DISH Network might attempt DirecTV merger again?

DirecTV and DISH Network trying to get together again? That's the idea according to the Wall Street Journal, apparently in response to DISH making "a major strategic shift" after losing 25,000 subscribers in Q2. Of course the last time these two tried U + me = Us back in 2001, regulators put the smackdown on the idea, but apparently DISH CEO Charlie Ergen thinks things may be different now. We can see how a 90% drop in subscriber growth (and a blown satellite or two) could cause anyone to reevaluate things, but as our extensive experience watching daytime TV proves, running into a new relationship to escape ones problems never works out long term, but it is interesting to see if either is really willing to stop the constant one-upmanship and concentrate on taking on the cable (& telco) companies together.

[Thanks, Adam]

[aZTEKv2 @ Aug 6th 2008 7:45PM]

woah :]

im a dish network sub - im liking the hd channels they keep adding - keep it up!

[RIMShot @ Aug 6th 2008 7:48PM]

I know my Calculus. It says you + me = us

[deyanimay @ Aug 6th 2008 7:51PM]

you + me = yoemu

[starsforeyes(XBL) @ Aug 6th 2008 8:23PM]

I love you and Richard for referencing 2ge+ther (and I want to know how he knows about it). But, now that calculus song is stuck in my head...

[Alec @ Aug 6th 2008 7:55PM]

I still wouldn't buy it.

[Krush @ Aug 6th 2008 8:10PM]

@Alec:
..psst... we dont care ... really
Sorry to break ur bubble - here have a cookie (and pray its a double post - that way u have 2 cookies!!)

[Totalfixation @ Aug 6th 2008 7:58PM]

If Sirius/XM are allowed to do it, why not DISH and DTV? This might be there argument for a merger, but I'm not too sure about this one. Both are pretty strong, and in my opinion are very different from the XM sirius merger, HD radio is free which makes it extremely hard compete. Premium channels still cost money. So it be hard for DISH and DTV to argue that case. Also DISH and DTV are not on the verge of bankruptcy. With stiff competition for Verizon and AT&T I can see why the FCC might allow this. But I think it's good to have two competitors for each segment of the Premium TV market.

[Maeztro @ Aug 6th 2008 8:25PM]

Well, if it takes as long as the xm/sirius merger it should be done sometime around 2012 (or in gas prices, that's $8.00)

[John @ Aug 6th 2008 8:00PM]

The only way I would ever subscribe to satellite TV again would be if they offered another Tivo-based receiver/recorder.

[Gfxlonghorn @ Aug 6th 2008 8:02PM]

The Dish DVR's are way better than TIVO imho. Well in tandem with my Archos 605, it is the shit. I can record tv shows, and put them onto my Archos via USB and that is it. Plus there is no extra service fee either.

[JohnTitor @ Aug 6th 2008 8:17PM]

well from my experience Dish is a lot better than Cable (have optimum) though the price isn't as good

[Gfxlonghorn @ Aug 6th 2008 8:03PM]

I think that this merger will prevent growth in the Satellite market. If they stop competing, nobody needs to up the ante on the number of HD channels.

[kjb434 @ Aug 7th 2008 8:57AM]

The only monopoly would be in rural areas that don't have access to cable.

Within populated areas, satellite has to compete again several companies.

Dish and DirectTV haven't been competing against each other but instead competing against the cable giants.

[phanbouy fan fan @ Aug 6th 2008 8:07PM]

cmon, phanbouy! post a comment demonstrating knowledge on a subject so that my idol "phanbouy fan" will come lay the sarcastic smackdown comment of:

"it's clear that phanbouy is an expert on X because he says so".

hahahaha! the wily wit of it all!

[JOSE @ Aug 6th 2008 8:10PM]

dish just wants in because they know they cant keep up with directv's new sats..just do it and merge that way they can tag team against big bad wannabe cable companies

[kevinm @ Aug 6th 2008 8:16PM]

Since unifying the satellites from both networks would mean greater selection and better reliability, together, Comcast and at&t will finally have some much needed competition to finally get off their arse and improve their network. I'm not too concerned about the monopoly aspect as long as it shows "Comcrap" that they suck.

[Darkest Daze @ Aug 7th 2008 4:05AM]

I went from Comcast to DirecTV and the picture quality is at least 10x's better. HD is actually clear, and SD looks really damn good. With Comcast, every station was mostly artifacts from their over-compression and their inability to actually use the money I was paying them, to improve their network.

Now if Satellite could give me a decent alternative to Comcast for my internet.

[0megapart!cle @ Aug 6th 2008 8:23PM]

I think they've got a definite shot, assuming DirecTV is still interested. There are now three major competitors in the TV game: Telcos, Cable, and Satellite. Although if Obama wins, (which is growing more and more unlikely), the FCC will probably have a less "merger-happy" regulatory outlook.

[xeon @ Aug 6th 2008 8:27PM]

I am a DIrecTV subscriber. I am unhappy with the way they essentially trick customers into contracts longer than advertised (ie. HD and/or DVR receivers get 2 years instead of the 1 year advertised). I have also read that various services they provide also increase your term.

Once my contract is up, I am out.

[Rocketboy @ Aug 6th 2008 8:32PM]

This just in from Dish and Direct TV, "If Sirus and XM can do it, why can't we?"

And you know what, I'm wonderig the same thing.

So does cable compete with cable anymore? If not, they can all just merge together and become one cable company. Why not, even with deregulation, most markets are still a monopoly.

[vudean @ Aug 7th 2008 10:21AM]

why not..
cable competes with the telephone companies (at least here its Comcast vs Verizon) and they both compete with Satellite.

[Rocketboy @ Aug 8th 2008 3:35PM]

Maybe in your part of the country. We are either stuck with the One cable company, Satellite, or Rabbit Ears.

[digitalrio @ Aug 6th 2008 8:43PM]

@xeon

I second that. I just canceled with them last week only to find out that I am getting hit with $180.00 ETF and I must return the HD DVR receiver that I purchased for $299.00 six months ago. Their contract clauses are hidden somewhere in their contract which begs for a nice class action lawsuit. Never had such problems with Dish..

[Xtopher Robin @ Aug 6th 2008 9:08PM]

Yeah, well, the hardest part of breaking up is getting back your stuff.

Love the 2GE+HER references. XD

[Jamus @ Aug 6th 2008 9:12PM]

They better damn well start giving some love to their long time subscribers or they will lose any more. Oh! You are fresh meat? Well, here have the best freaking deal we can come up with. Oh, wait... You have been with us for 10yrs? F*Q Off and keep paying.

[JPitstick @ Aug 7th 2008 11:45AM]

I have been with dish for 2 years, so im out of contract, but i was getting tired of paying for it so i called them up to cancel. They said i had been a good customer (paid my bill on time) so they took 10 bucks off my monthly payment for the next full year and they didn't require me to sign into another contract.

[igotserv3d @ Aug 6th 2008 9:45PM]

LOL, the 2ge+her reference made my day

[Rusty @ Aug 6th 2008 9:56PM]

I use to think I wanted a sat dish, but after the experience with my parents
Direct TV, no thanks. Yeah, my cable is more expensive, I get less channels than they do, but out of the 1,354,325 channels they get, they
only watch 9 or 10, which is about what I do. I don't have premium channels. The biggest grip I have with sat tv (and friends of mine complain about the same thing on Dish network), is that anytime it rains, anytime
you have heavy cloud cover, say goodbye to your picture until the clouds/rain go away. My cable is up 99% of the time, unless you have a
storm that knocks out the power, in which case, your tv is useless anyway.

[rick @ Aug 6th 2008 10:02PM]

Wonder how such a merger would affect the Tivo judgement against Dish.

Since DirecTV and Tivo have some sort of working arrangement - would this nullify the cash due Tivo from Dish?

[PEZ @ Aug 6th 2008 10:42PM]

Guaranteed to be approved quicker than the Serious/XM merger.

[Adam @ Aug 6th 2008 10:57PM]

Hey can someone with Dish tell me how the new TurboHD is supposed to work? They're saying Dish on Demand HD programs are now in 1080p, but the VIP722 and other receivers will only output 1080i. How am I going to watch 1080p programming, on my 1080p sets, with a 1080i sat box HDMI output?

THAT is my question. I wish Engadget would look into it.

Otherwise, I'm all with the Dish lovers. I bought my 4 and 6 year olds each their own Archos 605 with the solid state storage and 16Gb SDHD cards and it's the shiznit. Ben 10 for the boy and Hannah for the girl until they fall ASLEEP :)

[vudean @ Aug 7th 2008 10:27AM]

good question.. the box must be capable of 1080p, right? (but there are no networks broadcasting 1080p yet). I'd love to see some 1080p stuff! I've had a 1080p tv for almost 2 years now, and I've NEVER seen a 1080p picture on it except at the store.
I don't feel like getting a blu-ray player b/c I am waiting for exactly this.. on demand 1080p!
I have a xbox360, but its old so it doesn't have hdmi and my sony tv won't take 1080p through component... uhg

[TJ @ Aug 7th 2008 11:34AM]

I actaully work at Dish, and can answer your question:
The 722, 622, and 625 are all capable of 1080p, and we've been rolling out automatic firmware updates this week to enable the ability.

As for broadcasters, for now the only 1080p we're actually serving out is through the downloaded "On Demand" PPV. Hope that helps!

[vtjman @ Aug 6th 2008 11:54PM]

Adam: A software update is on the way to bring your HD DVR up to outputting 1080p.

[keepingthemiata @ Aug 7th 2008 12:15AM]

And it will only be for VOD services, not over air.

[Andy Anonymous @ Aug 7th 2008 12:34AM]

And so US antitrust laws continue their slow march toward oblivion, while corporations convince consumers, somehow, that less competition is better.

[bnathuat @ Aug 7th 2008 1:11AM]

I'm dumping Cox for Dish this month. Slightly cheaper and a lot more HD content... Gonna commit for two years... wish me luck. My co-worker has had Dish for 6 years and loves em so we'll see.

[zerocalories @ Aug 7th 2008 1:20AM]

Although it would be great to have all the content both services offer, decreased competition doesn't seem like a good idea.

[CBXweb @ Aug 7th 2008 1:32AM]

i miss 2ge+her. RIP Michael Cuccione.

[tim @ Aug 7th 2008 7:22AM]

This should get interesting. The Sirius XM took a very long time to get approved and was not a slam dunk. SiriusXM was not viewed as a monopoly because they were competing with iPods and terrestrial radio.

A DTV/Dish merger will have a much bigger hill to climb, since Sat TV is the only available television provider in a lot of rural areas. I think it DOA.

[Dead_Rebel @ Aug 7th 2008 9:11AM]

Piss on you DISH lovers. I had DISH for a little over 6 years. One day it stopped working all together. They gave me run around after run around, first it was the dish location, then it was the boxes, then it was the cable, then it was the location again. After spending a couple hundred dollars on a re-wiring, used boxes, etc, they FINALLY sent out a tech. He couldn't get it to line up with both transponders at one time, just like I couldn't. Then he said, "Welp, guess it won't work no more." So I called DISH, told them to shove it up their ASS, along with their bill for a month of service I didn't receive and I called DIRECTV. They came out the next day, put their sat on the pole that I INSTALLED and that the DISH guy couldn't get to work with his gear, and locked in a 99% signal. That was over 3 years ago and my TV only goes out when a storm or something knocks out the electric.

Screw you DISH. DIRECTV fan for LIFE!

[zom @ Aug 7th 2008 10:29AM]

I just got DirecTV and couldn't be happier. For what you get for the money, it is miles above cable... My relatives have Fios which they like, but anytime they have to deal with Verizon Customer Service, it's like walking on shards of glass.

[Frankenstein Black @ Aug 7th 2008 12:04PM]

“Hey, if Mel can do it so can we.” Um, no, because there are rural areas where there is NO other choice for television but satellite TV. And it will be even more of a factor come 02/17/09 when the government (FCC) is set to have analog TV go black forever. This proposal would effectively give rural Granny only 1 choice. Sorry, nice try...

[Astout @ Aug 7th 2008 9:30PM]

I don't understand what rural users have to do with this. The satellite providers don't charge customers differently depending on their street address? The signal goes everywhere and if competition drives prices where there is competition, it should be the same pricing for rural users.

I happen to be one of those rural users and I don't see the concern...