RV News On Line - The Voice of the RV Industry


July 2004		Volume 29 - Number 12

RV News Feature Page 2

In the late 90’s we started to take a serious look at the RV industry and found only one competitor with in-motion satellite technology. The feedback we received from dealers and customers was that it was overpriced and seemed to have some real quality issues with the manufacturers who were incorporating it into RV’s that now featured larger televisions, VCR’s and the new DVD players hitting the entertainment market.

Once the manufacturers started installing the big TV’s in their RV’s, they had to provide a better system for the demanding baby boomers who wanted all the benefits of their satellite systems they enjoyed at home. We introduced our TracVision® LM system for the aftermarket in late 1998 and to OEMs in 1999 and we were on the map right away.”

Joel Jones, Regional Sales Manager – RV Market, said, “Our 14-inch elliptical dish was just what the market needed, at just the right time. We had a higher quality product at a lower cost and backed it up with a complete support infrastructure for the customer, technician, dealer and OEM. When somebody buys a KVH product, they get access to the full support system available here in Middletown.

We provided the impetus to expand home entertainment on the road, and the industry responded. It really wasn’t as easy as it may have looked from the outside. All of our development work and support systems were already in place when we entered the RV market. We knew what to do once we started to get the attention of the manufacturers.

KVH has established a multi-level distribution system that seems to work for everyone in the industry. Large OEM’s can buy directly from the company and smaller companies can purchase the systems through RiverPark Inc.

A similar set-up exists for dealers. There are some very large dealers (Guaranty, La Mesa, and Buddy Gregg) who purchase the mobile satellite antenna systems directly from KVH, while others purchase through Stag-Parkway, who is the only national distributor of the KVH products. Several large regional distributors also enjoy a relationship with KVH, such as Keller Marine & RV, Northern Wholesale Supply, and Shaker Valley RV Supplies.

At the consumer level, the company enjoys an excellent working relationship with Camping World.

Regardless of where the product was purchased, the full support and training resources are available to everyone who purchases or installs a KVH system on an RV.

Bob Cooper noted, “The business package that we offer to resellers of our product includes support from our graphics department, assistance from our advertising group, and connectivity to our web site that includes a lot of our customer and technical support information.