Mike - some irony in your post - although I feel you are pretty much dead on.
The loyalty to DIRECTV did come in large part to the fact that they revealed what they were working on, and it made sense. It was a bandwidth issue and they presented their solution. To buy and launch new satellites that could give them just that BANDWIDTH.
The timetable was reasonable, they continued to put out announcements about new channels and agreements - the type of things that a customer wants to hear. Even during this timeframe, DISH put out relatively few regarding its own 2007+ future plans.
But the most ironic part is, so many DISH subscribers continued to RIDICULE the plan that DIRECTV was working on as just promises. Funny how they did just what they said they would, and now DISH customers like you wish that their beloved Charlie would just provide the same type of info - a plan that is reasonable, makes sense to its customers and gives them the feeling that they are concerned and working to get BANDWIDTH. 180 degrees I dare say.
You are so right in how well it worked for DIRECTV, didn't Charlie notice that?