One more glance into the rear view mirror that was 2023!

This week DIRECTV's CEO Bill Morrow announced our 2023 Success Performance results. Overall I think we did pretty well, but there was one area where the results were quite frankly, lackluster. That area was retaining and adding subscribers.  No one should have been shocked by the numbers that were released. We know all know that the marketplace has gone through monumental change the last eight or so years.  The numbers are down across all providers including Cable, DBS, streaming, etc.  

DIRECTV has been working hard to stem the receding tide of customers leaving the platform. Our new Gemini device is a market game changer.  Advancements in cloud technology and our engineering team's work to migrate our systems to the cloud are reaping financial benefits to help us sustain growth in a cost effective manner. As an Engineer in our Technical operations group, I see these advancements real time and first hand, and I am so proud of our teams for the work they are doing. We are adding some pretty awesome tools to our platforms that our customers just can't get anywhere else, like ScoreGuide for our sports channels, OnDemand Weather, and Signal Saver to ensure that our internet connected customers never miss a second of the shows they love regardless of the weather outside.

DIRECTV STREAM in conjunction with our Gemini Device is our answer for those who love DIRECTV, but don't love the dish that comes with it.  This service is my personal "Goto" for TV time.

Our Commercial team was able to ensure that NFL SUNDEY TICKET, stays with DIRECTV and our marketing team developed and released the BAR FINDER App allowing our customers to simply click the app on their phone and find local bars and restaurants that show DIRECTV programming.

My responsibility within our team is to support and manage local channel contributions to the DIRECTV platforms in the midwest region.  I support 22 locations in 10 states. I work in the background with our internal teams, vendors, local TV stations and sometimes even our competitors to ensure our customers always receive the best viewing experience. My job does not include selling, marketing, or engaging with our customers directly.  Here's the itch though. I am bonused annually on how many customers we gain or lose. Last year(2022) I realized that I had an opportunity to do "just a little bit more" by helping to support our customers in person as a part of my corporate travel for DIRECTV. In 2023 I made a conscious effort to kick this support into overdrive! Here is an accounting of my efforts for the last 12 months.

·        I hosted 21 DIRECTV “#NFLonDIRECTV Watch Parties” in the last 18 weeks of the year in hotel restaurants and bars throughout the Midwest. These watch parties were either supporting #MNFonDIRECTV or #TNFonDIRECTV, respectively. I promoted these events on professional social media platforms to draw interest(LinkedIn, Insta, etc.). Please visit my previous blog posts for more details on these activities.

·       In each case above I worked with the Local staff to offer some kind of food or drink special to retain customers at these locations to watch the games.  This translated into positive revenue for each establishment each time a polite recommendation was made to offer a special. In most cases it was $1 off of something that wasn’t selling anyway.  Didn’t matter though. The restaurants and bars made money. Servers and bar staff were able to see how DIRECTV's programming can make them money.

 ·       I passed out 200 DIRECTV Program guides. (Yes, I keep track of the number). Only 2-3 at a time per bar, and ALWAYS with a handshake and a “Thank you” for being a DIRECTV customer. I was also able to distribute our fall sports lineup fliers to the same establishments. I actually laminated these on my one dime so the bar staff would not accidently ruin them on a freshly cleaned bar top that was still wet.

 ·       I helped hundreds of restaurant and bar staff more effectively use DIRECTV through education on their remotes and showing them all of the cool things we have to offer that most people had no idea were available.

 ·       I engaged with our hospitality team a few times to troubleshoot issues and spearhead repairs for commercial customers that were not happy with our service.

 ·       I delivered a new DIRECTV for Business sales lead for an independent hotel in Quincy, Illinois that is beginning a remodel and migrating to a Doubletree by Hilton.  Hotels are hard to land. You have to time the negotiations to when the hotel has the ability to deal, and not when they are already in a contract.

 ·       I delivered a solid lead for residential Gemini sales for an ISP(Fiber provider) in Jackson Tennessee that does not currently have a Television platform to offer their existing and new fiber customers.

 ·       I delivered a solid lead for residential Gemini sales for an ISP(Fiber provider) in Rural Nebraska that does not currently have a Television platform to offer their existing and new fiber customers.

 ·       I delivered a solid lead for residential Gemini sales for an ISP(Fiber provider) in Terre Haute, Indiana that does not currently have a Television platform to offer their existing and new fiber customers. This same company also has a presence in Illinois with a headend video platform for their customers that is just NOT financially viable. If our sales team can get a deal signed, this provider will instantly move “Into the Black” financially and actually GET PAID for their customers who use our Gemini services.

 ·       I used our Bar Finder App in conjunction with Concur to book my corporate travel to ensure that I stayed in hotels that were DIRECTV Properties. When I checked in, I made sure that the hotel manager knew that with a handshake and a "Thank you" for being a DIRECTV customer.

All of the bullet point accomplishments were achieved simply by meeting people at hotels and conferences across the midwest, after hours while already on company paid travel. None of the items above interfered with my daily activities as part of our engineering group.

Looking forward to 2024 I am excited for DIRECTV's future and I hope I can be half as productive moving forward as I have been in 2023.

                                                                            On a personal note...

 This week finds me in a deep depression as I try to cope with the loss of my beloved head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, Pete Carroll. I know the only thing constant in life is change, and this does not exclude professional sports.  Pete was my coach for 14 years with 9 playoff appearances, 2 Divisional titles, 2 Superbowl appearances and one Superbowl win!  Thanks Pete for all you did for my hometown. You are missed already.

To learn more about John and the work he does for DIRECTV please click HERE. 

The views expressed in this blog post reflect the experiences and opinions of the author only and are not meant to be any official correspondence from DIRECTV, its Dealers, affiliates or any related entities. Copyright John Mac's Travels 2023