Sunday Ticket/Directv future

[bigK14094]

AT&T Carves Out Pay-TV Business in Deal With TPG - WSJ

 

AT&T sells part of Directv and deconsolidates from its own finicial reporting.  Directv looses a lot of money on the Sunday ticket contract.   Reporting from other sources on this shows Directv continuing to complete the Sunday ticket contract which is 2021 and 2022.  But, another conduit is likely for 2023, with Amazon and Disney the likely outlets.  They both have over 50 milllion subscribers whereas Directv only has 17 million (and falling)   Anyhow, there is usually interest on this board about Sunday ticket, and that is what is coming in 2023.  Who knows how the new ownership of Directv will handle the Sunday ticket in the last two years of their contract.

 

AT&T Carves Out Pay-TV Business in Deal With TPG - WSJ  Couldn't get the link to copy

Edited February 28, 2021 by bigK14094

[klos63]

8 minutes ago, bigK14094 said:

AT&T Carves Out Pay-TV Business in Deal With TPG - WSJ

 

AT&T sells part of Directv and deconsolidates from its own finicial reporting.  Directv looses a lot of money on the Sunday ticket contract.   Reporting from other sources on this shows Directv continuing to complete the Sunday ticket contract which is 2021 and 2022.  But, another conduit is likely for 2023, with Amazon and Disney the likely outlets.  They both have over 50 milllion subscribers whereas Directv only has 17 million (and falling)   Anyhow, there is usually interest on this board about Sunday ticket, and that is what is coming in 2023.  Who knows how the new ownership of Directv will handle the Sunday ticket in the last two years of their contract.

I've had directv for the better part of 25 years. The only reason I have it is for football, I look forward to just subscribing to only what I would want to watch.

[Seasons1992]

DirecTV may keep the Ticket just because of NFL fans and turn into the Sunday channel. If they lose that, they are officially irrelevant. 

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

This is from an article in The Athletic what their Business manager thinks will happen to ST.  Overall a good article about the entire new NFL TV contract. The article appears to have been written slightly prior to ATT selling DTV.  From what I read though ATT really didn't sell DTV, they spun it off and partnered up with some other company but are still are supplying the biggest share of the $$. Think eventually they'll hand it completely over to this new company.

 

What takes its place could be a single provider like a cable operator or a streaming company, or a hybrid model that splits the out-of-market games among two types of technological platforms. But the interesting thing here is the NFL may see a reduction because AT&T treated the NFL as a marketing expense. If it is not willing to do so again — and it’s not — and others need to make the economics work, this might be a rare NFL rights package where the league’s take goes in reverse.

 

https://theathletic.com/2409140/2021/02/25/nfl-tv-contracts-101-how-deals-with-cbs-fox-espn-nbc-amazon-could-change/

 

[Direhard Fan]

DTV or Dish is the only TV reception I get.  They have been very good to me so I'm happy.  

[RyanC883]

Would love to see Sunday Ticket just as a stand alone streaming all like MLB or NHL offer but with in network availability also.  

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

There seems to have been an annual “DTV is losing Sunday ticket” thread on here since at least 2000. 
 

at this point, I don’t care. I have directv for ticket and when they are done with it, I will go to whoever has it.

[Draconator]

12 minutes ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

There seems to have been an annual “DTV is losing Sunday ticket” thread on here since at least 2000. 
 

at this point, I don’t care. I have directv for ticket and when they are done with it, I will go to whoever has it.

Yearly?

 

 

[Mike in Horseheads]

1 hour ago, BUFFALOBART said:

We ditched DTV, as we feel like the format is way overpriced, (as is cable) but the back breaker, was their exceptionally lousy customer service.

Customer service was good until ATT got involved, then it went to shitz

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

59 minutes ago, Draconator said:

Yearly?

 

 

yeah, for real. I remember when I had just signed up for ticket in 2005, and there was a lot of chatter about it getting moved off DTV then. I was worried because I had just sprung for the satellite! 
 

I may try to go search the archive to see if I can dig up some old threads! 

[davefan66]

I have DTV because of the ticket.  Would consider “cutting the cord” if they lose it.  Only other cable option is Spectrum and there’s no way I would get my tv package through them.

 

What would be great is if they just offered the Redzone channel.  That’s all I watch, never any of the games.

 

Hopefully if ATT divests itself fully of DTV, the customer service will get back to what it used to be.

[JimBob2232]

The NFL has to find a way to get more exposure out of their games.  I can watch virtually any College game I want to each weekend - especially if they are a major ACC, SEC or BIG10 team.   I havent missed a Penn State game in 10 years.  The NFL needs that capability to reach a broader audience.  Every game should be on TV or readily available.   ESPN, CBS, Google, Amazon, NFL Network, ABC, FOX - put everygame on TV.  I dont see why in 2021 that the business deal the NFL has with DIRECTV is in their best interests. 

[thenorthremembers]

3 hours ago, BUFFALOBART said:

We ditched DTV, as we feel like the format is way overpriced, (as is cable) but the back breaker, was their exceptionally lousy customer service.

This is what sealed the deal for me.   Had it for ten years, and kept it because they worked with you.  The second At&t tooke over the script flipped and so did I.  Will never go back after the hassle I had with them.

[VirginiaMike]

4 hours ago, Direhard Fan said:

DTV or Dish is the only TV reception I get.  They have been very good to me so I'm happy.  

That's my problem too!  I don't have any broadband except satellite and I can't stream with it.  I'm already shut out of many dood TV shows that are streamed and would be ticked to loose Sunday football too.  

One other item, while Amazon & Disney have lots of subscribers now, let's see what happens to the price if they have to pay the big bucks the NFL will command for the ticket.  

[Orlando Tim]

3 hours ago, davefan66 said:

I have DTV because of the ticket.  Would consider “cutting the cord” if they lose it.  Only other cable option is Spectrum and there’s no way I would get my tv package through them.

 

What would be great is if they just offered the Redzone channel.  That’s all I watch, never any of the games.

 

Hopefully if ATT divests itself fully of DTV, the customer service will get back to what it used to be.

If you are like me and only watch a few sport channels and basically nothing else I would consider sling or youtube tv over whatever Spectrum offers. Spectrum always was switching the sport packages so I never knew what I got and I had to pay too much for the rest. I stream all my sports now and the only issue is a 30 second delay.

[97bills]

7 hours ago, RyanC883 said:

Would love to see Sunday Ticket just as a stand alone streaming all like MLB or NHL offer but with in network availability also.  

I think it would be great if you could get it streaming too but like me with satellite internet streaming isn’t a great option. So Directv is better for me right now even no my bill every month is out of hand. But more options do need to be on the table 

[thenorthremembers]

4 hours ago, BUFFALOBART said:

I wanted to make changes to my viewing package, and they bounced me around repeatedly, to different representatives. I'm polite to a fault, when dealing with people in customer service, but on this occasion, I just lost it, and canceled the account outright.

I am a similar type of person but they did the same to me for close to an hour.  I lost my cool for sure.

[djp14150]

6 hours ago, JimBob2232 said:

The NFL has to find a way to get more exposure out of their games.  I can watch virtually any College game I want to each weekend - especially if they are a major ACC, SEC or BIG10 team.   I havent missed a Penn State game in 10 years.  The NFL needs that capability to reach a broader audience.  Every game should be on TV or readily available.   ESPN, CBS, Google, Amazon, NFL Network, ABC, FOX - put everygame on TV.  I dont see why in 2021 that the business deal the NFL has with DIRECTV is in their best interests. 

you get more revenue if you allow all platforms to sell and nfl package like other sports

[BobbyC81]

7 hours ago, Mike in Horseheads said:

Customer service was good until ATT got involved, then it went to shitz

I agree.  Some of my additional issues maybe really aren’t customer service, but perhaps more to quality of product.  Over the last few years there were major issues like (1) recorded programs disappearing,  (2) programs not recording when they’re supposed to, and they took several months to fix these.  It was ridiculous.

 

There’s a current issue where games or programs that are set up to record, are recording on channels I don’t even have instead of the channels they’re supposed to.  It defeats the purpose of having a DVR to record all episodes of a show or all games of a team if it isn’t going to work and you have to monitor the future recordings.  
 

Sorry for venting.

 

I live in an area where currently Dish TV is the only option.  I will be glad when everything becomes easily available thru streaming.

[Mike in Horseheads]

2 minutes ago, ColeB said:

I agree.  Some of my additional issues maybe really aren’t customer service, but perhaps more to quality of product.  Over the last few years there were major issues like (1) recorded programs disappearing,  (2) programs not recording when they’re supposed to, and they took several months to fix these.  It was ridiculous.

 

There’s a current issue where games or programs that are set up to record, are recording on channels I don’t even have instead of the channels they’re supposed to.  It defeats the purpose of having a DVR to record all episodes of a show or all games of a team if it isn’t going to work and you have to monitor the future recordings.  
 

Sorry for venting.

 

I live in an area where currently Dish TV is the only option.  I will be glad when everything becomes easily available thru streaming.

no problem I get it. I've tried using the app to record stuff when not home and most of the time it doesn't work

 

[Billsfansinceday1]

16 hours ago, klos63 said:

I've had directv for the better part of 25 years. The only reason I have it is for football, I look forward to just subscribing to only what I would want to watch.

Ditto

[Xwnyer]

14 hours ago, Mike in Horseheads said:

Customer service was good until ATT got involved, then it went to shitz

Agree I keep Directv for one purpose ST.  Customer service was great than ATT bought them and outsourced it all.  I just dropped ATT wireless their retention people kept offering me more expensive options 

 

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

7 hours ago, Mike in Horseheads said:

no problem I get it. I've tried using the app to record stuff when not home and most of the time it doesn't work

 

Quit haranguing the goat about cutting the lawn, and let it record the game.

[wagne591]

19 hours ago, BUFFALOBART said:

We ditched DTV, as we feel like the format is way overpriced, (as is cable) but the back breaker, was their exceptionally lousy customer service.

I totally agree. I too was a die hard diretv guy just for the sunday ticket...but the customer service sucked and I hated paying extra for all the crap that came with it. Now I am a youtube TV guy. No cords and I get a lot of the channels that I watched on Directv and then some for less cost and no boxes or excess cords to deal with...and I can watch it anywhere. Plus, I find it more fun to watch the Bills games with a bunch of other Bills fans at the local Bills Backers bar. The Bills Mafia truely is an awesome group of people and I am proud to say i am a member.

 

 

[Ned Flanders]

Really disheartened to hear that DTV will most likely hang on to ST for two more seasons...

 

Called to cancel DTV after the season ended and they offered me another $20/month discount...I folded like a cheap suit.

 

I'll call again to cancel in August and will be asking for a ST discount.  If that doesn't work, I've got a kid in college this year and will buy the $99 streaming package instead.

 

 

[benderbender]

It hurt to see them extend. Almost as much as EA keeping the NFL simulation gaming rights. As if no one cares about the product or customers. 

[JOE IN HAMPTON ROADS]

22 hours ago, Seasons1992 said:

DirecTV may keep the Ticket just because of NFL fans and turn into the Sunday channel. If they lose that, they are officially irrelevant. 

I dont think they can outbid Amazon.  Since you are correct, ST is only reason to have DTV for most people, AT&T positioning to sell them off.

[TheFunPolice]

Other have said it, and it's true.

 

Direct TV loses Sunday Ticket and they are done. In that event, they will probably merge with Dish (like Sirius and XM) to achieve better economies of scale for those who have no other option than satellite TV due to rural locations. 

 

Once streaming become viable everywhere satellite TV is done. Cable will still exist as an ISP. 

 

Despite what the streamers say in online forums, we shouldn't celebrate just yet. These streaming networks that currently get $2-$3 per cable/dish/hulu subscriber are not just going to take the loss. We will still pay the same eventually, it will just be streaming. 

[BuffaloBill]

22 hours ago, BUFFALOBART said:

We ditched DTV, as we feel like the format is way overpriced, (as is cable) but the back breaker, was their exceptionally lousy customer service.

 

 

Same here - their customer service sucks and they basically ripped me off.  I moved and had cards because equipment would not work due to lack of line of sight at new house (trees) I called them multiple times about returning and after months gave up. Threw the cards away. Then one day I get a bill for $300 and a threat to submit me to collections because I did not turn cards in. I relented to pay because I did not need that crap in collections or on impacting my credit rating.  

 

I vowed I would never do business with them again. I have not and will not.

[BillsFanSD]

Live television services like DTV are rapidly becoming dinosaurs.  It would be kind of weird for ST not to move to Amazon or some similar service in the very near future.  

 

My experience has been the same as several others in this thread.  I subscribed to DTV back in 1999 as soon as my wife and I bought our first house.  At the time, the issue was "DTV or cable?" but that was a complete no-brainer -- I wanted the Ticket so we never even seriously looked at anything besides DTV.  These days I think we probably watch satellite for 30-45 minutes or so each night before bed and that's it, and that's only because we have a cheap TV in our bedroom that doesn't stream and I've never bothered to pick up a Fire stick or anything for it.  It's a complete waste of money except that ST is a non-negotiable part of my viewing.  So basically I'm paying for 12 months of DTV plus the annual ST subscription really just for ST.  

 

If ST moved to Amazon, I could pay triple what DTV charges and still come out ahead.  Surely the NFL and Amazon (or whoever) know that.

[TheFunPolice]

The biggest plus to it going somewhere else is that there won't be any cute little quizzes to see if you "qualify" to buy the product. 

 

I never had to take a survey to see if I was "eligible" for Amazon Prime or Netflix. 

 

Got money? Then you're Amazon's "type." You're every streaming service's "type." Direct TV has to check and see if they want your money, and often they don't. That's because their business model is dumb. 

 

Just being able to pay money and get the product without a giant headache would be huge for out of market fans. 

 

In the past, I would have been all over this, but Red Zone has really made the ticket irrelevant, unless you are an out of town fan wanting to see your team's entire game. 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 1, 2021 by TheFunPolice

[Southern_Bills]

I really wish I could buy Sunday ticket as a stand alone. Using a VPN to pretend your in London so you can stream live games on Rewind is a pain in the butt. Still can't understand their reasoning (besides $$$) that if your overseas you get more service for the same price.

[BillMafia716ix]

Crackstreams is your friend. 

[BillnutinHouston]

Like many others, Sunday Ticket is the only reason I keep DTV.

 

Their "service" is abysmal, and 99% of what's on is total crap anyway.  

[TheFunPolice]

2 hours ago, BillnutinHouston said:

Like many others, Sunday Ticket is the only reason I keep DTV.

 

Their "service" is abysmal, and 99% of what's on is total crap anyway.  

 

And now, so many networks are taking their most popular shows and putting them exclusively on new streaming networks, devaluing their channels on cable/dish even more. 

[Ned Flanders]

On 3/1/2021 at 12:24 PM, TheFunPolice said:

Direct TV loses Sunday Ticket and they are done. 

I thought I read, maybe even on this forum, not too long ago that DTV has ~16 million subscribers and only about two million of those subscribe to ST.  True, ST is DTV's one big hook, but it's also a loss-leader. I'm surprised DTV didn't jump the NFL ship this year when all the TV deals were getting done...DTV can only hold on to this albatross for so long. 

[Houston's #1 Bills Fan]

On 3/1/2021 at 4:10 PM, TheFunPolice said:

The biggest plus to it going somewhere else is that there won't be any cute little quizzes to see if you "qualify" to buy the product. 

 

I never had to take a survey to see if I was "eligible" for Amazon Prime or Netflix. 

 

Got money? Then you're Amazon's "type." You're every streaming service's "type." Direct TV has to check and see if they want your money, and often they don't. That's because their business model is dumb. 

 

Just being able to pay money and get the product without a giant headache would be huge for out of market fans. 

 

In the past, I would have been all over this, but Red Zone has really made the ticket irrelevant, unless you are an out of town fan wanting to see your team's entire game. 

 

 

 

 

Dang, you are so right! I finally decided I "needed" LG's OLED TV for the living room. Waited for a good sale and bought one. I then proceeded to call DirecTv and ask about getting the 4K boxes for my new TV. I was quoted $799!! I'm like, "For What?!?!?!?". The "privilege" of paying them more money for 4K? So stupid....

 

Like many have said, if it weren't for the Ticket, I'd not have cable anymore. Most of what we watch is either on Netflix or Amazon Prime. I've got all the HBO's, Showtime's, etc and I rarely watch anything. It's all either stuff I've seen and won't waste time watching a second time or original programming that just plain sucks. HBO peaked with The Soprano's; they haven't done jack since. AMC with Breaking Bad, Walking Dead, Better Call Saul has bested them. Netflix is in an entirely different universe. And, as was mentioned, all the major networks are putting their content into their own steaming services. So, the days of "cable" are numbered for sure. 

Just now, Houston's #1 Bills Fan said:

Dang, you are so right! I finally decided I "needed" LG's OLED TV for the living room. Waited for a good sale and bought one. I then proceeded to call DirecTv and ask about getting the 4K boxes for my new TV. I was quoted $799!! I'm like, "For What?!?!?!?". The "privilege" of paying them more money for 4K? So stupid....

 

Like many have said, if it weren't for the Ticket, I'd not have cable anymore. Most of what we watch is either on Netflix or Amazon Prime. I've got all the HBO's, Showtime's, etc and I rarely watch anything. It's all either stuff I've seen and won't waste time watching a second time or original programming that just plain sucks. HBO peaked with The Soprano's; they haven't done jack since. AMC with Breaking Bad, Walking Dead, Better Call Saul has bested them. Netflix is in an entirely different universe. And, as was mentioned, all the major networks are putting their content into their own steaming services. So, the days of "cable" are numbered for sure. 

WOW - I just realized I hit 1,000 posts with that one! woohoo!!! LOL!!!

[TheFunPolice]

15 hours ago, Ned Flanders said:

I thought I read, maybe even on this forum, not too long ago that DTV has ~16 million subscribers and only about two million of those subscribe to ST.  True, ST is DTV's one big hook, but it's also a loss-leader. I'm surprised DTV didn't jump the NFL ship this year when all the TV deals were getting done...DTV can only hold on to this albatross for so long. 

 

I would bet that if they lost the ticket, most of those 2 million would walk, meaning they lose 1/8 of their customers almost immediately.  

 

Plus they wouldn't get joy out of denying people the chance to give them hundreds of dollars for the ticket. I really think it makes their day when they turn a potential customer and $400 away. That's how dumb the company is. 

 

The biggest difference between up and coming companies and fading old dinosaurs like Direct TV is that Amazon never saw a dollar it didn't want. Direct TV LOVES telling you that they don't want your money. 

Edited March 3, 2021 by TheFunPolice