Ergen not fazed by changing field

lee78221

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Jul 6, 2005
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EchoStar CEO Charlie Ergen is confident about the future of his satellite company despite recent strategic deals announced by cable, satellite and telephone competitors.

"We'll have to differentiate ourselves from what the telephone and cable companies are doing," Ergen said earlier this week in a conference call. "We'll make calculated decisions and see what makes sense."

This week DirecTV announced an on-demand agreement with NBC Universal to offer top programs from the NBC, USA, Sci Fi and Bravo networks for 99 cents only hours after they air. Comcast also inked a similar deal to provide same-day, on-demand content from CBS. In October, ABC teamed up with Apple, offering $1.99 iPod downloads of some of its top shows.

The nation's four major cable providers - Comcast, Cox, Time Warner and Advance/Newhouse Communications - joined forces Nov. 2 with Sprint Nextel to offer a "quadruple play" of services. The move allows cable companies to offer television, Internet, Internet phone and cell phone services in a bundled package, on a single monthly bill.

Matthew Harrigan of Janco Partners said Douglas County-based EchoStar is at a disadvantage, with no content deals or additional partnerships on the horizon. EchoStar has a deal with SBC Communications to bundle Dish with its phone and Internet service in its 13-state market.

EchoStar is "kind of a one-trick pony," Harrigan said. "They've done a good job of maximize the value of the asset they have, but other companies have managed to fill gaps in their product offering."

Ergen downplayed the recently announced content deals, saying it remains to be seen whether customers will pay for shows they can get for
free by using their digital video recorders.

"Generally anything anybody else can do on video on demand we can do," he said. "We have a bigger base than anyone else that's capable of those on demand deals."

EchoStar, which operates the Dish Network, is the nation's second largest satellite television company, with 11.71 million subscribers. It reported strong third-quarter earnings and subscriber growth.

Recent moves by EchoStar include the introduction of a portable media player, the PocketDish, and a new compression standard that will allow for high-definition TV services.

Dish Network is positioned for price sensitive customer, with DirecTV being a premium service and cable in the middle," said Kaufman Bros. analyst Todd Mitchell.

As long as Dish continues to deliver a good multichannel service, the subscriber base will be satisfied with what's being offered, he said.
 
Yes please when posting articles include a link to the article as well as tell who the article is from and its author. :)

That keeps us out of copyright problems. :)
 
Thanks Mcdonnelly for posting the link :) There is an error (or a not mention) in that artical as SBC also offers ATT/Cigular wireless as apart of there bundled serivces. I think in about 10 years or so the telcom/ tv market will be changed as we know it today.. and Echostar is realizing this. There doing good by bundling with SBC but the disavantage with SBC is you dont have acess to Echostars full offering of products.. and sometimes channels. (voom) untill recently voom became avaible to SBC subs. I think if they could get over this hurdle then it would make them even more compatative to these other companies. I think echostar also needs a more aggressive national marketing. LIke how Directv does. I allways see commercials for DTV but not for E*
 
I'm both for and against "one stop shopping" as far as content providers go. While it may seem easy to have phone/internet/tv on one bill, if you forget to pay it, you just forgot to pay for all 3 services O_O bad things!

That, and of course it's that much harder to jump ship.
 
A possible move is SBC local and long distance telephone service as one company called "ATT". Dish Network will then merge with SBC remaining assets and the new company will be called "Satellite-Broadband-Cingular" or "SBC" the all in one company.
 
lee78221 said:
"Generally anything anybody else can do on video on demand we can do," he said. "We have a bigger base than anyone else that's capable of those on demand deals."
What's that smell? Oh yeah. It's bulls***.

Dish DVR/VOD doesn't come close to Comcast OD. It's like comparing a Daewoo to a Mercedes.

and, what does he mean by "bigger base"? Is he talking about customer base? Is he on drugs? They don't even have as many as D*, let alone cable.
 
GaryPen said:
What's that smell? Oh yeah. It's bulls***.

Dish DVR/VOD doesn't come close to Comcast OD. It's like comparing a Daewoo to a Mercedes.

and, what does he mean by "bigger base"? Is he talking about customer base? Is he on drugs? They don't even have as many as D*, let alone cable.


He might referring to deployed DVRs, not subs.
 
GaryPen said:
What's that smell? Oh yeah. It's bulls***.

Dish DVR/VOD doesn't come close to Comcast OD. It's like comparing a Daewoo to a Mercedes.

and, what does he mean by "bigger base"? Is he talking about customer base? Is he on drugs? They don't even have as many as D*, let alone cable.


I can speak from experiance... the comcast dvr sucks.. My 942 blows it out of the water anyday of the week... (not to mention were forgeting about the Sbc media portal coming out some time soon..
 
GaryPen said:
What's that smell? Oh yeah. It's bulls***.

Dish DVR/VOD doesn't come close to Comcast OD. It's like comparing a Daewoo to a Mercedes.

and, what does he mean by "bigger base"? Is he talking about customer base? Is he on drugs? They don't even have as many as D*, let alone cable.

DVR-subs. Read between the lines.
 
Jeffdbs said:
A possible move is SBC local and long distance telephone service as one company called "ATT". Dish Network will then merge with SBC remaining assets and the new company will be called "Satellite-Broadband-Cingular" or "SBC" the all in one company.

They already announced that they'll change SBC's name to AT&T so if they're going to have a company called SBC for something else, they better do a good job informing customers or they'll be calling the wrong people for their services. ;)
 
goaliebob99 said:
I can speak from experiance... the comcast dvr sucks.. My 942 blows it out of the water anyday of the week... (not to mention were forgeting about the Sbc media portal coming out some time soon..
You could be right. But, I was referring to VoD.

However, I did have a 721, 510, and 501. While the 721 was very nice, it in no way blows my Comcast 6412.

But, again, we're talking VoD, not DVR.
 
OoTLink said:
VoD over IP? ;) It'd kick comcast's butt and still have that very pretty GUI :D
It might. But, remember, Comcast uses their broadband capability for their current VoD, which I must say is awesome in my area.

I am looking forward to SBC's promised HomeZone service, which is supposed to combine broadband DSL with Dish dbs. If it does what's promised, I'd definitely consider switching back. I have no emotional attachment to any provider.
 
Hmmm. Sounds interesting, maybe even "compelling". Although, I will probably not switch back to Dish until SBC releases the HomeZone, or they remove that ridiculous $250 surcharge on the 942.

BTW, have they fixed the bugs they added with the recent 942 sw release?
 

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