YANQ: Adding a channel rather than jump tiers?

[Bear]

Yet Another Newbie Question: In addition to PQ, the major draw of E* is the price. I could get by with the lowly AT60 plan, except for the lack of Bravo. Is it possible to get a single channel added to your package, or is the hassle/expense just not worth it? The $10/month price difference between AT60 and AT120 seems steep for just one channel.

Thanks!

 

[miguelaqui]

Yet Another Newbie Question: In addition to PQ, the major draw of E* is the price. I could get by with the lowly AT60 plan, except for the lack of Bravo. Is it possible to get a single channel added to your package, or is the hassle/expense just not worth it? The $10/month price difference between AT60 and AT120 seems steep for just one channel.

Thanks!

When I was working there I asked why Bell Expresssvu can have small tiers and E* could not. I was told that they could not do that due to the contracts they sign with the channel providers.

 

[chaddux]

There are a few channels available a la carte. Bravo is not one of them.

 

[BFG]

there's only a couple of ala-carte channels on E* and Bravo isn't one of them.

The $10 jump to AT120 is really not that much considering what you get with vs. measly AT60 for $10 less. RSNs, 13 more "cable channels", Dish CD, and Sirius Music

 

[miguelaqui]

You are one of many. They were right that there are a few a la carte channels. There used to be add-a-channel years ago, but got rid of it.
There were ideas of trying to make "expensive" channels a la carte, but could not. I was told that a good amount of the price of the top 60 was for ESPN. I was neverl told an exact number from E*.

I often wish they would allow a la carte, especially for someone like me who cares NOTHING about sports. It would be more fair to allow a la carte, but, this was also brought up when they lost the Viacom channels, they cannot due to the specific contracts with the company.

 

[SimpleSimon]

There's a big thread on ala-carte somewhere either here or on dbstalk.com - I forget which. Lots of debate.

 

[Bear]

Thanks for the answers, guys.

The $10 jump to AT120 is really not that much considering what you get with vs. measly AT60 for $10 less. RSNs, 13 more "cable channels", Dish CD, and Sirius Music

It's only "not much money" if you actually value the additional channels. The RSNs mean nothing to me, and I would probably not pay for satellite music in the home (my 1.2TB media server kind of makes that superfluous). Having to go with AT120 means that E* and D* are within $4 of each other, and the Tivo will win that tie-break for me (I'm really hoping Charlie buys V*, and can provide some real HD content, though - I'd be a V* subscriber now if it weren't for the DVR issue...).

As for ESPN, the last I heard, it was north of $10/mo for each subscriber at the last round of negotiations. It would be one of the hardest-hit if congress ever passed an a la carte law to permit "real choice".

 

[GaryPen]

Having to go with AT120 means that E* and D* are within $4 of each other, and the Tivo will win that tie-break for me

What do you mean? AT120 w/locals cost the same $40 as Total Choice w/locals. Plus, if you end up with more than one Tivo/DVR, you'll save at least $5 over Dish, as Dish charges per DVR, and DirecTV charges per account.

 

[Bear]

Gary - I don't need/want locals. My $20 4-bay bowtie and Channel Master pre-amp in the attic can get all but two HD channels in my market (including all of the major English and Spanish language network affiliates. You gotta lova Sabado Gigante in 480p...).

For pricing, Dish offers a discount if you pay for the year in advance (a pretty good deal that D* doesn't have - at least not when I asked about it...). So:
AT60 - $24.99/mo on a month-by-month basis, or $22.92 effectively if you pay in advance
AT120 - $34.99/mo, or $32.08/mo paid in advance
TC - $36.99/mo

Actually, D* is a buck a month cheaper when you include locals - but only on a month-to-month basis ($39.99 vs. $40.98). As I said, the HD Tivo is the tie-breaker unless Charlie buys V* in the next 30 days, at which point I may have to start shopping 921's AND 6000's.

 

[BFG]

No, they're the same price when you add locals to an AT price it's 34.99 +5 = 39.99
Not the 40.98 you're talking about

 

[chaddux]

Also, you can't get an annual subscription if you lease any of your equipment.

 

[BFG]

The annual suprcription seems pretty stupid to me. If you really find that you're saving a lot of money by paying all at once then getting a month free in discount then ok...

 

[chaddux]

It's almost an entire month free which, if you can afford to pay it all at once, is a nice incentive.

 

[GaryPen]

It's no deal at all if you have to cancel before the year is out, and they don't give you a pro-rated refund.

 

[carload]

Plus the year-in-advance deal is especially attractive just before rate-change time. You pay 11 months at the old rate to get a year of programming.

 

[Bear]

No, they're the same price when you add locals to an AT price it's 34.99 +5 = 39.99
Not the 40.98 you're talking about

$34.99 + $5.99 = $40.98.

And yes, the pre-payment is a nice incentive especially if you can afford to pay for it all at once, and since you generally have to sign up with a one-year commitment for some of the other deals (DHA notwithstanding), it makes sense. As for leasing equipment, I might lease an HD DVR if that were an option, but it's not (maybe with V*...). I really hate paying as much as I do in telecom charges (>$200/mo), so I'm pretty interested in shedding cost when I spend time on it, especially if it gets me more functionality in the future.

 

[bleodler]

$34.99 + $5.99 = $40.98.

And yes, the pre-payment is a nice incentive especially if you can afford to pay for it all at once, and since you generally have to sign up with a one-year commitment for some of the other deals (DHA notwithstanding), it makes sense. As for leasing equipment, I might lease an HD DVR if that were an option, but it's not (maybe with V*...). I really hate paying as much as I do in telecom charges (>$200/mo), so I'm pretty interested in shedding cost when I spend time on it, especially if it gets me more functionality in the future.

http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/programming/packages/index.shtml

 

[MI_SAT]

It's no deal at all if you have to cancel before the year is out, and they don't give you a pro-rated refund.

Agree wholeheartedly. Further, nothing is ever this cut-and-dry. Depends on your opportunity cost. Example: If someone's carrying a credit card balance at 18%, then charging an annual $300 (or whatever) subscription fee and not paying it off immediately, their annual "savings" could be a loss: 18% of $300 is $54 in interest, exceeding the "free" month of programming.

Dish wouldn't offer the "free" month if it weren't beneficial for Dish. It's all about time-value of money.

 

[GaryPen]

$34.99 + $5.99 = $40.98.

The price of $39.99 for AT120 w/locals is plainly, obviously, and clearly displayed on Dish's wesite, as well as most online Dish retailer sites.

 

[Bear]

Apparently it was news to me that it was "plainly, obviously, and clearly displayed". To get to that page, you have to click Programming -> Overview -> Entertainment Packages. Since I thought I knew what I was comparing, I looked at Programming -> Basic Packages -> AT120. I then had to go to Programming -> Local Channels to see what the price of local channels is. Soo, good for Dish! In both of the places where it would not have been obvious (apparently), the decided not to show that there was a "package" discount.