DISH Network's Q1 wasn't
anything to be proud of, and unfortunately for the satcaster, it seems that Q2 isn't much better. After suffering a 90% drop in subscriber growth during the first of the year, DISH's Q2 earnings report highlights an approximate loss of 25,000 net subscribers during the quarter ended June 30, 2008. Granted, it still has just south of 14 million customers hanging tight, so don't go crying over its misfortunes or anything. Furthermore, it still managed to increase total revenue by 5.6% (from $2.76 billion to $2.91 billion) year-over-year. The real question is what will happen in the second half of the year now that both it and DirecTV are clearly aiming to
one-up each other at
every possible turn. Ah, satellite drama.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
mntwister @ Aug 5th 2008 12:49AM
25,000 out of 14 million is not that big of a deal, especially when you are turning a profit, but the number, but losing subscribers instead of gaining is not a good thing, but I think this is very temporary.
I have stayed with Dish because I think they offer great service, they are very friendly and helpful on the phone, I love their DVR which I think is much better than my friend's DirecTV dvr, and they have been adding high def channels monthly by great numbers, including HD locals. I also love their external hard drive feature for their DVR. I think a number of these subscribers left because Dish took off the Voom networks, but they have since added alot of HD content and promise more with their new sat. which is not yet transmitting.
I believe they will start to gain subscribers because I believe they will start a big advertising push. They were slow with HD content last year and DirecTV took many away, but I believe that will turn around. I am sticking with Dish I have been vey happy with them after several nightmares from Directv I switched to Dish early last year.
Jeremy W @ Aug 5th 2008 3:49AM
A net loss of subscribers for any large subscription service is ALWAYS a big deal. Especially when your main competitor is posting huge net gains. I'm sorry, there is no way to spin this positively for Dish.
mntwister @ Aug 5th 2008 1:48PM
In the end, it's profit that matters and Dish showed a profit.
El robusto @ Aug 5th 2008 4:08AM
DISH is doomed if for no other reason than the terrifically bad Karma that the owner of the company continues to rack up.
Jamus @ Aug 5th 2008 9:23PM
But he is "racking it up" mainly by standing up to the Viacoms and Vivendis of the world. The last thing I want is another damned "Nick Tween" channel.
JeffPic @ Aug 5th 2008 6:46AM
I am surprised too, I think they are a decent company. Most of the service providers gouge you and I like to describe Dish as reasonable. They are pretty responsive with customer service but they do nickle and dime you. I wouldn't be surprised if people cut them loose because Dish charged them 5 bucks to get downgrade their service.
I also think they have a great STB interface and the QOS is better than comcasts...
JVirg @ Aug 5th 2008 8:34AM
I left Dish about 2 1/2 years ago for DirecTV, and have not looked back. But it is all in what you want. Dish network is slower to add new channels and fast to delete current ones. DirecTV adds channels the day they come out and rarely would take them away. DirecTV might be a few dollars more, but I would rather pay the extra and get everything I want. That said DirecTV is certainly not without its equipment and customer service problems. But what company is?
squiggleslash @ Aug 5th 2008 8:36AM
We're happy with the service but as JeffPic says, they nickle and dime you. To the point that they tried to slap a "$5" service fee on me when I called to enable my external hard drive.
Now, it's bad enough they charge $40 for allowing you to add a hard drive, something that costs them nothing, but $5 for calling Dish Network is ridiculous. I made it clear I wasn't going to stand for it, and they dropped the charge.
I've also pretty much given up expecting the monthly charge to resemble the amount given by the CS rep, who will list all of the charges one by one, but when the bill finally arrives you'll find the entire thing is now in a single "DVR Advantage" charge whose origins are pretty much unclear, and which seems to be always around $10 more than you thought it would be. Sure, I can keep calling, but what the hell's the point? And it's still cheaper than DirecTV.
They provide good services on a technical level. What they need is honesty and transparency. Price and good service is a key component to customer retention, but if the other guy doesn't look like an ass, and his advertising's just as slick, people will leave.
mntwister @ Aug 5th 2008 11:10AM
I understand over on the sat. web sites the war between Dish and Direct is almost as bad as it was with blu-ray/hd-dvd (I am talking about the fanboyism). So I have read hatred for both systems, and people that liked both services.
I don't dislike Directv except for the fact that they were the first my father chose a year ago. He made the appointment for install right through Directv, and they never showed up on the scheduled day. Then they re-scheduled and did not show up the 2nd time but came on the wrong day when do one was home. Finally he said to heck with it and got Dish. 30 days later, he got his first DirecTV bill (they never even installed it).
I am sure there are horror stories on both sides, just explaining what happened to him. The real fact is that BOTH are slapping all kinds of fees on their customers, continuing to compress their channels more and more, and both offer some great things too. Dish is catching up to Directv and has promised to surpass it in HD by year's end, but they have BOTH made promises that are not true.
Personally, I would not give up my Dish DVR and External hard drives for anything (4-750gb hard drives containing almost 500 hours of recorded high def). I am quite happy with Dish and will remain there.
BIZKeT @ Aug 5th 2008 11:23AM
I just went through four days of annoying customer service hell getting my Dish Network service set up. I could not understand what any of them said about 1/3 of the time and was constantly told that they were going to have to change the install date to apply the ClubDish code my friend gave me (I was eventually told that they cold apply it after the install, but only after 40 minutes of annoyance). On the day of the install I was called by the installer telling me that my work order didn't have any dishes. 45 minutes later with customer service and I am told everything is fine, they have talked to the installer and worked it out, and he will be here soon. He shows up and says they lied to me. I tell him I don't want to deal with this company anymore and to not install. He freaks out and demands I talk to his supervisor. All said and done, it compares with the worst Comcast experience I have ever had so I am now researching DirecTV.
The 2nd tier folks with Dish were very nice and tried to be helpful but when corporate and the contract installers refuse to agree on how many dishes I need, I expect that any future service requests are going to be like pulling teeth. No thanks.
mntwister @ Aug 5th 2008 1:40PM
which goes to show they both have employees that at times don't know what they are doing with installs (read my previous post about my father trying to get DirecTV). I have found every time I have called customer service (after install) with Dish they have answered quickly, helped solve the problem quickly and were very friendly.
Greg @ Aug 5th 2008 11:39AM
I was with DirecTV for about 8 years before I finally switched to Dish.
I couldn't be happier.
Bottom line is that I'm in love with Dish hardware. As far as a total package, I can't imagine a better experience than I get with my ViP 722 DVR.
Once DirecTV moved past the Tivo HR10 and began to show a great reluctance to allow customers to have easy access to off air free TV through their receivers, they lost me. All my HD Dish receivers tune ATSC.
mntwister @ Aug 5th 2008 1:43PM
I agree with you completely, the hardware is awesome (I have the 622, only difference being the hard drive space), I especially love the external hard drive feature, doesn't matter how much space is on the DVR, you can use as many external USB drives as you want, each up to 750gb :-). Their dvr is awesome compared to what I see of Directv's at a friend's home.
Shape @ Aug 5th 2008 6:08PM
Reluctance? Eh?
My DirecTV HR20 DVR works great with the ATSC signal from my antenna.
William George @ Aug 6th 2008 1:02PM
It is good gear--until you have a problem.My 622 performed almost flawlessly for around a year, then went ballistic. They sent another 622, which also performed well, for about a week. They obligingly sent another receiver, except it was a 522.
I have been notified that another receiver will be delivered, perhaps today. Two questions:
1. Will it be the right one?
2. Will it operate for a reasonable period of time?
Stay tuned.
Medina @ Aug 5th 2008 4:48PM
I do installs for Dish in San Antonio and it has been really slow almost all year. Right after the NFL playoffs it has slowed down big time. It picked up a little bit here and there and now we're having a shortage on the 625/522 recievers right now so that doesn't help things. Hopefully things start to pick up here soon. Although, I had heard the other markets here in Texas have been doing well. I'm not sure whats going on down here.
Jamus @ Aug 5th 2008 9:27PM
I have been with Dish since '97. I enjoy the service but the increasing number of jewelry/shopping channels is starting to run thin.
Did anyone else notice that with one of the first to cry foul when the Sirius & XM merger went through was the cable and sat industry? They do NOT like the idea of an "pick your own channel" subscription service. It would kill off those crap channels in a snap. Sure, you have to listen to those who say it would push up prices, but I say let it. After folks start dropping channels maybe then the networks will drop back to reasonable wholesale prices to the sat industry (and cable too).
Raging Hamster @ Aug 6th 2008 12:54AM
I have been with Dish and Direct each for 5 years over the past 10. Presently I am with Direct.
The only reason, and I do mean THE ONLY reason that I am with Direct is NFL Sunday Ticket.
I loves me the football.
As soon as Dish figures out a way to break Direct's hold on the NFL package..... I am theirs forever.
Andrew Brown @ Aug 6th 2008 10:29AM
I'd wager most of their losses on AT&T buying out the remainders of contracts when switching to UVerse (for existing AT&T-Dish contracts).
Rboyett @ Aug 6th 2008 5:15PM
I'm done with the Dish. They moved the NFL network to a more expensive tier and screwed customers in the process. Yes, I know the whole story how the NFL started this fiasco but Dish is the one that ultimately screwed the customer.
This is my last month of Dish. Next month I'll be enjoying my NFL Sunday Ticket like I should have in the first place.
Jesse @ Aug 17th 2008 12:05AM
I install dish network and direct tv. At home i have dish network and if i'm installing a direct tv new customer and they ask me what i have at home I proudly state DISH NETWORK. Direct seems miles behind dish with their hardware, Directs DVRs suck to install, two cables from the dish to the receiver, come on dish has bandstacked their signal for years, and direct cant figure that out? I can't even tell you how many direct customers i have personnally converted to dish because i have shown them my system at home vip 722, vip 612 and a vip 211 all with external harddrives to them, off air hookups to them also. I can say i have converted about 10 customers to dish from direct the past two weeks. I dont sell them on Dish, i just state the many reasons why dish is superior, and you cant argue with that.
Jerry @ Aug 29th 2008 8:43PM
Hi all,
I'm a fairly new retailer out in Northern California. I install dish and of course sell them. I will say that since Dish changed to only allow customers to qualify using a credit card that my sales have dropped to almost nilch.
Are there any other retailers that could help me understand a better way to get sales? I do not have a storefront and am working out of my house. I basically go door to door selling. I'm a great salesman but am getting a little frustrated because this quarter is way to slow and I need to survive.
Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks