DirecTV Dish Merger ?
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Nope.
DIRECTV did say on their earnings call yesterday that a combined company could help fight costs on channels such as sports channels.
But that was about it.
DIRECTV did say on their earnings call yesterday that a combined company could help fight costs on channels such as sports channels.
But that was about it.
Direct tech would have to go, unless they find a way to juggle the two, but I can't see that happening. BUT, there's not going to be any merger anyway.
I'd think if the two did merge direct would dump the hopper in favor of their genie. They'd probably jack up the cost more.
Sour grapes again, Claude? 
One of the biggest plusses in my shift from DirecTV to Dish was and is the Hopper. Why would anyone want one of the slower HR series in place of it? Certainly not the lack of a couple tuners as that could easily be added to the Hopper design.
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One of the biggest plusses in my shift from DirecTV to Dish was and is the Hopper. Why would anyone want one of the slower HR series in place of it? Certainly not the lack of a couple tuners as that could easily be added to the Hopper design.
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It's clear that both companies would like to merge. Both have stated publically that a merge this time around would have a better chance because of increased choices for MVPD than was the case last decade. However, they are both a bit cautious about it because having been down that road, they don't want to spend the time and money if the govt. says NO again. But, no doubt, they would do it they had high enough confidence to get it approved. IMHO, it was Rupert Murdoch who pulled all the stops on Capital Hill (and how the Justice Department can be influenced on what to approve and not based upon POLITIC, not necessarily issues of competitive market) to stop the DirecTV/Dish merger back then because Rupert DESPERATELY wanted DirecTV, and he got it, only to refer to it later as a "bird turd" when Malone was on the verge of taking over NewsCorp, but Rupert relinquished DirecTV to Malone's Liberty Media in exchange for preventing Murdoch from losing control of NewsCorp. The DirecTV/Dish was the ONLY media merger NOT approved by the Justice Dept. Yet, later, the obscene, hostile to consumers merger of Comcast/NBC Universal was quite easily approved. Rotten in Denmark is the old expression?
Satellite is the most vulnerable going into the future as it is not a truly big, and less expensive ISP like ALL the other MVPD's: phone and cable companies. They still have a bright future if the TV service biz vanished, but not satellite. In general, I don't like big mergers, but I believe a merged DirecTV/Dish will be the only way they can be competitive with other MVPD's. This is why Ergen is so desperately trying to get into another business to hedge against what could be lack of growth and even shrinkage in the Sat TV biz in the future of streaming content viewed on TV and, more frightening, on tablet, and NOT Dish services, but Amazon (the Kindle Fire is doing very well) and those who already have access, and those new people who will soon subscribe, to Netflix, etc. I have no doubt Mike White and Charles are doing what they can to make it happen, but they know they have to have D.C. lined up before they expend resources actually attempting a merge.
Satellite is the most vulnerable going into the future as it is not a truly big, and less expensive ISP like ALL the other MVPD's: phone and cable companies. They still have a bright future if the TV service biz vanished, but not satellite. In general, I don't like big mergers, but I believe a merged DirecTV/Dish will be the only way they can be competitive with other MVPD's. This is why Ergen is so desperately trying to get into another business to hedge against what could be lack of growth and even shrinkage in the Sat TV biz in the future of streaming content viewed on TV and, more frightening, on tablet, and NOT Dish services, but Amazon (the Kindle Fire is doing very well) and those who already have access, and those new people who will soon subscribe, to Netflix, etc. I have no doubt Mike White and Charles are doing what they can to make it happen, but they know they have to have D.C. lined up before they expend resources actually attempting a merge.
In our little fantasy scenario here,why not add TiVo to the mix & have a DIRECTV/Dish Network/TiVo merger & try to combine the best of all three?
I think that we are in a different era now where monopolies are accepted as long as the Government can both be part of & can heavily regulate the industry. Today's government,regardless of party(I'm not trying to get political here) would no doubt approve a DTV/Dish merger but will HEAVILY regulate it. I'm trying to be general & ambiguous when I mention "government",I mean like how in China,Japan,& the European Union put restrictions on what private industries can or cannot do(not socialist or capitalist,but fascist in the economic definition of the word).
Sour grapes again, Claude?
One of the biggest plusses in my shift from DirecTV to Dish was and is the Hopper. Why would anyone want one of the slower HR series in place of it? Certainly not the lack of a couple tuners as that could easily be added to the Hopper design.
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Actually the new HR44 is pretty fast.
The reason why the Hopper only has 3 tuners is because thats the most that can be supported on a single coax cable. More than 3 Tuners would require a second coax cable, which most pre-wired homes do not have.
Its the same issue with the Dual Tuner technology when there was not dishpro plus technology. The number of cancelled installations was insane because there was no way to get 2 wires to the customers television set.
The solution before was just to install 2 receivers, you can't really do that with a hopper that required 2 coax cables as there is no other comparable receiver to the hopper in the Dish family.
So the Hopper is limited to 3 tuners.
Directv could actually come out with a receiver that supports up to 8 tuners with SWM Technology.
to answer your question, Nope, not gonna happen, even if there's more choices now then there were in 2002-2004 when the first attempt of a merger happened. one thing, FCC and the Justice department wouldn't approve it and two some places in Rural america don't have high speed internet for internet TV where people can watch shows online. until Rural areas get super fast internet, Dish and DirecTV should stay separate companies and never merge. now lock this thread before trolls take it to a whole new level of p***ing people off.
I actually talked to someone pretty high up at Directv the other day, and the chances of a merger happening are very unlikely.
The problem is that Rual America only has 2 Choices, Dish or Directv. When someone provides service to rual america as a 3rd provider, an argument can be made to merge the two companies.
Until then, NOT GONNA HAPPEN
The problem is that Rual America only has 2 Choices, Dish or Directv. When someone provides service to rual america as a 3rd provider, an argument can be made to merge the two companies.
Until then, NOT GONNA HAPPEN
At least the nice thing about both DTV & Dish is that you have a choice between the two. When it comes to cable TV,the only choice that you have is whichever cable provider your local municipality signed a contract with to provide service. Comcast won't come to my city because my city signed a contract with (then) Charter,(now) WOW that is so low,Comcast refuses to match or bid below it. The result is almost every home in my little city has either a Dish or DTV satellite dish on their roofs or in their yards.
I'm happy with my HR34. I have no lag issues or anything. Very happy with DirecTV overall epsecially when it comes to sports. Dish doesn't have what I need --- MSG, YES, etc. If they ever do merge I hope Dish's programming issues don't carry into the new company.
So because dish doesn't use swm technology then they'll probably not get more than 3 tuners ?
If coax can only support 3 tuners, then Direct's Genies wouldn't work either as they are single coax solutions also. I see no technical reason that they couldn't add a couple of tuners to the Hopper.
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I was happy with Direct when I had them, but that doesn't mean the HRs weren't slow in comparison to any Dish DVR I've ever had. And the slowness of them is an issue that is asked/commented about almost every day between here and DBSTalk. I know of no single issue that has ever shown up with more regularity with either service.
If they were to merge, I think the Hopper/Joey is a much better overall solution on the hardware side. Slip a couple extra tuners into the Hopper and you get the speed of Dish, PTAT and those additional tuners. From a hardware standpoint a great solution. Minimally a couple Hoppers with unified controlling of both could accomplish the same thing.
Downside to the Hopper/Joey solution is you can't mix it with the older tech. In that scenario, D*'s solution is better, but no unified management.
I could live with either hardware, would prefer Dish's.
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this really sums up how i feel. i got no complaints about directv's service and they treated me VERY well the 6 years i was there. bottom line is i got tired of seeing the same old issues with their dvr's which by the way i am aware there are much worse out there. in my opinion the hopper with sling blows away anything else out there even with the max of 3 tuners plus one ota. i don't have anywhere near the knowledge claude has with satellite but have had my share of dvr's and i can not deny is the best. in my 10 years with dish there was one thing always great and that was the hardware and software on these babies.
