Will Dish end mirroring fees too?

[jeffwtux]

Does anybody think Charlie might preempt DirecTV at this weeks surprise retailer Charlie Chat
and also announce no more mirroring fees along with this stupid Earthlink deal? That would be awesome. The fact is that, whether he does it before
or after DirecTV, if DirecTV is set on doing this, Dish will have to match it. There's no way around it.

[JohnH]

Since it is only a "RUMOR" let's start a pre-emptive rumor. :)

While the only problem I had with the phone connection here was it created a "rats' nest", due to connecting 15 DBS receivers all to the "SAME" phone line with 25' cords when the receivers are all within 10' of each other, some will undoubtedly have a problem doing this, due to receivers being in separate rooms where there is no phone line tap. The celullar crowd will not doit either.

[Bob Haller]

Boy I would be THRILLED if they ended mirror fees and would be happy to see my phone lines are connected. This weekend I realised they werent dating to awhile ago when I got DSL I had ran out of filters and forgot about it.
I put the filter in my basement and ran a new phone cable JUST for DSL immeduiately before the filter.

Will having all my phones and such on just ONE filter cause a problem? Current rating?

:( My one 508 loads the phone line bad, I suspect the modems bad but didnt look into it much. Plugging it in ties up the phone line.

[Eyedox]

Ergen is going to have to follow a bold move of any sort by D* to keep customers ... his recent price increases, technical glitches with the PVR's, and other problems are starting to piss off longtime loyal customers. All my family have always been DISH people but they are getting tired of all the excuses and broken promises. If D* drops the $5 mirror, E* will too and that's just FINE with me! I don't get why Ergen charges $6 for locals when D* charges like $3 with their $39.00 package. Also, Ergen charges $2-3 more/month for HBO than D*.

[Dgenx321]

Watch Charlie drop the $5 fee and raise rates again in 3 months sighting that as the reason..

[Frapp]

I would be VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY surprised if either Dish or DirecTV discontinued the extra receiver(s) fee. Probably will never happen, but if it does, they will simply make it up in other areas.

It`s a simple old business trick, cut a low price here where the customer is looking and raise something over there where they will not notice :shrug:

[Bob Haller]

Well REQUIRING the phone line connection would make sense. The issue. Growth is WAY off. Will dropping the fee reverse this trend and gain enough NEW subs to overcome the revenue issue?

I will be surprised, but happy.

I agree E customer satisfaction is off, with outages, minor PVR skips & bugs, the merger failure, which was miss handled from the start. Divesting the side slots from DAY ONE would of likely got the deal approved...

The business needs a goods kick in the pants to keep the growth rate and thus stock price up.

Dropping or decreased mirror fees wouylds do this.

Just where did this rumor start?

[Phil T]

I pay $10.00 a month for having 3 receivers. If they would drop the fee, I would buy more programming!

[Scott Greczkowski]

With the "Rumor" of DirecTV dropping the mirroring fees sounds great, it may be more of a headache then its worth.

From what I have been told that if a receiver does not phone home once a month the customer will get charged the mirrored fee charge.

Since customers really dont know when the receiver calls in, it will be hard to dispute the mirror fee if the customer is charged even when the receiver is plug in to the phone line for that customers account.

If you play all the diffrent things that can happen that could prevent a properly installed receiver from calling home, I can see a lot of unhappy customers.

I personally think that for the first year of service you should pay the FULL additional receiver fee, but after your first year all receivers which have been on account for the year pay only 99 cents for the mirroring fee after the first year. Any additional receivers added to the account would have to pay the full mirror fee for one year after its added to the account.

Confused? :D

[Mike123abc]

The main reason I think the mirroring fee is on its last legs is the agreement with the cable industry and TV industry. If Digital cable can eliminate the extra fee by having the decoder boxes built into the TV, DBS will be at a serious disadvantage. Right now TWC charges $8.95/box Dish charges $5/box. Soon TWC will be 0/box...

[John Corn]

With regards to the "rumor", I could have swore last night at work my friend mentioned he got a DirecTivo and that DirecTV dropped his $4.99 Tivo fee if he subed to HBO. I was so wrapped up in my work project, I can't remember exactly what he said......:shrug:

[DarrellP]

The extra receiver fee really sucks. My 2 receivers sit side by side in the same room and I can only watch one at a time (excluding PIP).

[Jacob S]

I was just thinking that it would be a great idea for them to drop the $4.99 additional outlet fee if the phone line is connected. I heard that DirecTv will shut the receiver off if any additional receivers are not connected to a phone line, while Dish Network does not do this.

[jerryez]

"Right now TWC charges $8.95/box Dish charges $5/box. Soon TWC will be 0/box..."

Yeah, but don't TWC own the box and the $8.95 is a rental fee. With Dish, we own the box and still pay a $5.00 fee.

[Mark Holtz]

Well, setting up additional phone lines will be a problem. I have a dedicated phone line running from the telephone access box (the so-called demarkation point) directly to my room. This was in order to run TWO additional phone lines at the time (one voice, one for BBS), and there was crosstalk in the internal wiring.

So, if the phone line requirement was enforced, I would have to hae three numbers on my account: A. The actual contact number, B. My phone number, and C. My mother's phone number. Plus, there is the fun of stringing phone line to remote phone jack locations. The alternative is wireless jacks.

[shilton]

If the mirroring fees were dropped, I'd be delighted. I have an old 3rd receiver sitting in a closet I'd love to put online in my son's room but I won't pay another $4.99 for it. Years ago when I had cable, they used to charge an "additional outlet fee" for 2nd or 3rd connections, etc. They actually had to stop that practice as our state ruled that it was illegal for them to charge it. They likened it to the phone company charging for each additional jack hooked up to the same line. Of course that was before set-top boxes and now those fees are called a "rental fee" for a converter, etc so cable has worked them back in...but i personally have always felt they were wrong.

And yes, if I saved on the mirror fee, I'd be far more apt to up my programming package. Sure hope there is truth to this. I think a possible option...charge a customer a 1 time fee to "program" the 2nd smart card to share the same account and then just let it ride for free each month with the regular programming package. Then you could charge a monthly maintenance fee for customers that refuse to hook up to a phone line much like Dish does now for customers who call in PPV's over the phone. Heck, I'd drop $50.00 or so to activate a 2nd receiver if it meant I'd save the $4.99 per month.

Does anyone have any credible proof that this may be a possibility???

[jrjcd]

they will NEVER drop the mirroring fee(D* OR E*)because that would mean MILLIONS of lost dollars that neither company can afford to lose at this time...

[Marcus S]

I agree, some intentity cable or DBS will have to do it 1st, then others would follow. None are going to give up free revenue that easily.

Of course, we all have to wonder what was going through Charlie's mind to raise rates in this economy. There will be an ugly backlash, which will move Charlie to raise rates again in less than 6 mo's. Thatr's ok, how many rate raises will he justify until he has no more subs.

[Mike123abc]

If in a couple years I am able to buy Digital Cable ready TVs with HDTV over cable, it is going to be hard to stay with Dish. Right now I run 6 TVs on 2 boxes. If most manufactures sign on, the cost should be pretty cheap.

Right now Digital cable helps DBS sales, it requires a box at every TV like DBS, and costs more. If that goes away DBS will have to react. But, I do not see them cutting the mirror fee for a while, it will be 5 years before Digital cable ready TVs start to really penetrate the market, people do not buy new TVs often.

[Bob Haller]

I REALLY hope this rumor is true. Most folks would add a receiver or 2 to their account.

[Bob Haller]

Why this is likely true...

Charlie appears to be ready to sell. Growth has slowed. What better way to get the new sub rate up and keep the stock price up at the same time?

Originaly I thought this rumor unlikely, but given the sale news I tink its very possible and could be a done deal.

In any case it would be good for the industry...

[Chris Freeland]

I hope if this rumor is true, that E* will do the same. Eventually if I ever get around to upgrading to a PVR, it would be worth it to me if E* started charging new PVR subs a $4.99 charge if it means eliminating the $4.99 mirroring fee. The only problem I would have if a phone line connection with box calling out once a month is a requirement, I would have to either continue paying the mirror fee on my old 2000 or de-activate it because it has a bad modem.

[Claude Greiner]

I woldn't have a problem paying a flat $5/mo to mirror the service to every Tv in my house. Or wave the mirror fee on the secondary reciever only

Whats killing me, is the fact I have 5 additional outlets and its costing me $25/mo

[dbronstein]

Okay, I'm clueless. Why are the mirror fees and phone lines related?

Dennis

[JohnH]

I guess it has to do with determining if the receivers are all at the same location. Also, more incentive to have them connected so they can check the location. Less Piracy?

Mine are all connected and if both providers do this it would save me $60 a month.

Could be new Software would require receiver to be able to call home if not paying the mirror fee or for that matter the subscription fee. When it can't call home it shuts down.

[tampa8]

Originally posted by Marcus S
I agree, some intentity cable or DBS will have to do it 1st, then others would follow. None are going to give up free revenue that easily.

Of course, we all have to wonder what was going through Charlie's mind to raise rates in this economy. There will be an ugly backlash, which will move Charlie to raise rates again in less than 6 mo's. Thatr's ok, how many rate raises will he justify until he has no more subs.

HUH? I wonder what was going thru the mind of Direct Tv and Time Warner Cable who just raised their rates, or our local milk company, and pastry shop that just raised their prices. By the way, in the case of all except Direct Tv (of which I am not sure how the increase affects everyone) those increases are felt by all who use their services. My and many other Dish subscriber's rates WENT DOWN. I am not picking on Marcus S because others have posted similar comments, but I have to wonder the motive to try and make it look like Charlie is doing something so crazy, something that no one else is doing when in fact he is one of many.

[foam72]

I hope the phone line is not a call in tracking viewing habits. They would be able to link viewing data with your account then.

[Jacob S]

I think a reduction in price of programming or better bundling pricing would attract customers better than dropping an extra fee that they had all along.

[Mike123abc]

After more thought, the only way I could see them dropping mirroring is if they updated the software on the settop boxes to stop working if they do not call in within 30 days. Then it could be viewed as a win because it could hurt pirating. I do not know if they can come up with a fool proof system that will keep the pirates at bay with this.

[dbronstein]

I don't see how $5 a month would stop someone from pirating the receiver. It's still much cheaper to pay the $5 than it is to actually subscribe and pay $30 or $40 or more.

Dennis

[Jacob S]

If they would force the phoneline rule then piracy could greatly increase as well, at least with Dish since DirecTv already enforces this.

[Steve Mehs]

I admit, I hate the idea of hooking the box up to a phone line, the two phone jacks in the house are on opposite ends of the room as the receivers. I would imagine if they would require a phone line they would get a lot of money on impulse PPV, accidental PPV orders and outstanding PPVs.