Dish quarterly profit misses on pay-TV subscriber losses . . .

[JSheridan]

Even so, shedding a projected 1 million customers in a year's time can't be a good thing...

The times they are a changin'....

 

[comfortably_numb]

The times they are a changin'....

Indeed, my friend. Indeed

 

[dare2be]

Even so, shedding a projected 1 million customers in a year's time can't be a good thing...

It hits the channel owners even more, which it should. Dish historically has earned about 9% profit on their subscribers. Fixed costs and lower subscriber numbers will shrink that value, but lower subscribers also means lower payments to the channel owners for their cut, which I'm sure is much higher than 9%.

 

[trojan67]

I believe it's a combination of factors. Annual price increases of traditional pay TV services which have crossed the uncomfortable threshold for many people. That plus the plethora of perceived "cheap" streaming services and free OTA channels. Then you have millenial-age people and younger who mostly use only Netflix and Prime Video. It's a perfect storm. I still think satellite will have relevance in rural areas for awhile, at least until broadband penetration reaches remote areas.

Call in today, to have my service restored, after 3 months with a single receiver, bill is now $43.00, Welcome Pak $29, Encore $6, equipment fee $7, plus tax

 

[comfortably_numb]

Call in today, to have my service restored, after 3 months with a single receiver, bill is now $43.00, Welcome Pak $29, Encore $6, equipment fee $7, plus tax

I had the Welcome Pack also, but it's missing many (most?) of the channels most households want. It's not a suitable substitution for most people.

 

[MikeD-C05]

They're still managing to maintain profitability, but wow...that churn is not sustainable. They're losing a million subscribers a year!

So since they only have about 9 million sat customers and they are losing a million a year , that means by 2027 the satellite part of the business will be dead. That is if they haven't already been sold or merged or what ever.

 

[comfortably_numb]

So since they only have about 9 million sat customers and they are losing a million a year , that means by 2028 the satellite part of the business will be dead. That is if they haven't already been sold or merged or what ever.

I expect it to reach a plateau with fewer losses per year once the only subscribers left are the rural ones.

 

[nelson61]

The ones hurting most with cord cutting are probably the local over the air stations.
A huge hunk of their income is re transmission fees and I'd guess most " cutters" are probably skipping locals or getting them free over the air.

 

[Cheddar_Head]

I expect it to reach a plateau with fewer losses per year once the only subscribers left are the rural ones.

I expect that plateau will occur before it is only rural customers left. Why you ask.
1) Increasing fragmentation of the OTT market
-- Subscribe to Disney for that content
-- Subscribe to CruncyRoll for the Anime content that teens want
-- Netflix, just because
-- DNOW or YTTV or Sling for more traditional linear channels and sports
-- ESPN+
-- CBS All Access
-- Hulu
-- etc.
-- or get Dish/DirecTV to meet most of these wants
2) Increasing costs for the OTT providers
-- Some providers are already raising the cost to the consumer
-- Some services are seeing increasing fees from the content providers, Netflix especially
3) Services
-- The user experience of the Hopper3 or Genie is light years better than the cloud "DVRs" offered by OTT

 

[navychop]

Actually, the OTT providers are hurting. They are taking losses to build market share and poach from cablecos and satcos. That can’t go on forever, and I doubt all the OTT contenders will survive.


Sent from my iPhone using SatelliteGuys

 

[JSheridan]

I expect that plateau will occur before it is only rural customers left. Why you ask.
1) Increasing fragmentation of the OTT market
-- Subscribe to Disney for that content
-- Subscribe to CruncyRoll for the Anime content that teens want
-- Netflix, just because
-- DNOW or YTTV or Sling for more traditional linear channels and sports
-- ESPN+
-- CBS All Access
-- Hulu
-- etc.
-- or get Dish/DirecTV to meet most of these wants
2) Increasing costs for the OTT providers
-- Some providers are already raising the cost to the consumer
-- Some services are seeing increasing fees from the content providers, Netflix especially
3) Services
-- The user experience of the Hopper3 or Genie is light years better than the cloud "DVRs" offered by OTT

We've already had a few customers come back to satellite after trying streaming. They were very disappointed when they tried it because they 'heard on the internet that streaming was so much better than satellite' until they found out it wasn't.

 

[comfortably_numb]

We've already had a few customers come back to satellite after trying streaming. They were very disappointed when they tried it because they 'heard on the internet that streaming was so much better than satellite' until they found out it wasn't.

Let me guess, these folks were all 50+ right? Young people don't care about traditional linear TV. At all.

 

[JSheridan]

Actually, the OTT providers are hurting. They are taking losses to build market share and poach from cablecos and satcos. That can’t go on forever, and I doubt all the OTT contenders will survive.


Sent from my iPhone using SatelliteGuys

IMHO the sooner they go down the better.

 

[Cheddar_Head]

Let me guess, these folks were all 50+ right? Young people don't care about traditional linear TV. At all.

Tell that to the 25yo sports fanatic when his "trick play" on OTT doesn't work as well as the Hopper. Sports is the kind of "linear" TV that young males care about.

 

[JSheridan]

Let me guess, these folks were all 50+ right? Young people don't care about traditional linear TV. At all.

Nope, some but not all. Just had a couple in their 30's come back last week. They were tired of all the different apps, interfaces, commercials, etc.

 

[comfortably_numb]

Sorry, but I just don't see it. I don't know anyone under the age of 30 that give's a rat's toucas about having Dish or Direct. Take my younger brother for example. He's 20. When he needs ESPN he uses my dad's Spectrum credentials to stream. He will never sub to a traditional pay TV service. My 15 year old daughter? Couldn't care less about using a "clicker" to flip through channels on a Hopper. If she needs to watch a show on a cable channel, she uses my YTTV credentials. My 30 year old brother uses an Apple TV and OTA. Never paid for cable or satellite in his life.

I know this reality pains a lot of us folk who like satellite tv but it's time to take the reality pill.

The "clicker experience" as I like to call it, for my parents' generation who hate streaming, is mostly lost on anybody under 30. I'm 39 and it took me YEARS to wean myself totally from traditional pay TV, but I finally did

 

[charlesrshell]

A DISH contractor from St Louis told me that he is seeing a climb in Direct cancels and joining DISH.

 

[comfortably_numb]

A DISH contractor from St Louis told me that he is seeing a climb in Direct cancels and joining DISH.

Well, now THAT I can believe and get behind

 

[ncted]

A DISH contractor from St Louis told me that he is seeing a climb in Direct cancels and joining DISH.

We have friends in their 50s who were loyal TWC customers for years, until AT&T Fiber came to town. They really liked Uverse, until AT&T wouldn't deal with them on a contract renewal (during the time AT&T wanted to convert everyone to DirecTV). They eventually decided to to with DirecTV, which they liked at first, but now they are complaining about buggy interface problems. Last time I saw them, they were asking about Dish. I was surprised TBH. The options for a good linear TV experience are quickly disappearing. I offered to let them come check out our Dish setup (we live like a block away). They are not interested in OTT after trying it before going to DirecTV. I tried to get them interested in Dish before, but they wanted to bundle with AT&T Fiber for savings.

My parents are also asking about Dish, but there are LOS issues to the EA for them, and I don't think they would be as happy with the channel lineup as with DirecTV.

My point is, at least in the minds of people over a certain age, Dish is still a viable option.

 

[comfortably_numb]

people over a certain age, Dish is still a viable option.

Exactly. I'd put that age at no less than 35, but it's probably closer to 40.