Dish Sheds 334,000 TV Subscribers in Q4, Taking a Hit From HBO and Univision Blackouts

[hman414]

Those really are staggering numbers, and you're right - DISH satellite subscribers sit today at 9.9 million. Clearly this trend is not sustainable. How many more can they lose before the business is no longer profitable? 2-3 million?

I hope they can keep it going for rural and elderly subscribers.

My parents (in mid 80's) would never be able to figure out how to run a streaming box.

And even if they could, the available Internet connections where they live are not conducive to HD streaming.

Only about 3 channels are 100% reliable OTA, even with the best tower/antenna/pre-amp.

I guess if DISH goes belly up it will be full circle back to cband...

 

[comfortably_numb]

I hope they can keep it going for rural and elderly subscribers.

My parents (in mid 80's) would never be able to figure out how to run a streaming box.

And even if they could, the available Internet connections where they live are not conducive to HD streaming.

Only about 3 channels are 100% reliable OTA, even with the best tower/antenna/pre-amp.

I guess if DISH goes belly up it will be full circle back to cband...

There's nothing on C-band you can subscribe to anymore. 4DTV is dead. There are many channels available FTA but they aren't necessarily the big-time pay TV channels you are thinking of.

They could consider Orby TV, but it is still in its infancy also.

 

[hman414]

Verizon and AT&T (and Sprint and T Mobile) already offer IOT service nationwide to a variety of business customers. Not disagreeing with you in general -- just that one point. Also, Legere is a great self-promoter, and I'd rather have service on his network TBH, but, alas, I need something that works everywhere I go, so AT&T it is for me.

And I think T-Mobile has every right to call out DISH on their spectrum hoarding tactics. T-Mobile has put their money where their mouth is. Once they won those 600 MHz licenses, they immediately started building out, and are continuing to build out at a break neck pace!

Spectrum is a finite public resource, not an investment vehicle for Charlie!!!

 

[camo]

Agree with the notion streaming services will continue raising rates, it's inevitable for everyone. The much lower cost to stream vs maintaining satellites and the expensive equipment needed is what it really comes down to.

If you've never tried YouTubeTV do the trial and you will see why so many are jumping ship. 1080p and 720p @60fps just looks better than satellite. If you do the test online with a computer go to settings and make sure you have the highest stream quality depending on channel 1080p or 720p.

 

[hman414]

There's nothing on C-band you can subscribe to anymore. 4DTV is dead. There are many channels available FTA but they aren't necessarily the big-time pay TV channels you are thinking of.

They could consider Orby TV, but it is still in its infancy also.

I spent 3 weeks in Poland last year. About 99% of the population has access to over 30 channels of high quality programming DVB-T (many channels in HD) OTA free channels using a simple outdoor UHF antenna. It the cities you only need an indoor antenna in most cases.

If you want to put up a Ku band dish, you can get hundreds more channels (many with high quality programming that you actually would want to watch) FTA.

Subscription satellite and cable are of course available as well. The MOST expensive package you can buy is only $50/mo US.

TV in the USA is much different, unfortunately...

 

[hman414]

There's nothing on C-band you can subscribe to anymore. 4DTV is dead. There are many channels available FTA but they aren't necessarily the big-time pay TV channels you are thinking of.

They could consider Orby TV, but it is still in its infancy also.

If DISH went out of business and DTV stopped offering programming over satellite, cband would have to allow DTH subs again due to the anti-trust laws, correct?

 

[ncted]

Agree with the notion streaming services will continue raising rates, it's inevitable for everyone. The much lower cost to stream vs maintaining satellites and the expensive equipment needed is what it really comes down to.

If you've never tried YouTubeTV do the trial and you will see why so many are jumping ship. 1080p and 720p @60fps just looks better than satellite. If you do the test online with a computer go to settings and make sure you have the highest stream quality depending on channel 1080p or 720p.

Much lower up-front costs. Actual delivery costs over the life of a fleet of satellites and a big enough customer base favors satellite delivery. Right now YTTV is losing money for Alphabet. It isn't enough for them to care about, and it is disrupting the industry, which is what they want, but if they had as many customers as AT&T or Comcast, they would care about how much it is losing them. Of course with all things Google, I am sure it is really about gather data to better target people with ads.

 

[comfortably_numb]

If DISH went out of business and DTV stopped offering programming over satellite, cband would have to allow DTH subs again due to the anti-trust laws, correct?

It might be less about "allowing" DTH and there being a viable market for it. Most people don't have BUD's and they aren't easy to find anymore. Plus, the US Government is soon poised to take some of the C-band spectrum for 5G. It's unclear how that will affect C-band delivery after that time. I don't forsee a return to widespread C-band use for residential delivery anytime soon (as much as I'd enjoy that).

 

[mwdxer1]

I know so many people just doing OTA + Netflix, Prime, and/or Hulu, etc. these days, so this isn't surprising. With ISP competition in our area, broadband prices are relatively low, so Spectrum really isn't even trying to get people to sub to video service any more. They primarily advertise their internet service.

The world changes. Out where I live in 1985 I installed an 8.5 foot satellite dish that was my main supplier of TV programming. In 1999 I went with Dish, now as of 2013 I added a Roku and a Firestick in 2018. The future for many already is streaming. So many have cut the cord. The main complaint I hear from customers is the high price of programming with all of them. They are tired of paying for so many channels they never watch. One guy told me that he feels that Dish's feeble attempt to offer the smaller Flex pack is not for him, as it is not ale carte and he is still paying for stuff he does not want. With streaming, there are so many companies that stream and some are quite inexpensive and there are no contracts and you can switch back and forth as much as you want. No "down grade fee". People is sick of all of the fees. Buy a Roku or Firestick ( I have both) and you are done with it. Right now, every channel is not streaming, so cutting the cord for me is not an option, but that will change I am sure.

 

[mwdxer1]

Verizon for me.

Same here. Verizon has the best cel phone coverage on the Northern Oregon coast anyway. Been with Verizon for 25+ years now.

 

[comfortably_numb]

Same here. Verizon has the best cel phone coverage on the Northern Oregon coast anyway. Been with Verizon for 25+ years now.

I tried Verizon's O&O MVNO "Visible Wireless" a couple months ago and it was awful. I went back to Big Red within a number of days. Say what you will about the cost of their service, but IT JUST WORKS!

 

[mwdxer1]

Before that happens, more than likely they'll lay a bunch of people off and start raising rates. Or perhaps they'll use their other business ventures (5G) to offset some of the losses if that ever comes to fruition.

Right now I am getting a good price with Dish, but if they really jack up the price, I'll probably go down to a very small package and keep my locals/super stations/movie pack. Depends on what is available in streaming by that time.

 

[charlesrshell]

I tried Verizon's O&O MVNO "Visible Wireless" a couple months ago and it was awful. I went back to Big Red within a number of days. Say what you will about the cost of their service, but IT JUST WORKS!

What is Big Red?

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

If DISH went out of business and DTV stopped offering programming over satellite, cband would have to allow DTH subs again due to the anti-trust laws, correct?

Nope.

In fact a lot of content isn't even delivered via satellite anymore.... a lot of fiber in use now.

 

[mwdxer1]

All this news is sure stressful. I can't even imagine loosing DISH and the Hopper 3/Joey home system. It would be a nightmare having to go back to the cable companies crappy DVRs. All these streaming services is out of the question to me. Besides, they all probably will raise their prices anyway someday. I sure hope ATT does away with Direct's satellite dishes and maybe DISH will pickup some of their old customers.

Do you have access to High Speed? Some subscribers do not and that is very unfortunate. Hopefully more and more high speed will be available in rural areas, like here, but it wasn't until 2012 when I got Charter. No DSL out here.

 

[mwdxer1]

I tried Verizon's O&O MVNO "Visible Wireless" a couple months ago and it was awful. I went back to Big Red within a number of days. Say what you will about the cost of their service, but IT JUST WORKS!

What is visible wireless? I just have Verizon for my cel phone.

 

[comfortably_numb]

What is Big Red?

Verizon postpaid.

 

[comfortably_numb]

What is visible wireless? I just have Verizon for my cel phone.

Visible is a prepaid offering being financed by Verizon Corporate. It is $40 per month for unlimited talk, text, data and hotspot. The only drawbacks: upload and download speeds are capped at 5mbps and they can deprioritize you. I got a lot of "no service" issues with my phone while I tried it out, even when I was very close to a Verizon tower. Since I need my phone to work for business, I switched back to Verizon Postpaid very quickly.

www.visible.com

 

[osu1991]

What is visible wireless? I just have Verizon for my cel phone.

Visible | It's Phone Service. In An App.

 

[comfortably_numb]

I'll probably go down to a very small package and keep my locals/super stations/movie pack. Depends on what is available in streaming by that time.

I'm ahead of you there. Already on the cheapest offering (Welcome Pack) and if that ever starts to approach $40/month, then I'll probably be done with Dish.