with the rebranding of dtv now and not using the dtv brand for their new over the top service seems to strongly imply that in the near future we can expect to hear about a deal to sell off the satellite portion of dtv to another company. likely minus any carriage agreements, just assets because att doesn't want to own or manage them.
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Sure that's why they would retain the carriage contracts, offer existing customers to convert to AT&T TV and hand off the satellite's to DISH but keep the carriage agreements - DISH has their own. May not even be DISH they sell to, but I am certain it'll be an existing provider with their own content distribution agreements.
We cannot keep the contracts and the pricing without DirecTV. DirecTV still makes up a majority by a large margin of our TV customers. It is not logical to think that content providers are going to be willing to give us the same pricing on content when our coverage drops by 60 or 70%.
Directv is a great product as is uverse tv. They are proven winners across the board. At&t does not want to be in the network delivery business. Simply put they are trying their hardest to be a media and wireless company. They’re interested in content not delivery. Sadly the money wasted on the mega spending spree could have gone to a nationwide fiber to the home build. The people in the USA are hungry for reliable broadband service. Lots and lots of reliable bandwidth will win. It’s easy to see that one of the aggressive innovators like Google, Amazon, Apple or Facebook are perfect candidates to purchase the at&t network, at least what’s left of it after the current leadership is finished. Satellite television service is the only option for millions of American households. It certainly has its place.
I also think DTV is on its way out of AT&T. Very bad acquisition by the ignorant leadership of AT&T - they should all be fired. Not sure if anyone wants to buy a declining business... Stankey is the genius behind this mess and he should pay for ruining lives. He should be tried and jailed for financial crimes. With his loud voice he thinks he is the smartest guys on the face of the earth - he is simply a dump and stupid guy who ruined this great company and others like Randall and the BOD allowed him to do that. He then get a pay raise????? really -
The way I see it, the problem Randy and his Johns got into is actually double: loss of dtv subscription + broadband internet. And that is just on the consumer side... Business side, commercial, restaurant, sports bar, etc., have also the exposure to the ott competition, exacerbated by the slowly decaying sports offerings....
Why do people assume that Dish would be interested in buying DirectTV? Dish is losing pay TV subscribers as well, though not at the same rate as us. Their Sling TV product is actually doing well though.
Rememver when Donovan said we launched our last satellite? He meant that DirecTV as a brand was being shut down. Now we know.
This is how Randy operates. He buys high, runs something into the ground, and is then forced to sell low. I wish the dividend would plunge for a quarter or two, so the Board would finally fire his sorry butt.
The brand isn’t the problem. It’s the management.
DISH is getting into mobile market. They aren't going to be helping the company out by taking our dead weight.
If DTV satellite is sold off doesn't that increase content costs?
The fact that ATT kept all the installer groups separate should tell you something.
They’ve already been caught whispering to each other (att and dish) T wants to shed off as much as possible to reduce its debt and with no plans for new satellites the writing is on the wall. What a mess and nothing to show for it.
I was thinking the same thing. They’re probably going to sell the satellite division to dish network. Maybe keep like a 30 percent stake in it.