NFL Sunday Ticket Continuing Satellite TV Charge into Cable TV’s Customer Base at Halfway Point
By admin | September 8, 2008
Satellite sales consistently gaining ground in numbers and holding lead in customer satisfaction.
As we complete the first half of the NFL Season two things become readily apparent. Sports Bars who have bit the bullet and paid for commercial license to show Sunday NFL Football games on several screens are doing booming business.
I, myself being a displaced RAMS Fan have had to frequent such establishments on many occasions to see my team play. Not bad but watching it at home would be more convienient on a Sunday Morning.
NFL Sunday Ticket has been a significant programming differentiator for DirecTV, helping us build a loyal subscriber base,” DirecTV chairman Eddy Hartenstein said. “It’s crucial for us to have programming that sets us apart from our competition.”
His service has more than 17 million customers and is a unit of Hughes Electronics, which is a unit of General Motors Corp.
NFL Sunday Ticket allows subscribers to see all out-of-market games each Sunday during the regular season.
At the same time, DirecTV would use new middleware from a News Corp. subsidiary to present a new user interface in subscribers’ set-top boxes (STBs) followed by “a suite” of interactive TV services including news, sports, weather, traffic and games.
Additionally, the filing states that the merged operation would launch a new generation of satellites as early as 2006 and no later than 2008 that would provide capacity for local TV coverage in all 210 designated market areas in the United States. It would also enable DirecTV “to transmit more HDTV programming to subscribers, including local channels in HDTV format in select markets.”
By 2005, DirecTV said the merged company would offer “very competitively priced set-top boxes with fully integrated digital video recorders, which will result in the deployment of at least 1 million such STBs each year thereafter.”
Coincidentally, rival EchoStar at the same time announced it had reached the 1 million DVR mark among DISH Network subscribers.
During his remarks at the retailer rally, Hartenstein said DirecTV would draw on its high customer satisfaction ratings as a key weapon in fending off cable operators who are now ramping up digital cable programs for retail distribution.
He pointed to a recent J.D. Powers and Associates study on cable and satellite that indicated consumer satisfaction is much higher among satellite homes, adding that combined DBS subscriber totals now top 20 million customers or one in every five homes.
He added that DirecTV continues to be the top ranked multi-channel TV service in J.D. Powers consumer satisfaction surveys.
Although cable subscriptions still dominate the industry, satellite market penetration continues a steady eight-year climb, with nearly one in four households now subscribing to satellite pay TV.
Satellite receives an overall customer satisfaction index score of 723 (on a 1,000-point scale), compared to 659 for Digital Cable and 621 for analog cable, with strong performance across all measures of customer satisfaction.
Despite this outcome, cable narrows the gap in overall satisfaction versus satellite, improving at nearly twice the rate of satellite (3.1% vs. 1.6%).
Both satellite providers included in the study receive the two highest customer satisfaction rankings among the 13 largest providers of cable/satellite TV service.
Satellite pay tv regains its highest ranking from 2003, receiving top ratings from customers in three of the six factors that drive overall satisfaction: billing, cost of service, and offerings and promotions.
It also performs near the top in the remaining three factors: customer service, image, and performance and reliability. Satellite TV is followed in the rankings by cable companies WOW (WideOpenWest), Cox Communications, RCN and Bright House Networks, respectively.
Customer service has once again re-established itself as the top driver of consumer satisfaction, contributing to 26 percent of the overall customer satisfaction index score.
This factor weighting is the highest seen for any factor in the cable/satellite TV study, representing a stark contrast to the 10 percent weighting the customer service factor averaged over the previous three years.
“The opportunity to purchase voice products from pay TV providers and vice versa from historical voice providers has no doubt contributed to this dramatic increase in the importance of customer service,” said Steve Kirkeby, senior director of telecommunications for J.D. Power and Associates.
“Similar to the voice market counter-parts, dissatisfaction with levels of customer service will make consumers less satisfied overall, making them more susceptible to bundling and price promotions from competitors.”
Product bundling continues to be the key area where cable providers can stem migration to satellite and increase cable’s share of the consumer wallet.
With a continuing strong consumer desire to combine multiple services in a single bill for convenience and simplicity, the study finds that 44 percent of cable subscribers want to combine their cable service with some other telecommunications product or service.
The study finds the current average monthly expenditure for pay TV service is $49.08 among satellite subscribers and $50.98 among cable subscribers.
What this means for the consumer is more and better choices at more competitive prices are in the offing as cable tv services try desperately to keep the subscribers they have which is much cheaper than trying to lure people away from “The Dish”. And if you love Pro Football like I do there is no other choice but DirecTV and NFL SUNDAY TICKET.
Kenneth Waugh Visalia Ca and displaced Football Fan and Sports writer.
KN.Waugh@gmail.com
For more information about satellite with the NFL Sunday Ticket Option click below:
http://kensrapidsatellite.opportunity.com
Tags: Football, NFL, nfl sunday ticket, playboy, Satellite, spice, sunday ticket, SUPERFANTopics: Satellite_TV | No Comments »
Start OF NFL Football Season Causes Mass Exodus Of Customers From Cable To Satellite TV
By admin | June 16, 2008
I don’t believe there is any doubt left in anyone’s mind of the extra value you get over cable TV (yes even digital) when you subscribe to Satellite after you get a cable bill charging $45.00 dollars for 70 some non premium basic channels. They even charge for the over the air free advertiser supported local broadcast tier and then they don’t give you all that you are capable of receiving, only about half in my area. You see I live halfway between two City’s that have different Network affiliates. This gives me a choice of 2 different network over air broadcasts for free, and cable charges me for the one that they provide me with!
And service? Who hasn’t been told when requesting cable service “We’ll be there between 10am and 5pm effectively tying you up entire day. It never fails that they’ll arrive just when I have to pop down to the corner market .
For the fourth consecutive year, Echostar and its pay TV service, the Dish Network, ranked above the competition for customer satisfaction among satellite and cable TV companies in the US. The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) conducted the survey. DirecTV posted the highest index score, 71 out of 100, among all the cable and satellite television companies included in the ACSI.
Comcast, which is America’s largest cable TV company, scored 56 points. The ACSI study surveyed consumers on the criteria of quality, overall value, loyalty and retention.
Echostar delivers up to 500 channels of all digital programming, local broadcast channels in 128 markets and in all 50 states.
The overall average for the four largest cable TV companies in the ACSI survey was 58.75.
And quality of picture and availability of High Definition Programming? No contest. DirecTV wins that contest easily. And the number of channels and packages seems limited only by your imagination.
And you aren’t limited to what times you favorite show come on. With satellite you just aren’t limited by time zones. Oh by the way, DirecTV Satellite systems come with a selection of channel packages or you can simply choose the channels you want. And DirecTV is the only small dish network that carry’s up to 100 games a year in High Definition TV. Since DirecTV has the only NFL SUPERFAN option this alone makes many an NFL Fan ditch his cable yearly. With multiple start times you aren’t limited to one set time to watch your favorite weekly program or movie. And with optional receivers, you can keep up with the latest in HD TV technology. Some satellite providers also offer high-speed, satellite-based Internet - up to 400Kb per second - so there is more to satellite than just television.
Satellite systems also offer access to pay-per-view programming so you can watch your favorite movies. Ordering it is simple, and you get the same digital quality as all the other satellite channels.
Time shifting is another convenient feature that satellite offers. With so many channels you often will have access to both East and West time zones of popular TV networks - so you have an option when it comes to watching your favorite show. You don’t need to rush home to catch the latest episode. In short, you have more choices with satellite, so you can fit your shows into your busy lifestyle.
Unlike cable companies, mini-dish satellite providers broadcast in 100-percent digital signals providing crystal-clear video and CD-quality audio for customers. This feature is attractive to customers who are frustrated with poor-quality off-air or cable pictures. Customers also choose satellite for its value, simply put, the best quality television entertainment at the lower prices. Finally, customers turn to satellite because of the large number of channel choices. With over 300 channel offerings, customers get more programming packages and more movies to choose from than any cable TV.
Satellite will always come out a winner over cable due to its large capacity to deliver hundreds of channels. Additionally, satellite has the advantage by offering interactive data, high-definition television, local-to-local channels and computer-based products that combine the home computer and television into one all-encompassing entertainment and information system.
So why are we still dealing with the cable companies as they are today? Make them competitive by switching to satellite. They’ll have to get better or go the way of the Dodo bird!
Kenneth Waugh
Visalia Ca and displaced Football Fan and Sports writer.
KN.Waugh@gmail.com
For more information about satellite with the NFL Sunday Ticket Option click below:
http://kensrapidsatellite.opportunity.com
Topics: Satellite_TV | No Comments »