Scott Greczkowski

Is Business About to Pick Up?
May 10, 2008

I can’t remember a busier week ever for the folks at Dish Network then what’s coming up this week. And if you’re a Dish Network employee then chances are very good that business is about to pick up.

So what’s happening this week at Dish Network?

On Monday Night, Dish Network will hold their quarterly “Tech Chat” with Mark Jackson and Dan Minnick.  On these tech chats customers are normally told about new software and features coming to their Dish Network receivers as well as new hardware.  Honestly most of the time these one hour chats is a waste of time for most, but I have a gut feeling this one could get customers excited once again about the Dish Network Product.

On Tuesday morning things could get more interesting as both Dish Network and Echostar have their first quarter conference call.  Industry analyst Craig Moffett of Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. is predicting that Dish Network may a subscriber loss for the first quarter.  There is no doubt that Dish Network has hadbad luck in the first quarter of 2008, from the loss of its AMC-14 satellite to bad press about a number of lawsuits including a loss to TIVO.  All the bad luck at Dish and Echostar in the last quarter was a PR nightmare.

But all may not be lost for Dish Network, as that brings us to Wednesday, what us satellite guys call Wednesday’s “Dish Network Uplink Day.”

This week’s Dish Network uplink is going to be interesting to watch as from clues we have seen from uplink changes made the past few days it appears that Dish Network could be launching a bunch of new national HD channels.  It could be very important for Dish to launch new national HD channels by Thursday. 

Thursday is the start of Dish Networks “Team Summit” event, which is Dish Networks big pep rally for their retailers.  Dish needs to show retailers that it is serious about HD and needs to do so in a big way.  Many retailers have been begging for more national HD content in retailer forums online as they feel that much of their Dish Network sales have dried up because DirecTV is kicking their butt in the HD game.

Friday and Saturday Dish will continue to try wooing their retailers at Team Summit. Dish needs to impress their retailers and make them excited about the product once again.  They need to show these retailers action this time as action speaks louder than words.  From where I sit how can a retailer push Dish Network if they are not excited about the product they are selling?  It is up to Charlie and company to light a fire under the feet of their retailers. The best way for them  to do this is show them they are serious in their offerings to customers.

It’s going to be interesting to see if Dish can take the lemons they have been having and turn them into lemonade.  I know this week I would hate to be a Dish Network employee, as I have a good gut feeling that business is about to pick up.

Posted by Scott Greczkowski on May 10, 2008 | Comments (1)