Dish Seen In DirecTV’s Orbit

[PTVC]

Dish Seen In DirecTV’s Orbit as Growth Stalls: Real M&A

Dish Network Corp. (DISH)’s stagnating growth is increasing the pressure on Chairman Charlie Ergen to combine with rival DirecTV (DTV), 10 years after a failed attempt.

Ergen said this week that the two largest U.S. satellite-TV providers have to consider a deal, potentially joining a rush of consolidation in the telecommunications, cable and satellite-TV industries that has already topped $46 billion in the U.S. this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Dish is facing declining profit this year, and analysts estimate sales will rise only 7.8 percent through 2014, less than 95 percent of the other cable and satellite-TV providers globally.

The Federal Communications Commission has said it will decide whether Dish can use its wireless spectrum to transmit mobile voice and data by year-end, and Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. says that may be the catalyst for a takeover of the $16 billion company. With use of the new airwaves, a combined DirecTV-Dish could offer fast wireless Internet connections that regulators are encouraging along with pay-TV, which may help persuade officials to approve a deal they blocked as anticompetitive in 2002, said HighMark Capital Management Inc.

"Regulators will be more open to a deal given how the industry has changed," Todd Lowenstein, a Los Angeles-based money manager at HighMark, which oversees about $17 billion and owns shares of DirecTV, said in a telephone interview. "It’s a dream deal. A deal would really bring a lot of cost savings to the satellite industry, which is a low-growth to no-growth industry."

A Dish-DirecTV deal may help limit increases in customers’ TV bills, which can top $100 a month, because the new company, with a combined 34 million U.S. subscribers, may have more leverage in fee negotiations with channel owners, said Chris Marangi, a money manager at Rye, New York-based Gamco Investors Inc. His firm oversees about $37 billion, including more than 7 million DirecTV shares and more than 6 million Dish shares.

"Going from two choices to one is typically a no-no," Blair Levin, a fellow at the Aspen Institute who previously worked for the FCC, said in an interview. "That’s still going to be hard to overcome, because you still don’t have more than two multi-channel video options in those places."

One way Dish and DirecTV may be able to pass antitrust scrutiny is by offering rural customers the same promotional deals and prices frequently given in competitive regions, Levin said.

"There isn’t an alternative to cable broadband in most of the country," Craig Moffett, an analyst at Bernstein in New York, said in a phone interview. "Ergen and DirecTV could sell the deal to regulators by arguing the spectrum can be used as an alternative to cable broadband that’s higher speed than DSL."

Ergen is weighing his options as Dish is projected by analysts to post the lowest net income in three years in 2012. The company’s estimated revenue growth from 2011 to 2014 of 7.8 percent is the second slowest in the cable and satellite-TV industry and trails the median of 21 percent among the 22 companies for which projections are available, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-09/dish-seen-in-directv-s-orbit-as-growth-stalls-real-m-a.html

 

[coinmaster32]

Here is the burning question.

If Dish and Directv merges, that means that either Directv's or Dish Network's System will have to be phased out, as neither are compatible.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Not entirely true. DISH software can be made to pick up the DIRECTV signal with a software update. This was something that they said last time DISH and DIRECTV tried to merge.

 

[coinmaster32]

Not possible. Dish uses DVB-S, same thing as FTA. Directv uses Videoguard (NDS). That's why you can't pick up Directv on a FTA receiver. It's like trying to pick up FM on an AM radio, just won't work.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

BUZZ you are wrong.

I have seen it working myself. (If I remember it did use a NDS card.)

 

[DodgerKing]

If they do merge, please let it be run by DirecTV. There is a reason why one provider gains subs every quarter and the other goes multiple quarters with net loss. There is a reason why one provider has fewer programming disputes and the fewer disputes last for much less time. There is a reason why pretty much every bar and restaurant has DirecTV and few have Dish. There is a reason why one provider made $13 billion more last year and profited $1.1 billion more. There is a reason why one has 6 million more subs. Even more importantly, I want my RSNs to be in HD 24/7 and have the option to get any sports package from any sport.

 

[PTVC]

If they do merge, please let it be run by DirecTV. There is a reason why one provider gains subs every quarter and the other goes multiple quarters with net loss.

They both lose more subscribers then they gain.

DirecTV, based in El Segundo, California, and Dish are struggling to sign up more U.S. subscribers than they lose, in part because customers are switching to competing services

There is a reason why one provider has fewer programming disputes and the fewer disputes last for much less time.

Which is probably the same reason why Directv is more expensive.

 

[DodgerKing]

They both lose more subscribers then they gain.

Not true at all. DirecTV has had only one net loss quarter of subs their entire existence. Every single quarter of every single year, with the exception of the 2nd quarter of this year (3rd quarter was yet another net gain), DirecTV has always gained more than they lost

 

[PTVC]

Not true at all. DirecTV has had only one net loss quarter of subs their entire existence. Every single quarter of every single year, with the exception of the 2nd quarter of this year (3rd quarter was yet another net gain), DirecTV has always gained more than they lost

Overall, Directv added less than the 99,000 average analyst estimate. Their subscriber gains are slowing in the U.S. and Latin America.

 

[DodgerKing]

Overall, Directv added less than the 99,000 average analyst estimate. Their subscriber gains are slowing in the U.S. and Latin America.

Slowing or not. The fact of the matter is one gains subs each quarter and the other has more quarters of losses than gains over the last couple of years. There is a reason for this. This along with other things I mentioned is a sign that one company is doing better than the other. If two companies will merge I would prefer the merger be run by the one that has been more successful. There is a reason for their success.

Sent from my Jailbroken iPhone 3GS using SatelliteGuys

 

[Frank Jr.]

If they were to merge, channels going dark because of contract renewal disputes would almost be a thing of the past.

 

[cave1376]

Would Dish buy Directv or would Directv buy Dish? And for how much?

 

[PTVC]

Slowing or not. The fact of the matter is one gains subs each quarter and the other has more quarters of losses than gains over the last couple of years. There is a reason for this. This along with other things I mentioned is a sign that one company is doing better than the other. If two companies will merge I would prefer the merger be run by the one that has been more successful. There is a reason for their success.

When it comes to success, you are comparing apples to oranges. There is no doubt that where the market is concerned, Directv has been on top. But, as you said, Directv has "fewer programming disputes, and the fewer disputes last for much less time," because they tend to give in to price increases which are then passed along to the subscriber, hence why their programming package costs are higher. Directv's dispute with Viacom was said to be "unprecedented in size, length and scope," which left 20 million subscribers without 26 Viacom networks for 10-days. They will most likely reach their ceiling, where programming package costs are concerned, before Dish will. I am not sure being the higher cost satellite subscriber would = success if a merger were to take place if new subscriber rates were to continue to decline and Directv management where in control. Dish did lose less subscribers in its third quarter, although subscribers were without AMC for what, 2-3 months? Both Dish and Directv have had management missteps. Charlie Ergen loves going to court, which has accounted for nearly $1B in loses from the AMC & TiVo lawsuits. Dish has better equipment.

 

[tvman123]

Here is the burning question.

If Dish and Directv merges, that means that either Directv's or Dish Network's System will have to be phased out, as neither are compatible.

You just got OWNED!!. Maybe do your research before slamming Scott.

 

[PTVC]

Would Dish buy Directv or would Directv buy Dish? And for how much?

IMO, if there is potential for an acquisition it would be Dish being acquired by either Directv or AT&T, although an AT&T acquisition is less likely.

 

[cave1376]

How's this for possible equipment, a genie with auto hop and ptat, you could record up to eight programs at one time. Or a eastern or western arc swm slimline dish, how big would they be?

 

[Teehar]

If I remember correctly Dish was set to acquire DTV back in 2002.No idea how it would be this time but,I'm sure Charlie Ergen could come up with the capital to acquire Dtv.

 

[Mfinchv1]

Dish would buy direct tv...and go under the name direct tv...what they where doing in the last merger

 

[satjay]

If they were to ever merge....I would hope nothing would change with Dish's recievers and software

 

[mdram]

here we go again
i have a couple of requests if this ever happens+

1. Charlie is no where near the new company
2. lets dishs software people work on the directv units. imagine what they could do with that hardware?
3. charlie retires
4. ala carte as a requirement
5. lower rates?
6. did i mention no charlie?