When will it end?

[osu1991]

Does your local cableco not have a whole-home host/client solution like the Dish Hopper/Direct Genie/Comcast X1?

Cox has one (Contour), not sure if it's deployed in Connecticut.

http://ww2.cox.com/residential/tv/dvr.cox

$8.50 for the record 6 dvr
$9.99 for the dvr service for each dvr
$25.00 for the contour service.. required with record 6 dvr
$8.50 for each additional receiver

 

[KAB]

Luckily, my girlfriend could care less about TV. I don't think she even knows how to turn it on!! She spends all her time on her laptop and on Facebook on her phone. She'd never know if I turned the service off!

Well then, you have nothing holding you back. Do whatever you need/want to do.

 

[sremick]

There's another aspect to all this as well:

I'm not still getting the same channels I was paying for before, despite paying even more now. I used to pay for "The History Channel" because of the quality history-related programming that was on it. Now they've moved all that programming to "H2" (2 tiers up), and "The History Channel" has nothing of what it used to and has been replaced with "reality" show garbage. Same with The Discovery Channel... they moved all the relevant content to "The Science Channel" (also 2 tiers up) and the current "The Discovery Channel" is crap.

So on paper it looks like you're just paying more for the same, but in reality you're paying a lot more for a lot less.

I'd drop every single sports, shopping, music and Disney-related channel... along with several dozen more... just to get maybe 6 other channels I actually care about. But I can't.

 

[dwarren2]

I disagree about looking at the long term after the so called teaser rates. The only good pricing is for new customers. People should jump ship every 2 years to get these deals & keep the cycle going.

Big problem with that. The whole idea of having a dvr is to save programs for latter viewing or repeat viewing. Change providers and you've lost anything that you've recorded. Unless you've purchased your dvr you have to send it back to the provider and anything stored on a ehd is lost since the ehd is keyed to the account number. If that secenerio works for you, go ahead. You'll be a drop in the ocean. For me it doesn't. With 2 HWS's and 5 ehd's, I have to much recorded to think about changing.
Besides, the wife has figured out, for the most part, how to use the dvr's. If the wife is happy, I'm happy.

 

[sam_gordon]

There's another aspect to all this as well:

I'm not still getting the same channels I was paying for before, despite paying even more now. I used to pay for "The History Channel" because of the quality history-related programming that was on it. Now they've moved all that programming to "H2" (2 tiers up), and "The History Channel" has nothing of what it used to and has been replaced with "reality" show garbage. Same with The Discovery Channel... they moved all the relevant content to "The Science Channel" (also 2 tiers up) and the current "The Discovery Channel" is crap.

So on paper it looks like you're just paying more for the same, but in reality you're paying a lot more for a lot less.

I'd drop every single sports, shopping, music and Disney-related channel... along with several dozen more... just to get maybe 6 other channels I actually care about. But I can't.

But Dish (nor Direct, Comcast, etc) doesn't have any say in what programming is on which channel. Yes, they can decide to put more channels on lower tiers, but why? Just to make you happy? That's not why they're in business.

 

[king3pj]

Big problem with that. The whole idea of having a dvr is to save programs for latter viewing or repeat viewing. Change providers and you've lost anything that you've recorded. Unless you've purchased your dvr you have to send it back to the provider and anything stored on a ehd is lost since the ehd is keyed to the account number. If that secenerio works for you, go ahead. You'll be a drop in the ocean. For me it doesn't. With 2 HWS's and 5 ehd's, I have to much recorded to think about changing.
Besides, the wife has figured out, for the most part, how to use the dvr's. If the wife is happy, I'm happy.

The thing with that is that I'm current on the shows I really care about. I might get a couple weeks behind but it's not something I have to keep forever. The shows where I do get really behind on will probably end up on Netflix or Amazon before I have a chance to watch them anyways. I did lose some recordings I wanted to watch when I canceled but I watched the stuff that I wasn't multiple seasons behind on before I made the call. Losing recordings stinks but it wouldn't be enough for me to not cut the cord or take advantage of deals with someone else.

As for the drop in the ocean comment, that's fine with me. I'm not trying to start a TV revolution. I just decided to stop paying for a service I no longer need. In fact, I would rather the TV market stay the same. That way I can continue to save money with OTA and streaming. If everyone started doing that I'm sure the price of content or internet would go up.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Does your local cableco not have a whole-home host/client solution like the Dish Hopper/Direct Genie/Comcast X1?

Nope, they started rolling out whole home and then stopped because of problems with the system.

 

[stardust3]

The thing with that is that I'm current on the shows I really care about. I might get a couple weeks behind but it's not something I have to keep forever. The shows where I do get really behind on will probably end up on Netflix or Amazon before I have a chance to watch them anyways. I did lose some recordings I wanted to watch when I canceled but I watched the stuff that I wasn't multiple seasons behind on before I made the call. Losing recordings stinks but it wouldn't be enough for me to not cut the cord or take advantage of deals with someone else.

As for the drop in the ocean comment, that's fine with me. I'm not trying to start a TV revolution. I just decided to stop paying for a service I no longer need. In fact, I would rather the TV market stay the same. That way I can continue to save money with OTA and streaming. If everyone started doing that I'm sure the price of content or internet would go up.

While I completely agree, the market isn't staying the same. Netflix alone claims 44 million subs worldwide & is growing unbelievably every Q.

My way of thinking on archived dvr material. Only record & keep what you're willing to lose. This stuff breaks down & hard drives crash....it is what it is. While dvr tech is still very good, it is in the beginning stages of becoming old school.

I mean this as no offense to anyone in particular. However 2+ hoppers, multiple joeys, thousands of recordings on ehd's & a big bill will garner no sympathy here. From a sales perspective these are the types of accounts that are worth avoiding if at all possible.

 

[satnewb]

However 2+ hoppers, multiple joeys, thousands of recordings on ehd's & a big bill will garner no sympathy here. From a sales perspective these are the types of accounts that are worth avoiding if at all possible.

Can I assume that's because that's the type of customer that will barrage you with nit-picky complaints etc thru the life of their service agreement? Or perhaps because it's more equipment to potentially fail and need replacing?

Either way I can see it being "all your fault". lol

 

[Teehar]

When it comes to episodic tv shows,online streaming is now my preferred way to watch.No need to record and skip ads,watch an entire series commercial free via netflix,or amazon.There aren't a hand full of shows currently airing that I bother recording.My wife had been recording Gilligans Island on tvland,I was like why not watch it on amazon,no ads,choose any episode you like from the entire series.Past several nights she has been doing just that.I tried watching an episode of it on the 722,way too many presses of the skip button for me,especially when I'm half asleep.It's an average of 7 30 second skips per break on tvland.Almost as bad as trying to watch Duck Dynasty,I have never in my life seen so many ads in a 30 minute program.

 

[empiretc]

2 reasons I and probably a lot of others keep paying the piper if you will...1.Wife,you know that happy wife,happy life saying. 2.Sports,mainly NFL As much as it pains me to see our bill rise $5-$15 per year,I'll keep paying as long as I can,or until a viable alternative comes along. By the same token,I feel no remorse,or embarrassment to bitch,complain,and call and ask for better deals on our programming.

if only the NFL would offer a standalone streaming RedZone subscription for the season......

 

[Teehar]

if only the NFL would offer a standalone streaming RedZone subscription for the season......

I would be very happy if the NFL offered that,but I would be even happier if they offered a single team package.When the NBA started league pass,they also offered team pass,you could choose one team for a lower price.Of course they dropped it pretty fast,but it was nice while it lasted.

 

[empiretc]

I would be very happy if the NFL offered that,but I would be even happier if they offered a single team package.When the NBA started league pass,they also offered team pass,you could choose one team for a lower price.Of course they dropped it pretty fast,but it was nice while it lasted.

Agreed. A few years ago they offered Sunday Ticket streaming on the PS3. Was really hoping something was going to come of that, but nothing.....

 

[Scherrman]

When talking to a potential customer do you give them this spiel? If so how well does it work?

Presenting the facts & letting them make an informed decision is costing me sales big time. People just aren't signing up like they used to.

It wasn't too many years ago that only 5 of us signed up & installed over 1200 customers in a year's time. Granted that was dish & directv, mostly dish. The way things are now we don't do a fraction of that. I really don't see this changing either.

I feel no need to lie to my customers. If they don't want to sign up then so be it. I prefer a happy customer. The majority of my customer are long time customers and they stay with us because they prefer our service, they're even willing to pay more for it. I'm tire of bending over backwards and trying anything to make a sale. I've gotten to the point where I just tell them how it is, some people like it and some go somewhere else. At least this way I'm getting the quality customers I want.

I'm not saying this is a great way to run a business. In fact I'm sure it's a terrible way to run a profitable business but that's how I do things. I'm not sure how much lopnger we'll be able to stay in business but as long as I'm going to be in it I'm going to do it my way and try to enjoy it. Of course this is easier for me to say because I have other work I do and selling Dish is not my main form of business. I do enjoy this industry though.

 

[king3pj]

I would be very happy if the NFL offered that,but I would be even happier if they offered a single team package.When the NBA started league pass,they also offered team pass,you could choose one team for a lower price.Of course they dropped it pretty fast,but it was nice while it lasted.

http://www.nba.com/leaguepass/broadband/

They still kind of offer that for the online version. You can't pick just one team but you can pick 5. For the remainder of this season you can get all teams for $109 or pick 5 teams for $65. I'm not sure what the pricing difference was at the beginning of the season.

 

[Scherrman]

And every time Dish has a dispute people raise holy hell and threaten to leave. If Dish were to drop channels permanently, I don't even want to think how that would go.

The only way I can see anything getting done by dropping a channel like ESPN is if the TV providers ban together and drop them all at once. No one provider could weather the storm that dropping ESPN would bring. If Dish, Direct and Comcast all dropped ESPN because they were sick of the price then I could see some action being made. Until then I see nothing but increased rates.

 

[satjay]

With all this talk about cost, I see a satellite guys favorite poll coming

How much is your bill

Just kidding....Please

 

[bwexler]

Too much!!!
I am sure almost everybody agrees.

 

[Gobucks]

The average tv consumer complains about their bill being high.

The average satguys member starts a thread about it.

/thread

Yes and for some reason no one can ignore it? Why is that? Everyone has to jump in and say "Oh no another thread about such and such". Then the every popular "Just cancel".

Some of you guys say you hate these threads but you guys post in them every single time. So do you really hate them or just say that so you can in and bash? Ignore is your friend people. It is not hard to ignore a thread. No one has to post in these kinds of threads. I actually thought this place was different.


To the OP.... this is what you get man. Sad yes I know.

 

[harshness]

My beef is how thin they're spreading the content across the many channels. We could do with less than half of the channels we have now if they would just strip out all the programming that doesn't hold with the theme. What part does the Amish Mafia play in history? Does it even exist? What have we learned from Honey Boo Boo?

That said, it doesn't get much cheaper than DISH if you shop around. I doubt you can bring the big name channels in for much less.