I have an idea if Dish wants to play hardball. It's probably unworkable. Give Showtime, at no additional cost, to everybody who had HBO for the duration of the dispute. It would probably cost Charlie too much, but what a way to up the ante.
HBO/Cinemax Takedown
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I've always had mixed feelings about Dish disputes. They're frustrating, distracting, and inconvenient. But I'm 100% on the side of Dish on this one. No provider should have to guarantee subscribers. This is ATT socializing a TV channel so that they can pay for freebies they give their own customers.
It probably wasn't difficult to see if the payoffs had been deposited and cleared the bank.
Dish doesn't own Showtime. If they did, they could play the same game ATT is playing with HBO.
Maybe its time for Dish to purchase some premium channels....
Since we’re all guessing exactly what’s being negotiated maybe it’s AT&T offering pricing based on the number of subscribers, voiukn pricing? If Dish guarantees x number of subs we will charge you A per sub. You guarantee Y number of suns we will charge you B per sub. But i’m sure it’s totally AT&T’s fault, Dish would never say anything that would make it look like they are partly to blame.
I'm certain such terms and conditions are closely held secrets.
This shouldn't be a surprise, we predicted AT&T would try to freeze out Dish (and other retrans providers) when they took control of HBO. Where are all those naysayers who said it wouldn't happen?
In a TV - Satellite forum about DISH not having HBO and At&t now owning HBO ..and the first time ever HBO has been pulled? A drug company discussion would seem out of place, no?
I can't believe that AT&T is being this stupid with the appeal of the merger still in the courts. If they were smarter they wouldn't have stirred up this hornet's nest until the appeal had been decided. Apparently they are so greedy they couldn't wait so maybe that greed will be their undoing. We can only hope...
I'm of the same opinion.
AT&T should've had to sell the vertical parts of the proposed merger. By vertical I mean by them being a content distributor, they should not own/buy content providers. They are perfectly free to create their own content (didn't they do Mr. Mercedes?) but should not be able to own the oldest (45 years) premium channel. They need to dump 'em.
Dish doesn't own Showtime. If they did, they could play the same game ATT is playing with HBO.
Maybe its time for Dish to purchase some premium channels....
That's what this dispute really is about. Dish got left behind while DirecTV / Comast and others were out buying content. It started with Comcast and NBC, then ATT purchased DirecTV and Comcast parterned with Verizon, and then ATT bought HBO to level the playing field. Charlie went the direction of buying spectrum with no content plan. Now Dish is playing catchup and cant. Discovery / Tmobile would be a potential targets for Dish.
The number of people that its is negotiable when you look at the subscriber base.
Exactly this. Dish has no content leverage. If they owned some slate of channels, they could play hardball with AT&T. But instead the have spectrum licenses they've failed to do anything with and are at risk of losing.
HBO is the start. Wait for when Turner channels or AT&T SportsNet contracts need to be renewed. Comcast can leverage the NBC slate against AT&T. Dish has nothing.
Which makes me wonder if they might get swallowed up in some other kind of merger or hostile takeover.
But the government has already set the precedent by allowing Comcast to buy NBC Universal, they let Disney buy ABC. The goring further Shell is not allowed to own any crude oil production or refineries if they have stations to see the product?
The 'brains' have said that content is king and the MSO's needed to secure content, which is what they are doing.
Give that man a cigar. Charlie spent billions on buying up spectrum licenses, which have cost him billions and maybe he'll make a network some day or just cash out and retire. Others figured out if you want people you buy or service we better have something compelling on it to watch so they bought content.
