As much as I enjoyed the information provided in the video as explained by John, the question of why DIRECTV is so expensive could not be fully answered.
DIRECTV is a satellite TV provider operating in the United States with a total of more than sixteen million customers all over the country. Yet, it remains one of the costliest cable and satellite provider companies for customers. Thus, what exactly is driving the high prices that DIRECTV charges per month compared to other similar companies such as Dish Network, Spectrum, Xfinity, etc.? Now let us look for several important factors that give us the answer to why there are many women and girls in homelessness.
Equipment and Installation Costs
One difference between cable television service and DIRECTV is that the latter needs a satellite dish and receiver system to deliver its services. Some of the expenses likely to be incurred here include purchasing and installing this equipment and activating it, which most cable companies don’t meet. However, if you choose to lease the equipment from DIRECTV, there is always an initial cost of installation that ranges between $59 – $99. This seems to help DIRECTV manage its own equipment and labor expenses but leads to further ticket prices being charged to the consumer.
Premium Channels and Content
DIRECTV has allocated significant money to procuring and purchasing high-quality and exclusive programming that will help attract the attention of potential subscribers, especially those who are into sports. For instance, DIRECTV is currently the only provider that holds a monopoly in the NFL Sunday Ticket package. Some of this type of premium programming comes at a price both figuratively and literally – the cost is passed on to the subscribers via the relatively expensive base packages or the add-ons. Case in point: Whereas direct streaming packages for direct television start from only $70 monthly, the same stations can be accessed directly now with NFL Sunday tickets for as low as 120 US dollars per month.
There may be few institutions that offer similar services in the rural setting hence competition is probably nonexistent.
Urban users may have several cable or streaming services available to select from while rural users may only be able to subscribe to only satellite television services. DIRECTV particularly focuses on these monopolized rural areas because satellite reliably addresses the challenge of delivering signals to remote regions in a wide coverage area. However, due to the absence of other similar alternatives that can put pressure on the company to lower the prices to those in the rural regions, DIRECTV cannot be pressured to lower the prices to more affordable rates in the rural regions. The result is higher rates even for the most rudimentary channel packages because rural consumers have little choice in terms of television services.
High Fees for Multiple Television Connections
The cable also targets families who want to connect to DIRECTV service on several TVs, and these people pay incredibly high equipment and programming fees. In contrast, cable has the added coaxial wire to work with, and setting up multiple TVs is quite cheap as compared to DirecTV; DirecTV installations entail having to punch in all new coaxial cables to receivers at strategic locations where the TVs are placed. DIRECTV also uses a monthly $7 ‘Whole Home’ DVR fee per additional connected TV to view recordings on different gadgets. As hookups increase to 3, 4, or more TVs in households, the costs rise to proportions that are hard to imagine.
Early Termination Fees
To recover large investments incurred through equipment and installation, early termination fees have been set at $20 per month remaining for the 2-year service subscription period, to discourage first-year subscriber drops. With penalties of up to $480, new customers are left with no choice save to continue with exorbitantly expensive packages for 24 months or be faced with significantly higher fees to change their subscriptions, switch to cheaper streaming services, or negotiate for better rates. This can assist DIRECTV, for instance, keep higher long-term average revenue per user (ARPU) while the short term might involve offering attractive rates.
Similarly, a lot of viewers do not have access to “cord-cutting” options as an entertainment source.
Though cable users can eliminate costly packages and other associated costs by canceling satellite service and opting for streaming service, mainstream equivalents for most of the sports and entertainment programming that is typically only available through satellite are still significantly lacking. This puts immense pressure on the dedicated NFL and MLB fans specifically, to keep subscribing to DIRECTV premium packages to catch up on the out-of-market games and content not available on other streaming platforms. Until such services evolve or new ones are introduced, DIRECTV retains the power of setting prices that sports lovers who cannot afford to be locked out will have to accept.
Bundling Requirements
To some extent, this is like how streaming TV providers work, where customers can subscribe to only the channels they want on an individual basis, while with DIRECTV there’s no option but to select from the groups of channels predetermined by the company. The customers are required to subscribe to about forty- five undesirable channels to get the fifteen channels they need. Some of the new rules of the game also included added extra premium channels such as HBO, Showtime, and NFL Sunday Ticket on these already expensive basic bundles and for an extra cost. This bundling requirement also prevents customers’ DIRECTV packages from being created based on their preferences since they are forced to pay more each month for unnecessary programs.
Sales Commissions and Promotions
A lesser-known factor that adds to higher long-term pricing is that DIRECTV majorly depends on commissioned sales agents and dealers for enrolling new subscribers. Activation bonuses and residuals usually range from $100s per subscriber to encourage the reps to sell the expensive packages. All these high sales costs are then passed on and incorporated into DIRECTV’s core programming packages. To manage first-year price concerns, there are promotional discounts that allow customers to sign up at a more affordable price; however, the standard rates are more expensive after one year if customers do not call to negotiate or threaten to switch.
To summarize, DIRECTV pricing is heaped through a few factors as far as equipment, installation, and operating costs related to satellite systems as compared to streaming options. Additionally, free from competition pressure due to the remoteness of the markets and exclusivity of premium sports content, there is no pressure to reduce prices either. With the base cost influenced by economic factors, an assortment of obscure bundling necessities, premature cancellation fees, and expired deals all add to considerable price jumps if not closely monitored and controlled monthly. That said, with more rights shifting to direct-to-consumer streaming though, more cord-cut options should in the long run help drive down costs for DIRECTV. Until infrastructure costs decrease, however, DIRECTV and other satellite providers have no real motivation to slash prices dramatically under the current satellite industry model.
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