Dish CEO says merger with DirecTV 'could make a lot of sense'

[Poke]

I know we all heard this before but this is what I thought was interesting in this read...

http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/12/5096952/dish-ceo-says-directv-merger-could-make-a-lot-of-sense

Ergen also touched on Dish's ongoing dispute with Disney, hinting that dropping ESPN and other Disney channels is a very real possibility if the two sides fail to reach a long-term deal. "You don’t marry everyone you date," he said. "I’m getting too old to do business with people we don’t have a good relationship with just to make a buck."

 

[MikeD-C05]

IT's never going to happen . THey have been talking about merging since they started in the 90s. The government won't ever allow it due to monopolies & the old anti trust law.

 

[KAB]

IT's never going to happen . THey have been talking about merging since they started in the 90s. The government won't ever allow it due to monopolies & the old anti trust law.

No, it could pass today. But still won't happen, IMO.

 

[navychop]

IF it happened, and I lost the Hopper OR my EHD content, goodbye Dish Hello Fios or cord cutting.

Sent from my iPhone using SatelliteGuys

 

[MikeD-C05]

I said years ago when both companies were adding locals , that the best way they could work together would be a limited partnership. They could of worked to put all the locals on a common satellite that they both share or could use from their slots. This new company would handle all the haggling over fees and contracts etc. They would have equal 50/50 of both DISH and DIRECTV to run it. This would give the new company the combined bargaining power of over 30 million subs. No more duplication of locals, pops ,uplink centers, etc. The best of a merger without a merger. OF course now with DISH and the hopper needing all locals on one transponder for recording purposes , that wouldn't work today for DISH .

 

[TigerpounceTN]

"I’m getting too old to do business with people we don’t have a good relationship with just to make a buck."

Then go away and let someone else do it? The manure will hit the proverbial fan is ESPN goes missing.

 

[Stargazer]

I agree on the satellite sharing. They could still do this. A separate company could be formed from Dish/Direct or they could use Echostar to lease the space to Direct as well using the same space and same hardware. This would also allow for more mass production to get cost down on hardware.

 

[nelson61]

I agree on the satellite sharing. They could still do this. A separate company could be formed from Dish/Direct or they could use Echostar to lease the space to Direct as well using the same space and same hardware. This would also allow for more mass production to get cost down on hardware.

EchoStar provided Directv uplink/downlink service for several years. If I remember correctly, it was during the transition to Directv's newest satellites. They had a bunch of transponders on 72.5W and their contract ended before they got the new stuff up and running. EchoStar extended their use for a couple of years when the transition did not go as fast as originally planned.

 

[comfortably_numb]

Sounds like Charlie needs to retire. Losing ESPN and Disney would be a "double whammy," or potentially a death blow for Dish IMO. People will not tolerate it. It won't be about "losing a buck" at that point. It will be about losing the war. Congress is already being asked to get involved to stop these ridiculous disputes.

 

[Bobby]

Sounds like Charlie needs to retire. Losing ESPN and Disney would be a "double whammy," or potentially a death blow for Dish IMO. People will not tolerate it. It won't be about "losing a buck" at that point. It will be about losing the war. Congress is being asked to get involved to stop these ridiculous disputes.

If we took everyone's rhetoric at face value, we'd need to get our entire government to retire..

 

[comfortably_numb]

If we took everyone's rhetoric at face value, we'd need to get our entire government to retire..

True 'dat.

 

[DishSubLA]

All these guys have "tough" sounding rhetoric in public. They don't always mean what they say. Negotiations in private can often (not always) be more civil sounding. In public, neither side can seem like push-overs. While I can see CBS O&O's off a Dish for some period during a dispute, I just don't see it for ESPN, a network that even Ergan has stated many times has high value with its well-produced, new, exclusive content that costs a big bundle to produce with even Ergen understanding that some of that makes its way to player salaries, etc.

 

[edfiero]

I'd kiss Charlie's as$ if he dropped ESPN. I rarely ever watch it and wouldn't miss it one bit. Does anyone have any idea of how much of your monthly payment goes to ESPN?????

I would bet that our bills would drop by at least 4 bucks a month (possibly more) if ESPN got dropped. It would never happen, but I would love to see EPSN on a separate tier so all of us that don't give a rats as$ about EPSN don't have to pay for it.

 

[Ronnie-]

I would bet that our bills would drop by at least 4 bucks a month (possibly more) if ESPN got dropped.

Ill take that bet.

 

[Scherrman]

I'd kiss Charlie's as$ if he dropped ESPN. I rarely ever watch it and wouldn't miss it one bit. Does anyone have any idea of how much of your monthly payment goes to ESPN?????

I would bet that our bills would drop by at least 4 bucks a month (possibly more) if ESPN got dropped. It would never happen, but I would love to see EPSN on a separate tier so all of us that don't give a rats as$ about EPSN don't have to pay for it.

Lets not start this argument up again. My wife and I are big sports fans and my TV is on one of the ESPN channels or NFL Network 90% of the time this time of the year. I know how much of my bill goes to ESPN as well and I don't care. Most big sports fans do not care. I would bet that sports fans have some of the highest TV bills just because they are willing to pay for what they want to watch. I'm a firm believer that if Dish did drop ESPN you still wouldn't see a decrease in your bill. All you are avoiding is a possible increase.

I will agree with having a sports package would be nice and could solve a lot of problems. One of the reasons this argument bothers me so much is because it's very one sided. I know there are a lot of people that do not watch sports and do not want to pay for them. There are just as many people who love sports and don't want to pay for the hundred other channels they never watch. It just seems the non-sports fans complain more because they see how such a few amount of channels take up a good chunk of the bill.

My suggestion is, start your own company and try to only carry the channels that you think people want to see. Once you do that, go ahead and tell me how simple this business is and how you can just package whatever channels together that you want. OH, and you have to make a profit doing it.

 

[MikeD-C05]

Answer to people who like sports and those who do not like sports: ALA CART ! Sooner or later it will come to this. Between the cord cutters and those in the younger generation that never will pay for Tv , it's only a matter of time........