Shares in DISH Network Corp.(NASDAQ:DISH) rose 1.2
percent in opening trading on Wednesday after Credit Suisse said that its sales agents
were reporting improved subscriber additions from a year earlier.
Stefan Anninger of CS said that new subscribers to
Dish Network were opting for the premium priced Hopper digital video recorder.
Dealers were reporting better sales and more new
customers being added in the third quarter compared to year-ago while the newer
additions were choosing the higher-priced Hopper recorders.
The Hopper DVR, a premium offering from the satellite
TV company, is priced about $4 higher than other Dish DVRs and comes with
ad-skipping technology.
Anninger also said he expects Dish to raise prices on
its core programming packages by $5 per month next year, which should result in
average revenue per user rising 3.4 percent in 2013.
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The third biggest provider of TV signals in the United
States, Dish has 14 million subscribers and its earnings come from charging
consumers more for television programming than what it pays to the media
companies for broadcasting them.
Disputes with content providers or channels are quite
common and this has led to blackouts in the past. In June it dropped AMC's four
channels in a dispute over fees.
The company is involved in a major legal battle with
AMC Networks over its Voom suite of channels, which Dish dropped. AMC is suing
the company for $2.5 billion for violating a long-term agreement to air the
channels. The trial is expected to start on September 19.
It has another dispute, this time with broadcasters CBS
Corporation(NYSE:CBS), NBC and Fox over the Hopper DVRs. The broadcasters say
the DVR breaks licensing agreements with Dish but Dish argues its technology is
no different from standard DVRs which consumers can also use to skip
commercials.
The increase in shares is great news but it isn’t surprising. The phones are practically ringing off of the hooks in the sales department the DISH call center where I work. That isn’t surprising either; after a few months of having a Hopper in my home I don’t know how I ever lived without it. Commercials drive me crazy; especially because there are about 20 minutes of commercials for each hour of TV! When I get home after a late shift, the last thing I want to do is sit through loud and obnoxious commercials when I just want to relax and get caught up on my shows. If you pay any attention to the disagreements between the TV networks and TV providers you know that those disputes come and go; I expect these clouds to blow over too.
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