Dish Network Statement on MLB

[FlyingJ]

Because many of us have invested hundreds of dollars on equipment and may or may not have a commitment to fulfill. Then there is the upfront cost of direct tv, 4 room set up with 2 hd dvrs will run you 700 or so(if you have hd sets) before spending the jack for the mlb package. With the stupid lease model we can't even recoup some money by selling our equipment to pay for new leased equipment.

Brownclown, I don't doubt that your quote from above is true. My thought process is, ok, that's what it will cost. Now take that and divide it over the next 7years of watching your favorite MLB teams playing practically every day for 6 straight months at a time. I don't know, but it seems worth it to me. There it is, a decision to make.

 

[jpn]

Cheapass Charlie strikes again! No MLB channel on a Basic tier. There is no doubt that E* could turn the "cost" into an asset, by negotiating the same equity stake as D* and InDemand. Instead, E* has made excuses rather than even throwing a lowball offer: thave not even tried.

Suddenly the air has cleared. The story is no longer about how exclusive arrangements are BAD, and how Evil MLB and D* are for attempting to lock-down MLB EI. Now the blame is where it belongs: Cheapass Charlie.

The issue is bigger than baseball. Anybody with a specific interest may be touched by the Cheapass business model. It's just a matter of time until another channel of focused-interest is rejected in the same manner. The only thing that changes are the faces of those not being provided-for. In January it was CourtTV. What's next? <rhetorical>

 

[FlyingJ]

Kool-Aid ​

Now that response made me laugh!

 

[BobMurdoch]

Cue the fat lady and Don Meredith......

Turn out the li-heights, the party's ohhhh-ver.....

All over except the finger pointing. What's the over under on how many minutes into the next Charlie Chat it takes until he blames that the deal fell apart due to demands that were ridiculous, and they didn't want to "raise your rates"....

Meanwhile, IN Demand has it so John Kerry and the rest of Congress shut up and go away.... Doesn't help E*, Verizon, or any of the others.....

 

[ddinsm]

Can't believe I'm actually thinking about getting CABLE!! Wow 12 years of Dish support down the drain.

P.S. I'm not buying the cost line they use anymore, my bill just went up 10 percent!

 

[Tom Bombadil]

I'm disappointed too. Baseball is my favorite sport. And this may well lead to me eventually switching to D* when my 18 month 622 commitment expires.

That said, the way this deal was structured made it much more expensive per EI sub for E* than for D*. I cannot fault Charlie for not agreeing to it.

I would like to get the MLB channel, but only if it were in HD. I would pay a couple bucks a month extra to get it.

 

[jappleboy]

whats odds

what is the odds Dish will get Mlb extra innings. Some thing up i called dish and i was told to hit one on the up to date news. Anyone with more up to date

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Well now we know where the Hollywood Reporter gets their news.

Hi Paul!

Echostar: Extra Innings too costly
By Paul J. Gough
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr...sion/news/e3i7fff6ef213d54ce53f02c5574f4ed36c

April 6, 2007

NEW YORK -- Echostar Communications Corp. said that it still wanted to carry the Extra Innings out-of-market package from Major League Baseball on DirecTV but said it was likely to be too costly.

Echostar is the lone holdout in negotiations Thursday after In Demand late Wednesday struck an agreement in principle with MLB that would give it Extra Innings for seven years and an undisclosed equity stake in the Baseball Channel in exchange for a substantial commitment to carry the channel when it launches in 2009. DirecTV already has an agreement.

"We are not optimistic we can strike a fair deal for our customers," an Echostar spokeswoman said.

Echostar said that MLB's proposal would force Dish to pass on costs to its customer base, including those who don't subscribe to Extra Innings. Echostar claimed it was a disproportionate share in comparison to DirecTV and In Demand's owners Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable and Cox Communications.

Wednesday's deal with cable helped squelch an outcry among baseball fans and lawmakers in Washington over whether the then-exclusive deal with DirecTV was unfair and whether it would shut out displaced fans having either cable or Dish. Both services had Extra Innings until last season but had balked at a price that, on March 8, DirecTV was willing to pay for exclusivity

 

[UpAllNight]

Said it before, and I'll say it again.

DirectTV is going to use the EI package in ways Dish has no no desire to, as a marketing 'carrot'. Dish prefers to use equipment incentives primarily and programming incentives secondarily as marketing tools.

DirectTV has historically in the last few years, overpaid for the major sports packages in regards to what they expect to get in return from subs, but then use the balance as a marketing tool.

In all actuallity, Dish just might have to take a hit here in order to dilute D*'s marketing value of the EI package. That is of course, unless they believe InDemand's chunk hasn't already done so. Dish is no doubt crunching the numbers to see which is the best 'gamble'. Overpay and prevent sub base from tilting to far to D*, or let it go and hope that they can minimize the existing sub losses and future sub losses in other ways.

Bottom line, D* knows that they can never get ROI for their EI costs to MLB through EI subs, but they do know from NFL, NASCAR, Setanta, etc., that they can make up the diference and then some through using it as a marketing tool.

Dish will pass.

 

[Peter Parker]

C
Meanwhile, IN Demand has it so John Kerry and the rest of Congress shut up and go away.... Doesn't help E*, Verizon, or any of the others.....

I thought I read in one of the threads that Verizon was trying to work with INDemand.

 

[richiephx]

While everyone has a right to his/her opinion, the bottom line is, who gives a rat's arse. I see enough baseball on E* currently. I pay enough for programming now and don't want to pay more just to add more baseball.

 

[stuckingoo]

While everyone has a right to his/her opinion, the bottom line is, who gives a rat's arse. I see enough baseball on E* currently. I pay enough for programming now and don't want to pay more just to add more baseball.

Very obviously no one gives a rats arse. As evidenced by the Senate hearings and the bazillion posts over scores of message boards. No one had anything better to do.

 

[CubsWin]

Can E* still negotiate to carry the MLB Channel next year without Extra Innings, similar to how they carry the NFL Network?

 

[gjh3260]

"We are not optimistic we can strike a fair deal for our customers," an Echostar spokeswoman said.

Echostar said that MLB's proposal would force Dish to pass on costs to its customer base, including those who don't subscribe to Extra Innings. Echostar claimed it was a disproportionate share in comparison to DirecTV and In Demand's owners Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable and Cox Communications.

Hmmmmmmmm......using that same analogy then am I not subsidizing the cost of the E* subs who get their RSN's in HD when I dont (Fox Sports North uplinked as ch 386 but NOT AVAILABLE) ???? I know I dont get any credit on my bill since my RSN is not in HD. Like I said Charlie, light up ALL the RSN's in HD. You should have plenty of $$$$ in the pockets by not having EI.

 

[Neutron]

Well now we know where the Hollywood Reporter gets their news.

Hi Paul!

Echostar: Extra Innings too costly
By Paul J. Gough
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr...sion/news/e3i7fff6ef213d54ce53f02c5574f4ed36c

April 6, 2007

NEW YORK -- Echostar Communications Corp. said that it still wanted to carry the Extra Innings out-of-market package from Major League Baseball on DirecTV but said it was likely to be too costly.

Echostar is the lone holdout in negotiations Thursday after In Demand late Wednesday struck an agreement in principle with MLB that would give it Extra Innings for seven years and an undisclosed equity stake in the Baseball Channel in exchange for a substantial commitment to carry the channel when it launches in 2009. DirecTV already has an agreement.

"We are not optimistic we can strike a fair deal for our customers," an Echostar spokeswoman said.

Echostar said that MLB's proposal would force Dish to pass on costs to its customer base, including those who don't subscribe to Extra Innings. Echostar claimed it was a disproportionate share in comparison to DirecTV and In Demand's owners Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable and Cox Communications.

Wednesday's deal with cable helped squelch an outcry among baseball fans and lawmakers in Washington over whether the then-exclusive deal with DirecTV was unfair and whether it would shut out displaced fans having either cable or Dish. Both services had Extra Innings until last season but had balked at a price that, on March 8, DirecTV was willing to pay for exclusivity

He should have cited the source....

 

[Chris Walker]

While I feel for the 55,000 who were getting EI from Dish, I am somewhat glad this looks like it is over for a while and E* can focus on other issues with MLB...

ADD MASN FOR THE LOVE OF GOD CHARLIE!!

 

[Chris Walker]

Can E* still negotiate to carry the MLB Channel next year without Extra Innings, similar to how they carry the NFL Network?

I hope so, but that's not until 2009 anyway so that's a ways off, but that's really the only thing I was interested in throughout this entire negotation. MLB needs to majorly fix it's EI package and possibly they would have more subs and carriers wouldn't be so reluctant to want to offer their programming. EI is a complete joke compared to League Pass & Center Ice with it's inexplicable blackouts and no OTA games yet they still want $200 for it. Good for you MLB..

 

[jcoppola]

I emailed the ceo@echostar about NESN HD as I started to get a warm feeling after reading that some RSNs were turned on. Unfortunately the email that followed turned that feeling into a cold shower.

Thank you for your question regarding High Definition New England Sports Networks. DISH Network is always looking for ways to improve our customers’ experience and adding HD Regional Sports Networks to our programming lineup is one of many opportunities we are investigating. At this time we do not have specific plans for launching RSNs in HD. Please keep checking our website www.dishnetwork.com for updates on this topic.

If you would like to discuss this matter further, you may contact me. My hours are 11:00am to 7:30pm (MST) Tues-Sat."

Thanks

Angeline Romero

Executive Communications

EchoStar Satellite, L.L.C. dba DISH Network

[/B]

Does anyone know the direct email to Charlie?. I'm sure they are screend by someone other than Charlie but I would get a small measure of satisfaction in knowing that several hundred subscribers all e-mailed "turn on our RSNs in HD now" at the same time if for no other reason than to grind them to a halt for a moment or two.

John

 

[MikeD-C05]

I think then that Dish should permit those subscribers under contract, who subscribed to EI last year, to be released from that contract. Especially considering that Dish had continued to advertise EI even after their deal with MLB expired last season. If the number is as small and insignificant as you put it, they are better off letting them sign up with DirecTV or cable rather than keeping unhappy and complaining customers on their rolls.

I would imagine the situation present with MLB is similar to NHL and NBA packages (I subscribe to Center Ice) in that the subscriber base is not very high and therefore a low priority for the carrier. I no longer have confidence Dish will maintain those contracts and will leave as a subscriber at the first possible opportunity.

I believe I read that ERic Sahl from Dishnetwork is the one that gave the1% number in the press release about working on the deal for the MLB pack a couple of days back. He said it made no sense for the rest of the subs to bear the cost for only about 1% of their customers who watch baseball. So 55,000 out of 13.5 million subs doesn't seem like a lot to me.

I suspect that you are right and Dish will not keep paying the higher price to maintain these sports packs. This will give Directv the edge in Sports and it should give Dish the edge in maintaining lower prices. IN fact they could advertise this fact and play up the hd channels they plan to add and try to keep the hd leader status. But if they don't keep adding the hd locals like Directv is doing , they will lose that hd leader status too.

I guess time will tell if Dish stays the hd leader, loses all premium sports packs or even spins off as a seperate company or gets bought up by ATT. Something is going to happen this year I feel. The loss of MLB might be the one of the tipping points that makes Charlie sell off Dish.

 

[RandallA]

That's why I don't want to email the ceo@echostar.com. I would just probably get a vague answer that would just piss me off even more.