide ) and it just started 7 months ago, CBS is a successful app and will soon include Viacom content, AT&T has HBO MAX which will include content from Warner owned channels and now Discovery Channels is getting their Streaming Service ready ( which includes Food Network, HGTV, Animal Planet, History, etc).




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[Nebugeater]

I can't drive across town to work in the morning or back home 20 miles without losing signal at least 3-4 times ...
It sux ... Sirius has no answer other than to refresh your radio.

I talked to the Ford dealer and they have Nothing on file about an issue.

Does it happen on all stations? I have one route I drive regularly that has dropouts in the same locations every time for SOME stations and not for others. In my case, I know there are not any physical obstructions anywhere to be seen. Happens in both vehicles that we have sat radio in.

 

[tanman]

I sold both Sirius and XM pre merger from the Radio Shack I managed in northern VT.I had a lot more complaints about XM stations dropping than Sirius.I was told that XM used much lower satellites(at least for us) so it wouldn't take much since our roads tend to follow river valleys.If they are still using different satellites for different channels that might explain why some drop out and not others.
I have a Sirius/XM radio in my 2019 Subaru.The stations I listen to drop out frequently and I can always see the reason.If I spent the day on the road I would find it irritating at best.The sound quality I find kinda meh.I mean it's ok but certainly doesn't sound as good as a cd.Any sports broadcast they cut the bandwith so much it's hard to understand at times.
My 2 cents

 

[Nebugeater]

I sold both Sirius and XM pre merger from the Radio Shack I managed in northern VT.I had a lot more complaints about XM stations dropping than Sirius.I was told that XM used much lower satellites(at least for us) so it wouldn't take much since our roads tend to follow river valleys.If they are still using different satellites for different channels that might explain why some drop out and not others.
I have a Sirius/XM radio in my 2019 Subaru.The stations I listen to drop out frequently and I can always see the reason.If I spent the day on the road I would find it irritating at best.The sound quality I find kinda meh.I mean it's ok but certainly doesn't sound as good as a cd.Any sports broadcast they cut the bandwith so much it's hard to understand at times.
My 2 cents

No matter what the Sirius / XM sound quality is it sounds better than me singing to myself!

 

[Mochuf]

You would rather have no Satellite radio then because that was the outcome with no merger. If you do some research you will see many mergers are to save jobs or an industry or for a company to live on as part of another and not close operations.

One would have closed down and then the other would have picked up enough new business from those former customers to stay afloat. Or if they both shut down someone would have came in to buy up the pieces and start up a new service. If nobody stepped in, then sat radio wasn't worth having around in the first place. The advent of 4G phone services with inexpensive unlimited plans and streaming music services pretty much makes sat radio unnecessary nowadays anyway. We went from SXM to Spotify and haven't missed a beat when driving.

 

[TheKrell]

The advent of 4G phone services with inexpensive unlimited plans and streaming music services pretty much makes sat radio unnecessary nowadays anyway.

I often drive out of range of all cell phone towers, e.g. on I66 in the mountains and on Skyline Drive. Also on the Outer Banks of NC.

 

[navychop]

Actually, the merger was allowed because the court was convinced neither would survive without it.

Doubtful another company would want a go at it with two very expensive failures as examples.

I do not subscribe anymore but I can see the value for others. Where we usually drive, we can keep Pandora going. But cross country was another matter.

 

[Cheddar_Head]

I often drive out of range of all cell phone towers, e.g. on I66 in the mountains and on Skyline Drive. Also on the Outer Banks of NC.

Try driving around in the Rocky Mountains, you are out of cell phone range more than in it. Granted Sirius/XM can have their difficulties too.

 

[dweber]

Football, baseball, golf, basketball, hockey, etc. survived two world wars, the Great Depression, numerous work stoppages, and Howard Cosell. I think they'll survive this also.

With sports playing their games without allowing any stadium fans, they will need to rely on TV, cable, satellite, and streaming revenue since there will be no ticket revenue. Thus Sinclair may be forced to renegotiate their Regional networks so sports can get the revenue. This is my hope for them returning to Dish.


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[Yespage]

More then that since the loss was 2.15 million subs ( over 5 million last year) last quarter when you also include Sling and Now with the Traditional Providers, but ESPN would not be the only Channel feeling loss from less subscribers.

This is why there is acceleration from Broadcasters towards streaming, Disney+ is already a success ( 23 million here in the US, 55 million worldwide ) and it just started 7 months ago, CBS is a successful app and will soon include Viacom content, AT&T has HBO MAX which will include content from Warner owned channels and now Discovery Channels is getting their Streaming Service ready ( which includes Food Network, HGTV, Animal Planet, History, etc).

I would argue that we have yet to see if Disney+ is a success.

In twelve months I think we'll have a better idea. CBS's app and Disney+ do not have enough new material. Right now they provide new access to older material, which is a novelty. Novelties wear out.

 

[Yespage]

With sports playing their games without allowing any stadium fans, they will need to rely on TV, cable, satellite, and streaming revenue since there will be no ticket revenue. Thus Sinclair may be forced to renegotiate their Regional networks so sports can get the revenue. This is my hope for them returning to Dish.

Well, the NBA and NHL actually have to play this year for games to be shown. And that is far from certain at this point. Which should make Sinclair even more desperate for carriage as if there are no live sports, the RSN has almost no purpose to exist other than as an informercial station. Sinclair's timing into the RSN market couldn't have happened at a worse time.

 

[Cheddar_Head]

RSNs, I expect that eventually they will be back on Dish but not as part of any basic package. There might be a hefty charge for a "Sports Only" add-on, and by hefty I mean $50-60 per month. Personally I could live with that as long as I didn't also have to take a $80 per month 200 channel base package.

I would think a "Sport Only" add on would also be the only way to get the MLB/NHL/NFL channels too.

Let those of us that like sports be the ones to pay for them.

 

[navychop]

What were tickets going for last year for the NFL, NBA and NHL? $80 for a good team?

 

[edisonprime]

One would have closed down and then the other would have picked up enough new business from those former customers to stay afloat. Or if they both shut down someone would have came in to buy up the pieces and start up a new service. If nobody stepped in, then sat radio wasn't worth having around in the first place. The advent of 4G phone services with inexpensive unlimited plans and streaming music services pretty much makes sat radio unnecessary nowadays anyway. We went from SXM to Spotify and haven't missed a beat when driving.

Totally agree!


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[Bruce]

I would argue that we have yet to see if Disney+ is a success.

In twelve months I think we'll have a better idea. CBS's app and Disney+ do not have enough new material. Right now they provide new access to older material, which is a novelty. Novelties wear out.

That’s the upshot of a new forecast by UK firm Digital TV Research. It sees Disney+ getting a big lift from COVID-19, which has kept millions of people indoors across the world, with the platform reaching 202 million global subscribers by 2025.

Disney+ To Hit 202M Global Subscribers By 2025, Boosted By COVID-19 – Report

Increased streaming activity due to COVID-19 will boost Disney+ to 202 million global subscribers by 2025, a new report predicts.

deadline.com

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[Jimbo]

Does it happen on all stations? I have one route I drive regularly that has dropouts in the same locations every time for SOME stations and not for others. In my case, I know there are not any physical obstructions anywhere to be seen. Happens in both vehicles that we have sat radio in.

The main intersection I was talking about, Yes, it doesn't matter what Sirius station I'm on, the overpass is hit and miss ...

 

[Jimbo]

One would have closed down and then the other would have picked up enough new business from those former customers to stay afloat. Or if they both shut down someone would have came in to buy up the pieces and start up a new service. If nobody stepped in, then sat radio wasn't worth having around in the first place. The advent of 4G phone services with inexpensive unlimited plans and streaming music services pretty much makes sat radio unnecessary nowadays anyway. We went from SXM to Spotify and haven't missed a beat when driving.

Inexpensive Unlimited plans ?
It cost me addl. $40 per month if I were to want Unlimited.

 

[dare2be]

That’s the upshot of a new forecast by UK firm Digital TV Research. It sees Disney+ getting a big lift from COVID-19, which has kept millions of people indoors across the world, with the platform reaching 202 million global subscribers by 2025.

Disney+ To Hit 202M Global Subscribers By 2025, Boosted By COVID-19 – Report

Increased streaming activity due to COVID-19 will boost Disney+ to 202 million global subscribers by 2025, a new report predicts.

deadline.com

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I doubt it. I'm sure we were counted in their quarterly numbers projections as we added the service in Feb, but after 2 months, we ran out of things we wanted to watch and canceled in April. I bet by the end of the year they won't have much higher numbers than the balloon from the first few months of the novelty.