I don't normally post but I've been reading all the threads talking about Charlie selling out to Viacom. Scott, are you just speculating at this point or do you have some sort of information from one of your contacts?
Is Charlie a seller?
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There is lots of speculation going out there about this, it was the talk of the EXPO and I have also talked with a few on Wall Street who believe something is going on.
Of course as always you should take everything read here or on any forum as speculation until you see an official press release or statement from the company in question.
Of course as always you should take everything read here or on any forum as speculation until you see an official press release or statement from the company in question.
scott, if they did sell would this be a good or bad thing, and I am guessing at this point it is a big "IF". it seems like right now Dish is the leader in HD, but they have unmapped plans (according to us who knows what he holds) but if Viacom were to partner/buy out charlie do you think this would jump start his plans for HD
I would think it would be a good think if Dish was sold to a company like Viacom. Charlie has done an EXCELLNT job turning his homebrew company into a major force, however now times have changes and he needs to have the guns of another big company behind him.
As many of you know, ViaCom is spliting into 2 companies - just about the same set up as the company(s) were before the ViaCom CBS merger. Therefore a lot of people think as part of that plan they might follow FOX model (Fox - Direct) which is why it is being talked up. For either of the newly split ViaCom companies would not hurt in dealing with Fox/Directv to have Dish under your comtrol.
Also Redstone who started as a theatre owner has seen direct to home movie business really growing (he get rid of blockbuster) and theatre business attendence has been going down for the past few years. Satellite does allow some PPV now but can increase with MPEG-4 and more birds. Again it may be part of the reason for the take over talk. While Redstone is in his 80's he still looks to protect what he has built for his heirs and legacy
Also Redstone who started as a theatre owner has seen direct to home movie business really growing (he get rid of blockbuster) and theatre business attendence has been going down for the past few years. Satellite does allow some PPV now but can increase with MPEG-4 and more birds. Again it may be part of the reason for the take over talk. While Redstone is in his 80's he still looks to protect what he has built for his heirs and legacy
I just wonder what the new company will do with Dish. Will they continue being the low cost leader? Will they add even more fees? What about the hardware and software? What about locals and hd locals? I know that Dish can do all of the above bad sometimes, but at least they keep on trying to improve. I just wonder how this would go with a new company and imagine the mpeg4 transition. I bet that there will be no swap out of hd receivers if this new company takes over. Most likely you buy new ones or nothing.
Now I know how Directv customers felt the year they thought Dish was going to buy Directv. :shocked
Now I know how Directv customers felt the year they thought Dish was going to buy Directv. :shocked
sateck01 said:
Actually it was serious, but thanks to Murdoch throwing millions at the FCC to make sure it got blocked, it never happened. The best thing it did do was to give Charlie a year to go through all of Directs books and take a hard look at what they had planned. Charlie may not have taken the company, but still managed to piss of Rup enough! Not bad if you ask me!
I certainly wouldn't fault Charlie for selling. His net worth based on the book value of his E* holdings was recently estimated at $7.2B. Putting several billion in the bank and not having to run a company would sure be attractive to me. Although I'd be surprised if he waited long before jumping into a new industry with a startup company.
He has done an amazing job building this company. Look at the success and profits he made, while being criticized all along for having a lack of direction and offering two-bit receivers, while big money corporate interests, like Cablevision and the Dolans failed with VOOM, and a number of cable companies failed with PrimeStar.
He has done an amazing job building this company. Look at the success and profits he made, while being criticized all along for having a lack of direction and offering two-bit receivers, while big money corporate interests, like Cablevision and the Dolans failed with VOOM, and a number of cable companies failed with PrimeStar.
Tom Bombadil said:
This is because cable companies can not and have no business running or trying to run a satellite companies. However, if Dolan would have had the opportunity to spin voom off as a seperate company away from cablevision it just may have survived.
Hi Danielle!danielle_s said:
I'd (REALLY) like to agree, but Voom was like RC trying to knock off Pepsi and Coke. Fact is, RC knows its role, and is profitable in it. Voom couldn't have been profitable with 50, 100, or even 500,000 subscribers, but couldn't possibly steal that many away from D*, E* or cable in even five years (if they lasted that long). I loved Voom and were sorry to see them go, but it was a fling, at best.
E*, on the other hand, is a proven business model in a true Pepsi position. Somebody can and will take a run at them, I just hope it's not Viascum.
