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

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I look at it this way. Less subs , less buying power for potential new channels and then there is the contract. They can't guarantee a large amount of subscribers for the channel if they are continually losing subs. This means to me that they will charge more for DISH to carry the channel since they can't use volume of subs to guarantee a certain dollar amount to the channel itself. Kind of like what is happened with HBO. DISH couldn't guarantee a certain amount of subs and didn't want to pay a straight dollar amount to HBO ,because it would mean passing the cost on to every subscriber, just to get that guaranteed dollar amount to HBO. DISH loses leverage with every lost sub in my view.

Thank goodness more and more programming is available in streaming. That is the way most will get the new channels in the future, either for free (ads) or pay. The diginets are going that way. More of them are showing up streaming.
 
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Dish wouldn't be losing so many subscribers if they would quit raising their damn prices all the time. And what's the deal with raising the price of the Welcome Pack? My neighbor, who is retired and on a fixed income, depended on the Welcome Pack because it was cheap and the best deal out there. Now he's cancelling and going with an OTA antenna because of the increase. Way to go Dish. Keep pissing off your customers.
 
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Dish wouldn't be losing so many subscribers if they would quit raising their damn prices all the time. And what's the deal with raising the price of the Welcome Pack? My neighbor, who is retired and on a fixed income, depended on the Welcome Pack because it was cheap and the best deal out there. Now he's cancelling and going with an OTA antenna because of the increase. Way to go Dish. Keep pissing off your customers.

Absolutely spot on. If DISH still offered the Top 250 package for less than $50, they'd have a whole lot more customers.....................if they were still in business.
 
Dish wouldn't be losing so many subscribers if they would quit raising their damn prices all the time. And what's the deal with raising the price of the Welcome Pack? My neighbor, who is retired and on a fixed income, depended on the Welcome Pack because it was cheap and the best deal out there. Now he's cancelling and going with an OTA antenna because of the increase. Way to go Dish. Keep pissing off your customers.

While true, the only way I could see Dish lower prices is to drop channels, but the content providers want channel bundles so they can maximize their advertising revenue. The thing is Dish loses either way. When they drop channels, they lose customers. When they raise prices, they lose customers.
 
Dish is going to keep losing subscribers no matter what they do. Radio was first than it was a black and white tv with a few over the air channels. Than came along cable tv . Digital cable, satellite, internet, cell service. Smart phones, streaming, and so on . It’s called times are changing the future of technology moves fast . I personal would like it to slow down a little so I can sit down and watch what’s on my hopper 3 and enjoy a few cold beers.


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Wow that’s a 380,000 loss from November and December 2018.

That’s not even counting the losses from January and February.

On the bright side there was only I believe 2.5 million that had HBO.

So the bleeding will stop there, hopefully.
 
Unfortunately for me, streaming and cordcutting will never happen because I live in a very rural area with no cable, DSL or good cell signal. And an OTA antenna is a problem too because of hilly terrain and line of site issues. I depend on satellite for TV and internet access.
 
While true, the only way I could see Dish lower prices is to drop channels, but the content providers want channel bundles so they can maximize their advertising revenue. The thing is Dish loses either way. When they drop channels, they lose customers. When they raise prices, they lose customers.

Agreed, but why raise the price of the Welcome Pack? It's the most basic package they have and it doesn't have any expensive channels such as ESPN or movie channels to cause an increase.
 
Wow that’s a 380,000 loss from November and December 2018.

That’s not even counting the losses from January and February.

On the bright side there was only I believe 2.5 million that had HBO.

So the bleeding will stop there, hopefully.

They reported they permanently? lost 100,000+ in Puerto Rico as of year end (Hurricane Maria effect).

I'm guessing they will shrink back closer to their roots and serve the rural areas where you can't get decent internet.
But that will still be a very nice business.

I have it all - fiber/Dish/Streaming and would take 100 percent satellite any day if they gave me the choices I want at the price I am willing to pay.
Instead, I'm like the other shavers and have switched to Flex Pack and significantly dropped my satellite costs. Not sure who it is, but someone is not getting that money.
 
Agreed, but why raise the price of the Welcome Pack? It's the most basic package they have and it doesn't have any expensive channels such as ESPN or movie channels to cause an increase.
Because the channels in the Welcome Pack go up as well.
 
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Wow that’s a 380,000 loss from November and December 2018.

That’s not even counting the losses from January and February.

On the bright side there was only I believe 2.5 million that had HBO.

So the bleeding will stop there, hopefully.
I don't think so, because the bleeding was going on long before the HBO blackout and will continue whether HBO returns or not. I think after hearing all the analysis of why this is so, I believe it all comes down to one basic factor: Cost. Incessant price increases have consequences.
 
I am sure in time someone will offer a complete locals package for those that want only OTA, that they cannot get with an antenna, but likely it will be streaming.
 
I'd love a "Locals Pack" with just 10 or so local channels for $10 per month. Would that even be possible?

Well, since my six locals cost $12 now, I doubt it. Once again, all things are possible if DISH would just operate at a loss, but they are pretty narrow minded about that.
 
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