Consumers flocking to satellite TV? DirecTV adds customers
May 8th, 2009, 8:26 am · 6 Comments · posted by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress
DirecTV added 460,000 net subscribers nationwide in the first three months this year, up 67 percent from the same period last year.
The satellite TV company said the growth came from direct sales, competitive promotions and higher demand for HD and DVR services. DirecTV, which says it has 130 high-definition channels, has one of the largest HD offerings.
The new subscribers brings the company’s total customer base to 18.1 million, up 6 percent from March 2008. Revenue increased 6 percent to $4.3 billion, which the company attributed partly to price increases.
Where did these subscribers come from?
Some likely came from customers frustrated with their cable companies. However, Time Warner Cable recently reported an uptick in subscribers in the same quarter. From its last report, Cox Communications said the number of digital video customers increased in 2008. And two new competitors, Verizon FiOS and AT&T U-verse, both added customers in the first quarter.
However, other cable companies haven’t fared as well. Comcast Corp., the nation’s largest cable company, lost subscribers in the first quarter. Comcast is not in Orange County. And worldwide, the cable TV industry only grew 4 percent in March, compared to the prior year, according to market researcher In-Stat.
More on DirecTV’s earnings:
DirecTV Profit Trails as Programming Costs Climb (Bloomberg)
DirecTV Net Falls; Subscriptions Rise (Wall St. Journal)
More TV news:
Check out the Gadgetress Guide to local TV services.
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I will still take FiOS over DirecTV anyday of the week.
Am I considered one of Cox’ digital customer if all I get is their internet and phone service? I switched to DirecTV about 1.5 years ago.
I should really take the jump. Time Warner is trying to milk me for my money.
Directv took over the AT&T’s cobranded satellite service from Dish last quarter. That might explain the uptick in subscribers.
They’re also still coasting off their reputation as the leader in HD programming. At this time last year, they had a huge HD lead over all the other services. But now, FiOS and Dish have caught up with Directv’s HD offerings, and FiOS has already passed Directv in some markets. Directv has bandwidth to spare and a new satellite coming online, but they seem to be taking their time with adding new national HD channels.
With their growing subscriber numbers, this obviously hasn’t hurt them yet, but at some point they’re going to have to ramp up to keep subscribers from defecting. Fortunately for Directv, FiOS remains very limited geographically and expanding very slowly, and Dish continues to bleed customers even as they cut program package rates and add new HD channels.
It’s all a rip off. They force you to choose their programming packages with channel line up they prescribe. Let me choose which channels I want and pay for the ones I watch, not the ones I don’t. I don’t want the sports channels or the Mexican and Asian programming, but I pay for these anyway.
I think a lot of has to do with sports. Direct TV’s basic package has most sports channels and they also have the NFL Sunday Ticket.
Who Dat!