After 22 years and 7 months almost to the day, I have severed my relationship with Dish today.
I know the typical response by most readers of this type of announcement, especially from someone who has been dormant on this board for several years, is an angry "Don't let the door hit you on your way out!"
But let me explain.
Dish, it's not (all) you. It's me.
Dish's invitation to quit the relationship was small, but it was a catalyst for the rest.
No, it wasn't the really poor quality video of SD channels. I stopped watching SD years ago unless absolutely necessary.
No, it wasn't dropping my regional Sports channel. I rarely ever watched it when I had it.
No, it really wasn't dropping HBO. But thanks to the HBO thing my viewing habits changed.
As I got used to going to HBO Now on my streaming stick, I started using the streaming apps more and more. I was already an Amazon Prime member so I started watching more "regular" programming through that. Then I got access to Netflix. I realized I wasn't watching much of anything on Dish except for DVRed broadcast network shows and a few basic cable shows, but only a few. Almost everything I was watching was available online on a +7 day basis!
Things came to a head last month when my homeowner's insurance said "replace your roof or find another insurance carrier." My roof needed replacing for sure. And, thanks to trees and terrain, the only place to receive a satellite signal was from my roof. The dish came down for the roof replacement, and never went back up. Somehow I didn't want to poke holes in the new roof!
So I finally called Dish and cancelled. The call went well. The CSR offered me a good deal to stay, but I'd already committed to dropping service.
So now I have joined the legions of people who are OTA and streaming viewers (I won't say cut the cord, but cause I still have internet through the cable company). I also took a deal for a while with the local cable company for their streaming service for locals, 10 "basic cable" channel and "cloud DVR" for my legacy viewing habits. It's $30/mo for a couple of years. I'll re-evaluate how necessary that is when the offer ends.
So it's a fond farewell to Echostar/Digital Sky Highway/DiSH Network/DISH. Thanks for the good service, and competitive pricing. Thanks for essentially showing me I didn't need you anymore. Perhaps in a couple of years I'll come back to "sling" but for now, goodbye to Dish.
I know the typical response by most readers of this type of announcement, especially from someone who has been dormant on this board for several years, is an angry "Don't let the door hit you on your way out!"
But let me explain.
Dish, it's not (all) you. It's me.
Dish's invitation to quit the relationship was small, but it was a catalyst for the rest.
No, it wasn't the really poor quality video of SD channels. I stopped watching SD years ago unless absolutely necessary.
No, it wasn't dropping my regional Sports channel. I rarely ever watched it when I had it.
No, it really wasn't dropping HBO. But thanks to the HBO thing my viewing habits changed.
As I got used to going to HBO Now on my streaming stick, I started using the streaming apps more and more. I was already an Amazon Prime member so I started watching more "regular" programming through that. Then I got access to Netflix. I realized I wasn't watching much of anything on Dish except for DVRed broadcast network shows and a few basic cable shows, but only a few. Almost everything I was watching was available online on a +7 day basis!
Things came to a head last month when my homeowner's insurance said "replace your roof or find another insurance carrier." My roof needed replacing for sure. And, thanks to trees and terrain, the only place to receive a satellite signal was from my roof. The dish came down for the roof replacement, and never went back up. Somehow I didn't want to poke holes in the new roof!
So I finally called Dish and cancelled. The call went well. The CSR offered me a good deal to stay, but I'd already committed to dropping service.
So now I have joined the legions of people who are OTA and streaming viewers (I won't say cut the cord, but cause I still have internet through the cable company). I also took a deal for a while with the local cable company for their streaming service for locals, 10 "basic cable" channel and "cloud DVR" for my legacy viewing habits. It's $30/mo for a couple of years. I'll re-evaluate how necessary that is when the offer ends.
So it's a fond farewell to Echostar/Digital Sky Highway/DiSH Network/DISH. Thanks for the good service, and competitive pricing. Thanks for essentially showing me I didn't need you anymore. Perhaps in a couple of years I'll come back to "sling" but for now, goodbye to Dish.
) when he opened.
