Dish Loses 268,000 Pay TV Subscribers in Fourth Quarter

The era of paying Dish, DirecTV, and Comcast to watch TV programming with commercials is over. I can watch 500 different high quality channels for free on Pluto, Roku Channel, Plex, Xumo, Kanopy, etc. Plus pay monthly for Netflix, Amazon, and Britbox, with no advertising.

The exception appears to be live sports which many people can't seem to live without. I am not one of of those however.

When will the bleeding stop? It probably won't.
 
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As long as they keep raising prices and keep holding customers hostage for months on end, they will continue to lose them !!
This would be an even more disturbing trend if it wasn't an established one for years. It isn't just DIsh who is losing subs, raising prices, etc... The main reason not to like Dish is their position on RSNs and generally having the lowest PQ, though not terrible. Otherwise, their Hopper 3, Flex pack, and generally their pricing options are awesome!
 
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So satellite customers down to 7.61 million. At the end of 2021 they were at 10.71 million for combined satellite and Sling tv. Now they are down to a total of 9.75 million. Just keeps on dropping. :rolleyes:
7.42 million, but who's counting?

Dish might be wise to add some RSN channels and stop paying so much money for many channels like CNN, USA, Vice, or the Locals. The diehard loyalists are sports fans, not the others.
 
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Dish isn't bringing RSNs back until it makes sense for Dish to bring them back. It hasn't hurt them as much as some suggested it would. It hurt, but just not as much.
DOOM! DOOM, I say! The sky is falling!

Never bet against Charlie. Cats can learn something from him about landing on the feet.
Charlie himself says it is falling, hence his 5G venture and Sling. He knew Sat was on the way out. He's doing what he can to hold the fort.
 

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With Diamond heading into bankruptcy and MLB grabbing the baseball games with an eye towards self-streaming what's left for RSN's to survive on? NBA, NHL? Dominoes? Darts? Paint drying? Once MLB starts streaming the NBA will not be far behind. The NHL? Eh, not sure there's enough market support. So the few remaing RSN's will disappear as their contracts expire or they fold. RSN's are doomed. It's only a matter of time so why in the world would Dish sign a deal with Diamond or any other RSN parent.
 
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Re: Dish losing subs.

I wonder what Dish estimates as their sub shrink and does this fall within that projection? We’ll never know for sure unless it’s disclosed but there must be a number or range they plan for? I also wonder if they have an idea how many die hard subscribers they have that will hang on forever, like me? And finally, how many subs does it take to keep the lights on?
 
Re: Dish losing subs.

I wonder what Dish estimates as their sub shrink and does this fall within that projection? We’ll never know for sure unless it’s disclosed but there must be a number or range they plan for? I also wonder if they have an idea how many die hard subscribers they have that will hang on forever, like me? And finally, how many subs does it take to keep the lights on?
Seven percent of all Dish/DirecTV/Comcast subscribers will cut the cord in 2023, up from six percent this year, according to estimates.

What can they can they do about it? Not much, cut expenses I guess.
 
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After 26 years with Dish I left last quarter. For me it was a continuing combination of three things 1) Paying $170.00 per month, 2) Frustration about the non-stop channel blackouts, and 3) the DVR and Joey equipment issues that have gotten progressively worse over the last several years. I went with Hulu as well as Paramount +, Netflix, HBO Max, Disney, Peacock, Prime Video and still pay less for all of those than I did with Dish.

I will say that my DVR experience with Hulu on my AppleTV using fiber has not been smooth, however that seems more palatable right now because of the price difference. We'll see how long that lasts.
 
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