When will it end?

[Tsar_Chasm]

The question really is... what other choices are there?

As I posted earlier to move to cable and have 6 HD DVR's in my house its $17 per box.

DISH is still cheaper by miles. I don't like the price change myself, but when you start shopping around you might find what you have now isn't so bad.

For now streaming online.

Amazon Prime, Hulu Plus and a NetFlix DVD account are all cheaper combined than even a base subscription service with Dish with arguably more incentives (free two day shipping included on Prime for example). Add a HD antennae for locals and you're just about all set. I've had Dish for 13 years now and have just about had enough of the increases to buy a Roku and start a Dish free trial in my den to see if it could be an acceptable alternative. I love my Hopper but it's getting harder and harder to justify the increasing expense of what used to be a budget friendly service. I really think Dish is biting their own neck with the increases. Of course the television industry itself is operating on an outdated model with the package plans they force on us all. I don't need or want 15-20 different ESPNs yet I'm stuck with them and the costs anyway. If television is going to remain viable against streaming media they are going to have to finally concede to a ala carte system which will mean the death of many stations.

 

[dwarren2]

All alternatives don't include real time TV, AFAIK. If you can live with that, fine. I cannot. There is so much I find by looking at the epg that I want to record/watch. My wife and I have spent hours watching the Olympics off the dvr. Would I like to pay less for Dish, of course. Then again, I'd still like to pay $0.24/gallon of gas I paid back in the early 70's. It isn't going to happen. We don't subscribe to any of the movie channels. I can live with Dish's increased cost. If anyone thinks the cost of viewing will never go up, I have a bridge to sell you.

 

[osu1991]

Olympics are all over NBC. Most of what is on nbcsn and msnnc gets replayed at some point on nbc

 

[Tampa8]

All alternatives don't include real time TV, AFAIK. If you can live with that, fine. I cannot. There is so much I find by looking at the epg that I want to record/watch. My wife and I have spent hours watching the Olympics off the dvr. Would I like to pay less for Dish, of course. Then again, I'd still like to pay $0.24/gallon of gas I paid back in the early 70's. It isn't going to happen. We don't subscribe to any of the movie channels. I can live with Dish's increased cost. If anyone thinks the cost of viewing will never go up, I have a bridge to sell you.

Yes. It's a hard sell for many to have to hunt and peck to find the programs they want, and then not watch them "live." (Relative term) Forget if you do or do not like these shows, but if you and friends like American Idol for instance, if everyone is talking about it the next day and you can't watch it for a day or two (or for some shows more) it would take some getting used to. If cost gets high enough it could come to that though for more families, though I have always said and still do we have not even seen the tip of the iceberg of costs for online if that's what a majority are doing.

 

[king3pj]

Who watches live TV? Outside of news and sports I haven't done that for years. It's not any harder to find the shows I bought on my Apple TV than it is on the hopper either. iTunes puts them up the day after they air. I did watch certain shows I was really caught up in like The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, and Game of Thrones the day they aired but just about everything else was the next day or later. Having to wait until the next day is a slight inconvenience but having zero commercials makes up for that in my opinion.

 

[darrengs]

I love Dish and the Hopper, but my wife just dropped the latest come back offer from DirecTV on my desk which includes paying my ETF and 2 years of discounts. I will be sitting down and doing the math this weekend.

 

[Centex]

Who watches live TV? Outside of news and sports I haven't done that for years. It's not any harder to find the shows I bought on my Apple TV than it is on the hopper either. iTunes puts them up the day after they air. I did watch certain shows I was really caught up in like The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, and Game of Thrones the day they aired but just about everything else was the next day or later. Having to wait until the next day is a slight inconvenience but having zero commercials makes up for that in my opinion.

[Raises hand] When a Network puts out a compelling product, I and my wife, want to consume it as quickly as possible. DVR makes it possible that we do not have to watch it when the network tells us to, but for certain shows--The Walking Dead in particular--we will watch it at least same day.

 

[dwarren2]

I love Dish and the Hopper, but my wife just dropped the latest come back offer from DirecTV on my desk which includes paying my ETF and 2 years of discounts. I will be sitting down and doing the math this weekend.

Howe m uch do you have recorded on eitherthe internal and external hard drives? If a lot, ask the wife if she's ready to loose all the recordings. You will have to send the Hopper(s) back to Dish and since theehd is keyed to the account number, you will not be able to access the recordings on the ehd even if you come back to Dish in the future.
She may find the the intial cost savings aren't worth it and look at the costs after the promo period is up.
Also give Dish a call and see if they can do anything to reduce your bill. I did and got $5 off the Sports package and already had a $10 credit for 6 months off my bill.

 

[empiretc]

this latest increase has convinced us to reconsider the tivo setup. we did this a few years ago with the tivoHD. it was ok...

The tivo premiere looks a lot better. Couple that with Netflix, Amazon, OTA, the free cable in our area, and it should be ok. One room is getting setup for testing.

 

[Scherrman]

I have a question for everyone that says they are thinking about dropping Dish because it's gotten too expensive. What package do you currently have? If you have the AT250 or AT200 and it's too much, why not just lower down to the AT120 or Dish America? I ask this because it seems people are taking drastic measures after this increase. To go from the AT250 to just online streaming is a huge jump.

Now, if you have the AT120 already and you feel it's way too much for your budget then I think it makes more sense to drop it all.

 

[comfortably_numb]

I have a question for everyone that says they are thinking about dropping Dish because it's gotten too expensive. What package do you currently have? If you have the AT250 or AT200 and it's too much, why not just lower down to the AT120 or Dish America? I ask this because it seems people are taking drastic measures after this increase. To go from the AT250 to just online streaming is a huge jump.

Now, if you have the AT120 already and you feel it's way too much for your budget then I think it makes more sense to drop it all.

Because those packages don't have the channels I (we) want. For instance, I like RFD-TV, MLB Network, Science Channel, etc. Those channels (not even RFD) are available in a lesser package, so I have to have AT200.

 

[MikeD-C05]

I for one will not consider dropping DISH ...entirely. The hopper is great for prime time shows that is what we primarily watch. At worst I could drop down to top 120 and then the Welcome pack if need be. I can still use the internet for a lot of other shows that I want to watch in season or one season back if need be. I have already shaved off excess programming and receivers. The next thing is whether I go with a super joey in the master bedroom or just a plain joey that I no longer use. I have 17 more months to decide this one when my $5.00 credits run out. I only wish that DISH could cut down the amount of their excess fees that they charge per month and I wouldn't have to decide between programming and equipment. A $5.00 joey fee and a super joey at $7.00 would be great start. The dvr fees I feel are too excessive period on the hoppers at $12.00 a month. I guess the extra $5.00 in the new dvr fee is to pay someone to watch all that prime time shows in each market and place mark the commercials for skipping.

 

[Scherrman]

Because those packages don't have the channels I (we) want. For instance, I like RFD-TV, MLB Network, Science Channel, etc. Those channels (not even RFD) are available in a lesser package, so I have to have AT200.

You can add RFD-TV to the AT120 and it is included in the Smart Pack.

 

[jbrelish]

My point is, the pricing structure as it currently is, in my opinion, unreasonable. Most of us grew up as children in households with some form of cable TV or satellite (I know my parents always had cable) and I don't remember them ever complaining that it was outrageously expensive. Today, I can't tell you one person I know who says "Yeah, I think cable TV (or satellite) is affordable." In fact, they all bemoan all of the increases in price for the little quality they seem to receive. Most people have just a few channels they like, but end up paying lots of money for mainly channels they don't.

What I pay for Dish each month (before credits) is more than what I pay per month for health insurance. I'm sorry, but that IS ridiculous.

Sure, I can stop paying for it. I can also ride a bike to work, dress in togas to save money, eat only Ramen noodles, drink water instead of soda, you get the picture. The point I'm trying to make is, most of us expect to pay a reasonable amount of money per month for some form of TV entertainment in America.

Actually I grew up in a household with a B/W TV with only one channel,CBS. The picture was snowy,sound was filled with hissing and you move tin foil along the antenna lead in order to get the best picture. So I am not part of the "most of us".

Cable TV in my case was terrible for its quality. But the biggest con to cable TV was is constant price increases that seemed to happen multiple times per year. And that was not offset by more channels or better picture quality. Currently looking at cable prices here I don't see any bargain for the buck.

Satellite TV was my next step to TV watching. I bought a Dish system. Was expensive but the picture quality was great and Dish had the channels I wanted to see, something cable didn't provide. I was impressed with the fact Dish kept "freezing prices" for at least a year at a time and in some cases longer. Charlie kept his word in this respect.

Now one needs to realize every business needs to raise their prices if their cost go up. You either raise prices or eventually go out of business. And the channel providers aren't freezing their prices. Can one call cable/satellite prices affordable, depends on the individual and their wants and needs in TV. But if you are really honest with yourself and look into pricing(strip away all discounts/specials/credits) you should find Dish as probably the most affordable. Just my opinion.

 

[Tsar_Chasm]

I have a question for everyone that says they are thinking about dropping Dish because it's gotten too expensive. What package do you currently have? If you have the AT250 or AT200 and it's too much, why not just lower down to the AT120 or Dish America? I ask this because it seems people are taking drastic measures after this increase. To go from the AT250 to just online streaming is a huge jump.

Now, if you have the AT120 already and you feel it's way too much for your budget then I think it makes more sense to drop it all.

I'm on the 120 and it's not that it's too much for my budget, it's just hard to justify $80 something per month when all I watch are a handful of series that are available online and the local news as I'm getting ready and having my morning coffee which is available OTA. I could drop the Hopper and get back to below a pre increase price but the DVR is really the only reason I've kept it till this point. Really all I ever watch is FX and AMC along with my locals. Already have NetFlix DVD service and Amazon Prime for movies so any HBO/Showtime type content is already viewed alternatively.

lol, I think I really just sold myself on dropping Dish in a few months when the contract it up.

 

[comfortably_numb]

...you should find Dish as probably the most affordable. Just my opinion.

Depends. Sometimes they are, sometimes Direct is. Just seems to depend on the channels you need. A year ago, Dish was cheaper for me. Now, Directv would be cheaper for me for the channels I need. Both of them seem to shake up their packages every year or so to where some channels are added/removed. In my case, Direct added some channels to a lesser package where Dish has them in a higher tier, after my initial comparisons.

 

[Gobucks]

I'm on the 120 and it's not that it's too much for my budget, it's just hard to justify $80 something per month when all I watch are a handful of series that are available online and the local news as I'm getting ready and having my morning coffee which is available OTA. I could drop the Hopper and get back to below a pre increase price but the DVR is really the only reason I've kept it till this point. Really all I ever watch is FX and AMC along with my locals. Already have NetFlix DVD service and Amazon Prime for movies so any HBO/Showtime type content is already viewed alternatively.

lol, I think I really just sold myself on dropping Dish in a few months when the contract it up.

My buddy dropped his Direct TV pretty much for the same reason. He only watches a couple of shows on FX and AMC. He kept Direct around pretty much just for The Walking Dead. Then he found out what Target Ticket was and their prices. I know iTunes and Amazon sell single episodes but Target has them in SD for 99 cents and the SD looks great on his huge TV. So he ends up getting them for $16 a season and $13 for Justified. Plus he owns the digital rights to them. So he can stream and download them any time he wants. You might want to check that out. It has saved him so much money.

I know that doesn't work for everyone. It doesn't work for my family. My wife has to many shows she loves and as we all know the wife always gets what she wants. Plus we both just love The Hopper. We each have one with all our own stuff on them. Someday the price may be to high to keep and we will have to just buy or rent seasons of shows we love. As long as we can afford it we will stay with Dish.

 

[BBCInc]

Our progression over the years has been from AT250 to AT200 to AT120 due mostly to programming increases. Will likely go to AT120+ in the Fall to get NFL Redzone (somewhat dependent on whether I can get another 1/2 price deal). Since the change to 120 was recent we're still getting used to it, but so far only miss TCM and National Geographic (Alaska State Troopers).

During the day my wife mostly watches INSP live now and as background noise while she works, recording as needed, and one of the few times I watch live I have CNN and Fox in PiP swap to avoid the huge number of mind-numbingly repetitive commercials. At night we have regular timer recorded prime time shows we watch, with a preference to Autohop if available. PTAT is on 7 days a week and when our regular shows run out we go to that and find something else to watch like SNL or the Fox animated stuff run on Sundays.

In general the number of commercials, promos that run during programming, Dish ads (You might also like) just added to the Info screen, has gotten ridiculous. This is supposed to be premium TV, right? That will drive me away as fast as rising package prices if it continues to get worse.

I have DTVpals, and a simple.tv (in test phase) I run on other TVs or my PC that would be called into service for OTA if Dish price or hardware performance ever rises too much or slips, respectively, to the point that we no longer perceive it as a value-added solution. Roku will provide Netflix, Amazon Prime, and possibly Vudu for streaming for most of the other stuff.

 

[Tampa8]

Who watches live TV? Outside of news and sports I haven't done that for years. It's not any harder to find the shows I bought on my Apple TV than it is on the hopper either. iTunes puts them up the day after they air. I did watch certain shows I was really caught up in like The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, and Game of Thrones the day they aired but just about everything else was the next day or later. Having to wait until the next day is a slight inconvenience but having zero commercials makes up for that in my opinion.

Don't take live too literally. I probably record most things also, but the bigger events I watch live, and even some of the recorded shows I watch just after they record or within a few hours.

 

[Tampa8]

I for one will not consider dropping DISH ...entirely. The hopper is great for prime time shows that is what we primarily watch. At worst I could drop down to top 120 and then the Welcome pack if need be. I can still use the internet for a lot of other shows that I want to watch in season or one season back if need be. I have already shaved off excess programming and receivers. The next thing is whether I go with a super joey in the master bedroom or just a plain joey that I no longer use. I have 17 more months to decide this one when my $5.00 credits run out. I only wish that DISH could cut down the amount of their excess fees that they charge per month and I wouldn't have to decide between programming and equipment. A $5.00 joey fee and a super joey at $7.00 would be great start. The dvr fees I feel are too excessive period on the hoppers at $12.00 a month. I guess the extra $5.00 in the new dvr fee is to pay someone to watch all that prime time shows in each market and place mark the commercials for skipping.

I suspect that is the formula many may end up using.