DIRECTV or Dish? American consumers are still picking DIRECTV in greater numbers. DIRECTV and Dish recently reported their earnings for the third quarter, and once again DIRECTV execs are smiling, while the higher ups at Dish have to be worried.
For the three months ending on September 30th, 2008 DIRECTV added 156,000 net subscribers for the quarter. Overall, DIRECTV now has about 17.3 million subscribers in the United States. For the third quarter, Dish Network lost 10,000 subscribers. Overall, they now claim 13.8 million subscribers.
DIRECTV’s numbers were disappointing from the 2007 perspective. During the third quarter of ’07, DIRECTV added about 240,000 new customers, so this year’s number represented about a 35% drop. DIRECTV CEO Chase Carey remained upbeat, saying this was not due to the economy, but rather the loss of AT&T as a resale partner in the former Bell South territory.
DIRECTV will once again enjoy a partnership with AT&T starting in February 2009, offering the latest DIRECTV deals. AT&T currently sells Dish Network service as the third piece of a triple play offering, but only in neighborhoods where its own AT&T U-verse service is not available. While a potential AT&T-Dish Network marriage was a hot topic this time last year, it now looks to be completely dead.
Overall, the results show an uphill battle for Dish Network vs DIRECTV. While Dish has finally leveled the playing field with DIRECTV when it comes to HD, they have fallen far behind in subscribers. When potential subscribers now consider whether to go with DIRECTV or Dish TV, they often think about which company has more of a presence. DIRECTV advertisements are constantly playing, while Dish Network’s seem to be few and far between. I recently noticed Dish Network running ads for several weeks for their Turbo HD service, but those have too disappeared.
DIRECTV will have bundling agreements with all three major local telcos in 2009, the aforementioned AT&T, as well as Verizon and Qwest. Verizon has a similar resale agreement, where their Verizon FiOS service isn’t deployed, they offer DIRECTV as a video alternative. These too give Direct TV a leg up when the local phone company is suggesting DIRECTV with combined billing over Dish.
Overall, things continue to look up for DIRECTV over Dish Network. The year ahead will be an extremely challenging one as both companies look to build their subscriber base in an environment where consumers are cutting costs.
19 comments ↓
Direct TV is terrible; I would recommend consumers think very very hard before using the service. Here is why:
1. Their tech field reps don’t know why they come to a house. They are un-prepared for the work; frequently not having the right equipment on the truck for the install. They are not focused on solving the problem; just want to get in and get out as fast as possible.
2. You, on the other hand are then left with a real problem once the service faulters or has issues. Calling the customer service line is a time consuming and very frustrating process. They constantly re-ask the same questions from one agent to another. They employ people who can not speak the english language–not because they are from India– but because they are just plain stupid. They don’t accomplish anything but a real waste of your time. Then they send out a new tech rep. All the while telling you its your fault thier system doesn’t work consistently.
3. If there is any other connection to consider–do it; save yourself a very BIG headache and take your business somewhere else. The BIG GUY–Direct TV is a terrible partner. Their earnings may be up; but ATT beware of who you choose to partner with!
By the way if you don’t publish my comment, we all will know that you are not transparent as you try to pretend
Direcct tv is by far the worst company I’ve ever had to deal with. First they promised me a 29.99 a month plan and it wasnt till I got my first bill that I saw they were charging me 64.99 insted of 29.99. Their excuse was that I had to wait 2 to 3 payments to get my 29.99 price not just that but I would be paying the 64.99 after the year even though I was never told this before I signed up for a 2 year agrement. Twice already they’ve cashed my checks but cut my service insisting I still owed them full price only to clear it up 3 days later. And that was only the half of it, Im still waiting for them to fix my dvr reciver they installed it wrong and wont record but they want to charge me 50 dollars for them 2 fix their mistake. I cant wait till I can get away from them.
Wow whats up with all the direct tv bashing. Maybe Joe and Ida should ask a question or two before jumping in. My experience was totally different, everything was explained clearly, and twice. First when i called to place my direct tv order, then again by the direct tv installer. I’m sure there are always issues here and there with a company as big as Direct tv, but they’ve done right by me and a few of my friends that also have satellite
I think these satellite providers have come along way, and even offer some competition for the regular cable tv providers. I think you will find that some have just had a bad experience with one company or other like anything. I always liked direct tv and never had a problem with them.
Wat is all tha hatein on DIRECTV for?!? Im a customer and I Own 2 DIRECTV +PLUS HDDVR Recivers and They Do Handle 1080p Output DISH Sucks Wat can the ViP HD DVR Do? Dose It Support intel ViiV? No i dont think so…bottom line DIRECTV is da best
Up until recently we were very pleased with our service which included HD and the NFL ticket. After several years of service one of our recievers had the hard drive conk out. Since that time we have gone through 4 of the new models and only 1 works. After contacting Direct TV we were told we’d be charged $400 for the broken boxes we have which are all less than 60 days old, in addition to having to pay an early termination fee. If the boxes are broken, how can I have service? How could we have an early termination fee for a product we have no way of using due to faulty boxes? The husband is irate and I’m just disappointed.
have dish-so far so good-i wish they would add more channels-direct is very good when it comes to that
Direct Tv customer service is terrible. They installed our satallite dish wrong and after our apartment called and told us we had to have them move it, they didn’t even come on their scheduled day to fix it. Now we are worried that we are going to get in a lot of trouble with our apartment because Direct Tv can’t do what they say they are going to do. We spent two hours on the phone with them asking why they didn’t come on the scheduled day (yesterday). And all they say is that they can come on the 29th. Two weeks away! They never apologized for their mistake or anything. I will never use direct tv after we get our of our contract.
I would like to let all perspective Direct TV customer know that they are a poorly run business without respect to their customers. I have been thinking about going to sat tv for along time, so finally I decided to go ahead and order it and make the swith. On a friday i talked with sales and they set me up with a saturday Install. At no time did the sales person explain that I would not get the major networks until I gained permission from them. The installer showed up at 4m , on the late side and explained to me then that I would not have local channels , I cancelled the order. This should have been made clear to me when I was sold the package. It is very poor business!
Dish is so far superior to DirectTV is unbelievable!
I just switched in mid-December to DirectTV and it
is way behind the times. No picture in a picture, No
way to pause a show to go to another without loosing
the first one (unless recording). Changeing channels
takes along time (Dish is a sec.). Fast quick button is
to long (30 sec.) , Quick go back is to short (6 sec.).
You can NOT get anyone to talk to about the problems.
I sent my DVD recorder to Dish Network instead of their receiver. They informed me it was destroyed and they would not compensate me for it.
I was a loyal Dish TV customer for many years. I canceled only because I could not get consistent local HD TV even with trying three different antennae. I could not get Local HD from Dish Network as they required a second dish pointing at my neighbor’s trees, which could not receive their satellite’s signal.
So, I received a box from them to return the receiver, etc by UPS. I discovered about a week later that I had sent my hard drive DVD recorder to them by mistake. When I discovered the error, I called them immediately.
The bottom line: Dish has a policy to DESTROY all non-Dish equipment they receive. They make NO ATTEMPT to notify the customer in any way whatsoever. They make no attempt to compenate for the loss of personal property they destroy.
They cannot take the time to even email a customer to inform them of the error. They did not actually say it, but in essence told me “sorry Charlie” your S.O.L. They stated they had destroyed my equipment and WOULD NOT provide ANY compensation. That is all there is to it and you cannot do anything about it. Calling the corporate office and the “executive resolutions Department” only served to confirm their policy and a further denial for compensation. YET, they expect me to return their satellite receiver or they will charge me a lot of money.
It is as if they just stole my $300 recorder, destroyed it and when discovered, refuse to pay for it. I acknowledged my error in returning the wrong device and would have been happy to pay for it’s return shipment. That was not even an option. If I had not discovered the error, the 30 day period for returning the Dish receiver would have lapsed and they would have charged me for it. They got you and you have no recourse. Well, I got the time, thus this letter to you.
I was stunned to say the least and infuriated that a company would treat others in this way, and even have a policy to put it into effect. Who could trust such a company that treats people this way. Their actions and policy speaks loudly to their care about people, customer satisfaction, their regard for the personal property of others. They cannot be bothered! Then, who would be bothered to do business with people like this?
With all the complaints about Dish Network, DirecTV, Comcast, Time-Warner, Charter and just about every other TV service provider you can think of, what’s a TV viewer to do?
Let’s face it, ANY big company with millions of customers like these will end up with a certain percentage of customers that have some kind of trouble. Sometimes the company really did do something stupid and sometimes certain customers are unreasonable and impossible to appease.
In this case, you screwed up by sending your equipment back to Dish. That’s nobody’s fault but your own.
Could Dish Network have handled it better? Probably. But would you have been treated any differently by any of the other big satellite or cable companies? Probably not.
Getting back to my original question: What’s a TV viewer to do? In this case, I guess you could go back to rabbit ears. But then I suppose you’ll complain to the local TV stations because their signal is not strong enough or something.
Some people just love to complain. Even when their problem is a result of their own silly mistake.
Reply to previous comment by Don Masters:
Yes, in your terms, I “screwed up”. I admit my mistake. I, however, when discovering my mistake, certainly did not expect Dish to totally disregard me and not even notify me or give me an option to pay for the return of my personal property. Their actions speak loudly to those considering dealing with such an outfit.
What’s a viewer to do? When I had struggled without success and after three TV antennae, for years trying to get a decent local HD TV reception, WHILE WITH DISH Network, I finally gave up and went to DirecTV. Then they trash my personal property without any recourse.
I do not love to complain. But, when I am treated very wrongly, I go far beyond reason to tell others about the mistreatment, hoping they can avoid a similar situation, and avoid dealing with people like this.
I do not care how many people from Dish Network try to say otherwise.
I think Dish Network will surprise a lot of people this year comparing them with Direct TV. Everyone is on the direct Tv bandwagon, but Charlie Ergen is known for pulling rabbits out of hats. The Dish Network Turbo HD packages will be key. In this poor economy, everyone will be looking to save some cash, and Dish Turbo HD is way cheaper than any Direct TV HD package. Dish Network has always been lower on prices, and that will finally mean more subscribers for them in 2009
My take on Direct tv vs dish is that they are the same. Yes the same! Lots of HD, priced less than cable. Maybe a few more outages than cable. But when you compare Directv vs dish, about the only difference is the Sunday ticket, and who has $300 bucks to throw at that any more!
I used to have direct tv but now I have Dish TV. One thing i really like it the DishDVR. It seems so much more user friendly than the one I used to have with Direct TV. I have to say when it comes to HD both directtv and Dish network are great. Can’t really see any difference between the two at all. Dish is cheaper, that’s why i dropped Direct TV, but i really didn’t have any other issues.
Both dish tv and directtv are way better than any cable company I ever had.
Direct TV customer service is a joke. Took me almost a year and many complaints to get my rebate. Plus don’t bother inviting a friend thinking you will get a rebate i have invited 3 friends never received a dime. They always offer “friends” a better deal if they don’t do the friend plan. Crappy service i pray for FIOS.
DON`T TRY PROTECTING THESE COMPANIES, WE ARE IN A RECESSION AND EVERYONE IS HURTING FROM IT INCLUDING BIG CORPORATIONS. ONE OF MY RECEIVERS WENT BAD AFTER A MONTH. THEY WANTED 50.00 TO FIX IT. THEY FIXED MY NEIGHBORS FOR FREE BUT THEY WON`T FIX MINE. SO I CANCELLED, NOW THEY WANT
$113.00 FOR CANCELLATION FEE. I DON`T PAY FOR ANY ONES BROKEN EQUIPMENT. NOW I PAY MORE FOR ANOTHER SERVICE BUT THATS OK, AT LEAST I DON`T HAVE TO LISTEN TO THOSE BABIES CRY ..AND THE $113.00 ?? FORGET IT DIRECT TV…TRY BEING BETTER TO YOUR CUSTOMERS AND GET RID OF YOUR FLY BY NIGHT 2 BIT INSTALLERS.
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