After AT&T bought DirecTV we saw immediate cellular/TV bundles roll out. That wasn’t why they acquired the DBS (direct broadcast satellite) company. AT&T is saving $17 per U-Verse TV customer (about 5.8 million of them) using the content deals that DTV had. That is roughly $100 mill per month in savings that can go to paying off the acquisition debt. AT&T and VZ were about tied for telco TV subs at 5.5 million. As we saw when Frontier purchased some FiOS assets in 2009, the cost of delivering content competitively was impossible. Frontier all but shut down FiOS TV. Now we know: DTV gets content $17 per subscriber cheaper than the telcos. That is the result of scale and market share leverage.
____ Peter Radizeski is a telecommunications consultant and analyst with RAD-INFO INC. Service Providers have called on RAD-INFO INC for assistance improving sales, managing online marketing efforts, channel sales enablement and overall company strategy. Contact RAD-INFO INC at 813-963-5884 or https://rad-info.net
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