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EchoStar Pitching Subscription
Discounts To Lure Mets Fans |
EchoStar Communications — in an attempt to lure Mets fans unable to watch the team’s games because of the dispute between Cablevision and Time Warner over carriage of MSG and FSNY — is offering a discounted price of $19.99 a month for its Dish Network and an extra $5 for the two sports networks for eligible customers in N.Y., New Jersey, Connecticut and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The subscription price, which requires a one-year commitment and is available through June 30, represents a savings of $144 off the regular price for a year’s worth of service (
THE DAILY). Dish Network spokesperson Steve Caulk would not reveal how many subscribers the service has in N.Y., nor would he “project a subscriber-percentage gain due to the offer” (
MULTICHANNEL.com, 4/15). Caulk: “We expect this to drive subscriber growth in an area where fans are unhappy. We see this as a good opportunity to make cable customers aware how bad their situation is.” Sanford Bernstein & Co. analyst Craig Moffett said of EchoStar, “This is the most aggressive pricing we’ve seen from them. This is an opportunity that fell into EchoStar’s lap since it comes at a time when cable operators have been winning back subs from satellite” (
BLOOMBERG NEWS, 4/14). A Cablevision spokesperson said that “there have been no talks in the past few weeks” between Cablevision and Time Warner and that “no talks are scheduled” (
N.Y. POST, 4/15).
