DirecTV records a monster Q4, adds 461,000 new net subscribers
By Darren Murph 
posted Feb 10th 2009 9:57AM
posted Feb 10th 2009 9:57AM
Say what you will about the economy, but don't dare touch an American's television. Clearly bucking the trend is DirecTV, who managed to slip into rarefied air with outfits like Netflix by recording an absolutely marvelous Q4 2008. Beating analyst expectations by a solid mile, the satcaster added an amazing 461,000 new net subscribers in the quarter, with 301,000 -- the most in over three years -- coming in the US. DirecTV Latin America picked up the other 160,000, while a 1.47 percent churn rate was the lowest in nine years. In case you're scouting more good news, the company saw increased revenues in Q4 of 9 percent, while net income did slip 5 percent to $332 million. Of course, that may help explain the forthcoming price hike -- clearly it can charge more and get away with, so why not?[Thanks, Vanbrothers]
March 1st, I am dropping my package from Choice Xtra + HD DVR to the Choice package and then just adding DVR access, then I will record local HD with my AM21 tuner.
Looks like that March 4th price hike is really justified.
Really justified, how so?
From a business point of view, theres no reason to not raise prices. If the subscribers were falling in numbers, then they would have to entice people with lower prices...
I disagree. Companies lower price to attract more customers. DirecTV got these numbers with the current price factored in to people's decisions. Raising the price will stunt their growth and they might be looking at very different growth numbers post-March. It is a failed business strategy to say "Hey, we're doing awesome, let's change what's working b/c we can".
I just signed up in December because BB had a $30 a mo extra off deal and even when the price goes up they were $10 cheaper a month than Time Warner. If in two years they are more than TW I will switch back unless they still have way more HD channels. If I loose my job next week I will get rid of all together anyway.
higher prices=loose customers
great news on the quarterly growth especially in this economy.....now add some new National HD Channels already
Att Uverse is moving into my area and as soon as I can, I am switching. DirecTV quality is better than TimeWarner Cable but still sux. I've missed several Battlestar Galactica episodes because the channel dropped out. I've had techs come out and get the best signal they can but for some reason SciFiHD, USAHD, and several other HD channels are weak. I have a clear view of the sky and strong signals on other channels, so there is no excuse...not to mention a dark cloud overhead DOES interfere with reception (I exaggerate but not much).
I wonder if it is were you are located. I had some trouble a while back where the HD channels started dropping out, and I had a pretty open southern view. I finally discovered that it was a branch from a tree that grew just enough that when it had leaves it was a problem. You might want to re-investigate as the 5LNB dishes need a very wide open path to the sky.
And unless Dish stops screwing me over on "existing subscriber" pricing for a new DVR, Direct will have yet another customer too!
Yes Dish does some things that we are not happy about, but may I suggest you go over to Satelliteguys website and search the directv threads, you will find many many complaints and unhappy people there too, perhaps checking why they are upset and balancing that with why you are upset will make a difference. I'm not suggesting either service, just that it's not all roses on the other side of the fence. I had Directv and have Dish now and will never go back. But that's just me. How are they screwing you over?
and they are still raising the rates?
They added me in Q4.
"I disagree. Companies lower price to attract more customers. DirecTV got these numbers with the current price factored in to people's decisions. Raising the price will stunt their growth and they might be looking at very different growth numbers post-March. It is a failed business strategy to say "Hey, we're doing awesome, let's change what's working b/c we can"."
That's really funny because they had a small price increase last year too and look at that, sales are BOOMING. So your speculation that this will stunt their growth is completely baseless...
@Jay - You could have at least replied to the correct post so others could follow the discussion.
Was the economic climate the same last year? Baseless, indeed.
Record and Archive all your DirecTV (or any other HDTV) to your PC!
Hauppauge HD PVR is still the only way to make your own personal HD movie libraries... which are recorded in the AVCHD format...and compatible with PS3 and most Blueray Players.
For those complaining about their directv signal, I have DishNetwork and couldn't be happier. The signal on my HD channels is perfect, no problems, and same goes for standard def.
That really is an impressive amount of new subscribers for one quarter, but I wonder how the DTV switchover mess had to do with that number. It's sad really, even at the college level there are professors and students who are not aware of what the DTV switchover is, which frightens me to think what the rest of the nation's understanding is of the situation (except for those who are loyal Enadget and EndgadgetHD readers). I'd be willing to bet that a large portion of those new subscribers joined up out due to confusion or misunderstanding of the switchover.
TIVO, NFL Ticket and JetBlue helped them out as well. I'm so glad Tivo is coming back to DirecTV in the fall and in HD. My 60GB Series 2 DTV box is getting old and is constantly full. I don't want to replace it with DirecTV's own DVR box.
Why? My DirecTV HD box has a 1.5 TB hard drive. As in 1500 GB. Pretty easy to do, but you don't even need to open the box if you get an external SATA drive or enclosure.
It might just be that former cable subscribers are switching over to satellite because of cable's annual increases and sometimes higher comparable prices. Save money whereever - but got to keep those 500 channels ;-).
Also, as mentioned before, some of these are probably due to at least a few DTV-ignorant folks.
We're switching over to Fiber everything soon, one of those "3-course" plans, but with no contract. I'm tired of satellite television and cable internet!
Oddly this goes against every cry-baby who pisses in the wind regarding the DTV Switchover. I TOLD YOU that shit don't matter to the average citizen. Only backwoods losers - GO DTV!
Too bad their back handed customer services doesnt tell you about theyre mystery 2 year HD contract. Lose the contracts DTV so we can be friends again.
"@Jay - You could have at least replied to the correct post so others could follow the discussion.
Was the economic climate the same last year? Baseless, indeed."
****BUZZER SOUNDS***
Wrong again, bucko. Your comment suggested that raising prices for the sake of raising prices was a poor business strategy. Nowhere in that post did you mention anything about a change in the economic climate. Your reference to "pos-March" is a direct response to the price increase. So, in the post I quoted, there is no specific mention of the current economic climate. But then again, we're talking about $3. If $3 makes or breaks whether or not you get TV service, you are probably in pretty crappy shape to begin with.
My point was that you are wrong, because they DID change the price, this time last year to be exact, with the same exact increases in price increase as well. And sales have continued to grow at an ASTOUNDING rate even given the price increase. So your "failed business strategy" quote is both misinformed and uneducated.
What you fail to realize is how that the only price new customers fixate on is the promotional prices that DirecTV advertises. So, Mr. Smary Pants, what do you think DirecTV is going to do about this little price increase?
Oooh, Ohhh!! I have the answer!! Hide it in their promotions!!
Now instead of getting a $23 discount for a year, call now and get a $26 discount!!
But hey, instead of wiping the egg off your face with the first response, you can go ahead and do it now. Nothing will change. People will continue to buy DirecTV because even with the increase, that by the way, they won't really notice, the prices are still great and the product is even better.
The only people that will really notice are existing customers, and all they have to do is call customer retention if their service agreement is up and they will be taken care of. And if someone posting on this site doesn't know enough to negotiate with the reps until you get what you want, then you pretty much deserve what you get if you switch.