IT'S DONE!!! - Echostar (Dish) buys Hughes (DTV)

438 Views 5 Replies 5 Participants Last post by Will Binegar, Oct 29, 2001

bschack

Discussion Starter · Oct 29, 2001

Just saw it across the newswire - its official - what does this mean for us DTV subscribers?

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nikon

· #2 · Oct 29, 2001

Now the Cable business is going to boom, I don't like cable and was getting ready to get directv system now what choice do we have?

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cwood

· #3 · Oct 29, 2001

Quote:

Originally posted by nikon
Now the Cable business is going to boom, I don't like cable and was getting ready to get directv system now what choice do we have?

I think you still have a choice. There is no reason not to make an equipment buying decision based on what is available now. There are several points to consider:

The deal won't really be done for 9 months to a year--assuming regulatory agencies give the go ahead.

The transition time for new equipment to replace existing gear will take awhile. The Directv/Primestar swapout took several years.

Once the equipment swapout begins, it likely won't cost the customer. DirecTV swapped out the Primestar equipment at no cost to the customer. Charlie Ergen is much too smart to piss off a huge subscriber base--hard to believe they'll charge customers for mandatory equipment upgrades.

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Will Binegar

· #4 · Oct 29, 2001

In today's press conference Charlie indicated that he doesn't expect the consumer to be charged for transitioning to a new box. The estimate is 1-3 years for the set-top box transitions, and they don't yet know what the go forward platform will be.

Again, we don't know that the deal will be approved, but that process itself is expected to take 9-12 months.

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kperrier

· #5 · Oct 29, 2001

The government still has to give its ok, which is not a given. Going from two to one company providing DBS service does not make it likely that approval will be given.

Kent

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Will Binegar

· #6 · Oct 29, 2001

The key question seems to be whether regulators look at DIRECTV and DISH as the only two companies in the DBS industry, or instead as two among many multi-channel TV service providers (i.e. including cable). In the later case, the combined company will still own less of the market than ATT.

Some rural areas don't have a cable presence, so the argument can be made that in those locales the merger reduces choice. On the other hand, since pricing will be on a national basis, those customers will not be victimized by localized monopolistic pricing. Put another way, pricing is determined by competition with cable on a nationwide basis, and the urban and rural consumers equally benefit from that competition.

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