Just to throw in a few comments in here - we don't have Dish service but I recently called our provider (Comcast) to see what kind of deal they could offer. That turned into a very interesting conversation with the (very nice I must say) CS rep, but she mentioned in Comcast's defense that the X1 is the only Emmy nominated DVR, that the X1 has the Top 100 shows preloaded, too, as well as a very large On Demand catalog and that Dish has had channel blackouts but Comcast never has (her words not mine). I remain convinced that the Hopper 3 (and frankly the Hopper 2) are superior to the X1, but it goes to show what you're getting with Dish for those fees - after all that's $10/mo for a new subscriber and $15/mo without promotion as far as I can tell.
Following that, a few days later, we went to a Comcast Store and were asking about fees, and were told that if you want an X1 non-DVR it's $10/mo per room (fiorst reciever free), if you want a DTA to add in just your local channels it's $4/mo each, and if you want an X1, if you want the DVR, it's $10/mo + a $10/mo HD Technology Fee. Oh, and they charge $80 per outlet if, like us, your house isn't wired in multiple rooms and you need to add one (as they don't offer something like the Wireless Joey). Don't forget too that you're paying a Broadcast TV Fee that's gone from $5 -> $7 for the new year. As well as an RSN Fee that was $3 and is going to be $5.
My point is, I can understand people being upset with fees, but it genuinely looks like at least you're getting more out of those fees. Be it extra tuners, things like PTAT, or some of the smaller but helpful stuff like remote locating, or stuff like Youtube and Netflix (which the X1 doesn't have, and only just added last month in the case of Netflix). Notice too that all Hoppers (since release in, what, 2012?) have had a 2TB hard drive, and it's only now, 4.5 years later, that someone else (TiVo) has come up with a DVR that has more space (3TB in the Bolt+ released in Sept this year). And this place being what it is there are surely some people who've managed to hit 75% full on their Hoppers, if not fill it up. So in the end you have to go with what works best for you, considering what is available at your location, and what your budget is.
And also, most pay-TV companies are continuing to either hold steady or lose subscribers. This isn't just a Dish-only thing. And as has probably been discussed here, programming costs continue to rise. So something has to give way, somewhere. Unfortunately I don't seem to be able to post links so easily, but a few google searches about pay tv subscriber counts for each quarter of the year will tell this story rather quickly.