Free Previews Discussion Thread - December 2020

For those who still need a fix for their holiday music addiction, be sure to check out Holiday Instrumentals (channel 927), and Viva La Navidad (channels 892 and 941), still in free preview on their regular channel numbers. Also, for those who subscribe to the Dish CD channels, Traditional Holidays is still on channel 962. This is your last chance to check these channels out, before the themes change back to their regular programming.
Well, today the guide info for these channels changed back to their normal themes. Holiday Instrumentals is now listed as City Lights. Viva La Navidad is now listed as Viva Mariachi. Traditional Holidays is now listed as Latin Jazz. However, at least on channels 927, 941, and 892 (the only ones I still receive with my stripped-down basic package) I can confirm that these channels are still actually playing holiday music. The Song ID box on these channels also continues to list the holiday theme, instead of matching the guide info like it normally does. I wonder exactly when the themes will actually change, to match the guide info.
 
Well, today the guide info for these channels changed back to their normal themes. Holiday Instrumentals is now listed as City Lights. Viva La Navidad is now listed as Viva Mariachi. Traditional Holidays is now listed as Latin Jazz. However, at least on channels 927, 941, and 892 (the only ones I still receive with my stripped-down basic package) I can confirm that these channels are still actually playing holiday music. The Song ID box on these channels also continues to list the holiday theme, instead of matching the guide info like it normally does. I wonder exactly when the themes will actually change, to match the guide info.
These channels finally changed back to their regular themes (and the Song ID box also changed to reflect that) this morning.
 
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Yes, they do normally hide them, although I have seen it take much longer for Dish to get around to finally doing that, especially with the NBA channels. I remember at least one time when the channels were not hidden until about a month later. Another time, the NBA channels remained visible all season long. NBA TV had been included in that preview. So, although any live games remained blacked out after the preview ended, I still had access to the rest of NBA TV's content (replays, etc.) absolutely free. I guess that Dish does still want to "advertise" for these packages by leaving the channels visible in the guide. This is why I still see the Boston Bruins (NHL) and Baltimore Orioles (MLB) channels, even without a subscription. I would expect the Boston Celtics channel to get similar treatment, even after the rest of the NBA channels get hidden.
Actually, I guess NBATV on channel 5001 (red in the guide) serves as the "advertisement" for NBA League Pass. All of the other NBA League Pass channels are now hidden. All of the NHL Center Ice channels were turned on, in the same uplink.
 
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Don't know how long it's going to last but NHL Center Ice is in free preview...
None of us know how long these sports free previews are going to last, since Dish is no longer advertising them on their mydish Free Previews page. That is one of the reasons I stopped posting new Free Previews threads, since there is no actual concrete information to put in a "No Discussion" thread anyway. Looking through the past free previews that are still listed on that mydish page, they did make an effort to list the NFL RedZone preview, and the Pac-12 preview that was during college football season. So, Dish wants to make sure all of the football fans know about the free previews, but they are now actively discriminating against all other sports, by not advertising the previews. :mad:
 
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