Prepare for another price increase thx to ESPN

[rapidturtle]

Something like Ala Carte has to come eventually. If ESPN wants a lot more $$$, (which we know they will) just price them like HBO. $12 per month and you get ESPN. I know ESPN doesn't want this because they then loose viewers which means less add revenue, but something has to give somewhere.
While there at it, make a religion pack and a shopping pack so I don't have to pay for that garbage.

 

[MikeD-C05]

This increase by Espn will force DISH to cut them out of regular programming packs and into their own premium sports pack. Charlie has already hinted that this is coming and I see DISH or Echostar being the first to do it. There is a market for low priced programming and if No sports is the price you pay , I am sure there will be subs who will subscribe to it. Yes there will be churn ,but I am betting that Charlie already has an idea who is watching Espn on a regular basis and who isn't. He has already decided it will be worth it to spin them off in to their own premium programming pack ,especially if there is a 100% increase in the cost mentioned in today's Tv predictions column. This will be the straw that broke the camels back. Ala cart will come out of it . At least sports ala cart will and Charlie will lead the way .

 

[Gobucks]

Isn't there a price increase just about every year? I think Dish held off one year but with Dirct it's like clock work. Every Feb no matter what they raise the packages by $3 or more. I wonder if the DVR fee will go up and box lease fee too.

I'm used to it by now. I'm sure one day it will hit a price that I'm not willing to pay. Until then it's just bend over and take it.

 

[Scherrman]

I honestly do not want a la carte programming. I watch a lot of different channels that span lots of different content. I'd probably have to spend $200 to get all the channels I have now. If ESPN went to a separate package I think a lot of people would be upset. We have more customers that want to be able to get ESPN as part of the basic package and hate having to pay more to get their favorite channels.

 

[Scherrman]

Isn't there a price increase just about every year? I think Dish held off one year but with Dirct it's like clock work. Every Feb no matter what they raise the packages by $3 or more. I wonder if the DVR fee will go up and box lease fee too.

I'm used to it by now. I'm sure one day it will hit a price that I'm not willing to pay. Until then it's just bend over and take it.

Dish's package prices have not increased in the last 2 years and won't have one till next year.

 

[MikeD-C05]

I watch just mostly channels in the top 200 pack for $59.99. The top 250 pack is full of channels I can do with out. Now if I see my bill go up by another $8.00 - $10.00 due to Espn extortion demands, I will seriously lower down to top 120 and do without the one or two channels I like in top 200 . I just do not want my bill going up any more than I already pay. 12 years ago I was paying $69.99 for AEP with all premium packs + locals and all superstations for $8.00 a month. Now if I was to subscribe to all of that I would be seriously pushing past the $135.00 mark with extra receiver and taxes ,dish fees and surcharges added in. I have dropped down each time to a lower pack and just did away with the extra stuff I used to watch. There will come a time where the only option will be the Welcome pack +locals. I hate to go down that far ,but I will if I have no other choice. One way to combat this is ala cart for Sports premium pack channels that are pushing the cost for all programming packs, except Welcome pack. IF Charlie will build it , I am sure other tv providers like Cable and telecos will follow suit. I can see Directv staying the Sportcentric leader they are in satellite. I can see DISH becoming the biggest company over anyone else for those who want to save money on their monthly bill. Another $10.00 a month for Espn is not going to cut it for most subscribers out there. They will cut the cord and the entire satellite/cable model will collapse upon itself. Most Families are not going to keep paying more to occasionally watch sports on Espn. They are going to say that's it and drop them all together. Pay tv has already reached the point of diminishing returns for most of us and another huge increase will push it right out the door for the rest of us.

 

[The Fat Man]

I like baseball, but if asked about possibly losing ESPN I'd say "eeehhh". The only thing important from them for me is MNF ... when the Patriots play. And I can see that via WCVB or WMUR. I actually care more about NBC Sports Net due to the NHL.

 

[Yespage]

Dish's package prices have not increased in the last 2 years and won't have one till next year.

Technically Dish didn't raise rates over the last two years... however, before not doing that, they raised their rates (about two years worth...) and then "froze" the rates in some act of alleged niceness.

I like baseball, but if asked about possibly losing ESPN I'd say "eeehhh". The only thing important from them for me is MNF ... when the Patriots play. And I can see that via WCVB or WMUR. I actually care more about NBC Sports Net due to the NHL.

And I'd agree, but even as a Pats fan, I can't justify staying up so late, to sit through so many commercials and watch the game in whole. MNF is terribly over-rated, especially for East Coast viewers. Besides, the regular season doesn't mean much any more. It is just a round robin for the Playoffs.

 

[mdram]

Technically Dish didn't raise rates over the last two years... however, before not doing that, they raised their rates (about two years worth...) and then "froze" the rates in some act of alleged niceness.

but didnt they raise fees?

 

[Yespage]

but didnt they raise fees?

What I meant was instead of raising rates in 2011 and 2012, they increased the rates to 2012 rates before "freezing" them, making this whole idea of frozen rates a joke.

 

[jerryez]

Make it a premium channel or put it in a sports pack, I don't watch enough football that I can't live without a few games that aren't on the networks. I know that I am paying between $3 and 4 NOW, AND SURELY WILL NOT PAY MORE.

 

[dangue]

Just my two cents:

Here's the problem with the idea of moving ESPN into a separate tier. Disney will never go for it. "So what?" some may argue, "Just drop ESPN." But, it's not that simple. Disney controls a bunch of other channels that they can hold hostage over ESPN carriage. Dish surviving without ESPN strikes me as hard enough, dish surviving without any Disney owned channels seems very unlikely.

Of course, I doubt the carriage agreements all expire at the same time. But it'll still be bad if Dish loses ESPN and family channels and then three months later loses another Disney channel, etc. At that point, the writing will be on the wall for the remaining channels. I'm not sure Dish could recover from the sub loss that would ensue from all that.

Content providers have way too much power. And since it's illegal for distributors to coordinate their efforts, I don't see any easy solution. Government intervention could change the current status quo, but that strikes me as unlikely and would likely have unintended side effects that consumers would dislike even more. More than likely, the current model will persist, prices will continue to rise until the system collapses on itself from consumers deciding to cut the cord and get their programming by other means.

I really wish this pessimistic outlook didn't strike me as a realistic view of the future.

 

[Gobucks]

Does anyone know when the current ESPN contract ends?

 

[HanoverPretzel]

Not that ESPN is totally blameless here, but, for what it's worth, if my Dish bill goes up, I'm going to blame Dish, and not ESPN. Why? Because Dish makes a healthy profit margin and could eat the cost of a few channel increases without raising rates while still operating in the black. I don't deal with ESPN directly, I deal with Dish, and it's Dish that ultimately decides what to charge me. They can use being charged more for channels as rationale for raising prices, but, in the end, they are raising the prices to preserve a profit margin they've arbitrarily decided they have a right to.

I basically have cable for sports, primarily, so Dish dropping ESPN would be a blow to their value to me. They'd have to not only not raise prices, but cut them by an awful lot to compensate for losing ESPN and retain my business. Losing either of my two RSNs would likely mean they could cut prices $20 a month and I still wouldn't stay- and I'm poor and very cost sensitive. It's just that to me having satellite or cable without sports programming is like having a shower that's not hooked up to running water- not very useful.

Not that I don't sometimes watch other stuff- news, shows, etc.. Already with television shows I like, though, I don't bother to watch them as they air and just rent the discs from Netflix when Netflix gets them in, so if I'm watching a show through Dish that's not sports or news it's usually because I am bored and looking for a comedy or something that I could easily sub to the Netflix streaming subscription for, or buy DVD sets of for the price I am paying Dish. Dish to me is no longer about television programs- it's sports and news and that's basically what I am paying for.

Now, if Dish were to toss us all free DVRs like they apparently used to do, that could get me back into watching new programs "as they air" (or within a week of airing anyhow). But I'm not paying extra for a DVR, so no dice. I don't feel like penciling in several days a week where I'm glued to the tv at a specific time or else I missing my program and have to watch out of order the following week. Easy just to Netflix DVDs.

 

[Scherrman]

Making it a premium will not go over as well as you all think it will. The majority of customers are going to be upset that they have to pay more for it. Now if it were to happen and fewer people were willing to pay for it as a premium, then over the years ESPN may be forced to offer the channel to everyone at a reasonable price. I'm not sure how it would play out I guess.

 

[Yespage]

Not that ESPN is totally blameless here, but, for what it's worth, if my Dish bill goes up, I'm going to blame Dish, and not ESPN. Why?

Because you just want to bitch about Dish?

Making it a premium will not go over as well as you all think it will. The majority of customers are going to be upset that they have to pay more for it. Now if it were to happen and fewer people were willing to pay for it as a premium, then over the years ESPN may be forced to offer the channel to everyone at a reasonable price. I'm not sure how it would play out I guess.

Oh, it probably wouldn't work at all. Once people realize how much it'd cost, they would start asking themselves, are they willing to give it up. I didn't think I could, but I have and for intents and purposes, have survived. I added ESPN during Euro 2012 and have otherwise, survived without it in Latino Dos.

ESPN doesn't want people to think whether they can live without ESPN. Baseball is available on a number of channels already. Monday Night Football isn't that big of a deal (they make it sound like NFL Sunday Ticket). It's a sacrifice, but if it means saving 5 to 10 dollars, it is a sacrifice I bet even some sports fans would be willing to make.

Dish probably could give away RedZone, put MLB and NBA in the basic packages, lower package prices a tad, and people may be alright with losing ESPN. Which is why ESPN wouldn't allow it.

 

[osu1991]

Not that ESPN is totally blameless here, but, for what it's worth, if my Dish bill goes up, I'm going to blame Dish, and not ESPN. Why? Because Dish makes a healthy profit margin and could eat the cost of a few channel increases without raising rates while still operating in the black. I don't deal with ESPN directly, I deal with Dish, and it's Dish that ultimately decides what to charge me. They can use being charged more for channels as rationale for raising prices, but, in the end, they are raising the prices to preserve a profit margin they've arbitrarily decided they have a right to.

I basically have cable for sports, primarily, so Dish dropping ESPN would be a blow to their value to me. They'd have to not only not raise prices, but cut them by an awful lot to compensate for losing ESPN and retain my business. Losing either of my two RSNs would likely mean they could cut prices $20 a month and I still wouldn't stay- and I'm poor and very cost sensitive. It's just that to me having satellite or cable without sports programming is like having a shower that's not hooked up to running water- not very useful.

Not that I don't sometimes watch other stuff- news, shows, etc.. Already with television shows I like, though, I don't bother to watch them as they air and just rent the discs from Netflix when Netflix gets them in, so if I'm watching a show through Dish that's not sports or news it's usually because I am bored and looking for a comedy or something that I could easily sub to the Netflix streaming subscription for, or buy DVD sets of for the price I am paying Dish. Dish to me is no longer about television programs- it's sports and news and that's basically what I am paying for.

Now, if Dish were to toss us all free DVRs like they apparently used to do, that could get me back into watching new programs "as they air" (or within a week of airing anyhow). But I'm not paying extra for a DVR, so no dice. I don't feel like penciling in several days a week where I'm glued to the tv at a specific time or else I missing my program and have to watch out of order the following week. Easy just to Netflix DVDs.

So when BP, Exxon, Phillips, Conoco, etc.. raise the price of fuel to your local gas station 100%, I guess you expect the local station to just sell it to you at cost or less too.

I thought you were switching to cable anyway because Dish didn't offer NBCSN and MSNBC in the basic packages for you?

 

[osu1991]

Making it a premium will not go over as well as you all think it will. The majority of customers are going to be upset that they have to pay more for it. Now if it were to happen and fewer people were willing to pay for it as a premium, then over the years ESPN may be forced to offer the channel to everyone at a reasonable price. I'm not sure how it would play out I guess.

I still think they will keep ESPN in the basic package and move ESPN 2, The U, News and Classic to the sports pack or maybe move them up to AT250

 

[Scherrman]

This is just the nature of everything in live now days. It's not just TV or gas, it's pretty much everything. Food prices, housing materials, appliances, water bills, natural gas, electricity, insurance and just about everything else has increased in price. If you can find a way for the cost of everything to go down or not increase anymore while still aloowing everyone to make a living then you should be the next president.

 

[Scherrman]

I still think they will keep ESPN in the basic package and move ESPN 2, The U, News and Classic to the sports pack or maybe move them up to AT250

That's not a terrible idea. That's how it use to be. ESPN was in the basic channel and the extra nich ESPN channels were in higher packages. Then a combination of ESPN wanting it to be in the lower package and customers complaining about it being there also, Dish now carries them all in the low packages. In order to carry all those channels in the lower package the cost needs to be made up somewhere.