Businessweek: Dish Starts Falling to Earth

[riffjim4069]

The satellite TV network is struggling to keep subscribers from fleeing. But it could be too late.


Source

Not long ago, Charlie Ergen was the scourge of cable TV. By offering bargain prices and competing head-on with struggling cable operators, his Dish Network (DISH) satellite company snatched away millions of subscribers and nearly caught up with its bigger rival, DirecTV (DTV). Now, Dish is losing altitude faster than a dying satellite, and Ergen is looking like an also-ran.

Ergen declined to comment, but not much is going right these days. Having added fewer subscribers than analysts projected in the first quarter, Dish could shed at least 37,000 of its 13.8 million customers this quarter, says Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. (AB) analyst Craig E. Moffett. That would be the first time a satellite TV player has lost subscribers since the industry began its growth spurt a decade ago, he says. Meanwhile, AT&T (T), which accounts for a big chunk of Dish's new subscribers by bundling video with its phone and Web offerings, recently said it plans to ditch the company by yearend and possibly hook up with DirecTV. "Dish," Moffett says, "is between a rock and a hard place."

CEO Ergen says he "wasn't as aware of the operations" as he should have been


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[mdonnelly]

Saying Dish "missed the high definition revolution" is way off base. Dish was ahead of the curve in HD programming for years, has the best HD DVR available, and still has an advantage over almost all cable systems.

[chidancer]

Perhaps they might follow the lead of a competitor who obviously is interested in keeping "an ear" to the consumer market by means of the employing technology already out there. Have been through the original Voom crash and burn years ago when Satellite Guys was simply trying to help keep Hi Def growing, and now we have another company who just doesn't get it. Check out Comcast's current attempted solution to customer problems Come on Charley, Observe and implement creative solutions!
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/25/te...ss&oref=slogin

[Geronimo]

Actually the consensus forecast is for modest gains. we will see what it really is on Aug.4.

[riffjim4069]

Saying Dish "missed the high definition revolution" is way off base. Dish was ahead of the curve in HD programming for years, has the best HD DVR available, and still has an advantage over almost all cable systems.

I'll agree...we loved our 622 (still the best on the market), their HD offer was the best in the industry for almost 2-years thanks to the unfortunate demise of VOOM DBS, and the overall value was top-notch. However, the author should have focused more on how they fell asleep at the wheel, and DirecTV and others are now lapping them:

- DirecTV's marketing is killing E*! Heck, D* even managed to grow their HD customers with only a handful of HD channels, while E* had almost 40 post VOOM DBS.

- E* used to provide the best value. Nowaways, D* is providing more for less, and there is no way E* can match the Triple Play/Homerun bundles being offered by Cable and the Telcos.

- E* failed to capitalize on multiple opportunies when they were the HD Leader for almost 2 years. Besides their pathetic marketing campaign, they created some really really confusing promotions and programming packages.

- The issues involving HD-Lite, VOOM, TiVo, etc. matter to many of their higher end customers. That's why many of us are jumping ship.

[jwestpfahl]

AT&T in the recent analyst conference call downplayed their recent contract issues with Dish as normal business decisions. AT&T indicated that they need satellite service to resell as 40% of their market will be unable to be served by U-Verse. While AT&T may ultimately dump Dish for DirecTV, I think the main reason why they want out of their current contract with DISH is they had an opportunity to do so. They will probably want to structure a new contract differently than the current one by maybe offering satellite service in selective areas. I can see them wanting no satellite service here in Chicago where they are trying to expand U-Verse, but offering satellite service in the more rural areas.

[mdonnelly]

I'll agree...we loved our 622 (still the best on the market), their HD offer was the best in the industry for almost 2-years thanks to the unfortunate demise of VOOM DBS, and the overall value was top-notch. However, the author should have focused more on how they fell asleep at the wheel, and DirecTV and others are now lapping them:

- DirecTV's marketing is killing E*! Heck, D* even managed to grow their HD customers with only a handful of HD channels, while E* had almost 40 post VOOM DBS.

- E* used to provide the best value. Nowaways, D* is providing more for less, and there is no way E* can match the Triple Play/Homerun bundles being offered by Cable and the Telcos.

- E* failed to capitalize on multiple opportunies when they were the HD Leader for almost 2 years. Besides their pathetic marketing campaign, they created some really really confusing promotions and programming packages.

- The issues involving HD-Lite, VOOM, TiVo, etc. matter to many of their higher end customers. That's why many of us are jumping ship.

I can agree with most of that. I disagree about Direct offering more for less. The Dish HD Only package is the best value in television programming, IMHO.

And while PQ matters to many or most of us, the vast majority aren't in a location where FIOS is available, AT&T doesn't offer enough bandwidth for three or more HD sets, and the difference in PQ between Dish and Direct isn't significant enough to warrant changing providers.

[Geronimo]

AT&T in the recent analyst conference call downplayed their recent contract issues with Dish as normal business decisions. AT&T indicated that they need satellite service to resell as 40% of their market will be unable to be served by U-Verse. While AT&T may ultimately dump Dish for DirecTV, I think the main reason why they want out of their current contract with DISH is they had an opportunity to do so. They will probably want to structure a new contract differently than the current one by maybe offering satellite service in selective areas. I can see them wanting no satellite service here in Chicago where they are trying to expand U-Verse, but offering satellite service in the more rural areas.

The AT&T move was rumored for some time. They basically want to make the two sat providers compete and I don't blame them. the contract with DISH just wasn't the best deal that AT&T could get and they took advantage of an opportunity to modify or replace it.

[Stargazer]

Maybe Charlie Ergen, in which is not aware of the operations, should become aware again, and become more involved if he isn't. I thought he would have been more aware than he is unless he is letting someone else run the show while he is at his mansion relaxing most of the time or taking those nice vacations. If he cannot handle it then maybe he should sell and relax with what money that he has before Dish Network starts going the other way and loses money.

[nelson61]

I read with interest until I reached the part about their probably having to combine with Directv. Anyone that thinks the FCC would let that happen is either a poor researcher or biased.