TVAnswerman Has AT&T Predictions For 2020

CSM

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Aug 28, 2015
1,190
274
Chesterfield, MO
He has an interesting one for DTV.

 
  • Like
Reactions: whitewolf8214
“But AT&T can certainly take actions to keep the satellite audience from getting bigger...”

I’d say they’ve already done that.

To stop taking new DTV orders this year is premature, given the Sunday Ticket. And kinda early to get Amazon involved in ST negotiations.

But it would be good for Dish’s bottom line if there were no more new DTV subscribers. And such a move would put the fear of being dumped by current subs, worried about renewal. More business for Dish.

DTV Now going away in 2020? Sure. They’ll package it as consolidating customers under the new ATT offering.

I don’t see Disney+ overtaking YTTV in 2020.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
If they do stop taking new DTV orders in 2020 but let customers stay on it until they satellites run out of fuel, or it’s not profitable anymore, how much longer will they keep refurbishing the boxes? Would they also keep making the HS-17 and the c61/c61k or just refurbish those?

As far as the NFL Sunday Ticket:

 
To stop taking new DTV orders this year is premature, given the Sunday Ticket. And kinda early to get Amazon involved in ST negotiations.

Bars and Restaurants all better up their Broadband speed to handle multiple streams.

I don’t see Disney+ overtaking YTTV in 2020.

Disney+ already has 24 million subs ( they had 10 million week 1), YTTV is at roughly 2.5 to 3 million.




Sent from my iPad using SatelliteGuys
 
  • Like
Reactions: navychop
I think this will happen.

He has an interesting one for DTV.

 
...
Disney+ already has 24 million subs ( they had 10 million week 1), YTTV is at roughly 2.5 to 3 million.

Sent from my iPad using SatelliteGuys
Wow. I didn’t know they were even widely offering it yet.
[automerge]1577908434[/automerge]
 
Isn’t Verizon giving away free Disney plus to its users? That has to be a decent percanthe of Disney plus subs


Sent from my iPhone using SatelliteGuys
Only those with unlimited or if you switch to their 5G Home internet service.


Sent from my LML713DL using the SatelliteGuys app!
 
DTV Now going away in 2020? Sure. They’ll package it as consolidating customers under the new ATT offering.

This might already be happening-Today AT&T TV NOW ended support for Roku players and Roku TVs. If you have the channel installed you can still use it. Sadly if you don’t you won’t be able to add it to your Roku TV and Roku Player



Sent from my LML713DL using the SatelliteGuys app!
 
Private channel can be installed...still need a log on
This might already be happening-Today AT&T TV NOW ended support for Roku players and Roku TVs. If you have the channel installed you can still use it. Sadly if you don’t you won’t be able to add it to your Roku TV and Roku Player



Sent from my LML713DL using the SatelliteGuys app!

Sent from my SM-G950U using the SatelliteGuys app!
 
  • Like
Reactions: jimgoe
What a bunch of Bullsh!t. Directv is not going to stop installing Dishes.

Worse case scenario they will tighten up their credit requirements and focus on going after high value customers in an effort to lower the churn they get from customers who may not pay the bill within the first 3-4 months.

I could even see going to a $99 install

But the fact of the matter is they need technicians to service their existing customer base, so taking no new orders won’t make much business sense as they would be paying techs hourly to sit on their ass and do nothing.

I could see them loosing the exclusive to Sunday ticket, however amazon is likely the only one who could afford it. We all know DISH will never have Sunday Ticket.
 
Years ago I worked for a company that stopped taking new equipment and installation orders in preparation for a division shutdown. Existing customers were farmed out to a third-party service company and the direct service folks were laid off. I could see AT&T doing something similar with DTV.
 
  • Like
Reactions: navychop
This guy is taken seriously?

There is zero point zero chance that AT&T "stops taking orders" in 2020 or any other year. Among the many reasons is that IT MAKES A PROFIT. And access to proper internet on a nationwide basis is decades away, if ever.

As to NFLST. again this guy seems not to understand the basics of how it works. DirecTV LOSES money on NFLST, the theory being that it brings subscribers to general TV services. The NFL likes this model. The NFL makes MORE money from it than it would from a standard pay model. Now Amazon, or any other internet distributor would pay more than value for NFLST, like DirecTV now does, because____________?

This guy does not know basic TV business concepts.
 
  • Like
Reactions: navychop
He is making predictions which all any of us can do. However I can't agree with you. I already several months ago said I see Amazon wanting and getting the NFL package. For much of the same reason Directv wanted it, bringing in customers. In fact if they could bring in even more Prime Members that too is a reason. Amazon has a few ways that it would help them by tying in their equipment on deals, programming, Prime, etc etc. And they could easily - right now today supply any and all bars etc for the NFL package using Amazon equipment/Apps.

Directv is hemorrhaging subscribers. At&t's President on more than one occasion now, along with one of the biggest shaerholders has said they want to get out of the Satellite TV business. (At some point) That it isn't in their future.
Further investors of the kind At&t has look beyond profit. Obviously that is important but there is more and more unrest about Directv's future and the earnings that can be had going forward. I am not aware of any new equipment/receivers to be released or anything that indicates they are not simply going to run it out however long that is.
Therefore his prediction they could stop taking new subscribers in 2020 doesn't seem unrealistic.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rey and osu1991
Everytime profit drops its considered a loss in the corporate world
This guy is taken seriously?

There is zero point zero chance that AT&T "stops taking orders" in 2020 or any other year. Among the many reasons is that IT MAKES A PROFIT. And access to proper internet on a nationwide basis is decades away, if ever.

As to NFLST. again this guy seems not to understand the basics of how it works. DirecTV LOSES money on NFLST, the theory being that it brings subscribers to general TV services. The NFL likes this model. The NFL makes MORE money from it than it would from a standard pay model. Now Amazon, or any other internet distributor would pay more than value for NFLST, like DirecTV now does, because____________?

This guy does not know basic TV business concepts.

Sent from my SM-G950U using the SatelliteGuys app!
 
ATT announced a 5yr plan to migrate away from satellites and deliver all content through broad band services and we are about 2yrs into that plan. They have done everything internally to distance themselves from satellites in the near future including canceling all new satellite orders, laying off the RF engineering and satellite station keeping people and telling the employees who maintain the satellite uplinks to train for new jobs because their jobs will go away soon. The writing is on the wall but some don't see it.

What a bunch of Bullsh!t. Directv is not going to stop installing Dishes.

Worse case scenario they will tighten up their credit requirements and focus on going after high value customers in an effort to lower the churn they get from customers who may not pay the bill within the first 3-4 months.

I could even see going to a $99 install

But the fact of the matter is they need technicians to service their existing customer base, so taking no new orders won’t make much business sense as they would be paying techs hourly to sit on their ass and do nothing.

I could see them loosing the exclusive to Sunday ticket, however amazon is likely the only one who could afford it. We all know DISH will never have Sunday Ticket.
 
ATT announced a 5yr plan to migrate away from satellites and deliver all content through broad band services and we are about 2yrs into that plan. They have done everything internally to distance themselves from satellites in the near future including canceling all new satellite orders, laying off the RF engineering and satellite station keeping people and telling the employees who maintain the satellite uplinks to train for new jobs because their jobs will go away soon. The writing is on the wall but some don't see it.
What Sat orders have they cancelled? And for that matter after JUST LAUNCHING another one what need would there be for a good decade
 
Well before T16 launched all other satellite plans were canceled. T16 was allowed to be finished and launched because it was too far along in procurement or production to cancel without paying a lot of $$ to back out. As of the time T16 launched there are no plans for any new satellites. Unless something changed since then there should be no new DirecTV satellites while ATT is in control.

What Sat orders have they cancelled? And for that matter after JUST LAUNCHING another one what need would there be for a good decade
 
As much of it seems spot on, as a Directv retailer and someone who has been in this industry 22 years I do not see it getting to the point where Directv is going to stop installing Dishes.


The problem Directv is facing is 2 fold. The first issue has been the fact they have tried to keep the same $30/mo price point for new customers for the past 15 years.

Every year when there was a price increase, they simply gave new customers a larger discount to keep the initial price point around $30/mo.

In 2005 the discount might have been $5 or $10 per month. No big deal after the second year when a customer would pay regular rates. Come 2019, some of the customer discounts where as high as $55 per month in the first year.

It was a big sticker shock after 12 months having the rate in some cases double as the customer went into the second year of their contract.

Typically what would happen is that the customer would call to complain, and Directv would simply extend the discounts another year.

I have many customers who for years have always been on some type of discount and never paid full rack rates.

What happened this year was 2 significant things. Directv drew a hard line in the sand, and as these customers came off of their promotion, Directv refused to extend discounts like they typically did in the past. Also several contracts came up for renewal with local channels. For months there was markets missing a few popular local channels, which helped increase churn.

The second issue with the promotional pricing was the fact that the sales people where lying to customers about the second year price increase.

Once you disclosed to a customer their rate would double in the second year and the customer was locked Into a contract paying the higher price, we would loose the sale. This was true, especially with the higher value customers that Directv wanted to sign up.

The lower value customers, they would be happy for the fact they qualified to get service, disclosing the price would go up made no difference to them.

You can see Directv try to fix this issue by cutting the amount of the discount given to new customers, to help reduce the sticker shock when the rates went up in the second year.

Although I do not see Directv stopping dish installations all together, I do see them tightening up credit requirements so the customers they do sign up are with Directv long term.

Finally one of the other reasons why we see the decrease in new customers is the way the are marketing and treating their dealers.

Over the past 12 months they have eliminated 75% of their residential dealer base, mostly on the fact that the dealers wouldn’t sell other AT&T products such as internet and cell phones.

AT&T’s idea of finding better customers is finding customers who subscribe to multiple products and services. It’s very difficult to sell their internet service for example where the best they offer is 6 meg DSL, or if the customer can get anything at all. There are simply not enough areas they have wired with fiber yet to offer a decent internet service that can compete with cable.

As far as the cellular plans, AT&T is one of the highest priced carriers in the market. It’s very hard to get a customer to switch when a prepaid plan with boost mobile may be only $45 per month compared to over $100 with AT&T and their unlimited plans.

I think what we will see is AT&T try to launch their new streaming product, but it’s going to be a very difficult launch with all the other streaming options available, lack of AT&Tinternet coverage and no support from the dealers as their is no commission selling a streaming product.
 
If you want a prediction, here is one.

I see OTA antennas being included with all new installations.

Since locals are included they will use this as a way to reduce costs on their end to avoid paying rebroadcast fees.

Satellite locals will be turned on by an individual channel basis depending if it can be picked up via antenna
 
***

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Total: 1, Members: 0, Guests: 1)

Who Read This Thread (Total Members: 1)

Latest posts