I am glad I dropped Dish earlier this year. They offered nothing that I watch that isn't carried by BHN now and I got sick of paying for two services with the same programming. It was nice when Dish offered oodles of channels BHN didn't have, so carrying two services was justified. I got the best of both worlds and it wasn't that expensive. Here we are, 3-4 months after I quit and Dish has has no new Dish HD nationals. Despite the calls from Dish (even though I have asked them multiple times to stop calling me) crying out to me saying more HD nationals were coming and to hang tight. I am glad I didn't. Nothing new yet, as promised by one of the worst sales teams I have ever laughed at.
I will either wait until Verizon FIOS comes around in my neighborhood or go with DirecTV as my second provider. The advantage to Verizon is that I would get a second Internet provider (them) to pick up the slack. I have a BHN VO 15/2 with static IP and that is fine for business, but then when you get into my slingbox, online backups and video game time, it really isn't fun competing with prioritized website upload traffic. I need another provider for my "other" stuff here at home. Verizon doesn't offer the best HD yet, but they have the capacity.
On the other hand, Direct TV looks sexy with all their HD. I am not crazy abut the upfront cost of buying equipment that you are then only leasing. I would need two HD-DVRs and that carries a hefty pricetag. Yes, I realize they have specials where you get the first one for $100 or less after rebates, but that does nothing for the second unit, which I would need.
I had considered going back to Dish someday as my second provider (IN THE FUTURE,NOT ANYTIME SOON), but the way they have totally disrespected me by calling me even when I have asked them not to call me, is more than frustrating. They are playing target practice with their own foot at this point. If somebody says "STOP CALLING ME AND TAKE ME OFF YOUR LIST," you should take that as a hint and stop calling them. You don't make an excuse that it can take 31 days to stop calling you from the time you request it. CSR- Do what I say. Stop bothering me. You have interruped many a phone conversation or meeting by wasting my time. I dropped Dish. I am not going to run back to Dish because of their empty promises.
Just for the record. When I left Dish, they made no attempt to keep me in the form of your typical, run of the mill retention department. They asked why I was leaving and that was it. Since then they have been really bothering me, trying to get me to sign back up.