Just a thought...
Recall last year (approx.) when Dish was sending out RCA OTA antennas free to customers in markets where a local network channel was blacked out due to contract dispute.
Wondering if they're enhancing their OTA dongle capability as leverage in anticipation of future disputes. Maybe they intend to send these devices to customers for free during those periods, in those affected markets. Or at least possess the refined capability to make that threat. Maybe a more cost effective and credible leverage tactic during negotiations than the RCA antenna?
From the customer side, the RCA antenna was inferior to having the actual channel working in the guide, whereas this device can mimic that.
And/or Dish will distribute the device for free and only enable the channel in dispute to minimize inconvenience to the customer, or the customer can opt to pay for the device to receive all OTA channels available.
Anyway, the thought popped in my head FWIW.