First, its not desperation, but rather a marketing ploy they could exploit over 10 years.
Secondly, there aren't many "cities" of millions, and all of those cities are iconic and wouldn't even consider applying. In fact, MOST cities would never apply, even the small ones (see #3)
Thirdly, Dish is obviously looking for SMALL towns. I live in a town of 2000, and I'd bet we'd be too big for them. Even if we weren't, our town has been so named since the mid 1800's and most likely wouldn't dump on that history for free dish service.