Just did a Google News search on "Clark Dish" and found 44 different media outlets already carrying the story. Including Bloomberg and Fox News. I expect a lot more to run it tomorrow.
Texas Town Renames Itself 'DISH'
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Stargazer said:
I hope not. This will end up just like all the stupid naming rights for stadiums and such. Whatever happened to good ole "memorial stadium"? Now its CutCo Knives field at Amerimortgagestar stadium.
Heck, you can't go 5 minutes in a sports broadcast without some stat coming up tagged by a company. "Now lets go see the Visa passing stats for the half!"
Welcome to Dish, Texas
The tiny town of Clark, Texas -- population 125 -- has taken up EchoStar Communications Corp. on its offer, officials said Wednesday.
The hamlet will legally change its name to "Dish" in exchange for each of its 55 households receiving 10 years of free basic programming from Dish Network, EchoStar's direct-broadcast satellite service. The offer, which kicks off Wednesday includes equipment such as a digital-video-recorder receiver, and installation.
Clark, incorporated as a town in 2000, is located 25 miles north of Fort Worth, Texas. The Clark Town Commission, which has two members, voted to rename the town Dish Tuesday night at a crowded town meeting.
Dish Mayor Bill Merritt said any new residents coming to live in the city will also get the free Dish Network service, and he hopes the offer will help to attract new residents during the next decade.
"We really look at this as sort of a rebirth for our community and something we hope we can put out there to attract new businesses, new people and really put our name on the map and get folks get to know what Dish, Texas, is," Merritt, a real estate developer, said.
The town, which isn't serviced by cable, is in a rural agricultural and ranching area. Dish -- which has two stop signs but no stop lights -- also serves as a bedroom community for commuters who work in Dallas
Under terms of its agreement, Dish Network has agreed to provide every household within the city limits with its "America's Top 60" programming package for 10 years, along with free standard installation and a free DVR receiver.
In exchange, the town will legally change its name and change all of its signage -- about one-dozen signs -- to reflect the new moniker.
EchoStar believes Dish's resident will become "evangelists" for satellite TV, according to president Michael Neuman. He noted that since Merritt was elected six months ago, he has reduced local taxes by 34%.
Since Dish Network stresses many channel for low prices, "it seemed like a great spiritual fit between own company and the town of Clark," Neuman said. "This becomes, in some respects, our galactic headquarters."
Dish Network was in negotiations with several cities about its offer, and it ultimately came down to Clark, which was named after the town's founder, and one other city, according to Neuman.
Dish Network will unveil the "Dish City Makeover" as part of a rebranding effort and a new ad campaign with the tag line, "Better TV for All."
Dish Network officials said the cost of its service over 10 years per home is about $4,500.
Merritt said a Clark resident told him about Dish Network's offer in August, and he followed up and contacted the company about it.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6284312.html?display=Breaking+News&referral=SUPP&nid=2226
The tiny town of Clark, Texas -- population 125 -- has taken up EchoStar Communications Corp. on its offer, officials said Wednesday.
The hamlet will legally change its name to "Dish" in exchange for each of its 55 households receiving 10 years of free basic programming from Dish Network, EchoStar's direct-broadcast satellite service. The offer, which kicks off Wednesday includes equipment such as a digital-video-recorder receiver, and installation.
Clark, incorporated as a town in 2000, is located 25 miles north of Fort Worth, Texas. The Clark Town Commission, which has two members, voted to rename the town Dish Tuesday night at a crowded town meeting.
Dish Mayor Bill Merritt said any new residents coming to live in the city will also get the free Dish Network service, and he hopes the offer will help to attract new residents during the next decade.
"We really look at this as sort of a rebirth for our community and something we hope we can put out there to attract new businesses, new people and really put our name on the map and get folks get to know what Dish, Texas, is," Merritt, a real estate developer, said.
The town, which isn't serviced by cable, is in a rural agricultural and ranching area. Dish -- which has two stop signs but no stop lights -- also serves as a bedroom community for commuters who work in Dallas
Under terms of its agreement, Dish Network has agreed to provide every household within the city limits with its "America's Top 60" programming package for 10 years, along with free standard installation and a free DVR receiver.
In exchange, the town will legally change its name and change all of its signage -- about one-dozen signs -- to reflect the new moniker.
EchoStar believes Dish's resident will become "evangelists" for satellite TV, according to president Michael Neuman. He noted that since Merritt was elected six months ago, he has reduced local taxes by 34%.
Since Dish Network stresses many channel for low prices, "it seemed like a great spiritual fit between own company and the town of Clark," Neuman said. "This becomes, in some respects, our galactic headquarters."
Dish Network was in negotiations with several cities about its offer, and it ultimately came down to Clark, which was named after the town's founder, and one other city, according to Neuman.
Dish Network will unveil the "Dish City Makeover" as part of a rebranding effort and a new ad campaign with the tag line, "Better TV for All."
Dish Network officials said the cost of its service over 10 years per home is about $4,500.
Merritt said a Clark resident told him about Dish Network's offer in August, and he followed up and contacted the company about it.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6284312.html?display=Breaking+News&referral=SUPP&nid=2226
Local cleveland fox station carried the story this morning, didn't get it quite right, but they carried it...dish got what they wanted...
Google News is now reporting 135 hits for media outlets carrying the Clark to Dish rename. In addition to the Bloomberg and Fox News stories I mentioned earlier, others now running with it include ABC News, Newsday, the New York Post, Wired News, the Miami Herald, the Guardian (UK), Japan Today, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and Finanzen.net (Germany).
Ah - this is an old trick. The very small town of Freshwater, Colorado was renamed "Guffey" due to a Pennsylvania Senator giving money to the residents. That was around a century ago.
My local paper carried a prominent account of the name change on the front page of the business section. It was a fair article, quoting the ex-mayor who opposed the change and pointing out the silliness of the whole concept. Nevertheless, E* got a headline and a color photo of the new town sign.
Meanwhile Google now finds 247 on-line accounts of the story, with the Washington Post, the Sydney Herald (Australia), and LaSalute (Italy) joining the gang.
Meanwhile Google now finds 247 on-line accounts of the story, with the Washington Post, the Sydney Herald (Australia), and LaSalute (Italy) joining the gang.
I saw it on Good Morning America a day or two ago about it.
So it is only 55 homes. 55 x $4,500 = $247,500
I bet they saw that as some pretty cheap advertisement.
So it is only 55 homes. 55 x $4,500 = $247,500
I bet they saw that as some pretty cheap advertisement.
And remember - it's NOT $250K in expense, just a missed revenue opportunity, and of course, not everyone would've had Dish anyway.Stargazer said:
As far as actually EXPENSes, I'd say $1,000 per household is more than fair: Installer fees, equipment costs, customer support, etc. $55,000. Don't forget, many people will order more than the basic 60. Hard to say how many. But that would be INCOME. I bet they come out on top after 10 years.
Actually, out of all of those households, there is bound to be some that has already had a Dish Network system installed. That would lower the cost in addition to the extra programming that would be ordered. The extra programming that the customers may purchase may offset their cost for the basic package but then again they will lose the revenue from the existing subscribers that they had on the basic package in the area. Either way you look at it, the multi-billion dollar company can afford it.
Heck in ten years Dish Network might not be around and if so it could have a much smaller presence and go through the same thing that C-Band/BUD did. With fiber being rolled out and cable improving along with IPTV I dont know how satellite will make it. Just look at the churn they experience. They willl have to have some pretty good advantages over IPTV and so forth to be able to get anywhere.
Heck in ten years Dish Network might not be around and if so it could have a much smaller presence and go through the same thing that C-Band/BUD did. With fiber being rolled out and cable improving along with IPTV I dont know how satellite will make it. Just look at the churn they experience. They willl have to have some pretty good advantages over IPTV and so forth to be able to get anywhere.
On the churn part, why do you think DirecTV and Dish is extending contracts out to 2 years? Plus if they had such a good product anyhow, then why have any contract at all ??
They have a contract so that they can get their investment in the customer back. It costs a lot to acquire that customer. Too many deals going on to where someone could get one great deal from one company then switch to another to get their deal. I see some of this going on right now with people switching from Dish to Direct.
Yeah, churn is high because nobody will treat it's existing customers like a new customer. Why don't they offer some kinda free upgrade with existing customers if they will RENEW their 12-24 month contract? Makes sense to me... At least it would give the faithful customers who are very happy with their service some kind of way to take advantage of the crazy FREE FREE FREE promos going on...
Dish, Direct, and cable are just losing customers to each other for the most part. They need to have a program in place to reward good paying existing customers with some type of deal every x months to keep the customer. They should give extra points for paying bill on time, etc. and make them redeemable for programming, credits, hardware, movies, etc. It can be said to the customer that by staying with them the benefits of the program would add up to just as much if not more than what the new deals are if you switch providers. Make it to where the customer gets credits and if they shut the system off let it be known that they will not get that credit at the new company. There has to be something more in place to encourage customers to keep the system on.
With the FFA promotion for example, there is only a $5 credit now. DirecTv offers a $10 credit. That is more enticive and I have seen some people switch from Dish Network to DirecTv as a result. They get the free movie channels and cheaper programming packages for an x number of months as a bonus.
With the FFA promotion for example, there is only a $5 credit now. DirecTv offers a $10 credit. That is more enticive and I have seen some people switch from Dish Network to DirecTv as a result. They get the free movie channels and cheaper programming packages for an x number of months as a bonus.
It's not cheap to install and maintain cable neither, but we don't hold there feet to the fire neither. We want people to have the freedom to choose what they want to. In the end though we benefit because they come back after all of those deals, contracts and everything else that is costly about satellite. One thing that helps us is we don't charge a $100 for a extra receiver to be put in later then charge $5 a month for having it. We charge $25 one time fee to install an extra outlet and most of these people are spening $60+ already on the satellite and they just go for the best deal which is us. If satellite was really worried about there investment and wants to protect it, then give them the freedom and a price that makes it worth having.
Given the long-term growth of DBS over the past several years, I don't think the data is there just yet for cable to proclaim themselves as having the clear winning combination.
The future is extremely bright for wired solutions, but that's not because of cable's existing prices and policies.
As to offering deals to existing subs, I'm sure D* and E* and cable have all run extensive analysis on the profitability of today's policies vs giving away a lot more equipment to existing subs. Perhaps the projected churn rate would not drop sufficiently to cover the cost of the freebies. Right now one of the things that holds the churn rate down is that you only qualify for the freebie once. If they opened it up to everyone being qualified for freebies every two years, you might see just as many people jumping back and forth, except it would be costing E* and D* many extra millions of dollars.
The future is extremely bright for wired solutions, but that's not because of cable's existing prices and policies.
As to offering deals to existing subs, I'm sure D* and E* and cable have all run extensive analysis on the profitability of today's policies vs giving away a lot more equipment to existing subs. Perhaps the projected churn rate would not drop sufficiently to cover the cost of the freebies. Right now one of the things that holds the churn rate down is that you only qualify for the freebie once. If they opened it up to everyone being qualified for freebies every two years, you might see just as many people jumping back and forth, except it would be costing E* and D* many extra millions of dollars.
