I don't have any insider information, but no one here seems to be offering any real insight, just speculation. I met Charlie Ergen once, and I'm sure he wouldn't remember or care. I subscribed to DN beforehand and continue to, not because or in spite of anyone. I subscribed to 4DTV through NPS for a time, but only talked to their CSRs. I guess this gives me as much right as anyone to muse on 4DTV.
It would stretch my credibility if I were to claim that 18,000 4DTV subscribers meant anything more to Dish Network, and even Ergen, than a flea on the back of an elephant. The potential revenue just isn't there to make it worth worrying about at that level. Even if Dish Network or DirecTV was able to grab a significant chunk of this base, it's still a one-trick pony that cannot be sustained. It will churn, too. Sure, NPS is allied with Dish Network just like a bunch of other parasites. But that doesn't mean Mike Mountford has Ergen's private cell programmed into his and they talk breathlessly into the night. NPS could have just as easily ended up with DirecTV and people here would see the latter as the devil instead.
I personally didn't care for NPS, but I can't fault them for trying to stay in business. With a dwindling subscriber base, they probably are smart enough not to wait for Motorola to turn off the lights. They tried their hand at uplinking, did a lousy job, and everyone here complained about the quality and taxes on their bills. I think they should have realized this before even trying, but live and learn. Mountford now has a new stable of business lines to try to stay afloat. Many of them sound crazy. Big deal.
Motorola chose to choke 4DTV many years ago and frankly they made the right business decision. 4DTV has been way too small for quite some time to do anything but mooch off the primary reason for the feeds. That forced 4DTV to C-band, and believe or not, most people don't want a 6-10' dish in their back yard.
Motorola hasn't designed a new 4DTV receiver in about a decade, and that was a clear sign the tunnel had an end. I would be the first to admit a fondness for timeless technologies, but 4DTV isn't one of them. The programming providers would be stupid to hang onto the antiquated modulation technologies supported by 4DTV when more advanced and cost-effective ones are available. So they migrate and we lose channels. Even if one could still buy 4DTV receivers new, they are rapidly becoming fossils for home AV technologies. The home electronics market thrives on convincing people to junk last year's model, and they have the populace well trained. Thus if you don't do HD, HDMI, 7.1 (or higher), 3D, etc., you should feel like a dork. No? Come over to my house, chug some beer and let's watch some SD channels off my 10'. Sure.
Obsolescence on multiple fronts has killed 4DTV, not Charlie Ergen. That must be awfully poignant to the many oldsters, me included, that frequent the FTA side of these forums. It's hard to see a fond component bite the dust, because it reminds us of our own mortality. We can keep that old car running and dust off the vinyl from our college days to relive our past. But 4DTV just got inoperable cancer and the prognosis doesn't look good.
