Sunday Ticket update

[BobbyC81]

24 minutes ago, notwoz said:

A hedge fund called Elliott Management Corp. has a small stake in AT&T and wants AT&T to dump several  businesses it bought during a five-year acquisition spree. The activist investor specifically criticized AT&T’s purchase  of DirecTV, which has been losing subscribers. It also questioned whether the recent $80 billion-plus acquisition of Time Warner made strategic sense.

 

Oddly enough, that demand has led to speculation of a possible merger between DirecTV and Dish.

 

They tried the DirecTV/Dish merger once before and IIRC it was blocked.  Maybe now that they have less of a stranglehold on home TV service providers, it would go through.

[notwoz]

8 minutes ago, ColeB said:

 

They tried the DirecTV/Dish merger once before and IIRC it was blocked.  Maybe now that they have less of a stranglehold on home TV service providers, it would go through.

Plus, the current situation in Washington seems to be not very concerned about little details like monopolies. As seen by an Appeals Court decision to allow the AT&T merger with Time Warner. The Justice Department just rolled over and said, "OK."

 

[BobbyC81]

On 9/13/2019 at 5:29 PM, JohnC said:

I feel exactly the same way as you do going through this charade every year. The only reason why I have the dish is because of the Ticket. If they lose that market I will pursue other options. There is an unpredictable aspect to how you get billed compared to how others get billed. Having to extract discounts from this company every year is getting tiresome. Some people enjoy this engagement for this annual tug of war in pricing. I'm not one of them.

 

Yeah, in past years, I had got them to take off some of the monthly amount.  I started this year in July and I kept getting the response of “no discounts available “.  

[GG]

2 hours ago, notwoz said:

A hedge fund called Elliott Management Corp. has a small stake in AT&T and wants AT&T to dump several  businesses it bought during a five-year acquisition spree. The activist investor specifically criticized AT&T’s purchase  of DirecTV, which has been losing subscribers. It also questioned whether the recent $80 billion-plus acquisition of Time Warner made strategic sense.

 

Oddly enough, that demand has led to speculation of a possible merger between DirecTV and Dish.

 

This is discussed above and Elliott's letter coming on the heels of the announced CEO succession plan prompted this move.  The merger with DISH was discussed a long time ago, but shot down in a different operating environment.  I'm guessing it will be an easier road now that both satellite co's are struggling to hold on to subscribers.

[JohnC]

21 minutes ago, ColeB said:

 

Yeah, in past years, I had got them to take off some of the monthly amount.  I started this year in July and I kept getting the response of “no discounts available “.  

Keep trying. Start off by trying to get a discount on your NFL Ticket and then request other discount options. Let them know that you are aware of a lot of people getting additional discount. I usually request to go directly to the retention rep instead of trying to bargain with the general rep.  

[Gavin in Va Beach]

1 minute ago, JohnC said:

Keep trying. Start off by trying to get a discount on your NFL Ticket and then request other discount options. Let them know that you are aware of a lot of people getting additional discount. I usually request to go directly to the retention rep instead of trying to bargain with the general rep.  

 

Had DirecTV before I cut the cord and got the Sunday ticket free for 8 yrs straight. The first 6 years I only had to threaten to cancel the service. The 7th year the retention rep told me no discounts were available and my best bet was to actually schedule the cancellation because then the system populated with a new batch of discounts to try and keep you. 

[JohnC]

1 minute ago, Gavin in Va Beach said:

 

Had DirecTV before I cut the cord and got the Sunday ticket free for 8 yrs straight. The first 6 years I only had to threaten to cancel the service. The 7th year the retention rep told me no discounts were available and my best bet was to actually schedule the cancellation because then the system populated with a new batch of discounts to try and keep you. 

What I have learned is that if you are rebuffed when you make the call then try again. Some reps are willing to work with you and others are hardliners. The call centers are not working from the same script. It's irritating but it is worth it. But as I said in prior posts I am getting tired of this annual charade. 

[Bills Oil Company]

14 hours ago, Whatnot78 said:

 

I'm for anything to get them apart from AT&T...their services sucks big time since they were acquired.

 Here's another article on same topic from WSJ

 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/at-t-explores-parting-ways-with-directv-11568841544

[Bills Oil Company]

Called this evening.   Talked to retention - American guy not overseas.   Already had $50 off monthly discount (for 1 yr) from back in the spring applied and $20 off monthly discount for 1 year for HBO.   So already sitting at $70 off a month.   Wasn't expecting much - just hoping to get 25% off like last year.   

 

Guy I talked to gave it to me for free.   Awesome.  Never have gotten it for free except the year I initially signed up.   I think I just got lucky and caught the guy on a good night.  I also heard it helps to call them after week 1 of the regular season. 

 

[Nervous Guy]

Is this CBS All Access the competition for Sunday Ticket?  $5.99 a month?  You'll miss the FOX games tho.

 

https://www.cbs.com/shows/nfl-on-cbs/news/1009396/2019-nfl-on-cbs-schedule-watch-live-streaming-football-games/?ftag=AAM-07-10ahc3f&fbclid=IwAR39_HZlZqKBfyjhta_3fXX3r8CI2G81Xb_JDDRpgn85fEBz4vSSdtXl3_U

[plenzmd1]

9 minutes ago, Nervous Guy said:

Is this CBS All Access the competition for Sunday Ticket?  $5.99 a month?  You'll miss the FOX games tho.

 

https://www.cbs.com/shows/nfl-on-cbs/news/1009396/2019-nfl-on-cbs-schedule-watch-live-streaming-football-games/?ftag=AAM-07-10ahc3f&fbclid=IwAR39_HZlZqKBfyjhta_3fXX3r8CI2G81Xb_JDDRpgn85fEBz4vSSdtXl3_U

Not so fast my friend! One must always read the details!

(soory bout the font and color)

Quote

It's easy! You can watch national games and your local market games live on CBS All Access, 

think if you want Bills games will have to have someone from WNY sign up, and my guess is would want to have a VPN connect to a server in Buffalo when watching.  Otherwise, if i sign up for that with my Richmond address, i will only be able to watch the CBS game thay are showing in Richmond.

[Nervous Guy]

3 hours ago, plenzmd1 said:

Not so fast my friend! One must always read the details!

(soory bout the font and color)

think if you want Bills games will have to have someone from WNY sign up, and my guess is would want to have a VPN connect to a server in Buffalo when watching.  Otherwise, if i sign up for that with my Richmond address, i will only be able to watch the CBS game thay are showing in Richmond.

  Yeah...I glossed over the details.  Well maybe this could be the way that they would do it in the future...in some ideal scenario.

[GG]

AT&T rethinks DTV exclusivity

 

Quote

 

The National Football League’s Sunday Ticket package, which allows football fans to view almost any game, has long been a cornerstone of satellite broadcaster DirecTV, which holds exclusive rights to the offering.

 

But DirecTV-parent AT&T Inc. T -0.11% isn’t sure it wants to renew the deal.

 

The company’s chief operating officer, John Stankey, said he believes Sunday Ticket’s value to the company has peaked and that a renewal—especially if it comes with a higher price tag—will be hard to justify at a time when consumers are canceling pay-TV connections, including at DirecTV.

 

 

Usually when a high level exec makes these kind of statements well ahead of contract expiration, means that AT&T is willing to walk away.  They likely noticed that Sunday Ticket was a big money loser for DTV.

 

Could this be the first time there won't be a large increase in NFL broadcast rights?

[John from Riverside]

I feel like I got totally screwed with Sunday Ticket this year

 

I signed up for Choice....then later on I was looking at my monthly budget and downgraded my package.

 

They didnt bother to tell me this would take away my NFL Sunday ticket....not a mention of it at all....then time for The season and they want to charge me full price for it.....I fought thorugh all the reps....including customer retention....nope....wouldnt discount it....I even offered to take my programming back up to choice to get the ticket for free...nope...woudlt give me the offer.

 

I want it this year so I am paying full price for it....but not happy about it.

[Ned Flanders]

1 hour ago, GG said:

AT&T rethinks DTV exclusivity

Usually when a high level exec makes these kind of statements well ahead of contract expiration, means that AT&T is willing to walk away.  They likely noticed that Sunday Ticket was a big money loser for DTV.

Could this be the first time there won't be a large increase in NFL broadcast rights?

I recall reading recently that of DTV's 20 million subscribers, only two million subscribe to ST.  Thought that was a very low-ball number.

[GG]

3 minutes ago, Ned Flanders said:

I recall reading recently that of DTV's 20 million subscribers, only two million subscribe to ST.  Thought that was a very low-ball number.

 

They never released the exact number of subs, so the 2 million figure has been thrown around for a decade or so.  Even with 2 million subs, the math never worked out to justify the fees they paid to the NFL.   One would have thought that AT&T finance wizards would have done the math.  It's obvious they didn't.

[Clemfield2622]

I got my most recent DTV bill and my promo ran out.

 

I called and threatened to cancel unless they restored my promo pricing.

 

They refused, so I quit.

 

Not even 12 hours later they called me and offered $200 Visa gift card, my old rate back, and Sunday ticket for the balance of the season.

 

I'm gonna see how much more I can squeeze.

[Ned Flanders]

1 hour ago, Clemfield2622 said:

I got my most recent DTV bill and my promo ran out.

 

I called and threatened to cancel unless they restored my promo pricing.

 

They refused, so I quit.

 

Not even 12 hours later they called me and offered $200 Visa gift card, my old rate back, and Sunday ticket for the balance of the season.

 

I'm gonna see how much more I can squeeze.

Same exact scenario happened with me last month.

[ColoradoBills]

7 hours ago, Clemfield2622 said:

I got my most recent DTV bill and my promo ran out.

 

I called and threatened to cancel unless they restored my promo pricing.

 

They refused, so I quit.

 

Not even 12 hours later they called me and offered $200 Visa gift card, my old rate back, and Sunday ticket for the balance of the season.

 

I'm gonna see how much more I can squeeze.

 

They told me the same a few months ago.  The contract said that next year I had to pay the full price for everything.

I'm streaming now.

[Bills Oil Company]

22 hours ago, GG said:

AT&T rethinks DTV exclusivity

 

 

Usually when a high level exec makes these kind of statements well ahead of contract expiration, means that AT&T is willing to walk away.  They likely noticed that Sunday Ticket was a big money loser for DTV.

 

Could this be the first time there won't be a large increase in NFL broadcast rights?

This is also a negotiation tactic.   He's getting out in front of it now.   They made a short sided bad deal buying Directv.   Large corporations are notorious for this - I work for one.  Their base of viewers is declining but still significant.  If they lose exclusivity on the NFL, they lose at least 33% of their base.  Maybe more.  They know this. However, his margins continue to be squeezed from both ends as well.  Content providers have more outlets for distribution now, so more bidders to drive the price up.   On the opposite end, consumers like us demand discounts or we switch platforms (eroding margins because of more competition).   This is the beauty of capitalism.  His goal is keep base viewers and margins stable until they can dump Directv.  They're going to be hard pressed to keep both on the up and up long term. 

Edited September 28, 2019 by Bills Oil Company