2020 Dish Price Increases Announced

I went ahead and cancelled Dish this morning. It wasn't an easy decision after being with them for 20 years. They do have a great product, but by switching to a streaming service I can save $35 a month. I am retiring in a year, so I am trying to cut expenses where I can.

The CSR asked why I was cancelling, and I replied that it is just getting too expensive and streaming options are cheaper. And that was that. No attempt to keep me or offer some sort of discount. But that's okay, it would just have kicked the can down the road for another year.

I wish Dish, and all of you loyal subscribers all the best.

I asked for one. I got $20 off a month and locked in for 2 years with no increases. So once the $5 hits, I'll be saving $25 a month. I looked at streaming including Sling. For what I want, I cannot find it elsewhere. Sure I could cut, but I would lose too much. Still not a bad deal. Streaming is not where satellite/cable is. I use streaming as an add on. It works great for me.
 
I asked for one. I got $20 off a month and locked in for 2 years with no increases. So once the $5 hits, I'll be saving $25 a month. I looked at streaming including Sling. For what I want, I cannot find it elsewhere. Sure I could cut, but I would lose too much. Still not a bad deal. Streaming is not where satellite/cable is. I use streaming as an add on. It works great for me.
It's true there are no streaming options that cover all the services and channels you get from Dish without paying more but over time I'm watching normal cable channels less, and more of my viewing time is spent on streaming services. If I cancel Dish and put up an OTA antenna I'll only be losing a couple of channels but saving $912+ next year alone and that buys me a lot more content that I'll actually watch. Netflix is a free perk from another company and Prime I buy regardless so I still have $900+ in savings.
 
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It's true there are no streaming options that cover all the services and channels you get from Dish without paying more but over time I'm watching normal cable channels less, and more of my viewing time is spent on streaming services. If I cancel Dish and put up an OTA antenna I'll only be losing a couple of channels but saving $912+ next year alone and that buys me a lot more content that I'll actually watch. Netflix is a free perk from another company and Prime I buy regardless so I still have $900+ in savings.

Out here we get 16 OTA channels, 5 translators giving us 16 services. That is it. Few diginets (sub channels), only METV, Comet, Stadium, Get TV, Bounce, QWest, etc).So channels like Laff, Grit, etc are unavailable OTA here. With the Fire Stick, over a hundred of the channels give me free on demand. At least for me, not a bad deal.
 
It's true there are no streaming options that cover all the services and channels you get from Dish without paying more but over time I'm watching normal cable channels less, and more of my viewing time is spent on streaming services. If I cancel Dish and put up an OTA antenna I'll only be losing a couple of channels but saving $912+ next year alone and that buys me a lot more content that I'll actually watch. Netflix is a free perk from another company and Prime I buy regardless so I still have $900+ in savings.
I had suggested that Dish should do something like that with Netflix, offering it as a free perk. Otherwise, what is the point of putting the app on the Dish receivers? I can see them not doing that with Amazon Prime streaming, since that app is only available on the Hopper 3. However, Netflix is available on every Hopper model except Hopper 1 (even the Hopper Duo has Netflix) plus the Wally, and even the Joeys have Netflix. So, since almost every current model Dish receiver has the capability for Netflix, this should be a relatively easy bonus for Dish to add. It might even encourage customer loyalty, since if you cancel your service or switch to a different provider, then you would probably have to start paying for Netflix if you want to keep it.
 
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I had suggested that Dish should do something like that with Netflix, offering it as a free perk. Otherwise, what is the point of putting the app on the Dish receivers? I can see them not doing that with Amazon Prime streaming, since that app is only available on the Hopper 3. However, Netflix is available on every Hopper model except Hopper 1 (even the Hopper Duo has Netflix) plus the Wally, and even the Joeys have Netflix. So, since almost every current model Dish receiver has the capability for Netflix, this should be a relatively easy bonus for Dish to add. It might even encourage customer loyalty, since if you cancel your service or switch to a different provider, then you would probably have to start paying for Netflix if you want to keep it.
I pay Netflix $15.99 a month because I want all the UHD programming that they have. If HD is good enough for you it is $12.99 a month. Now, for those nothing but SD viewers you can get that for 8.99 a month. Even at the lowest tier you expect DISH to eat that cost? Can’t you see a huge increase in your monthly bill? For someone who goes on and on about lowering your personal cost for a DISH sub this make little sense. There is no free lunch.
 
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I had suggested that Dish should do something like that with Netflix, offering it as a free perk. Otherwise, what is the point of putting the app on the Dish receivers? I can see them not doing that with Amazon Prime streaming, since that app is only available on the Hopper 3. However, Netflix is available on every Hopper model except Hopper 1 (even the Hopper Duo has Netflix) plus the Wally, and even the Joeys have Netflix. So, since almost every current model Dish receiver has the capability for Netflix, this should be a relatively easy bonus for Dish to add. It might even encourage customer loyalty, since if you cancel your service or switch to a different provider, then you would probably have to start paying for Netflix if you want to keep it.

DISH wouldn't keep HBO even when we were paying for it. You're suggesting that maybe they'll give away Netflix? I don't want to suggest that you're abusing a substance, but what the heck are you smoking?
 
I pay Netflix $15.99 a month because I want all the UHD programming that they have. If HD is good enough for you it is $12.99 a month. Now, for those nothing but SD viewers you can get that for 8.99 a month. Even at the lowest tier you expect DISH to eat that cost? Can’t you see a huge increase in your monthly bill? For someone who goes on and on about lowering your personal cost for a DISH sub this make little sense. There is no free lunch.
Yes, I was thinking the lowest (SD-only) tier. I certainly would not expect the highest UHD tier to be included, for the same reason that I would not expect a similar promotion with Amazon Prime, since not all of the receivers support that. I am saying that there has already been a huge increase in the monthly bill, so it would be nice if we actually got something of value to justify that. As for my personal cost, I certainly would not expect Dish to offer this to someone at my level of programming, since I no longer have a traditional basic package. So, I have withdrawn from the battlefield, so to speak.

It is not like there has never been any precedent for this idea. Back when Dish first launched the Netflix app, they did have a promotion where they were giving away a free year of Netflix to new subscribers. Do you think that Dish did not recover that investment by raising everyone's monthly bill to cover that? In that case, we did not even get the benefit of actually receiving the free programming, unless we happened to be among the new customers who signed up at the time that they were running the promotion. Yet we all paid for it as part of our package, anyway.
 
Yes, and Welcome Pack also gets hit with the $5 increase, and we never had the regional sports channels in the first place. :wtf2

This just goes to prove my point that Dish is bundling the bulk of the cost of the regional sports networks into the base package price (for all packages, whether you actually receive the regional sports networks or not). Then, for the few areas that have slightly more expensive regional sports networks, the (modest) surcharge is necessary, rather than itemize the entire cost of the regional sports networks as a separate line-item. The fact that all packages (in all regions) are getting hit with this increase may go toward proving Tampa8's theory that Dish is planning to bring back the regional sports networks that are currently in dispute.
This proves nothing. This tells me that the cost of all the other channels that Dish carries has gone up. Yearly price increases are built into contracts with channel owners, even ones that aren't up for renewal for years.

Here's more proof. The DMA I live in had 2 RSNs, both that were removed, and it has no surcharge. The DMA I currently pay for only has one RSN, which is still active, and it shows a $1 surcharge.
Okay, I found it, from the press release when the Fox Sports Networks were removed:
"The Fox RSNs ... are demanding unreasonable rates and attempting to make DISH customers pay for the channels, whether they get them or not."

"Like many regional sports networks, Fox RSNs are seeking payment from almost all DISH customers in their regions, even those who choose a programming package that does not include these channels."

Based on Dish's across-the-board price increases for all packages, whether they include(d) RSN's or not, it looks like the Fox RSN's are getting their wish, even though Dish subscribers still don't have these channels back (yet?) regardless of what package you subscribe to.
 
I mentioned this earlier, that even though we lost the RSN's, our prices went up, and I was shocked at that. Here is the transcript of the 2nd quarter earnings call - the call about a week after the FOX RSN's were dropped. Here is what Charlie Ergen said:

We clearly will lose some customers, but it's a very small fraction of our customers that are avid viewers of the regional sports, primarily baseball. So, it's kind of now, and we will lose some customers. I hate it that we lose customers. But, I also feel really good about the fact that maybe the vast majority of our customers can get a price break in a marketplace where it's getting more and more difficult to raise prices. So, it doesn't -- I guess, the Chairman saying, it doesn't look good that the regional sports will ever be on DISH again.

Dish Network 2nd Quarter Transcript

The FOX RSN's, NBC Sports Chicago, and Altitude have all been dropped. 5+ months for Fox Sports RSN's, 4 months for Altitude, and 3 months for NBC Sports Chicago - and those customers are still paying the price it was when we had the RSN's. And all the core packages are going up $5.00 next month. I don't know all the deals that Dish has made, but $5.00 seems like a lot to add to all packages. If the price increase is due to the new Fox deal, why did we not see an increase in the Locals package so that those who don't subscribe to it don't feel that pain?

All that to say, after seeing the RSN's not coming back, remembering the quote Charlie had about getting a price break and saying it doesn't look good that the RSN's would ever be back, that we would have less than the $5 increase on most of the core packages.
 
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Broken record here: If Dish caved in to Fox, our increase would likely have been higher. None of us know the other contracts, and can make no judgement on how much the increase “should” have been.

We can only make the judgement on cost/benefit for ourselves. If it’s worth it, continue it. If not, make a change. But saying it shouldn’t have been so much is a waste of time and effort.

I am happy with Dish and the 250 package, and my two HWSes. One inactive owned Joey. But soon my bill will be close to $140/month. And we both hope to retire in 2020. We find ourselves watching more and more free YT (Victorian Farm, Victorian Pharmacy, Edwardian Farm, Wartime Farm, Wartime Kitchen and Garden, History Guy, Sous Vide Everything, etc) and also realize there’s a lot on Amazon Prime we could watch. Since we have terabytes of programming on EHDs, we aren’t likely to go. And we wonder how long we’ll find the free stuff on YT to interest us, or even be available.

But we must also consider cutting back the package.

The choice is cost/benefit. How much is it worth to us?


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In response to zippyfrog's post above:

I think that we have not seen the endgame of Dish's price strategy when it comes to the RSN disputes. Remember, Dish is still making a pretense of trying to bring the RSN's back, by leaving the channels in the guide, and by continuing to update the dishpromise page. I think that when it is finally clear that the RSN's are never coming back, we will see a price drop at that point. This would be similar to what Dish did with HBO and Cinemax earlier this year, and the reverse of what Dish did about Univision. Remember, with the Univision dispute, all of the Latino packages automatically got a $5 discount, which was itemized as a separate line on the bill. Then, when it came time for the annual adjustments to the package prices, that $5 discount was bundled into the new package price. When Univision returned, Dish immediately raised the prices by $5 again. Meanwhile, the regular price of America's Everything Pack went up as scheduled, despite the loss of HBO and Cinemax. Subscribers to AEP continued to get the $25 credit as a separate line item. Then, when it was clear that HBO and Cinemax would not be returning, the regular price of AEP was finally adjusted. So, I think we are seeing a similar strategy here (only without the automatic bill credit, unless you called to specifically ask for a discount due to the dispute) and Dish is hedging their bet to avoid a repeat of the mistake they made with the Univision dispute. I am guessing there was a lot of outrage (especially from subscribers who did not care about Univision) about the immediate price increase when the channels returned, especially so soon after officially lowering the regular price of the packages. So, as long as there is still a chance that the RSN's could return, Dish is not ready to make that necessary package price adjustment, yet.

Also, it is interesting to note that, on the dishpromise page, Dish still has the same standard boilerplate language about the Fox Sports Nets and NBC Sports Chicago. However, for Altitude, Dish actually seems to be brainstorming ideas, and attempting to make useful suggestions about how they could possibly reach a fair deal. So, it seems that, at least for that market, Dish is still interested in bringing the RSN back. I am guessing Dish still has a long-term deal with AT&T Sports Rocky Mountain. So, as long as Dish is still stuck serving that region with one RSN, they might as well try to offer a complete package there. (Obviously, that same logic does not hold true for the Boston sports market, though.)

As far as the Locals contributing to the price increase, it is possible that many of the local broadcasters have the same deal that the RSN's were requesting: that every subscriber in their region has to pay for the channels, whether we receive them or not. Therefore, however the price is broken out on the bill is completely arbitrary, as it makes no actual difference to the amount we are actually paying to the local broadcasters. I think that it is completely insane that Welcome Pack subscribers (those who actually have the option to drop the locals, anyway) only save $3 per month by dropping them. And the reason for that only being a $3 price difference is entirely due to an arbitrary Dish fee of $9 per month for the primary receiver, that does not apply to subscribers with the locals bundled in, but does apply as soon as the locals are dropped.

As far as any of these deals that require every subscriber to pay for the channels, whether we receive them or not, I think the solution is clear: Dish should actually deliver those channels to every subscriber, since it would make no difference in how much it costs Dish to carry them, or to how much we are paying for our package. Instead, Dish gives us the illusion of choice, and the illusion of savings, when the total bill would still be the same either way.

In response to navychop:

You could try the really cheap basic option I described before: International Basic + Portuguese RTPI (the lowest-priced qualifying international package)

That would only cost a total of $24.99 per month (plus your DVR fees) and it would still give you access to all of those TB's of DVR content on your external hard drives. There is also the option of doing a Dish Pause for only $5 per month for up to (I think) six months at a time. If I remember correctly, though, Dish Pause does not give you access to the external hard drive content. So, you would have to be careful about managing your content, and transfer anything that you want to watch anytime soon to the internal hard drives, before starting the Dish Pause.
 
I do not think we will see a price drop when the RSN scenario is done.

I do not think our price is independent of the prices Dish pays for programming.


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I do not think we will see a price drop when the RSN scenario is done.

I do not think our price is independent of the prices Dish pays for programming.
Those two ideas do not go together. If Dish is no longer paying for (or budgeting money to pay for) "the most expensive content on TV" (Dish's words from the FSN dispute press release I referenced earlier) then there should be a savings reflected in our prices.
 
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and also with built in increases in the cost with existing contracts.... Just because Channel X costs $1 in the first year of the contract doesn't mean that it will be $1 for all five years of the contract... It's kind of like a union contract. An increase of salary at signing is good for this year and then there are annual increases for the remaining years.
 
A difference in Charlie's savings account did happen
Those two ideas do not go together. If Dish is no longer paying for (or budgeting money to pay for) "the most expensive content on TV" (Dish's words from the FSN dispute press release I referenced earlier) then there should be a savings reflected in our prices.

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Ok here's something to ponder: It says on the website that they are launching more HD channels. What channels are they talking about?

Grass growing?

Actually, I’d like to see the Military History Channel in HD. It’s on FiOS. And I’d like to see all sports go away so we’d have no more complaints. Folks that want sports, and are willing to pay full freight, can get it elsewhere.
 

Hopper Call To Dish

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