# DirecTV does not expect any price increases in the new year



## lee espinoza (Aug 21, 2002)

After raising prices an average of 4 percent across the board in March, DirecTV does not expect any increases in the new year, said spokesman Robert Mercer. The company's average revenue per customer is $68.65, he said.

http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_3355594


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## ebonovic (Jul 24, 2001)

Cool.... that is a nice message in comparison to the reports from Dish and Comcast...


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## HomieG (Feb 17, 2003)

I hope that is the case, but I become skeptical when they use the qualifier "does not expect." Not quite as definitive as saying something like "we won't be raising the price..."


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## Bob_Newhart (Jul 14, 2004)

Yeah, or "Read my lips"


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## ebonovic (Jul 24, 2001)

Well I think "don't expect" is the proper term today...

Just like my commuter train "didn't expect" to have to raise prices... but when the price of fuel increased by 40% this year for them... They had no choice...

It is better then... "we are raising prices, but not sure how much yet..."


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## Jotas (Mar 19, 2005)

I'm glad to hear this myself. After seeing the prices go up I began panicking, but luckily I'm still paying what I've been paying since subscribing back in '03. I can't say the same if I was with cable since I have seen those now familiar yearly inserts in my Internet invoices from Comcast about yet another price increase. Funny, according to their inserts, in order for them to provide new technology Comcast needed to increase their rates for '04 and '05, yet in 2003 they attempted a buy Disney!


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## nhaigh (Jul 16, 2001)

How could justify a price increase? They haven't added anything new that would warrant it. Their HD is a poor substitute for Cable and their new techologies seem to be going backwards from what I see. At least cable are introducing new features and technolgies (VOD, up to date TiVo, High Speed Internet, VOIP etc) in line with the price increases. I don't mind it costing a bit more if I getting more of what I want. DirecTV is still and looks like it will be for a long while just a content provided, and beacause of bandwidth issues a retricted one at the.


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## Rax (Jun 11, 2002)

Huh?


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## ewolfr (Feb 12, 2001)

nhaigh said:


> How could justify a price increase?


One word: Spaceway. The three new sats that Directv is sending cost about $1b to build and millions more to launch. Someone has to pay for all that new gear and Directv chose to spread it across all their subs instead of just the HD receiving accounts.


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## Phantom Gremlin (Jun 20, 2002)

nhaigh said:


> How could justify a price increase?


Sheesh. Maybe you guys are all engineers. I'm an engineer. I took economics courses in my distant past. I invest in the stock market. I read the Wall Street Journal on a regular basis. But until recently I used to think just like you.

It has taken me *MANY DECADES* of my life to fully appreciate that price increases are not *justified*, because they are not based on some cost + overhead + profit formula. They are based on whatever the market will bear. Period. Full stop.

Walk into CompUSA and purchase Windoze XP Home Edition. Cost is about $199. But you can buy an entire Dell computer with Windoze XP Home Edition preinstalled for only $299. Why is that? Hint #1: it's not because it costs Microsoft anywhere near $199 to produce that copy of Windoze XP that CompUSA has on its shelf. Hint #2: Dell didn't pay anywhere near $199 for the copy it sold you.

Everyone needs to get over this idiotic notion of justification for pricing. The price is what the marketers and salesmen think the market will bear. Also, those people are *generally NOT idiots*, and they do adjust the price, up and down, as appropriate in order to maximize come combination of both short term and long term revenues.

Don't like it? Vote with your feet. When Comcast cable became too expensive, I changed to DirecTV. When I didn't like previous DirecTV price increases, I dropped premium channels and I also told DirecTV I was dropping premiums because I was unhappy over the price increases. That is the *only* way to provide meaningful feedback.

This especially applies to those of you who pay higher and higher prices for NFL Season Ticket, while accepting more and more blacked out games. Don't like it? Then don't pay. You live in what is generally considered to be a capitalist economy. Learn to understand what that means.

But don't get me started about things like the power company, the phone company, and the cable company. They have been given very strong monopoly protections (called "franchises") and they should not be allowed to price gouge as much as they are doing. Unlike my local power company, if I don't like DirecTV I can go to Dish Network or even to Comcast. Very few consumers in this country have that degree of choice when it comes to power providers.

End rant.


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## jamieh1 (Mar 5, 2003)

I still think price increases have gone crazy, I remember paying $29 99 for TC, and like $3 more for plus a couple of years ago and now they are about 10 - 12 higher.


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## Dmon4u (Jul 15, 2000)

Just wait for "NFL: Sunday Ticket 2006" !


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## Phantom Gremlin (Jun 20, 2002)

jamielee said:


> I still think price increases have gone crazy, I remember paying $29 99 for TC, and like $3 more for plus a couple of years ago and now they are about 10 - 12 higher.


Think of it this way: the cable companies are increasing prices every six to twelve months. They're the leaders in the "greed race". DirecTV is just being smart capitalists as they reactively raise their prices. Satellite is still a much better value than cable. Today, in my area, TC+ is MUCH cheaper than Comcast Digital Cable. The price discrepancy gets much worse when additional outlets are added. A TiVo PVR is $5, a Comcast PVR is $10. (I have 4 TiVos active).


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## Dmon4u (Jul 15, 2000)

Every week or two there's another story.

When Fios Tv starts to arrive prices for everything starts going down:

http://www.cabledatacomnews.com/jan06/jan06-4.html


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## Outlaw Z (Dec 9, 2002)

What about the 25% Para Todos price increase in November of 2005?


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## Rkkeller (May 13, 2004)

I agree with Phantom above. In my area Comcast is almost $20 more than DirecTV for just the basic digital package and it really isn't even all digital yet. The lower channels from 2-99 are all analog if anyone didn't know that. The DVR fee is half with DirecTV and if you start adding premium channels that is cheaper with DirecTV too. Comcast also goes up TWICE a year in my area with another 6% increase coming right now.


Rich


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## dgstivo (Apr 17, 2001)

Phantom Gremlin said:


> ...Walk into CompUSA and purchase Windoze XP Home Edition. Cost is about $199...


[nitpick mode]Windows XP Home Edition costs about $99. Windows XP Pro is about $199. Despite this, your point still stands, of course.[/nitpick mode]


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## Phantom Gremlin (Jun 20, 2002)

dgstivo said:



> [nitpick mode]Windows XP Home Edition costs about $99. Windows XP Pro is about $199. Despite this, your point still stands, of course.[/nitpick mode]


I'll see your nitpick and raise it with my nitpick.

XP Home Upgrade costs $99. XP Home full edition costs $199. It's amazing that Gates/Microsoft can get away with pricing like that.


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