E*& D* merge (new speculation)

[BadFrog]

http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/jul2006/pi20060728_419613.htm?chan=tc&chan=technology_technology+index+page_digital+ente rtainment

Business week article ... I hope it dosen't happen ! The FCC would really be screwing up by defining "video" so narrowly and make a distinction, that SAT TV is a "not" a market unto itself.

IMHO ..if they merge, the consumer is screwed as we no longer can just "dump" one for the other. Not allowing a merger will prove cost effective for consumers as both will pressure each other on costs and technology and also present that needed alternative to cable.

:nono2: The rest of the article is pure garbage. These people on Wall Street blow smoke out thier butt almost as bad as politicians do ..!

[SamC]

The reality is that, for the natural rural market for DBS, a merger reduces competition from two to a monopoly. In the suburbs, it reduced competition from three to two, or 33%.

A merger is bad. There is nothing in it for the consumer.

[MNipper]

Not that any of this will happen, but I don't see how this would be as bad as you are suggesting. The Sat folks can't ignore the market place, and they certainly can't (as with cable) get into a position where the rural customers get charged more than the urban customers. In short, a large chunk of their market is in areas where they have to be competitive with cable operators, so that's always a market pressure that they must deal with.

If D* and E* were to suddenly do something significantly cooperative (e.g. share some of that CONUS bandwidth) they would be able to do exactly what was planned with the original merger that died. I.E. they'd be able to carry a truckload of HD content (and probably not HDLite flavors). Instead of wondering whether we'll ever see CW and/or PBS in HD, or continuously waiting for the rest of the HD movie channels (and lopped off VOOM channels), we'd probably have just about anything that the content providers wanted to toss into the market place. In short, I would think that Satellite service would be able to stave off the cable providers for a number of years, forcing them (the cable fokls) to essentially go through another generation of expensive upgrades in order to come close to having the bandwidth capabilities to compete.

But... that's all a pipe dream, so I might as well rattle myself awake and settle back in for the next iteration of HDLite (where our HD content will eventually be squeezed so tight that it'll start to look like 16x9 SD content instead). Maybe one day, before I die, I'll actually get to see what a real HD signal looks like....

[Geronimo]

What would be in it for the consumer is that bandwidth could be used more efficiently. But I doubt that it will happen.

[restart88]

Who wants a merger? Certainly not the customers. I blame Jimmy Cramer! :D

He has many times said on Mad Money that monopolies are good from the perspective of business and taking profit and that E* & D* should merge, as well as XM & Sirius.

OTOH, he also likes the insurance companies that take in the most policy dollars and pay out the least by design. :lol:

Again, don't confuse good for the business and good for Wall Street with what's good for YOU. ;)

[Paul Secic]

Who wants a merger? Certainly not the customers. I blame Jimmy Cramer! :D

He has many times said on Mad Money that monopolies are good from the perspective of business and taking profit and that E* & D* should merge, as well as XM & Sirius.

OTOH, he also likes the insurance companies that take in the most policy dollars and pay out the least by design. :lol:

Again, don't confuse good for the business and good for Wall Street with what's good for YOU. ;)
It'll never happen! Swammi & Crammer keep talking this up.

[mailiang]

The reason this subject has been revived is because of the recent merger in the cable industry. With Time Warner, a major Fox competitor, acquiring Adelphia and Comcast, it has helped built a case for D and E. Ever since Murdoch took over D he has been building a case to merge with E and it is not all that far fetched. With his clout and industry experience, his case that claims increase competition from Time Warner, Verizon and other cable services, has more validity. The bottom line is that by merging D and E consumers will have more programing options, better technology, improved service and lower fees. ;)

Ian

[DonLandis]

A monopoly was defined and therefore the E* offer was turned down by the DOJ-

E* buys D* while Voom is a 3rd sat provider which would leave only 2 sat providers.

Next Voom shuts itself down but it's programming picked up by E*


Now You feel the government would say- No monopoly when-

D* buys E* and becomes the only sat provider.


:scratchin: This is what you believe is true if you think this idea has any merit at all.:nono:

[mailiang]

It's not just about satellite service. When the original case was heard in 02 not many cable companies offered digital service. Now that the tide has turned, with increased competition from digital cable, they have to compete with a system that has enough bandwidth to offer even more value added services. The argument now is, that with the consumer having more digital choices, and Vericoms move to acquire these other cable companies, it seems that there is a need to take a closer look at the cable industry, which, until the advent of affordable satellite service, was and is becoming again, the real monopoly.

Ian

[brian24740]

This will never happen ,but i could see a limted partnership when it comes to Internet service and bandwith.You will see some sat sharing in the near future.

[mailiang]

This will never happen ,but i could see a limted partnership when it comes to Internet service and bandwith.You will see some sat sharing in the near future.

Don't you know, you should never say never? :D


Ian

[restart88]

A monopoly was defined and therefore the E* offer was turned down by the DOJ-

E* buys D* while Voom is a 3rd sat provider which would leave only 2 sat providers.

Next Voom shuts itself down but it's programming picked up by E*


Now You feel the government would say- No monopoly when-

D* buys E* and becomes the only sat provider.


:scratchin: This is what you believe is true if you think this idea has any merit at all.:nono:

Hey, after the Maytag deal got approved ANYTHING is possible. :eek2:

[Dipper]

I don't see Dish and Direct merging. The monopoly laws would be cited and the lawyers would have a field day.

[Mike D-CO5]

I see Dish and Directv doing more third party partnerships like they did with the wi -fi spectrum. They both own 50 % of the company- Dbs wireless spectrum I think is the name. This is the way that Satellite will have to partner if they are to survive.

They could do another third party company 50/50 that does internet video on demand for both services. Then if they were smart they would do one more third party company that does nothing but hd & sd locals so they could compete with cable and the telecos anywhere in the U. S. A. .

How about another third party 50/50 company that does nothing but HIGH DEF and they could call it Voom. This would give sat customers the best and the most channels in high def and they could even work with the locals company to provide the best hd picture quality.

Then they could do a standardized platform for all national cable channels. Doing away with all the redundant channel duplication . Think of how good the picture quality would be if they could reduce the duplication.

They could also do a standardized receiver that could work with either service via the software update. Then all the satellites up in space would be able to work with either service. 110 for sd locals and some hd locals. 119 for national channels 101 for whatever they want. OF course the sat dishes would have to be like a torriadal dish that can see many satellites at the same time.

THere are many partnerships they could do without doing a merger. THis would give you all the benefits of a merger without the government inteference and rulings that kept them from a real merger. A merger without a merger so to speak.

IF the sat companies can both work together to do WI- Fi, Internet video on demand, Hd and Hd locals they would be a formidal opponent to cable and the telecos. THis would give them a triple play for sure. THe wi- fi could work with Vonage to give them the one component they lack : phone service. This will become a necessity for both of the sat providers if they want to survive into the future.

One other thing they could both do to help them in their battle with the competition. ELIMINATE THE STUPID EXTRA FEES. When Dish had the no fee dvrs like the 501/508 and the 721, they added a lot of subs that were happy to come on board. Directv even reduced their fees from 9.99 to 4.99 and it was a whole house fee instead of per receiver like Dish does today. Dish and Directv have become to much like cable with the extra fees and the leasing nonsense. Dish has become the worst with extra fees. They need to return back to their customer friendly ways if they want to gain new subs. IF not they will continue to lose subs just like Directv has done as well. I can see every quarter reporting more churn and less subs if they don't do some of the things as I have outlined above.

[Steve Mehs]

The bottom line is that by merging D and E consumers will have more programing options, better technology, improved service and lower fees.

I'm not understanding how going from the choice between Dish Network, DirecTV, a cable company and maybe some day a FTTH service to the choice of a satellite provider, a cable company and a FTTH service brings more or better of anything.

Murdoch has driven DirecTV down, the loss of TiVo, no more third party hardware manufactures and terrible HD offerings are just the beginning. I love Fox News and all, but I'd worry about the future of HD if the head master of the nations only satellite provider is the guy who thought 480p was good enough.

[mailiang]

I'm not understanding how going from the choice between Dish Network, DirecTV, a cable company and maybe some day a FTTH:confused: service to the choice of a satellite provider, a cable company and a FTTH:confused: service brings more or better of anything.

Murdoch has driven DirecTV down, the loss of TiVo, no more third party hardware manufactures and terrible HD offerings are just the beginning. I love Fox News and all, but I'd worry about the future of HD if the head master of the nations only satellite provider is the guy who thought 480p was good enough.



You are absolutely right! Sharing of technologies, adding more bandwidth, and having a fool like Murdoch, who made his billions by being totally clueless when it comes to the business of broadcasting, would be the worst thing to help improve the DBS industry. I think I'll ditch my DVR 's, and cough up some cash for a TiVo and their high monthly fees. Maybe a merger isn't the answer, just some sharing. By the way, how did Dish become the front runner with satellite HD? Can anybody spell VOOM? And why in the world would Time Warner want to merge with Comcast and Adelphia? VERICOM, THE ONE AND ONLY.:D


Ian:grin: