Future of DBS television?

[comfortably_numb]

Tonight as I was perusing my rather vast library of DVR movies stored on my EHD, I pondered what the future of Dish Network might be.

To be completely honest, I love the service. I have a good package at a great price, the receiver is solid, the ability to use my own equipment is liberating.

I know the trend in TV is IP. But I still don't have access to reasonably priced broadband. I have cellular-based internet access with a data cap. So combining that with Dish works for me.

Even though streaming services are all the rage, we know that DBS is only about 20 years old. That's just a blip on the technology evolution radar. And even though it's still such a young technology, I feel like a lot of people in the industry (including those outside the industry like John Legere) have written off satellite TV (aka "linear TV") as outdated and obsolete.

What are your thoughts on the future of DBS satellite TV? Will it remain for years to come as a niche market for rural customers? Will LEOsats finally get launched to give us rural folk internet access so we can cut the cord?

 

[trojan67]

One of the best post I have seen in a good while, dbs satellite is fading, most people going towards streaming, dbs is now geared to towards the older generation and rural without internet

 

[mwdxer1]

I agree. A great post. I see a lot more streaming than even a couple years back. A few issues, as without a cable or satellite subscription many apps are not available, but that even is changing. Many streaming services now offer a "cable" type package like Direct Now or Sling. Some services even offer a DVR. I wonder myself if both Dish & Direct will both be around 10-20 years in the future? Some feel they will merge in time as neither will have enough subs alone to survive. I know so many only stream everything now. Many do not even want cable or satellite. They stream Hulu, Netflix, or Amazon Prime.

 

[Jhon69]

If I did not have high speed broadband internet I would still have Dish.
There is still alot of rural areas that will never get high speed internet.
DBS is secure in all those areas.

 

[HipKat]

With streaming, there's still the inherent problem of Live broadcast TV. Sports, locals, etc. As for DVR - cloud based would be the way to go. Plex offers cloud storage, although all I need to do is leave my computer powered up at home and I can stream my downloaded movies on any decent internet connection now.

 

[dare2be]

Not to nitpick, but in technological evolution terms, 20 years is a lifetime. Look at computer enhancements over the last 20 years, AI, going from SD to 4K, etc.

That said, I just don't see the mass appeal of streaming yet, except for the youngest of the latest generation, which still doesn't have the buying power of the 25-49 age group. People who grew up on DVRs, DVDs, Blu-rays, being able to skip commercials in a few clicks I feel just aren't ready to make the full jump to streaming only. The biggest driving force to streaming or cord-cutting IMO is the outrageous price hikes of linear TV. I wouldn't call DBS an outdated technology as much as Linear TV using an outdated and unsustainable pricing model. If it weren't for Flex Pack and the semblance of ala carte and being able to pay 50% less than what I used to, I probably would have also made the jump from DBS and cable.

 

[mdram]

with @ 15% of the country lacking reliable broadband DBS is not going anywhere

some say 5g will change this. so only time will tell

 

[LQQK]

The Future Lyrics Of DBS!

I turned to look but it was gone.

I cannot put my finger on it now.

The DBS is grown, the dream is gone.

I have become comfortably streamed.

 

[Bruce]

With streaming, there's still the inherent problem of Live broadcast TV. Sports, locals, etc.

What are these problems?

 

[ncted]

I would happily switch to a streaming alternatives, like Sling, etc., IF they worked around these issues:

1. Good cloud DVR that lets you skip commercials. If they replace your "recording" with OnDemand after a couple of days, with commercials I cannot skip, I am not interested.
2. Have all the same locals as I get now. I don't want to have OTA+Sling, or YTTV+Philo just to get what I want. Hulu might be the best option right now with respect to that as I already subscribe for their original content.
3. Not cost as much as I am paying now for Dish. I am playing $65 now for Dish, which includes $20/month in equipment fees. If I switch to watching TV on devices I own, it had better cost less for the service.

 

[JSheridan]

Generally I have 4 different channels playing in MultiView on my Hopper 3, with at least 2 of those delayed so I can skip commercials. That same HD picture is distributed to at least 5 other TV's via component wires. All that while it's recording a lot of shows to the DVR.

There are usually 2 or 3 other people watching and recording what they want on their own TV's.

Tell me how you could stream that, especially on our 8 meg internet connection.

 

[Bruce]

with @ 15% of the country lacking reliable broadband DBS is not going anywhere

But what percent of the rural population have sat tv and is that enough subscribers to sustain the High costs of operating a Satellite TV Service.

 

[mdram]

But what percent of the rural population have sat tv and is that enough subscribers to sustain the High costs of operating a Satellite TV Service.

is satellite any higher than other?

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

But what percent of the rural population have sat tv and is that enough subscribers to sustain the High costs of operating a Satellite TV Service.

Its ultimately a lot cheaper then stringing cable everywhere.

 

[TalonDancer]

The DBS market in the future will be Rural and/or Power Viewers. The Rural viewers won’t have a choice and the Power Viewers, like JSheridan, won’t want one

 

[dare2be]

The DBS market in the future will be Rural and/or Power Viewers. The Rural viewers won’t have a choice and the Power Viewers, like JSheridan, won’t want one

I'm neither. As long as I'm given enough flexibility and choice at a reasonable cost, I'll stay.

 

[JSheridan]

The DBS market in the future will be Rural and/or Power Viewers. The Rural viewers won’t have a choice and the Power Viewers, like JSheridan, won’t want one

More than half of our new satellite installs this year have been people who already have access to fast cable or fiber but still want satellite rather than cable TV or streaming. We still see hope.

 

[trojan67]

But what percent of the rural population have sat tv and is that enough subscribers to sustain the High costs of operating a Satellite TV Service.

Good point, the Dish sub in the Caribbean is taking a battering right now, satellite used to be very popular, since 2016 only a hand full of people who don't have access to Internet, give a sh*t, Liberty Global now controls the region

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I know cord cutters who have went back to cable or satellite as internet television is not reliable as it depends on your internet connection. In some areas in peek times you can be watching a nice HD picture via IPTV and then drop down to sub SD.

With IPTV there is no guarantee of quality, only that you will see something. I know a lot of folks who want the quality and its something that IPTV does not always deliver.

 

[ncted]

I cut the cord for two years. I had a Tivo Roamio OTA & Minis + Netflix, Hulu, and Prime. I would sub to HBO Now now and then. It was fine on my 24Mb vDSL2 connection which was super-reliable. I saved about $1000 over those two years on entertainment, but it wasn't all good.

I chose to return to satellite because of the Rovi purchase of Tivo. I also saw the OTA repack coming, and didn't want to fight to get VHF signals at my house. Since then, I moved, and now I would struggle even more to get those OTA signals without a large, unsightly antenna on the roof. Dish provides me with what I want from a linear TV service for not a lot of money, relatively speaking. I will never do cable again, but would consider IPTV since I have a nice, fast fiber connection. If there was either a good cloud DVR as I described above, or Dish Anywhere-like functionality available from AT&T Uverse for around the same price as Dish, I'd consider switching.