Part of the reason "D" has always had more subs is like others have stated, they started earlier, they aquired Primstar subs and the NFL ticket but also, until recently, their hardware was always far superior. They even picked up a bunch of "E" subs when "D" had the dual tuner Tivos vs "E"'s Dishplayer.
By rights, "E" would be gaining a lot more on "D" since there's no longer the big issue between receivers and "E" certainly has surpassed "D" in HD programming (I think "D" has only added 1 new HD channel in 6 months).
Even though "E" should be way ahead of "D" at this point, the main reason they're not is directly related to "E"s managment and marketing. Charlie may be a shrewed businessman and a great poker player but he has no clue about marketing and he keeps people in charge that know as little as he does. Their ads remind me of something I'd see on our local tv afilliate.
Dish has displayed a pattern over the last few years of really looking like they're heading in the right direction only to blow it with stupid critical decisions. They've been on the edge of breaking the market wide open a few times but always fail on the followthrough.
With "D"'s situation right now, their subs could be rolling over to "E" in droves but many are not and one of the reasons they're not is because of the obvious blunders "E" makes with it's existing customers. Most people thinking of switching providers do at least a little research and when they do they get to see beyond the "E"'s fluff and then it doesn't look quite so tempting.
By rights, "E" would be gaining a lot more on "D" since there's no longer the big issue between receivers and "E" certainly has surpassed "D" in HD programming (I think "D" has only added 1 new HD channel in 6 months).
Even though "E" should be way ahead of "D" at this point, the main reason they're not is directly related to "E"s managment and marketing. Charlie may be a shrewed businessman and a great poker player but he has no clue about marketing and he keeps people in charge that know as little as he does. Their ads remind me of something I'd see on our local tv afilliate.
Dish has displayed a pattern over the last few years of really looking like they're heading in the right direction only to blow it with stupid critical decisions. They've been on the edge of breaking the market wide open a few times but always fail on the followthrough.
With "D"'s situation right now, their subs could be rolling over to "E" in droves but many are not and one of the reasons they're not is because of the obvious blunders "E" makes with it's existing customers. Most people thinking of switching providers do at least a little research and when they do they get to see beyond the "E"'s fluff and then it doesn't look quite so tempting.
