People are used to getting certain basic things when they sign up for a television provider's standard package. Non-sports examples of that might be, say, CNN, or USA Network. If those channels aren't there, people are going to be upset. The sports version of that includes the channels that cover sports championships, among other things.
If folks think that the original poster is a rare case, they're out of touch with the average sports fan. The Stanley Cup Finals are one of those things people just expect to be there in their package on one channel or another, especially if the home town team is playing. And, yeah, a long-time Dish subscriber who's an intense hockey fan would have noticed that is missing before now -- but there are always people who are new to Dish, new to hockey fandom, or who are simply casual fans who catch games on the local RSNs when they happen to be in front of their television and notice the games being on, plus big events for their local team like an appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals. Heck, even if you noticed that you didn't get some of the regular season games or playoff games, you might just assume that because the Stanley Cup Finals are the biggest games of the year, determining the championship, that they'd be on.
And, no, not everyone can afford to hand over extra money to leapfrog packages on the spur of the moment. A lot of people in this world live hand to mouth, pay check to pay check. And when, as Dish does, a company advertises their low, low prices -- Guess what? You're likely to get more than your share of people who can't afford to or don't want to pay extra.
Dish is atrocious when it comes to sports, but it doesn't keep them from advertising sports as a selling point. If I recall correctly, one ad sells their good sports selection and transitions to their "5 packages under $50 a month" tag line. Guess what? A lot of people are going to have the impression from that ad that you'll get at least the sports "basics", like all the championship games, included in at least one of those packages under $50.
And it's not just the NHL. There are local RSNs in some areas that aren't carried as well -- i.e. the bulk of those area's home teams' games.
Heck, some of it is just poor up time, I've had my OTA locals on Dish go out twice in the last few months for more than an hour at a time, and those are just times I was watching those channels. One time I was tuning in to try to get the end of the Indy 500. I'm not a huge auto racing guy, but I can imagine some people were pretty ticked at getting their Dish subscriptions to watch the races and then not being able to see the finish of the biggest Indy car of the year. For me, missing it was a minor inconvenience, but some people look forward to that race all year and settle in with their beer and popcorn (Maybe pork rinds since racing is bigger in the south?
), and couldn't have been pleased to miss it.
Anyhow, back to the main point -- Dish's main competitor is cable, and cable systems generally carry Versus on their core package. Dish should really think about that, because it's going to be a deciding factor, and probably has been, in a lot of churn for them.
If folks think that the original poster is a rare case, they're out of touch with the average sports fan. The Stanley Cup Finals are one of those things people just expect to be there in their package on one channel or another, especially if the home town team is playing. And, yeah, a long-time Dish subscriber who's an intense hockey fan would have noticed that is missing before now -- but there are always people who are new to Dish, new to hockey fandom, or who are simply casual fans who catch games on the local RSNs when they happen to be in front of their television and notice the games being on, plus big events for their local team like an appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals. Heck, even if you noticed that you didn't get some of the regular season games or playoff games, you might just assume that because the Stanley Cup Finals are the biggest games of the year, determining the championship, that they'd be on.
And, no, not everyone can afford to hand over extra money to leapfrog packages on the spur of the moment. A lot of people in this world live hand to mouth, pay check to pay check. And when, as Dish does, a company advertises their low, low prices -- Guess what? You're likely to get more than your share of people who can't afford to or don't want to pay extra.
Dish is atrocious when it comes to sports, but it doesn't keep them from advertising sports as a selling point. If I recall correctly, one ad sells their good sports selection and transitions to their "5 packages under $50 a month" tag line. Guess what? A lot of people are going to have the impression from that ad that you'll get at least the sports "basics", like all the championship games, included in at least one of those packages under $50.
And it's not just the NHL. There are local RSNs in some areas that aren't carried as well -- i.e. the bulk of those area's home teams' games.
Heck, some of it is just poor up time, I've had my OTA locals on Dish go out twice in the last few months for more than an hour at a time, and those are just times I was watching those channels. One time I was tuning in to try to get the end of the Indy 500. I'm not a huge auto racing guy, but I can imagine some people were pretty ticked at getting their Dish subscriptions to watch the races and then not being able to see the finish of the biggest Indy car of the year. For me, missing it was a minor inconvenience, but some people look forward to that race all year and settle in with their beer and popcorn (Maybe pork rinds since racing is bigger in the south?
), and couldn't have been pleased to miss it.Anyhow, back to the main point -- Dish's main competitor is cable, and cable systems generally carry Versus on their core package. Dish should really think about that, because it's going to be a deciding factor, and probably has been, in a lot of churn for them.
