What Will DISH Do Next?

[MikeD-C05]

are you saying that if I have 3 tv's with the fire stick,that we can't watch different shows on each one? I just ordered two sticks after getting my first and thought it would be the way to cut out the joey's. hope I'm wrong

You can only watch one fire tv stick for DISH Anywhere at a time. You can watch any of the other apps , like Netflix any time. I use the fire tv sticks in my computer room and my 16 year old son's room ,because I only use it when I am in the computer room. My son rarely watches regular tv anymore except for Cw shows.

 

[rvvaquero]

I have to agree Kab. I paid to upgrade to 4k joey and hopper 3 and buy a new 4k Vizio tv. I really see very little to any difference between 4k and hd. Now going from SD to Hd was a significant difference in viewing and going from HD to 8k might make a difference. Because 8k is supposed to be like the video movie theaters show. But 4k so far has been a huge disappointment to me so far.

I notice a lot more difference between quality of televisions than between 4k and HD. For example, going from Sony 700 series to Sony 900 series is amazing. My next TV will be a 60 inch Sony 930, or whatever is current when I buy later this year.

 

[rad]

I have to agree Kab. I paid to upgrade to 4k joey and hopper 3 and buy a new 4k Vizio tv. I really see very little to any difference between 4k and hd. Now going from SD to Hd was a significant difference in viewing and going from HD to 8k might make a difference. Because 8k is supposed to be like the video movie theaters show. But 4k so far has been a huge disappointment to me so far.

Maybe it's your source? I know when I upgraded one of my HD sets (a 51" Samsung 1080p plasma) the HD was better and the 4K material via DIRECTV was definitely better. It was easy to see when they broadcast the same program such as the MLB games on the MLB network in HD and on their 4K channel. I can really see the different on the 65" 4K set that I got after seeing the change in the 49" PQ.

 

[navychop]

It's hard for Mike to see any difference between UHD and HD because he's still seeing red over Dish fees.

 

[Scherrman]

The only way you will ever see a solid plan is if they allow full ala cart for channels like Canada now does. This is why many people have left pay tv now. They are too full of fees and they force you to take bundles you may not want to get a channel or two you do like.

As for the Dvr fee , it has lost value with auto skip feature being useless for many markets . Adding back value would make the Dvr fee more palatable for most. The Titan tvs app is free to anyone who wants it . DISH could negotiate a deal with TItan ,using it for their ota channels -if you have Internet connected to your receiver ,you get full guide information for ALL ota channels and Sub channels.

The way DISH starts making more money is through GROWTH. Charging more fees and higher programming prices on the ever dwindling amount of subs they have left ,just causes more Churn. I suggested many things that they could do to help attract new subs and retain existing ones. What do you suggest they do to start Growing DISH's sub count once again ? Because adding more fees is a non sequitur in my opinion.

Who is "they?" I'm assuming you mean the networks because Dish doesn't have a choice. A La Carte has been beat to death on here over the years and I don't think anyone has been able to prove it will work or not. Networks would have to consolidate a lot of their channels since most would not be profitable enough. You'd have to talk the networks into offering their channels a la carte to providers and they'd have to be reasonably priced.

AutoHop is a neat feature but I thought it was always more of a gimmick. I rarely ever use it and not having it does not diminish my viewing experience at all. I'm not sure how a DVR receiver that added 16 tuners, a 2TB hard drive, PTAT, apps like Netflix and YouTube, integration with Alexa and even more features is losing it's value. Seriously, compare this to the first DVR or even the 625 and the almighty 722k receiver.

I hear people complain about $15 fee for the Hopper 3 and I can't help but think about how spoiled we've all become. I recently sold my house and bought my parents house. We moved in with them while we tried to sell ours and they waited to move into their new house. I've had the Hopper system since the first day it came out and the newest version every time. My parents still had a 722k and 211 for their setup which was perfect for just the two of them. I forgot how limited that system was compared to the Hopper. As soon as I could I installed my Hopper system and it solved every issue and my parents really like it. THAT alone is worth it. THAT is a HUGE benefit. I'm not even talking about all the great features either but just the ability for everyone in the family to watch and record what they want. How is that not a significant improvement and benefit? Shouldn't that be a product that deserves a higher price? Please don't tell me their DVR has lost value because it's a ridiculous statement.

Growth can lead to more profit but it also leads to more expense. It has to be balanced. They can't just lower prices and hope they get more customers if they aren't covering their expenses and we all know it costs more to sign up new customers. Keeping long term customers is the real money maker and I think it's been pretty obvious that their main focus over the last few years has been on making their current customers sticky. If they lower prices then they have to sign up a lot of customers to make up that difference and that's not even factoring in the money they lose when new customers sign up. They need to rely on a lot of customers signing up and staying for multiple years. How much longer does that customer need to stay with Dish to make up for the drop in fees they charged? It certainly can be done and I'm can't imagine they don't think about this when they have their director meetings.

 

[Scherrman]

How about this idea. Dish lowers the leased receiver fees all to $5 and drops them completely on purchased receivers. The Hopper fee stays at $15 because it's by far the best DVR receiver out there and it's worth it. They lower all of their packages to the lowest possible while still making the profit they need, maybe it's only $10 off across the board. After making all of those drops they discontinue all discounts. No new customer discounts on packages. No discounts for threatening to cancel. The only thing they offer is free or discounted premium movie channels occasionally. Maybe even charge a one time, flat installation fee of $50.

Nice and simple. No hidden fees and no increases after new promotions. What you see is what you get.

 

[Hall]

No new customer discounts on packages.

So many only shop or choose based on price, so unless the local cableco does the same and DirecTV does too, Dish will possibly look more expensive up-front and people will go with someone else.

 

[Scherrman]

So many only shop or choose based on price, so unless the local cableco does the same and DirecTV does too, Dish will possibly look more expensive up-front and people will go with someone else.

Most definitely but it's certainly an option. It's an option that most likely wouldn't work but could if the general public actually thought it through. There's a reason the whole pay TV industry is the way it is currently is because of customer habits and trends. Cheap introductory prices and fine print still work because the general public still doesn't pay attention.

 

[MikeD-C05]

How about this idea. Dish lowers the leased receiver fees all to $5 and drops them completely on purchased receivers. The Hopper fee stays at $15 because it's by far the best DVR receiver out there and it's worth it. They lower all of their packages to the lowest possible while still making the profit they need, maybe it's only $10 off across the board. After making all of those drops they discontinue all discounts. No new customer discounts on packages. No discounts for threatening to cancel. The only thing they offer is free or discounted premium movie channels occasionally. Maybe even charge a one time, flat installation fee of $50.

Nice and simple. No hidden fees and no increases after new promotions. What you see is what you get.

I like it. Make it so.

 

[Scherrman]

I like it. Make it so.

If you can change how the general public thinks then it could work. Too bad most people only see that low price and would pass over Dish causing them to lose even more new customers. Their current customers would be very happy though.

 

[MikeD-C05]

Maybe it's your source? I know when I upgraded one of my HD sets (a 51" Samsung 1080p plasma) the HD was better and the 4K material via DIRECTV was definitely better. It was easy to see when they broadcast the same program such as the MLB games on the MLB network in HD and on their 4K channel. I can really see the different on the 65" 4K set that I got after seeing the change in the 49" PQ.

Source is DISH and its on a new D series 50" Vizio 4k tv. I really don't see that much difference and I am using the new high speed cables. Even when I put the receiver in 4k using the 4 screen multi-view option and it goes to 2160p , it doesn't look that much different to me than 1080p.

 

[edisonprime]

I maintain the fees are PHONY, and used for NO other reason then to obfuscate what a person will actually pay for their subscription. IF Dish needs extra money to be profitable, they should raise the price of their programming packages and spread the costs to everybody.

No Dish isn't the only company charging these phony fees, but somebody started them, and all other companies picked up on it. Now there's no end, and it's just causing more and more people to feel scammed, and drop them as providers.

I'm not currently a Dish customer; but I don't agree with that. That's just plain socialism.

 

[rad]

Source is DISH and its on a new D series 50" Vizio 4k tv. I really don't see that much difference and I am using the new high speed cables. Even when I put the receiver in 4k using the 4 screen multi-view option and it goes to 2160p , it doesn't look that much different to me than 1080p.

So then you're not comparing the same program in 4K vs HD? As I said I compared a MLB game in HD and 4K and I could tell the difference, from the skin on the players faces to the blades of grass, everything had more detail.

 

[dare2be]

I pay Cox nothing more than the price of tv programming and internet service along with a $1.99 fee for the cable card that allows my Tivo access to the cable channels.

If the government mandate wasn't there, you can be sure the $1.99 cable card fee would be much higher and more in line with existing satellite and other cable DVR fees.

That's comparing apples to transmissions.

 

[MikeD-C05]

So then you're not comparing the same program in 4K vs HD? As I said I compared a MLB game in HD and 4K and I could tell the difference, from the skin on the players faces to the blades of grass, everything had more detail.

I have watched a lot of Amazon tv which is on my 4K blu ray player. It is in full 4K resolution. It looks nice but to me it is a subtle improvement over HD. Not enough to have upgraded for like I thought it would be. Of course this Vizio tv does not do HDR. That may be why I don't see a big difference. But
I had a Phillips 4K tv for about a month and a half before this tv , and it had HDR. But I ended up sending it back for a refund, because the picture was too dark and with HDR , the colors looked almost cartoonish at times.

 

[osu1991]

If the government mandate wasn't there, you can be sure the $1.99 cable card fee would be much higher and more in line with existing satellite and other cable DVR fees.

That's comparing apples to transmissions.

The price is not mandated. Other cable companies charge more. Comcast actually gives a credit for cable card and using owned equipment.

 

[DishSubLA]

Well, I would say the fees are subsidizing the programming costs because I think the cost of the content would be a bigger number than the package prices listed today. NONE of the MVPD's can advertise or set the package price relative to the TRUE cost because that number (dollar amount--package price) would be so high for most consumers that they would RUN to alternatives. The MVPD's have to keep that price NUMBER as low as possible and IMHO, the only way to do that is to raise the fees such that they make up the differnce in programming costs, which is by fare the HIGHEST cost to MVPD's and a cost NONE have ever been able to keep programming costs down to a level that would not be harmful to the MVPD's. It is OUT OF CONTROL. And that is the future of the OTT stremainng services like SlingTV and DirecTVNow: those services will balloon in price over a relatively short time and we will be in the same situation of high programming costs passed ot the consuerm in the form of high package pricing. The OTT streaming services have the IDENTICAL pricing model and the same program packaging model as the MVPD's today; it's just less expensive for now. But just wait. All the same hell is just moving from cable and sat to the OTT streaming TV services via internet.

 

[dare2be]

The price is not mandated. Other cable companies charge more.

No, but if any or all providers start raising the price of cable card rental like they have other fees in their business model, you can be sure the complaints to the FCC will get taken seriously. Since cable card usage is strictly regulated by the FCC, no one wants to poke that bear.

Comcast actually gives a credit for cable card and using owned equipment.

• Pay only for equipment you have. Your operator must give you a discount on any packages that include the price of a set-top box if you choose to use your own CableCARD-enabled device. FCC Rule 76.1205(b)(5).

 

[osu1991]

No, but if any or all providers start raising the price of cable card rental like they have other fees in their business model, you can be sure the complaints to the FCC will get taken seriously. Since cable card usage is strictly regulated by the FCC, no one wants to poke that bear.

• Pay only for equipment you have. Your operator must give you a discount on any packages that include the price of a set-top box if you choose to use your own CableCARD-enabled device. FCC Rule 76.1205(b)(5).

It's not going to matter. Since the FCC didn't have the balls to name a cable card replacement, it will eventually go away as providers move from QAM to IP delivery. The providers just have to provide an app instead of allowing any outside vendors equipment to access their systems. No set encryption method like cable card was imposed so each cable system will have their own IP encryption methods meaning TiVo or any other vendor would have to make equipment specific to each company.

Just like with streaming OTT you have to take advantage of the most competitive pricing at the moment.

 

[dare2be]

It's not going to matter. Since the FCC didn't have the balls to name a cable card replacement, it will eventually go away as providers move from QAM to IP delivery. The providers just have to provide an app instead of allowing any outside vendors equipment to access their systems. No set encryption method like cable card was imposed so each cable system will have their own IP encryption methods meaning TiVo or any other vendor would have to make equipment specific to each company.

Just like with streaming OTT you have to take advantage of the most competitive pricing at the moment.

I get what you're saying, but I was talking historically why cable card prices remain low and did not rise like other fees did, and shouldn't be used in the discussion of outrageous prices and fees skyrocketing.