DirecTV Now Charging for SEC Network

[Swine-as-wine]

Ok......no giving of opinions on either Dish or DirecTV.....unless you've actually
had one of them before. I've had both, and Dish flat out sucks......a tiny bit more
than DirecTV. Both of them are equal opportunity screwers of you out of your money.
Picture quality and service is DirecTV by a landslide. Price is Dish by a landslide.
Choose your poison.

[McKdaddy]

To each their own.  I've had both, but prefer DTV.  Dish went above-and-beyond in trying to fix the issues I was having w/ their equipment -- my picture/reception was too easily affected by rainy/cloudy days, which Dish admitted shouldn't have been affecting my picture/reception as much as it was.  Dish made multiple trips to my house to replace the thing on the satellite dish, replace the receivers, knocking money off my bill, etc.  I appreciated their attempts to solve the problem, but it wasn't resolved.  I'm sure it's just a weird, isolated deal.  Anyway, I gave DTV a shot and since then rarely have picture/reception issues.  So I'm a happy DTV customer, but won't beat-down Dish to anyone that asks.

[BorderPatrol]

So let me get this right.....you are bitching and moaning about $25.68 a year?

bp

[scorekeeper]

This is the reason why some gov't regulation is a good thing.  You know the cable companies hate this.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shelly-palmer/a-la-carte-cable-is-almos_b_6095438.html

Good article.

[hogsanity]

Good article.

But it leaves out the side of the programmer. ESPN is going to get theirs, and if cable operators can offer ala carte, ESPN is going to raise what it charges per subscriber SUBSTANTIALLY. They have to because they would lose advertising revenue commensurate with the loss of subscribers they now reach by leveraging their way onto the lowest tiers of all providers.

[scorekeeper]

But it leaves out the side of the programmer. ESPN is going to get theirs, and if cable operators can offer ala carte, ESPN is going to raise what it charges per subscriber SUBSTANTIALLY. They have to because they would lose advertising revenue commensurate with the loss of subscribers they now reach by leveraging their way onto the lowest tiers of all providers.

The buck will be passed on to someone no doubt there. If consumers are allowed to have only what they want I could imagine a lot of people going for that. Advertising will happen no need to worry about that remember when Youtube didn't have advertising.

[HogFansReunited]

Ok......no giving of opinions on either Dish or DirecTV.....unless you've actually
had one of them before. I've had both, and Dish flat out sucks......a tiny bit more
than DirecTV. Both of them are equal opportunity screwers of you out of your money.
Picture quality and service is DirecTV by a landslide. Price is Dish by a landslide.
Choose your poison.

I had DTV for 2 years, the service was horrible and after the first year they jack the price way up.  I switched to Dish and have had them for about a year now.  I haven't had a single issue other than losing service during this last snow storm.  I pay about half as much for Dish as I ended up paying for DTV.

[hogsanity]

The buck will be passed on to someone no doubt there. If consumers are allowed to have only what they want I could imagine a lot of people going for that. Advertising will happen no need to worry about that remember when Youtube didn't have advertising.

The thing though with advertising on a station like ESPN, right now they can charge advertisers so much because they "reach" X # of eyeballs by being on the basic packages of just about every video provider. Ala Carte is going to hurt their advertising sales, and they will make it up somewhere.

[k.c.hawg]

Anyone that doesn't think ESPN will cost crazy $$ in an ala carte world is not doing the math. They currently have 100 million subscriptions and probably 40 million of those could live without the most expensive cable channel if push comes to shove. ESPN/Disney is not only addicted to the advertising $$ they are also addicted to subscription $$. Let $250 million a month in subscription $$ go away and the people that have to have ESPN will see a $20 plus subscription rate.

[rlejeune]

I'm a owner of cable company so gonna explain why the problem is not the providers it's the programmers. First the reason you have stupid channel is for example... Discovery is great channel but to have that channel cable/satellite has carry all discoverys second tier channels like own, fyi.  Now if understood the cost.   ESPN by itself cost my company 6.50 per subscriber per month no matter if they watch it or not.  Oh then they tell u must put on your most basic channel Lineup.  most channel cost over 1.00 per sub.  Then we have about 600.00 reciever boxes that are needed.    Do the math folks.  it's not hard to figure why dish/direc/cable only have one option... raise prices.

[HognitiveDissonance]

I chatted with a DirecTV rep last night and the fee is definitely for the SEC Network.  It figures they would give it to us free in the beginning, then start charging for it.  Six months from now it may be $6 or more per month.  That's the way these companies operate.

Yep, you could see that coming last summer.
And yes it does fit with the cable model...low prices up front, start tacking on more charges later.
Not surprised in the least bit by this.

[moses_007]

Well, I had DTV cut off last week and watched last night's Arkansas-SC basketball game on the Watch ESPN app on my Roku.  It was every bit as good as DTV quality.  Will watch the LSU game tomorrow on the Roku.

["Pickled" Pig's Pete]

This is the reason why some gov't regulation is a good thing.  You know the cable companies hate this.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shelly-palmer/a-la-carte-cable-is-almos_b_6095438.html

Actually, the cable companies do not hate it.  If and when consumers will be able to choose channels a-la-carte, the pricing of the channels will change to reflect what the programmers demand.  You may only choose 5 or 10 of your favorite channels, but you'll pay the same price you're paying now for 200 channels, or with some channels like ESPN, probaby more.

I work for a cable company, and I know what we pay ESPN every month to be able to carry their programming.  In order for us to pay what we do, ESPN mandates which channels we carry (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN News, ESPNU, ESPN Classic), although we do have a little leeway in where we carry the channels (only ESPN and ESPN2 are required to be in our expanded lineup).  Were we to go to ESPN and ask them to drop everything but ESPN, they would possibly agree to it, but only if we agreed to pay a MUCH higher monthly fee to compensate for their lost advertising revenue.  ESPN, all alone, would cost 10 to 20 times higher per month than what it does now with the additional channels.  Everyone who's said blame the programmers is spot on.  It's not the MSOs fault they charge what they do.

The other thing to remember in this is many of the cable companies are also the fastest ISPs in a particular area, so those leaving "cable" for Internet based solutions will still probably be paying the cable companies for Internet services.  Some cable companies have seen the writing on the wall and have already shifted toward increasing their infrastructure to be able to provide higher speeds/more bandwidth at the same prices.  200M to 1G download speeds will be the norm, sooner rather than later...

[waphill]

You had me at fiber.  I would salivate at that.

Try being right next door. It's just teasing me. We don't have it in Overland Park yet.

[Ash]

We got rid of our satellite. Everything runs through a roku3 box that is connected to the TV or the antenna I put in the attic. I pay whatever Hulu+ and Netflix are per month now (something like 15 bucks). I only watch sports that are broadcast.

[wholehog92]

But it leaves out the side of the programmer. ESPN is going to get theirs, and if cable operators can offer ala carte, ESPN is going to raise what it charges per subscriber SUBSTANTIALLY. They have to because they would lose advertising revenue commensurate with the loss of subscribers they now reach by leveraging their way onto the lowest tiers of all providers.

And if the price is higher than people will pay, they will have to change their business model or go out of business.  Right now, they have found a way to insulate themselves from the free market.  Putting crap programming out and charging a premium for it is a fine model if you can get away with it. 

[GuvHog]

I had Dish for two different two year contracts, and my highest bill was around $50.  My DirecTV bill has now jumped to $84 a month, so I told them yesterday to cut it off.  I'm not paying that anymore for TV channels I never watch.

The rep I talked to yesterday admitted to me that DirecTV isn't the cheapest.  I agreed with him, and furthermore, I told him they were the most expensive........

Granted Directv isn't the cheapest but it isn't the most expensive either. What I get on Directv for $110.00 a month would cost well over $200.00 a month on Cable TV and as far as quality goes, Directv is simply the best by far IMHO. As the old saying gos, "You get what you pay for".

[hogsanity]

And if the price is higher than people will pay, they will have to change their business model or go out of business.  Right now, they have found a way to insulate themselves from the free market.  Putting crap programming out and charging a premium for it is a fine model if you can get away with it. 

Only a few channels would it ever make sense for either the programmer to allow to be offered ala carte, or for the carrier to offer it that way. ESPN group, discovery, A&E, HGTV, Food, Nick, Disney (which used to be a pay channel like HBO).  I wouldn't pay a dime for MTV, but I would pay $30 at least for ESPN group because I watch that A LOT. My wife, however, would plunk down $20+ for HGTV, but I wouldn't pay more than $1 for VH1.

Ala Carte is one of those things consumers should be very careful what they wish for, because they just might get it.

[moses_007]

The FCC has just charged them with false advertising. This figures because of the shenanigans they are pulling on folks.

http://money.cnn.com/2015/03/11/news/companies/directv-false-advertising/index.html

[hogsanity]

The FCC has just charged them with false advertising. This figures because of the shenanigans they are pulling on folks.

http://money.cnn.com/2015/03/11/news/companies/directv-false-advertising/index.html

I am not even a dtv subscriber, but all of the things they are charged with I knew just from their commercials.

[Capt. Hamm]

I've had dish forever! Never a problem. Just up-graded to the hopper. Love it.

[HogScoutMaster]

The Baby Channel? 

DUDE I have a 1 year old if my tv isnt on the SEC network I am watching the Baby Channel....Love me some Tec and Harry the Bunny!

[Three and Snout]

DUDE I have a 1 year old if my tv isnt on the SEC network I am watching the Baby Channel....Love me some Tec and Harry the Bunny!

Same here.  If she's awake, Baby First TV is on...and it's better than her trying to pull everything from the kitchen cabinets, running off with the remote, trying to bang on my keyboard, etc.

[Großer Kriegschwein]

Same here.  If she's awake, Baby First TV is on...and it's better than her trying to pull everything from the kitchen cabinets, running off with the remote, trying to bang on my keyboard, etc.

Disney Jr. = Sophia the First, Doc McStuffins, Henry Hugglemonster or

DvD: Baby Einstein (Just the puppets and only the puppets).

Football on Saturdays got better once I taught her touchdown (Nichols State game, she got a lot of practice that day).

[intoxhog]

How are you getting HBO and Showtime on Roku without having a subscription on Directv or a Cox or some other provider?

HBO and Showtime have their own stand alone service now. I honestly don't know why anyone would pay for dish or cable now

[bighog77]

I dont have satellite anymore but I did last month subscribe to SlingTV on my Roku player.Dish network owns Slingtv.  They have the basic ESPN channels for 20 dollars and for 5 dollars more you get sec network and espnu and a few other sports channels. Just throwing this out to people who might not want sattelite anymore for a option. I use my antenna for local channels but cant get channel 11 because there brodcasting tower is terrible.

[bighog77]

Another thing I like about slingtv its pay as you go so you can cancel any time. Also the 20 dollar basic service has hdtv, food network,disney, cartoon network, amc, travel channel, tnt, tbs, abc family, cnn, galavision, and espn basic channels espn and espn 2. EspnU, SEC network and other sports channels on the 5 dollar sports package. I think espnews is on there also.

[HawgWild]

Ala Carte is one of those things consumers should be very careful what they wish for, because they just might get it.

I'd read a few years back where Canada had ala carte programming.

[Professor Psychosis]

I started the Sling trial today.  Been watching for 5 hours now, mostly SEC Network.  So far I will say the stream does cut out every so often (maybe once per hour), but honestly, that may be a problem on my end with the modem I'm using.  When it has cut out, it either resumed within a second, or I've been able to refresh the player and get connected immediately again.  The picture quality is not that of cable or satellite, but it is certainly good enough.

The main bummer is that you can't stream to multiple devices, and this includes Watch ESPN content.  You do have access to Watch ESPN content like any other cable/satellite provider, but you can't run Sling on your Roku and watch the SEC Network while simultaneously streaming the Big Ten tournament on Watch ESPN on your PC, for example.  Also, no DVR-like rewind or fast forward abilities.

Still, something I may give a go for football season, since I could watch one stream of my choice of ESPN/ESPN2/SEC/ESPNU on my PC while watching another game on TV via over-the-air local stations.  For $25 per month that is a good deal instead of paying $70 or more per month for Cox, which is what I'd currently have to do just to have all of that.  No Fox Sports 1, but I don't really think I'll miss the Pac 12/Big 12 2nd-rate game of the week too much, even as a college football junkie.

[NuttinItUp]

Anyone that doesn't think ESPN will cost crazy $$ in an ala carte world is not doing the math. They currently have 100 million subscriptions and probably 40 million of those could live without the most expensive cable channel if push comes to shove. ESPN/Disney is not only addicted to the advertising $$ they are also addicted to subscription $$. Let $250 million a month in subscription $$ go away and the people that have to have ESPN will see a $20 plus subscription rate.

Look at the post linking to sling.tv. $20 for ESPN, ESPN2, plus a lot of other stations. I would imagine taking out all those other stations would cost less.

[Sir Oinksalot]

...is the basketball game on tv...anyone ?

[NuttinItUp]

...is the basketball game on tv...anyone ?

It's on at 6:00 (Central, in 30 minutes) on the SEC Network.

[Sir Oinksalot]

...!!!

[NuttinItUp]

...!!!

I responded

[The_Bionic_Pig]

The SEC + channel (that is utilized when a game is scheduled but can't be broacast due to another game going over its time setup) DOES NOT WORK!!

My contract is up in October and I'm running away to Dish. (on my 3rd DVR HDTV box...keeps flickering  out)

[moses_007]

The game had a perfect pictrure tonight on the Watch ESPN app on my roku.

[Murr]

Do you know how much they are having to pay to carry the sec network?

Do you know how much ESPN would cost if they offered it ala carte?

Blame the programmers not the carriers.

<clap clap clap>

[Sir Oinksalot]

I responded

....should have simply typed thanks, the "!!!" meant I was missing the game it had already started..!!

[redeye]

I really can't imagine why anyone would pay $160 to $200 a month for freeking television?  Those that do must not have any other life other than TV.

I stay busy online on several message boards, and running an online hobby business, and I simply don't have the time, or care much, for TV.... unless the Razorbacks are playing.....

Same here and I've paid that much in the past myself.  I'm thinking about getting rid of cable altogether, because I just don't watch enough to justify it.  The programming on many stations has gone downhill and now I pretty much stick to free OTA and a little sports.

I want ala carte and don't think I'll ever regret it.  If ESPN wants too much, then I'll do without ESPN.  The whole reason we have these problems is because some companies have figured out how to get more then their fair share and the problems don't get fixed without that changing.