| NEWS Heads up AT&T / DirecTV customers, Disney (ESPN) carriage deal ends Sept 30th

[planomateo]

 

[bamaledge]

 

[50+yeartidefan]

Well...goes to show...if you gave one of these corporations control of holidays...they would cancel Christmas

 

[JoseyWalesTheOutlaw]

Well...goes to show...if you gave one of these corporations control of holidays...they would cancel Christmas

AT&T would move Game Day to the Philippines like their pathetic support desk operation...F"um both

 

[bamaledge]

Sooooo, are they going to shutdown the espn club at Disney?

 

[planomateo]

Sooooo, are they going to shutdown the espn club at Disney?

Why would they do that? Disney owns ESPN.

 

[50+yeartidefan]

Well. Did it go black?

 

[It Takes Eleven]

I know my Son in law just changed to Youtube TV the paid version and is getting a lot of channels for $45 per month. All the ones I get on Dish My last months bill was over $100. I am going to call them.

Yeah, we've done that as well. Saved $125 a month over cable. Every sports channel you'd want. They have no Discovery family of channels, but plenty of everything else.

 

[It Takes Eleven]

Today AT&T sent shareholders an update for its 2020 goals. In that letter to shareholders, AT&T warned that they could lose over 1 million subscribers in the 3rd quarter of 2019. AT&T went on to warn that there could be more blackouts as contracts are coming up for renewal.

“Coming into the year, the company expected some tough content negotiations, specifically for retransmission deals. Stephens said the company has been holding a hard line in negotiations, which is allowing it to achieve its content cost management goals. In the third quarter, Stephens said the company expects an incremental 300,000 to 350,000 premium video losses above the previous quarter’s premium video results, driven by: aggressively managing costs with retransmission negotiations, some of which resulted in content provider black outs; and from limiting promotional pricing.” AT&T said in their shareholder letter.” AT&T said in the letter to shareholders.

In the 2nd quarter of 2019, AT&T lost over 778,000 TV subscribers. Adding an additional 300,000 would push them over 1 million subscribers lost in just three months. Disney has recently warned of a possible blackout, and that could be one of the blackouts AT&T says they are worried about. Yet it sounds like more contracts other than Disney will also be coming up for renewal.

The letter to shareholders went on to say that AT&T expected subscriber trends to improve due to far fewer customers on promotional pricing.
“In 2020, AT&T expects premium TV subscriber trends to improve due to far fewer customers on promotional pricing and the nationwide launch of AT&T TV, which delivers a premium streaming experience. Other factors that may help improve Entertainment Group EBITDA beyond 2019 include: broadband growth due to increased fiber penetration and availability of higher speeds; a higher-quality video and broadband customer base with lower churn and higher ARPU; continued cost management; advertising growth from Xandr and less pressure from declining legacy products.”

ATT, with its dying industry of landlines, buying DirecTV, with its dying satellite network, was almost as bad as Sears buying Kmart.

 

[50+yeartidefan]

ATT, with its dying industry of landlines, buying DirecTV, with its dying satellite network, was almost as bad as Sears buying Kmart.

Thats so funny and accurate!!!!
Well game day is on so...something happened

 

[RTB X Bot]

 

[50+yeartidefan]

Lol. I called # on screen to issue complaints
Could not understand a single thing the "associate " on the phone said...

 

[JoseyWalesTheOutlaw]

Lol. I called # on screen to issue complaints
Could not understand a single thing the "associate " on the phone said...

Mi love you football long time...Sum Tin Wong

 

[It Takes Eleven]

Poor ATT can't put the toothpaste back into the tube...

• WSJ NEWS EXCLUSIVE
• DEVELOPING NEWS

AT&T Explores Parting Ways With DirecTV Unit
Telecom giant considers fate of DirecTV satellite unit

AT&T has considered various options for DirecTV. PHOTO: PATRICK T. FALLON/BLOOMBERG NEWS
By
Shalini Ramachandran and
Drew FitzGerald
Updated Sept. 18, 2019 5:52 pm ET

AT&T Inc. is exploring parting with its DirecTV satellite unit, people familiar with the matter said, a move that would mark a sharp course correction for the phone giant’s chief executive, Randall Stephenson, after years of bulking up the company into a media conglomerate.
AT&T has considered various options, including a spinoff of DirecTV into a separate public company and a combination of DirecTV’s assets with Dish Network Corp., its satellite-TV rival, the people said.
AT&T may ultimately decide to keep DirecTV in the fold. Despite the satellite service’s struggles, as consumers drop their TV connections, it still contributes a sizable volume of cash flow and customer accounts to its parent.

AT&T acquired DirecTV in 2015 for $49 billion. The company’s shrinking satellite business is under a microscope after activist investor Elliott Management Corp. disclosed a $3.2 billion stake in AT&T last week and released a report pushing for strategic changes. Elliott has told investors that AT&T should unload DirecTV, The Wall Street Journal has previously reported.
There could be regulatory hurdles to any deal with Dish, which has about 12 million subscribers. When Dish’s predecessor EchoStar Communications Corp. and DirecTV’s former owner Hughes Electronics Corp. tried to merge in 2001, regulators ultimately blocked it on antitrust grounds, worried that many rural Americans would be left with only a single option to get their television service. More recently, Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen held talks to combine with DirecTV in 2014, but lost out to AT&T.
On the idea of merging two satellite providers, AT&T finance chief John Stephens said, “From a regulatory perspective, it hasn’t been successful and I don’t know that there is any change in that regulatory perspective.” He added, speaking last week at an investor conference, “I understand the industrial logic, but quite frankly it’s been tried and has been rejected.”

 

[sean]

we're still on dish network....but not for long. as soon as i can get another smart tv, i'll be getting rid of that $138/month bill and going with hulu +live tv (or youtube tv....haven't totally decided, yet) and an antenna for local channels. plus i'm gonna buy a stand-alone dvr so i can record the games that i miss while i'm working. although youtube tv comes with a cloud dvr...so if i go that route, i won't need one.

 

[planomateo]

we're still on dish network....but not for long. as soon as i can get another smart tv, i'll be getting rid of that $138/month bill and going with hulu +live tv (or youtube tv....haven't totally decided, yet) and an antenna for local channels. plus i'm gonna buy a stand-alone dvr so i can record the games that i miss while i'm working. although youtube tv comes with a cloud dvr...so if i go that route, i won't need one.

One month and you've paid for a Apple TV, Chromecast, or Roku. A few months and you've paid for a new smart TV.

 

[bamachine]

Unfortunately, I am not where I can stream easily. I have Viasat/Exede for my internet and I am limited to 40G before it is choked down for the rest of the month. Usually run out after 1 week. I do have unlimited between the hours of 3AM-6AM, you know, when all the best shows are on.

 

[rick4bama]

Unfortunately, I am not where I can stream easily. I have Viasat/Exede for my internet and I am limited to 40G before it is choked down for the rest of the month. Usually run out after 1 week. I do have unlimited between the hours of 3AM-6AM, you know, when all the best shows are on.

I'm the same way, but I have HughesNet with 20GB. I have 17 day before it reset. I think my bonus is from 2-8 am.

 

[bamachine]

I'm the same way, but I have HughesNet with 20GB. I have 17 day before it reset. I think my bonus is from 2-8 am.

Yeah, my dad had Hughesnet when I moved back here to look after him in his final year. I switched to Viasat because it was cheaper, the lowest package gave me twice the primary bandwidth and it also is faster both before and after it chokes down. It does have a smaller "free" window.

 

[ElephantStomp]

I haven’t had cable or satellite for several years, the squeeze wasn’t/isn’t worth the juice with cable or satellite companies. I have Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime, but only pay for Hulu. As for Bama games or Red Sox games I go to a local brewery and watch if I feel like watching it. I havent watched ESPN in years and have no interest, so I dont care about not having it.