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DISH Institutes 2008 Price Freeze
08 Jan, 2008
DISH Network announced a prize freeze on their most popular programming packages at CES. The freeze includes their America’s Top 100 and Top 200 package, local channels, and a DishDVR package. Pricing will freeze at $39.99 or $49.99 per month, depending on the package selected. The price freeze extends through February 2009.
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googleDISH Networks Thinks Sling Has Special Sauce
25 Sep, 2007
Echostar/DISH Networks announced the acquisition of Sling Media yesterday, maker of the Slingbox. DISH is purchasing Sling Media for $380 million and they expect the deal to close in the fourth quarter. DISH clearly sees this acquisition as a means to create competitive advantage over DirecTV and its cable/IPTV competitors. “With today’s increasingly mobile lifestyle, EchoStar’s acquisition of Sling Media will allow us to offer innovative and convenient ways for our customers to enjoy their programming on more displays and locations, including TVs, computers and mobile phones, both inside and outside of the home. This combination paves the way for the development of a host of new innovative products and services for our subscribers, new digital media consumers and strategic partners,” said Echostar CEO Charlie Ergen.
Sling Media has developed some interesting products. Their value proposition is to allow consumers to view content anywhere and anytime. If DISH is able to integrate these products well, they could have some compelling features and applications to offer. Maybe more importantly, the acquisition of Sling talent into the Echostar fold should lead to more innovation and perhaps additional competitive advantage. Stay tuned.
For more insight, check out this post from Jeremy Toeman's LIVEdigitally blog.
DISH Turns Up HD Competitive Heat
21 Sep, 2007
DISH Networks announced a series of deals for HD, including a partnership with Sharp to offer discounts on Sharp Aqous HDTVs. DISH will also offer free DishHD service for six months and a free upgrade to an HD DVR receiver. The Sharp television partnership offers up to an $800 discount for a new Aqous HDTV. To top everything off, they will throw in free HBO and Cinemax for 3 monhs. There are obviously a variety of terms and restrictions, including an 18 month term commitment. On the surface, it’s a compelling HD bundle.
The battle for HD subscribers is increasingly becoming intense. DirecTV has garnered much press for their claims of being able to soon offer over 100 HD channels, including local broadcast channels. The cable industry claims to offer better HD reception. Verizon is toting their ability to provide VOD HD feeds. The HD landscape is clear – most competitors are trying to find ways to leverage their own HD edge (real or perceived) to build competitive advantage. HD adoption is appears to be accelerating – and at a pace that many underestimated. The availability of lower priced HDTV’s from retailers like Wal-Mart has certainly played a role. The content community is beginning to catch up, with almost weekly announcements of HD content availability. The result is a marketplace where competitors will need a robust HD strategy, and quickly.
Clearwire Partners with Echostar and DirectTV
14 Jun, 2007
Clearwire announced today that it has partnered with both DirecTV and Dish Networks to resell each others services. Clearwire’s broadband wireless Internet can now be bundled with both DirecTV and Echostar’s Dish Network satellite video services. The reverse is true as well, with Clearwire now able to offer a video bundle with their wireless Internet offering. All three companies have also agreed to allow each other to sell these services independently, meaning DirecTV can sell Clearwire products independent of a bundled video offering and vice versa.
This announcement highlights the desire for these companies to leverage bundled service packages, despite the fact that their respective core networks don’t allow them to do so. The issue is more acute for DirecTV and Echostar, who realize they need a triple play package in order to compete effectively with cable and telecom providers. They are actively exploring many options, including BPL. This new partnership deal appears to be more of an interim step, than a long term strategy.
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Telecompetitor is a leading industry blog covering the telecom competitive landscape. We provide insight, analysis, and commentary on the issues and implications of the evolving telecom competitive landscape.
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Should Telephone Service be Free?
12 Oct, 2008
Comcast announced a new promotion last week that offers 12 months of free basic cable service for new customers who also sign up for an additional service. Customers who don’t want an additional service can get Comcast’s basic service of about 20 -30 channels for $10/month. The promotion is tied to the digital TV transition of February 2009 and entices potential customers to avoid the transition “hassle” by getting “free” cable service. “The simple fact is that basic cable is the easiest path through the digital transition and now consumers can get it for free,” said Derek Harrar, General Manager and Senior Vice President, Video Services for Comcast in a company statement. This move is similar to strategies pursued by other video service providers, who are hoping to leverage the digital TV transition for new subscriber additions.
But is this strategy a leading indicator for the future? Should basic core services like basic cable and basic telephone service be offered for free, used as a “carrot” to entice customers to buy “more important” services like broadband? Maybe a very basic phone service, with no LD, access to landline 911, and maybe outgoing service only (to avoid telemarketers) should be a free component of a bundled offering. Such a wireline service may appeal to a customer who previously cut the cord for wireless only, but also needs broadband. There is a growing portion of the population who find the value of traditional wireline phone service elsewhere – either through wireless or broadband/IP services. But, if they could get the security of landline 911, and an extra dial tone in their home as a free value add for subscribing to broadband (or video from a telco’s perspective), maybe a telco’s bundled offering may look more attractive than a comparable cable offering. I realize this idea is not appealing to the hundreds of ILECs who are a part of the current access/settlement system (in fact, it couldn’t work in the context of today’s regulatory structure), but I wonder whether it’s inevitable. In this possible future scenario, the current settlement system adapts to broadband as the underlying service, as opposed to voice.
This scenario cuts both ways. From a cable company’s perspective, a growing portion of the population is turning to the Internet as a source for their video content, and no longer see value in paying for a broad package of video as a part of a traditional subscription pay-TV service. But, if they could receive basic TV (which includes local broadcast affiliates) as a free value add for buying broadband, maybe the cable bundle is more attractive. In a true IP/broadband world, very basic phone and video service is relatively easy to deliver, and has little impact on bandwidth and network performance. Maybe the digital transition is opening the door to a future where free basic services are a regular component of a bundled offering. Thoughts?