PATREONItems tagged with (NASDAQ:DISH)
It hasn't been a great week if you're a cord-cutter trying to escape the rising prices of traditional cable TV and satellite TV packages. We first reported that Google was raising YouTube TV prices to $65 per month, and AT&T TV raised prices by $10 across the board for its packages. Even FuboTV has responded with price hikes of its own, forcing all customers onto a new $65/month family bundle. Sling, on the other hand, has been sitting back and watching all of this transpire from the sidelines and has now responded with solution of its own. But there are no price hikes that have been announced for Sling TV; at least not yet. Instead, the company is introducing a new 1-year...
Read more...
It was bound to happen, but Sling TV has finally caved into the pressure of “rising costs” that are passed on to its customers. Sling has tried to hold off on price hikes while competitors like AT&T and Hulu have sent pricing into the stratosphere, but it couldn’t escape the inevitable. In a blog post today, Sling announced that it is raising the prices on its Sling Orange and Sling Blue packages. Now, the packages will cost $30 each, or $45 for Sling Orange + Blue. Each of these packages previously cost $25 each, or $40 for Sling Orange + Blue. Sling last raised prices back in June 2018, when Sling Orange went from $20 to $25. “Sling doesn’t...
Read more...
Dish Network has been trying to disrupt the traditional cable TV model with Sling TV, its live TV streaming service for cord cutters that starts at $20 per month for over 30 channels. To make the proposition even more appealing, Sling TV is launching its own set-top box called AirTV Player. Subscribers will be able to use the set-top box to scan local TV channels from their digital antenna and combine that content with Sling TV's streaming channels. It supports Netflix, too. "Get the live channels you love and the shows you can't miss. Watch Sling TV on AirTV Player, and enjoy live sports, shows, and movies with the simplicity of an app. With the AirTV Player, cut the cord and keep the TV experience....
Read more...
Satellite TV provider Dish Network is reportedly in talks with T-Mobile, the fourth largest wireless carrier in the U.S., about merging. While nothing is yet imminent, the two sides have already agreed on a power structure that would have Dish chief Charlie Ergen becoming chairman and T-Mobile boss John Legere taking the reins as CEO.The bigger challenge is figuring out how much to value the deal and then breaking down the purchase price in a mix of cash and stock. T-Mobile's market capitalization sits at around $31 billion, while Dish Network, the second largest satellite TV provider in the U.S., is worth about $33 billion. It's not clear which company would be buying the other.Both T-Mobile...
Read more...
Following its official public launch in early February, Dish Network’s Sling TV streaming service is off to fast start. Sling TV, which costs $20 per month, captured 100,000 subscribers during its first month of availability and the momentum doesn’t appear to be slowing down. Fresh news today from The Wall Street Journal (no, this isn’t an April Fool’s joke) suggests that the adoption of Sling TV may skyrocket again thanks to the inclusion of HBO. According to the WSJ, Time Warner Cable — the parent company of HBO — and Dish Network have come to an agreement which would allow Sling TV subscribers to enjoy such content as Game of Thrones, True Detective, Girls, and Veep (as well as back catalogs...
Read more...
Cable companies should take note; the cord-cutting revolution has begun in earnest. Somewhat ironically, it's a satellite TV provider that's disrupting the landscape. Specifically, Dish Network and its potentially game-changing Sling TV web television service, which has reportedly amassed over 100,000 subscribers since launching a month ago. Sling TV's base package is $20 per month and includes ESPN, ESPN2, AMC, Foot Network, HGTV, Disney Channel, TNT, El Rey Network, Travel Channel, TBS, Maker, Adult Swim, CNN, IFC, Cartoon Network, ABC Family, and Golovision. Four optional add-on packages for sports, movies, kid friendly content, and news are available at $5 a pop,...
Read more...
Cord cutters rejoice! AMC is now available on Dish Network’s $20 per month Sling TV service. That means that you’ll be able to catch new episodes of hit shows like Better Call Saul and The Walking Dead; not to mention the second half of the final season of Mad Men starting in April and numerous Breaking Bad marathons. In addition to AMC, IFC also comes to Sling TV’s $20 “Core” package starting today. This adds some robustness to a channel lineup that already includes ESPN, ESPN2, TNT, TBS, ABC Family, CNN, and Food Network. Hollywood Extra, a new $5 add-on package, has also been announced that includes Sundance TV, EPIX, EPIX 2, EPIX3, and EPIX Drive In. This joins other add-on packages that...
Read more...
With the rise of online services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and host of others, consumers looking to “cut the cord” have plenty of options to select. However, ditching entrenched series like cable and satellite often means giving up such “luxuries” as network television broadcasts (ABC, NBC, CBS, etc.) and live sports channels like ESPN. Plugging rabbit ears into your HDTV can mostly solve the former, but the latter is a bit more troublesome. Dish Network is hoping to come to the rescue with its new Sling TV service that was announced last month and was available via an invite-only system until late last night. Today, Sling TV is open to all cord cutters and it offers a respectable selection...
Read more...
In what's been described as "by far the highest-earning spectrum auction the United States has ever seen" by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler, AT&T led the way by spending a whopping $18.2 billion on wireless licenses. Combined with its acquisition of DirecTV last year, some are wondering if AT&T is being a bit careless. AT&T spent nearly $49 billion last year buying DirecTV, the largest satellite TV provider in the U.S. with 20 million customers. Along with a pair of smaller acquisitions and the wireless spectrum licenses it just bought, AT&T will see $70 billion go out the door in a year's time. "This spectrum investment will be critical to AT&T...
Read more...
Dish Network subscribers have lost access to the Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network due to a dispute in negotiations between the satellite TV provider and media conglomerate. At issue is the expired contract between the two sides and their inability to come to terms on a renewed deal, so as usual when these things drag out, the customers are caught in the middle of what ends up being a contentious battle with lots of finger pointing. Eventually the two sides will likely kiss and make up, as they almost do when contract negotiations like this reach a standstill. But in the meantime, each one is blaming the other in what amounts to a public relations war, as if customers actually care about...
Read more...
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is currently deciding whether or not to approve Comcast's $45.2 billion proposed takeover of Time Warner Cable, a deal that would combine the two largest cable providers in the U.S. and give net Comcast an additional 30 million subscribers. Meanwhile, Dish Network is screaming in the FCC's ear to block the deal over concerns that it would present "serious competitive concerns." One of Dish Network's biggest concerns is the control of so-called choke points in the broadband pipeline that Comcast could use to harm competing video services. The choke points include the direct connection to consumers, the interconnection point, and managed or specialized...
Read more...
In case you were wondering -- and it would only be natural, given AT&T's recent move -- Verizon Wireless is not the least bit interested in acquiring satellite provider Dish Network. So says Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam, who is well aware of the rumors floating around suggesting Big Red and Dish Network might become a couple. "I know there are reports out there that we are talking to Dish. I can tell you now, that is someone's fantasy. There were not, and there are not, discussions going on with Dish," McAdam said during the Media and Telecom Conference, according to Reuters. Image Source: Flickr (Dave L) Speaking bluntly, McAdam added that acquiring a satellite provider isn't something he's...
Read more...
Many years ago, I helped run a local mom-and-pop video rental store. Business was okay, but not great. By the time I came onto the scene, chains like Blockbuster and Hollywood Video had started putting the squeeze on independently owned stores by inking revenue sharing deals with movie studios. While we analyzed metrics to see how many copies of a new release we could afford to buy and still turn a profit in our modest space, these big chains would receive shelves full of new flicks and share revenue with the studios. It was tough to compete with that (we weren't afforded the same or even similar deals), and like every other mom-and-pop video store, we eventually closed up shop. I find it a little...
Read more...
Those commercials for the Dish Network Hopper, the monster whole-home DVR service that lets users record up to 6 channels simultaneously and store up to 2,000 hours of content, make the whole thing seem too good to be true. In reality, it’s not, but the major networks certainly feel like it should be. Multiple networks have sued Dish Network over one feature in particular: AutoHop, which allows users to automatically skip commercials in recorded content. It may seem a semantic designation to carp about an auto-skip feature when users have always been able to simply fast forward through ads in DVR-ed programs, but the networks disagree. However, Dish keeps winning the court cases. This week,...
Read more...
