Whoa! $200 install fee for new satellite customers

[jcrandall]

I guess it’s the end of an era, website now shows an install fee for new customers on satellite - a $200 fee. Crazy, I guess they want you to stream or pay full-fare. Satellite new customers promo is also $5 higher than the stream via internet new customer price.

 

[b4pjoe]

I guess it’s the end of an era, website now shows an install fee for new customers on satellite - a $200 fee. Crazy, I guess they want you to stream or pay full-fare. Satellite new customers promo is also $5 higher than the stream via internet new customer price.

An incentive for new customers go with via Internet.

 

[slice1900]

Do they offer self installs?

I think they should have gone to charging for installs long ago, offering a rebate equal to the install after a year instead of locking people into contracts.

All free installs did was raise the monthly price they had to charge, with all customers paying to subsidize the cost of installs. When cord cutting started in reaction to high prices, having basically an extra $5 or $10 a month on everyone's bills to subsidize new customer installs was only hurting them.

Should have pushed OTA too, allowing people to drop their locals if they wanted and save the full cost of that. It was only a couple of bucks 10 years ago, but the local station groups were clear in their goals to raise prices by 200% with each renewal so they knew where things were going.

There's nothing that could have stopped subscriber losses from cord cutting, but Directv's management sure seemed to make all the wrong decisions to accelerate them.

 

[John2021]

Wonder how this will affect current sat subs moving service. Ide go for it as long as there's no contract

 

[CSM]

If they want $200 for the satellite install for new customers and they are maybe doing that to encourage new customers to go with DTV via the Net or DTV Stream, why bother buying Dish? DTV Satellite won't survive with that $200 install fee. Unless they think their streaming services will survive?

 

[Bruce]

If they want $200 for the satellite install for new customers and they are maybe doing that to encourage new customers to go with DTV via the Net or DTV Stream, why bother buying Dish? DTV Satellite won't survive with that $200 install fee. Unless they think their streaming services will survive?

Their streaming services barely have a million subscribers combined.

What this will do, is cut down on new subscribers, which they need to offset the losses of the older subscribers, which will increase in the 4th quarter following the upcoming price increase ($8-10 a month) in October.

This also shows, if the rumors are true, that if they buy Dish Network, the plan would be to move them to Internet TV also.

Step one is persuade new customers to get the internet version, that $200 charge will do it (or talk them out of getting DirecTV).

Second, is switch them over, due to the aging equipment and Satellite fleet.

 

[robjlevin]

I'd like nothing more than to move to streaming, but until such time that the channel lineups are the same, or the last of the birds falls from the sky, I'm sticking with satellite.

 

[lefatman]

I'd like nothing more than to move to streaming, but until such time that the channel lineups are the same, or the last of the birds falls from the sky, I'm sticking with satellite.

I agree 100%. The only reason that I stick with DTV is sports and until all those packages are included in streaming, I'm stuck with satellite. I did some exploring during the dispute and no one can come near the sports available on DTV.

 

[CSM]

Their streaming services barely have a million subscribers combined.

What this will do, is cut down on new subscribers, which they need to offset the losses of the older subscribers, which will increase in the 4th quarter following the upcoming price increase ($8-10 a month) in October.

This also shows, if the rumors are true, that if they buy Dish Network, the plan would be to move them to Internet TV also.

Step one is persuade new customers to get the internet version, that $200 charge will do it (or talk them out of getting DirecTV).

Second, is switch them over, due to the aging equipment and Satellite fleet.

Then Dish should cancel that satellite order.

 

[alnielsen]

Do they offer self installs?

I don't know. But today, it isn't as easy to align a dish as it was when Directv was young.

 

[Bruce]

Then Dish should cancel that satellite order.

‘duh.