2021 Dish Prices

[zippyfrog]

Dish has posted their updated prices for 2021 - $5 per package. The locals core package goes up $3.

MyDISH

my.dish.com

They are also reducing equipment fees. "In addition to the core package changes, we also will be removing receiver fees on equipment you've purchased and own, if any. If you own your equipment, you will see a new, lower service fee for access on those TVs" Hopper is $10 less...

I don't see the RSN fee anywhere anymore on the page. No way to look up the cost per zipcode.

 

[TheKrell]

If you own your equipment, you will see a new, lower service fee for access on those TVs" Hopper is $10 less...

I owned my own equipment until my H3 upgrade.

I wonder if Dish has a program to buy the leased H3 we already have? That would sure be convenient.

 

[DJ Lon]

Dish has posted their updated prices for 2021 - $5 per package. The locals core package goes up $3.

MyDISH

my.dish.com

They are also reducing equipment fees. "In addition to the core package changes, we also will be removing receiver fees on equipment you've purchased and own, if any. If you own your equipment, you will see a new, lower service fee for access on those TVs" Hopper is $10 less...

I don't see the RSN fee anywhere anymore on the page. No way to look up the cost per zipcode.

Hey crodrules looks like the decision to buy a wireless Joey has been made for me LOL

Shouldn't be any price increase this year IMHO but at least everything else remained status quo

 

[NYDutch]

It looks like my bill will go up $8 for programming and down as much as $22 for equipment fees. I have one HWS on a grandfathered $12/mo fee and one on the current $15/mo fee, but I don't know if the $12 will go to $2 or $5. Either way I come out ahead on the net cost though...

 

[pattykay]

I don't see the RSN fee anywhere anymore on the page. No way to look up the cost per zipcode.

No RSN fee this year because Dish is going to be dropping the remaining RSN's.

The locals core package goes up $3.

It looks like my bill will go up $8 for programming

If that $8 includes the $3 increase for locals, I think you will be pleasantly surprised. The fine print still lists the cost of the locals add-on package as $12.
"Package prices do not include $12/mo. Local Channels price."
What is new is that, for the first time I have seen on these price charts, there is a Locals Only core package for $15 that does not require any other base package. The chart listing that as a $3 increase is confusing, since it is comparing that price to the price for the locals add-on, which is apparently not changing. (However, the fine print also fails to mention that the price of Welcome Pack already includes locals. Last year's chart made the same omission, until I pointed it out here, and the fine print got updated. So, it is possible that the fine print is still outdated this time.)

So, my questions about the Locals Only core package are:

• Is it already available now, or do we have to wait until 1/14/21 before we can switch to it?
• Does Locals Only also allow you to add Latino Bonus Pack? (Latino Bonus Pack was recently made available to Welcome Pack subscribers, after a long period of Welcome Pack not qualifying to add Latino Bonus Pack.)

If the answer to that last question is yes, then this could lower my bill considerably.

Currently, I subscribe to International Basic for $15 per month. This package is not a stand-alone package, so I also have to have another international package to qualify for it. I chose the cheapest option of Portuguese: RTPI for $9.99 per month. The end result made my total core package price $24.99 per month, which is cheaper than Welcome Pack. In addition, I added Latino Bonus Pack (when Welcome Pack still did not qualify for that add-on) for $10 per month. This made my total programming cost $34.99 per month, which is the same as the old price of Welcome Pack. Since it does not look like there are price increases scheduled for any of my packages, that makes my price $5 per lower than the new Welcome Pack price. (It would also be $1 lower than the new grandfathered Welcome Pack price of $35.99 per month listed in the fine print.) However, if I could switch to Locals Only and still get Latino Bonus Pack, then my total cost would only be $25 per month, and I could drop that Portuguese channel that I do not really need.

Combined with the lower equipment fees for purchased equipment, this option could also save me a lot of time and hassle. Since I own all of my receivers, I have been using the mydish website to micro-manage my account. I activate additional receivers on the days when I need them, and then deactivate them again to avoid the equipment fees. Since International Basic also gives me the option of adding and removing the locals as often as I want with no programming change fees, I have been doing the same thing with that pack. I add the locals on the days when I need them, and then remove the locals in order to avoid paying for them. However, with a $15 Locals Only option, and a new $5 receiver fee for my ViP211k, I could keep both of those things active all of the time for a total of only $20 per month. ($30 per month if I can also keep Latino Bonus Pack.) This would eliminate the need to micro-manage my account (adding and removing stuff to keep the same price) and my bill would still go down.

Now, as to how this all affects my sister's account. She currently has Welcome Pack, with a $7 per month fee for her purchased Wally, which is the only receiver on her account. So, it looks like her programming is going up by $5, but her receiver fee is going down by $2, for a net increase of $3 per month. However, she has already been complaining about the cost, and saying that she mostly only watches the locals. So, she could switch to Locals Only for only $15 per month ($20 per month including her receiver fee) and more than cut her bill in half. That is certainly worth considering.

 

[pattykay]

Wait, I just noticed that Hopper Duo is suspiciously missing from the list in the purchased equipment drop-down. So, is this just an oversight, or is the Hopper Duo DVR fee actually remaining at $10? It seems ridiculous that the Hopper Duo would have a higher DVR fee than any other model of Hopper, which are all going down to only $5.

 

[Bruce]

Now, as to how this all affects my sister's account. She currently has Welcome Pack, with a $7 per month fee for her purchased Wally, which is the only receiver on her account. So, it looks like her programming is going up by $5, but her receiver fee is going down by $2, for a net increase of $3 per month. However, she has already been complaining about the cost, and saying that she mostly only watches the locals. So, she could switch to Locals Only for only $15 per month ($20 per month including her receiver fee) and more than cut her bill in half. That is certainly worth considering.

Can she not use a antenna and then pay zero?

 

[pattykay]

Hopper is $10 less...

On the other hand, if all Hoppers are going down by $10, then maybe the Hopper Duo is now free. That would explain why Hopper Duo is missing from the equipment fee list.

 

[pattykay]

Can she not use a antenna and then pay zero?

No. We tried an indoor antenna, and she lives too far from the stations to get a good enough signal. Even if she could get a good signal with an outdoor antenna, the apartment complex where she lives would not let her mount one on a wall or on the roof. She did have a pole in the yard where her old Western Arc dish was mounted, before the dish had to be moved to get line of sight for Eastern Arc. So, I suppose she could have slipped a smaller diameter pole down inside that pole, to mount an antenna on top of a really tall pole. Some other residents of the same apartment complex have done that with their old satellite dish poles. However, she did not want to go to all of that hassle, especially with no guarantee that she would actually get a usable signal. That pole has since been removed, so even that would not be an option, without paying someone to dig a hole to install a brand new pole in the ground for the antenna to go on.

 

[dweber]

For 2021 my second Hopper3 bill will go from $15 to $5, my owned Joey3 bill will go from $7 to $5, my locals will increase from $12 to $15, and America’s Top 250 will increase by $5 from $77.99 to $82.99. Assuming that Dish Movie Pack stays at $10, STARZ remains at $10, and Dish Protect Gold stays at $9.99 my bill should reduce from $156.07 to $152.07.

In April my 2 year preferred customer offer expires which gives me $20 discount on America’s Top 250, $5 discount on Hopper DVR Service, and $5 eAutoPay savings. Of course I will then call and renew my offer at that time.
My sons have Spectrum and YouTube TV but they are so primitive compared to the Dish Hopper3. I am currently missing my NBC due to the Nexstar dispute but I receive it OTA.


Sent from my iPhone using SatelliteGuys

 

[pattykay]

my locals will increase from $12 to $15

Again (until Dish posts something to either dispute or clarify this) the locals add-on for all other basic packages is remaining at $12. The $15 price in the chart is for Locals Only, without any other base package.

 

[Tvland1]

I'm curious if we still get the first receiver free and only pay for the additional receivers or will they start charging for all activated receivers?

 

[pattykay]

I'm curious if we still get the first receiver free and only pay for the additional receivers or will they start charging for all activated receivers?

Good question. I would think that if you are already grandfathered with the first receiver free, then you will stay that way. Meanwhile, subscribers who are already paying for the first receiver (such as my sister) will also continue to pay, but at the new lower rate. Dish is promoting this as a way to lower the bill for those who are already paying fees, not a way to add a new fee to bills that do not already have one. I have to wonder about customers who are on a price lock plan, though. If the new lower equipment fees would result in a lower price, do they still stay price-locked at the higher price they agreed to? Or does the price lock only apply to the programming package, with equipment fees subject to change? (In other words, they would not have to give up their programming package discount in order to switch to a plan with the lower equipment fees.)

 

[zippyfrog]

No RSN fee this year because Dish is going to be dropping the remaining RSN's.

I was thinking the same thing...it's been a year and half since the Fox Sports RSN's were dropped, almost 15 months since NBC Sports Chicago was dropped. Those last 6-8 RSN's Dish still has have to be up for renewal soon and it wouldn't surprise me if they are dropped sometime in 2021.

For me the increase will be $3 as my 211k will go from a $7 fee to a $5 fee. That isn't bad at all. However, after the comments that were made at the earlier earnings call where Dish had the additional cash flow because of dropping the RSN's and the fact that there was no adjustment in prices this year that the 2021 increases would have been less across the board. Maybe they are doing that through these fee decreases on receivers for those that own their equipment.

 

[pattykay]

I was thinking the same thing...it's been a year and half since the Fox Sports RSN's were dropped, almost 15 months since NBC Sports Chicago was dropped. Those last 6-8 RSN's Dish still has have to be up for renewal soon and it wouldn't surprise me if they are dropped sometime in 2021.

For me the increase will be $3 as my 211k will go from a $7 fee to a $5 fee. That isn't bad at all. However, after the comments that were made at the earlier earnings call where Dish had the additional cash flow because of dropping the RSN's and the fact that there was no adjustment in prices this year that the 2021 increases would have been less across the board. Maybe they are doing that through these fee decreases on receivers for those that own their equipment.

I always suspected that part of the cost for the programming was hidden in the equipment fees. So, now we know where Dish was hiding the remaining cost to carry the RSN's. Without those RSN's, there is no longer any need to charge extra for the equipment to make up for the cost of carrying them.

 

[skatsinas]

Dish has posted their updated prices for 2021 - $5 per package. The locals core package goes up $3.

MyDISH

my.dish.com

They are also reducing equipment fees. "In addition to the core package changes, we also will be removing receiver fees on equipment you've purchased and own, if any. If you own your equipment, you will see a new, lower service fee for access on those TVs" Hopper is $10 less...

I don't see the RSN fee anywhere anymore on the page. No way to look up the cost per zipcode.

My last 3 Hopper 3's have all been refurbs with a variety of bugs. Any way to acquire a certified non-buggy Hopper?

Last March I downgraded to 120+ with 2 Joeys @ $99 month, then received $20/month bonus, through March 2021. Buy equipment now and try to re-negotiate with retention department, or wait until renewal date?

 

[pattykay]

My last 3 Hopper 3's have all been refurbs with a variety of bugs. Any way to acquire a certified non-buggy Hopper?

Last March I downgraded to 120+ with 2 Joeys @ $99 month, then received $20/month bonus, through March 2021. Buy equipment now and try to re-negotiate with retention department, or wait until renewal date?

If you buy the equipment now, then you will automatically get the lower equipment fees in January. You can still wait until your existing deal expires in March before re-negotiating.

 

[FLEABttn]

Is it possible to covert a leased receiver into a purchased one or no?

 

[MikeD-C05]

So if I own my own receivers , which I do on all 3 of my DISH accounts, I no longer have equipment fees ? Just a $5.00 dvr fee for my hopper 3? Because they say we are removing equipment fees for any receivers you own on your account. They they say at the end you will see a new, lower, service fee for access on those tvs or would I be paying the lower $5.00 fee for my extra Wallies? I and others on this board , have often said that if you own your own equipment there should be no additional receiver fees. The Equipment and Dvr fees have been a point of contention for me for the last 10 years . I would love it if they did let you have your own equipment and pay nothing, but this is DISH we are talking about. I'm sure that there will still be a $5.00 fee on extra Wallies or Joeys on your account ,even if you own them. Those fees all go to their bottom line.

 

[zippyfrog]

So if I own my own receivers , which I do on all 3 of my DISH accounts, I no longer have equipment fees ? Just a $5.00 dvr fee for my hopper 3? Because they say we are removing equipment fees for any receivers you own on your account. They they say at the end you will see a new, lower, service fee for access on those tvs or would I be paying the lower $5.00 fee for my extra Wallies? I and others on this board , have often said that if you own your own equipment there should be no additional receiver fees. The Equipment and Dvr fees have been a point of contention for me for the last 10 years . I would love it if they did let you have your own equipment and pay nothing, but this is DISH we are talking about. I'm sure that there will still be a $5.00 fee on extra Wallies or Joeys on your account ,even if you own them. Those fees all go to their bottom line.

I 100% agree. I haven't looked at all the options, I have really just focused on the 211 because that is what I have. It looks like if you don't own the equipment, you are paying an "equipment fee" like you currently are, which for me is $7. But if you own, you will instead pay a service fee, which for the 211 is $5. I really wish they would have stopped at "In addition to the core package changes, we also will be removing receiver fees on equipment you've purchased and own, if any."

I have a feeling Dish has done the math on all this. They know how many people own equipment. I don't know the price now, but let's say the 211 is $100. If someone pays $100 to own it and it saves them $2 a month, that means for Dish to lose money it would take them 50 months. If someone rented for 50 months, it would be $350 ($7 x 50). If someone owned for 50 months, it would be $350: $100 + (50 x $5). You wonder if the 211 would even be usable in 50 months... I would be shocked if some of those receivers on the list make it to the point that Dish would lose money on it. And maybe this is a one year thing to be used as a marketing tactic as well.

All that to say... I wish there was no equipment fee at all if you owned the equipment...