DirecTV Doing Well / Sirius XM Kicks Off The Summer
Whatever DirecTV is doing lately it is working for them. Today DirecTV announced that it once again topped the charts in the American Customer Satisfaction Index. DirecTV was rated tops out of all cable and satellite providers in the survey.
DirecTV keeps kicking butt in everything it does lately. My jaw hit the ground when I saw their earnings report for the last quarter. I expected them to do good but not that good.
Everything that DirecTV has been doing as of late has been turning to gold for them. No matter where I turn or what I watch DirecTV is there. You cannot escape a show or sporting event without seeing a DirecTV ad or mention. Even their ads have people talking. Whenever I speak to people and they find out what I do the topic always seems to turn into talking about DirecTV adds. Yes DirecTV is spending a lot on advertising but that expense seems to be paying off.
About the only place I don’t see DirecTV doing well is in their HD offerings, while DirecTV has more HD then most, it is now behind Dish Network who with their fuzzy math now offers over 140 HD channels. HD was a huge push for DirecTV and then they just stopped adding new HD content. Today DirecTV announced that it would be adding ESPN-U in high definition but not before “the end of the first quarter of 2010.”
Will the true HD fans wait out until next year to see any new national HD? That seems to be a gamble DirecTV seems to be willing to take.
With DirecTV having the satellite exclusive offerings on sports like the NFL and Major League Baseball packages, that may be enough to keep to keep the HD fans glued to DirecTV.
Fun Sirius/XM Weekend Planned
Yesterday I wrote about how I thought Sirius XM needed to work on their programming to make it feel fun and exciting again. Today I received a press release which shows me that maybe, just maybe they get it.
And while there are no signs of increasing the playlists to what they use to be before the merger it shows that they understand that doing things that only satellite radio can do helps to make the product exciting which in turn will get customers to show off their satellite radio to others.
Today Sirius announced some exciting Memorial Day Weekend programming and specials which they hope will have you craning up your Sirius XM units at your family BBQ’s.
For those who enjoy partying with a cool drink in hand Sirius XM has you covered with non stop Jimmy Buffet concerts on Radio Margaritaville.
On the 80’s on 8 they will be playing up-tempo beach going music perfect for the family BBQ.
In addition other Merorial day events and special are planned for the holiday weekend for Sirius XM customers. A full listing of specials and events are available on the Sirius XM websites.
I hope Sirius will continue doing things like this, its just one of the things needed to make Sirius XM feel like a true premium radio service again.
michael commented:
I am not too happy with directv music line up, they used to offer 79 channels of xm radio, now since sirrus and xm combined they dropped about 20 xm stations from directv. Directv needs to drop the stupid sonic crap stations and add another 10 xm radio stations to replace those that have been removed. Come on directv!!!! Add the 79 channels of xm. Or talk to xm radio again and make some kind of deal!!!!!
Paul commented:
I seriously doubt that U Verse would beat out DirecTV at least where it is sunny most of the time. FiOS beats all but in my experience with watching U Verse it is atrocious. They may have more HD than DirecTV right now but it constantly cuts out if people in your neighborhood are using their DSL.
harshness commented:
While the customer numbers were a somewhat unwelcome surprise, DIRECTV's dollar figures were not great at all. I'm not sure how you put a happy spin on the earnings call.
ESPNU commented:
ESPN U is moving to Choice beginning July 1st, so you'll get it whenever they begin carrying the HD feed.
riffjim4069 commented:
The survey did not take into account Verizon FiOS or AT&T U-Verse (both are major Cable MSOs) or DirecTV would have finished 3rd in the Customer Satisfaction poll. DirecTV is the top Satellite provider and better than tradition cable operators...but FiOS and U-Verse customers are much happier with their providers.
Sherman commented:
How about WGN in HD. They show Cubs and White Sox games, with WGN saying HD on the graphic, but DirecTV shows it in SD as they don't broadcast it in HD, whereas Verizon Fios does. And ESPNU in HD won't help me because I don't pay extra for the sports package, which ESPNU is on, even though CBS College Sports has been given to all customers.
MLB commented:
Considering the fact that MLB Network is available on many cable providers, and Dish Network could have it too if Charlie would stop being so stubborn, DirecTV does NOT have a monopoly on the network.
geff commented:
why don't you tell the truth. directv holds an illegal monopoly on both nfl sunday ticket and mlb network.
Paul commented:
I have a feeling DirecTV wants to finish rolling out their HD locals and PBS HD locals (which I'm sure is a huge job) before adding new nationals, but it is killing me having to wait for Travel Channel HD and ESPNU HD.