December 18th Dish Retailer Chat Recap

[long_time_DNC]

Maybe if I get in line, I can get a bail-out from the govt. so I can afford to pay my Dish bill?

On the other hand, if I drop from AEP to AT250 (or whatever they're going to call it) and keep GoldHD+PlatHD, I can save quite a bit. That might work, because they can't keep doing "nominal" rate increases and expect us to just happily sit back and take it...not in the present economic climate...

 

[sbsi]

Hummm.....isn't Direct TV more worth it these days after Dish price increase

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

As I have said before, I am told by DirecTV that they will soon be announcing a Price increase as well. Don't be surprised when it happens.

 

[TalonDancer]

Apparently having a couple of billion laying around makes some folks a little less sensitive to the existing financial meltdown and the effects it will have on most of the world including Dish customers. So here's a hint Charlie....

The big bad word is DEFLATION. Yes, as in prices going DOWN. Many of your costumers have already experienced this in their home prices. In the coming year(s) many of them will have their pay frozen/reduced or even lose their jobs. Many more have seen their retirement funding severely reduced. Regardless of what you (or they) now believe, these people CAN live without satellite TV. So this is NOT the right time to be raising prices. Unless, of course, your plan is the downsize Dish as quickly as possible.

Talon Dancer

p.s. on Feb 1st my Dish bill will stay the same or go down due to dropped services - your choice.

 

[Stargazer]

It is hard to side with Dish Network when they remove local network stations because they say they do not want to increase your bill even higher than it already is just to find out that they are going to jack up the prices anyways. Like I said before, it is to Dish Network's advantage, not the consumer, as they will pocket the money. Dish knows they can't charge more than the competition for the same channels so they don't want to pay anymore than they have to.

 

[Stargazer]

I think the reason for these receiver name changes is that they will change the hardware for the consumer and don't want to keep changing the info to the public to keep track of which receiver works with what. They can change the model number and still be considered a solo or duo or hd duo or dvr duo or whatever. The current enhanced model could be tomorrow's standard model.

 

[springdale_sam]

how come the latin packages prices are going down

 

[TalonDancer]

As I have said before, I am told by DirecTV that they will soon be announcing a Price increase as well. Don't be surprised when it happens.

I am astonished that the execs at both Dish and DirecTV can be so out of touch that they think that they will be able to raise prices and make them stick when the FED has just reduced interest to nearly 0 to ward off DEFLATION.

Sure lots of industries may try to raise prices for essentially the same product/service. And some may even succeed if their product/service is a necessity. But contrary to popular belief on this forum, satellite TV is a "nice to have" as compared to food, shelter, medical services, etc.

Talon Dancer

 

[Stargazer]

They will keep raising prices as long as they know that they can get away with it and still add subscribers. When it starts affecting their bottom line, you will notice a change.

 

[mike123abc]

I am astonished that the execs at both Dish and DirecTV can be so out of touch that they think that they will be able to raise prices and make them stick when the FED has just reduced interest to nearly 0 to ward off DEFLATION.

Sure lots of industries may try to raise prices for essentially the same product/service. And some may even succeed if their product/service is a necessity. But contrary to popular belief on this forum, satellite TV is a "nice to have" as compared to food, shelter, medical services, etc.

Talon Dancer

Why do people expect the price to come down? All these media companies are raising their prices rapidly. Channels going into dispute with Dish and being taken down over rate increases. The media companies are facing falling advertising dollars, so they need to raise the per sub cost to cover with cable/satellite companies.

 

[katsfan]

Dish DVR Advantage: $57.99
Additional 722: $12.00
2 Premiums (HD Gold and 250 Bonus Pack): $22.00

Total of $91.99 Plus Tax.

This is exactly what I have. I will be dropping down to the DDA Turbo Gold Package when it is available to existing customers and save $20 a month.

Where do you get $22.00 for these 2 premiums? As I read the slides on Page 1, they are $10 each.

 

[long_time_DNC]

So, if I figure this right AEP+Gold+Plat is going up $13? Is that correct?

 

[TalonDancer]

Why do people expect the price to come down.....

Deflation is simple really. Prices come down when people decide the current price is too high and quit paying the current price*. Their vendor(s) then decide whether they would rather see customer erosion (AKA market share loss) or reduce their prices. If they decide on the latter, they in turn squeeze their vendors, etc. IOW it is the exact opposite of inflation.

We have grown so accustomed to inflation, we tend to forget that prices/wages have not always gone up. In fact we are very, very close to the tipping point when the Fed droped short term interest to nearly 0 and also warned that they are willing to use their "balance sheet" to reduce longer term interest rates.

Talon Dancer

*Note. The unwillingness to pay the current price could be voluntary (e.g. they become "stingy") or involuntary (e.g. they no longer have the discretionary money available).

 

[s10zr2]

So what is the advantage of the dvr advantage if it is going up 8.00? It supposed to save you the dvr fee and locals fee, correct? If that is true then it saves you roughly 12.00 right now. If it goes up 8.00 the you only save 4.00 a month. Am I correct on this? Plus I have the 250 package which they add 10.00 to the dvr advantage program. It is going up 3.00, so that would be a total of 11.00 more a month. Thats BS! Also I beleive directv only charges you one fee for dvr service no matter how many you have.

 

[TalonDancer]

...All these media companies are raising their prices rapidly. Channels going into dispute with Dish and being taken down over rate increases. The media companies are facing falling advertising dollars, so they need to raise the per sub cost to cover with cable/satellite companies.

To the second part of your reply... Of course, most companies (like Dish) are currently acting like ostriches. Pretending like deflation can not happen to them. But it can. And the painful truth is that nearly ALL companies are going to have to do a little restructuring in the coming year(s). to get their costs down and their productivity up. Because the little engine that could (American consumers) is running out of gas. The auto industry is just the tip of the iceberg. It's restructuring will cascade throughout the economy.

So your statement that "The media companies are facing falling advertising dollars, so they need to raise the per sub cost to cover with cable/satellite companies." Is actually "The media companies are facing falling advertising dollars, so they WANT to raise the per sub cost to cover with cable/satellite companies.". The question is will they get their wish. Or will WE say no.

Talon Dancer

 

[Dah-Henny]

Personally, I believe that E* and others are banking on the report that more folks are staying at home with their entertainment dollars, opting for livingroom entertainment rather than a night on the town. If this is the case, I think the market guru's will be sorely disappointed.

 

[Sileny Jizda]

Well, we have done some hard looking and evaluation over these price increases, what we actually watch, what we can live without, and what we actually pay for the 10% of the channels in the packages we have. Our conclusion, Dish has shot themselves in the foot. If we decide to keep locals only at this point they'll be lucky.

 

[Fitzie]

This news has been deflating.

But if SpeedHD is available by Feb. 12, 2009, my spirits will rapidly revive. Speed week in HD! I really will have to get a larger TV.

Regards,
Fitzie

 

[Stargazer]

I have read that stocks that are recommended was a cable stock and Directv (they did not recommend Dish Network). I think it was due to the fact that more people are going to be staying home and I remember Charlie Ergen saying this within the past year as well.

I made a post regarding what will happen over a number of rate increases in the past. It looks like it is coming true with what was said thus far. Lets see where we may see rates in the future ....

Equivalent to AT100 ... 2008 - $32.99 / 2009 - $34.99 / 2010 - $35.99 / 2011 - $38.99 / 2012 - $39.99
Equivalent to AT200 ... 2008 - $44.99 / 2009 - $47.99 / 2010 - $48.99 / 2011 - $50.99 / 2012 - $52.99
Equivalent to AT250 ... 2008 - $54.99 / 2009 - $57.99 / 2010 - $59.99 / 2011 - $62.99 / 2012 - $64.99

I see about a $7-8 price increase over the next 4-5 years on the basic packages alone and perhaps another $2 increase in the movie packages during this time as well. This is not counting other increases we may see. Some may end up paying $10-15 more per month easily over the next 4-5 years on top of the $10-25 price increases we have seen lately. These seem like huge increases to me.

 

[Carl B]

Dish is just implementing the "pop" business strategy of the past few years. When revenue drops, instead of lowering prices to sell more, raise them to sell less at a higher rate and hopefully with an increase in revenue. Just look at beer or Pepsi/Coke. U.S. gallon consumption has been falling for both for several years, so what has been the response from the vendor, keep raising the price to recapture that lost revenue. That's why a 12-pack of Pepsi/Coke is being retailed now at $6, when it was less than $3 less than 3 years ago. And all the beer majors (at least here in metro-Denver) implemented a 20% price increase this fall (as confirmed by the owners of my local liquor store).

I'm beginning to think that this economic downturn may be much worse than that of the early 1980s because prices are continuing to climb on many products and services and those prices that shot up dramatically last summer (e.g., food products, airfares), ostensibly because of higher fuel costs, have not come down with the dramatic drop in fuel costs this fall. While consumers are tapped-out and many are losing their jobs, the real cost of living continues to rise. This sets the scene for the largest split of rich and poor in the U.S. since the Great Depression. I think a large segment of folks will be permanently pushed down out of the economic middle class by the coming economic collapse.