Random Thoughts
I really enjoyed watching last nights Grammy Awards Show, although I got to admit I was kind of disappointed that Lady Gaga didn’t win any awards. I thought she deserved at least one, as like her or not shes making people talk about and purchase music again.
One of the highlights of the show for me wasn’t on the awards show itself but one of the commercials shown during the telecast. The ad I am talking about is the DISH Network ad which made fun of all DIRECTV’s celebrity endorsements over the last year then pointed out that DIRECTV customers paid more for their TV because of those endorsements. The DISH ad was well thought out and well done and got its message across. (EDIT: You can see the ad at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCQQZPz71Rk)
Here in The Satellite Dish I have picked on DISH in the past because their advertising… well their adverting stunk. But with their “Why Pay More?” campaign DISH has been able to hit a home run. Sure its not as flashy as I would like, but the campaign is good because it works.
To me I find many of these ads exciting because they are targeting many of the things I have suggested here in The Satellite Dish over the past year. In fact I would like to think that many of the ideas for some of these things being used in these campaigns came directly from the column. Things I mentioned over the year included price, technology, hardware and capitalizing on the DISH name. All of which have been done over the past few months in DISH Network’s national campaigns.
I believe that currently DISH Network has a leg up over DIRECTV, however with that said DISH still has a long way to go to catch DIRECTV in a number of areas. DIRECTV has been and will continue to be the sports leader, DISH is missing the MLB and NFL sports packages, and while DISH made some great inroads this past football season with the NFL Red Zone channel for many football buffs nothing beats having access to every NFL game being played like you get with the NFL Sunday Ticket Package.
In addition, while I believe that DISH Network’s HD DVR’s are the best anywhere DISH still has a long… long way to go with their Video On Demand offerings. DIRECTV’s VOD setup is the best VOD setup I have seen from ANY cable or satellite provider. DIRECTV offers VOD “Channels” which feature all the VOD shows from each channel they offer. If you want to watch a show like “How It’s Made” from the Science Channel, you tune to the Science Channel VOD channel and you can then easily find and access your show. DISH Network on the other hand while they probably have as much VOD content as DIRECTV it is next to impossible to find what your looking for. The reason for this is because all VOD is thrown into one menu where they are listed in ABC Order, you can scroll down the list a page at a time. In addition the program names don’t really tell you what the program is without going in selecting a title then reading the description. I believe that DISH Network is losing a lot of money on their VOD due to the fact that their customers can not find what they want to watch. It needs a better layout and setup and it needs it now.
So congrats to DISH Network for having one of the highlights of last nights Grammy Awards show. The ad was well done and well placed in the show, I am sure lots of people saw it.
I hate to say I told you so… but I told you so. Back on December 18th, I posted here in The Satellite Dish the rumor of price changes at DISH Network. http://www.multichannel.com/blog/The_Satellite_Dish/29450-Rumor_Alert_New_Dish_Pricing_.php
Today DISH Network made the price changes I mentioned back in December official on its website. In order to see the changes a customer must be logged in to the website and click on the “2010 Update” link. Once you click that link you are then told about the pricing changes for your account.
As I reported while programming prices are staying the same, DISH is now bundling all the receiver costs together.
According to the website…
“With DISH, there is no monthly fee for your first receiver which, in some cases, may operate two TVs. For each additional receiver beyond the first, we have combined what was previously up to three separate fees per receiver, into one fee per receiver. To give you the best pricing if you have multiple receivers, we will always consider the receiver with the highest monthly fee as your first.
Receiver Family Monthly Fee for Each
Receiver Beyond the First
Duo DVR Receiver $17
Duo Receiver $14
Solo DVR Receiver $10
Solo Receiver $7
When combined with our programming and compared against other pay TV providers, we continue to provide the best value in the pay TV industry.”
Again the pricing matches what I posted here back in December.
In addition to new pricing today DISH Network gave it’s website a new look. From initial looks the site appears to be well done, although it is not without it’s mistakes. For example the premium channel page lists 3 channels being in HD which are currently not available in HD on DISH Network, those channels are Sundance HD, Showtime Beyond HD and TMC Extra HD.
I expect that Dish Network will be launching a new wave of HD shortly, however from what I have been hearing none of the 3 above listed channels are due to be in that HD roll-out.
Thanks for reading!
Jay commented:
I am a former Dish subscriber and current DirecTv subscriber. I was reluctant to switch from Dish to DirecTv because of the price, but after switching about a year ago I am still very pleased. I finally switched after I became convinced Dish wasn't going to add MLB Network and they refused to allow the regional sports network in the HD Only packages in addition to the complete and absolute incompetence with their customer service folks. With DirecTv I get a far better picture on my "secondary" tv's and am able to have multiple DVR's that work better than Dish's did with just a single wire to each. As far as their advertisement when I first saw it I thought it was ridiculous - people pay more for DirecTv because it is better with more options, not because they use Celebs to advertise. Dish is reaching there and I learned today they have pulled these ad's now. Dish needs to get a better product with better service in order to better compete with DirecTv. As we know, "you get what you pay for."
RobertS commented:
DISH is whacked in the topics of your column today.
1) they did hire a celebrity last year - Frank Calliendo. So it's not totally DIRECTV who hired celebrities for their ads in 2009.
2) DISH didn't include a pricing flier in my February bill, like anyone with a brain thought they should just to give their customers a heads up. My DISH bill was unchanged for what I pay at my February due date, but March is "who knows!". If it weren't for the internet, I'd be clueless about why my March bill changes and I don't think it's professional to put a notice in the same bill where rates/fees are changed. A customer should have a month notice to prepare their budget for it or to bail if they don't like it.
GaGa-4-lady GaGa commented:
I like Lady GaGa.
I think she's great, but I think it's a little wacked to say she's making people talk about and purchase music again. There's a ton of other top selling artists out there.
When did everyone stop talking about and purchasing music ?
DA DAWG commented:
I agree with Ken.
;)
gt commented:
there website also says locals are included in every package... okay then why am i not getting them? (or paying 5 extra)
DishDunce commented:
Well, pricing went up. I gave up trying to understand the changes, but bottom line, Top 250 with HD gold, one 722, two 622s, one 211 with EHD, my bill is within $.50 of what it was before.
BG commented:
@Ken, I don't think that is naive at all. Scott operates the largest satellite forum. He is tuned into many aspects of the satellite subscriber base. If I worked for DISH or DirecTV, I'd be watching both his sites regularly for ideas. They are the end user and can provide TONS of value. Even for marketing, it can't hurt to listen to your public.
Ken commented:
Kind of naive to think the CMO and marketing team at DISH based their multi-million ad-campaigns based on thousands invested in demographic research, etc. around “The Satellite DISH” don’t you think?
(Note from Scott: Not really, go back and read the history here. I talk to members of the marketing team all the time. I might not have gone to school in marketing, but I know a thing or two about the subject. 
Again read for yourself.)