Craig Birkmaier wrote: >At 5:56 PM -0400 8/3/04, John Shutt wrote: > > >>Perhaps USDTV has changed their policy? This is on their website: >> >>http://www.usdtv.com/get_usdtv-subscription_details.php >> >>"Terms and Conditions: >>A subscription to USDTV is required to receive any broadcast service with >>the USDTV receiver. By subscribing to the USDTV service, the customer agrees >>to a one-year service agreement of $19.95 per month for the base receiver >>and $4.95 per month for each additional receiver. The monthly service fee >>will be charged to the customer's credit card. If the customer terminates >>the agreement prior to the 12-month term, a cancellation fee of $199.00 per >>receiver will be charged. For complete Terms and Conditions review our >>Residential Customer Agreement." >> >> > >You guys are mostly missing the bigger picture here. > >The Hisense receivers are subsidized in TWO ways. > >Hisense is selling the receivers to USDTV below cost. I have heard >estimates that the cost of manufacture is about $200 - THIS IS NOT A >RETAIL PRICE! > >Hisense sells the receivers to USDTV for about $150 - THEY ARE >SUBSIDIZING THE REST. > > Hisense is not a partner with USDTV. They are selling the same receiver to WalMart for something on the order of $150 also. I cannot think of a reason they would take a loss of $50 unless it was made up somewhere else. How do you make up for $50 loss for every unit sold country wide? They are not selling many TV sets under their name. Do you know something I don't? >The customer pays $99 at WalMart when they buy EACH receiver. In >order to use it they must then subscribe to the USDTV service. The >fees listed above in the Terms and Conditions are in addition to the >one time price paid for each receiver. The monthly fees cover several >things: > > Walmart charges $198.76 with only a reference to USDTV. If you call USDTV they only talk about a $19.95 per receiver one time charge. Why do they have a $199 cancellation fee PER RECEIVER if you terminate anytime in the 12 month contract period? This would not make any sense unless you are paying for each receiver. Otherwise the most that they could charge would be the remainder of your contract. That is if I have 4 receivers and cancel with one month to go I would be charged $800 for what would be a one month charge of under $40. Either their web site and their customer reps or their policy is wacko if what you say is true. Already know that their web site is difficult to understand. >1. Monthly subscription fees for the non broadcast channels that are >paid directly to the networks that are carried; >2. Retransmission consent fees for the local broadcast signals - this >may be the way that local broadcasters are compensated for the use of >their spectrum. > > What are they retransmitting? Wouldn't they just be facilitating the delivery via satellite to these broadcasters content they then want broadcast that is encrypted and found by subscribers as sub channels? Local broadcasters would either be partners or be paid cash IMO for their delivery of the content. >3. Repayment of the subsidies for the receiver. > > USDTV buys the receivers from Hisense for $150 AFAIK just like WalMart does. The only subsidy is the one that USDTV gives to the customer and they have to recoup that out of the monthly fee yes. Does the customer pay $19.95 at WalMart for the receiver if they also sign for a subscription to USDTV or do they get a refund from USDTV later? Does WalMart stock two receivers in cities where USDTV is active, one modified by USDTV and one for just non USDTV free to air programs? >If the Hisense box were sold at retail today it would cost at least >$300 in order to cover manufacturing, distribution, sales and >marketing costs. > > They are sold at retail now for $198.76 with no chance for any recoupment of a loss. If they want to buy market share in the US with a $100 loss per receiver and no major marketing blitz for their brand this would be crazy. Yes Hisense wants to own this space. They claim to have their cost more under control than everyone else. >Regards >Craig > >And don't forget the royalties. About half of the $67 cost for a STB >is royalties, which do not get cheaper with volume or Moore's Law >driven cost reductions. > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways: - Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org - By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line.