One of the things we loved about DirectTV when we first got it was the east and west coast feeds of network shows. Then they lost that. We also loved the TiVo service, which was like magic. We can record I think 5 shows at once on Comcast now, which is nice, but the DirectTV allowed us to be tuned to two different channels at the same time, with a 30 min buffer on both so you could flip between two channels without losing anything.
I’m thinking now streaming is the main reason for their problems. People who don't want cable are now more likely to stream than deal with hassles of the mini dish. And if that’s true, probably just an early indicator of what’s in store for cable. On Fri, 26 Feb 2021 at 11:28 AM Jim Ellwanger <[email protected]> wrote: > Adding on to Tom's response -- I've had DirecTV since 2004, and intend to > continue with them for the foreseeable future, but I can think of a number > of reasons why they're losing subscribers. > > They've basically had two constituencies all along: people in areas where > cable is available, where DirecTV has long been sold as a "premium" option; > and people in areas where cable isn't available at all. > > For that first group: > 1. Cable companies have increased their channel offerings and improved > their technology over the years, so DirecTV doesn't necessarily have the > "premium" advantages they once had. (One big reason I switched from cable > to DirecTV in 2004 was to get a DVR that could record two shows at once, > which was impossible with cable at the time. I now have a DirecTV DVR that > can record five shows at once, but cable's caught up with that in many > cases.) > 2. Most of those people have high-speed Internet available to them, which > makes it easy to "cut the cord" entirely and switch to streaming options. > 3. AT&T has attempted to compete with cable companies' TV/Internet/phone > bundles by offering DirecTV/Internet/wireless bundles, but AT&T hasn't > built out its high-speed Internet network as much as cable companies have. > (Last I checked, at my address in the city of Los Angeles, the best AT&T > can offer is 6Mbps DSL, so the only usable high-speed Internet option for > me is the local cable provider, Spectrum. Yes, I pay two separate bills > each month.) > 4. DirecTV's price has gone up quite a bit over the years (an inflation > calculator tells me inflation is 38.5% since 2004, but my DirecTV bill has > gone up well over 100% for a comparable level of service). > 5. DirecTV's major exclusive premium sports package, NFL Sunday Ticket, > has gotten less valuable over the years with the NFL starting up the > RedZone channel for cable subscribers, as well as moving some games off > Sundays to other days of the week (most notably, the Thursday night > package). > 6. DirecTV and cable companies both rely on contracted installers, but > it's a lot more "fiddly" to get a DirecTV setup perfected -- if the > installer doesn't have the proper level of expertise, it can result in > issues like what happened with Tom's friend, where the signal is going out > in bad weather a lot more than it should. (On those occasions when it's > pouring rain in Southern California, I tend to only get very brief > glitches, which are more livable than cable being completely out for a > length of time.) > > For that second group: > 1. As happened in PGage's case, more areas have cable or other options > available these days, including Internet options. > 2. DirecTV's satellite competitor Dish Network has done a good job of > positioning themselves as a less expensive alternative, especially for > people who aren't sports fans (they've taken a hard line on negotiating for > channel carriage, and one big result is that many sports channels that are > on DirecTV are not available on Dish). > > > On Feb 26, 2021, at 10:37 AM, Tom Wolper <[email protected]> wrote: > > On Fri, Feb 26, 2021 at 1:05 PM PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Yes. >> >> I am interested in any analysis/summary of why DirectTV failed. I was an >> enthusiastic subscriber for some years - I live in a rural, mountainous >> community that has very poor over the air reception, and at the time no >> cable access. The mini dish felt like a miracle. I switched to Comcast >> (which had finally decided to run a cable up our mountain a few year >> before) only when tree growth in our backyard obstructed our southern >> exposure to the satellite (and after paying a couple of young guys a couple >> of times to cut down branches, which just seemed to dangerous to ask them >> to do again). >> >> I don’t know that there is anything about cable that is superior to >> DirecTV (maybe access to the NFLRedZone), and there are several things >> about Comcast that I detest. If could access their satellite I would still >> be using them. So I wonder why they are failing? >> >> I know Comcast has added the ability to access other streamers (Netflix, >> Amazon, Hulu) - I am not sure if that is available on DirectTV. I use that >> only rarely, as it is very clunky, and I find it easier to access those >> streamers directly in other ways. >> > > You lived in a situation where having satellite worked because there was > no cable or fiber optic option. That's obviously a niche that can't support > a national satellite TV company. In most markets DirecTV had to compete > with Dish, the cable companies, and fiber optic companies. They had to > compete on price mostly (there were premiums like Sunday Ticket but it > doesn't seem to have set them too much apart) and at scale they couldn't > keep up, especially as households are now cutting the cord rather than just > switching providers. > > My own anecdotal experience is with a friend here in Pittsburgh who had > Comcast for decades. When Verizon FIOS came to town they seduced him away > with a starter offer. He was happy with them but when the introductory rate > period was over he searched for a new deal and signed up with DirecTV. He > hated them. The installer promised him that the days of losing the picture > in bad weather were gone and that clearly wasn't the case. I can't recall > the number of times he called or texted me enraged that he lost his signal > due to rain or snow He was so happy to get rid of the service. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAJE-FiHbjuYNYzz-bEgmYwvFdpkVHO_1zyQWH_9Oxt_WfDQb%2BQ%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAJE-FiHbjuYNYzz-bEgmYwvFdpkVHO_1zyQWH_9Oxt_WfDQb%2BQ%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/8D72E20B-DDAF-4A09-8441-21CA3C8F28DB%40ellwanger.tv > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/8D72E20B-DDAF-4A09-8441-21CA3C8F28DB%40ellwanger.tv?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- Sent from Gmail Mobile -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. 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