Why can't Dish network do something about this?
Since they won't do anything, is there an option on my receiver?
As others have said, compression is part of the problem. There are many compressor/limiters available that can easily raise average program levels 10-15 dB with minimal artifacts.
But Dolby Digital is also partially to blame. More accurately, it's application in program origination for the consumer. Dolby Digital (and DTS for that matter) have a loudness compensation mechanism controlled by "dialnorm" metadata. This metadata adjusts levels at the point the signal is decoded. Properly authored dialnorm will balance casual dialog levels between programs (and hopefully commercials too). This works great in concept but fails for a couple of reasons:
1) Not all programming contains dialnorm metadata. For example 2-channel analog or PCM audio has no place for it. Unfortunately, the absence of dialnorm is not covered in the standards and probably sets levels to maximum during the decoding process.
2) Dialnorm could be authored incorrectly. For content creators wanting to catch a viewer's attention, dialnorm falsification can be much more effective than huge amounts of compression.
The result of either of these situations has the effect of raising dialog to jet engine levels!
Automatic loudness adjusters are not just expensive. They need time to analyze a program in order to determine the appropriate loudness. So by the time they react a loud commercial is already half over.
What's needed is a mechanism to set the level for any program in which dialnorm is not present. This won't correct for incorrect dialnorm values but could go a long way to compensate for programs with analog or PCM audio tracks. This could be what Echostar has in mind, but the A/V receiver really should take on this reponsibility.