HBO goes dark on Dish - this may finally push me to cut Dish's cord

[Burt 4080]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/11/09/why-millions-dish-networks-customers-have-been-cut-off-hbo/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.e4e0e208756e

I can't believe there's no thread about this already, unless I'm an idiot who overlooked it.  Or maybe, like my mother-in-law with AOL, I'm the last surviving subscriber to Dish. 

I've been contemplating cancelling Dish for some time now because of the cost.  I called to cancel about 7 months and wound up getting the price reduced from $135 to $85 for 6 months. I've thought about calling again to cancel but with it being football season, I'm too chicken-shit that I'd miss games.  For those who have cut the cord, how  do you watch Longhorn/Cowboy games...especially if they are playing on ESPN or FS1?   And if you have other ways to watch them, do you have to watch them live?

[Gene Parmesan 4002]

HBO has a stand alone streaming service, so as far as I know it's a wash paying for the streaming service or paying a cable/dish service the same premium.  Sports are a bitch, but there is probably a playstation vue, youtube tv, or direct tv now plan that will give you the best sports channel mashup.  Most cowboy games are on fox, nbc, or cbs.  You can simply get those channels in HD for free over the air. 

To me though those packages are basically cable lite.  You are still paying for crap you don't want, but on a much smaller scale.

[Liquor and Poker 3659]

7 hours ago, Burt said:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/11/09/why-millions-dish-networks-customers-have-been-cut-off-hbo/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.e4e0e208756e

I can't believe there's no thread about this already, unless I'm an idiot who overlooked it.  Or maybe, like my mother-in-law with AOL, I'm the last surviving subscriber to Dish. 

I've been contemplating cancelling Dish for some time now because of the cost.  I called to cancel about 7 months and wound up getting the price reduced from $135 to $85 for 6 months. I've thought about calling again to cancel but with it being football season, I'm too chicken-shit that I'd miss games.  For those who have cut the cord, how  do you watch Longhorn/Cowboy games...especially if they are playing on ESPN or FS1?   And if you have other ways to watch them, do you have to watch them live?

I had Dish for almost 2 decades.  At the end I was paying like $230 a month for 4 DVRs and one non-DVR on America’s Everything.   Resisted cutting the cord due to inertia, the PITA of teaching the wife, fears about reliability, no DVR, etc.

I have DTVN now on 2 Rokus (both in the TV firmware) and 2 AppleTVs.  Got one of those Apple TVs free with my DTVN. So I am out $150 on hardware.   

I have DTVN GoBig with HBO, Sho and Starz.  Got a one year promo rate for $75 all in. In short, I get every channel I ever watched plus a bunch except Epix. And it’s 4k instead of 1080i/1080p.  And I can watch it on my phone, Ipad, work PC, etc. with no hassle.  If DTVN now pisses me off, a switch to Sling or PSVue is one click on a web page away.   Never think about Dish at all other than how smart I feel for dropping them and how dumb I feel for waiting so long to do it.

Just drop Dish.

 

 

[Liquor and Poker 3659]

Oh, to answer your football question, I use the FoxSports and ESPN apps for my sports viewing, although I could use the native DTVN app for my local feed plus the traditional “ESPN,” “FS1,” “ESPN2,” “LHN,” “ESPNU” lineup if I wanted to. 

Edited November 12, 2018 by Liquor and Poker
MYOB

[Gene Parmesan 4002]

To me where cable shot/shoots itself in the foot is box rentals.  I have no idea how much they cost, but a 15/month charge seems like it would pay for itself (and some) over the life of a contract.  If you could actually get their advertised price of 59.99, 69.99, 79.99, or whatever they advertise I would probably stomach it stick with cable.  But then they throw in a  rental fees of their equipment for each room and it becomes easy to tell them to go fuck themselves.

[JimmyHoffa 1188]

1 hour ago, Gene Parmesan said:

To me where cable shot/shoots itself in the foot is box rentals.  I have no idea how much they cost, but a 15/month charge seems like it would pay for itself (and some) over the life of a contract.  If you could actually get their advertised price of 59.99, 69.99, 79.99, or whatever they advertise I would probably stomach it stick with cable.  But then they throw in a  rental fees of their equipment for each room and it becomes easy to tell them to go fuck themselves.

 

They also aren't very smart to not drop their shorts now. They are trying to squeeze every last drop of juice (money) out of the Lemon that is their current clients that haven't dropped their service instead of rethinking their long term place in an ever changing market. 

If they don't change the only clients they will have left in 5-10 years will be old people that don't know how or want to learn how to stream. 

[Gene Parmesan 4002]

1 hour ago, JimmyHoffa said:

 

They also aren't very smart to not drop their shorts now. They are trying to squeeze every last drop of juice (money) out of the Lemon that is their current clients that haven't dropped their service instead of rethinking their long term place in an ever changing market. 

If they don't change the only clients they will have left in 5-10 years will be old people that don't know how or want to learn how to stream. 

I think they are already past the point of no return.  People clinging to sports or just the general unaware are all that's left.

Better Call Saul is the only cable show that I have any interest in watching, and that streams on Netflix (well after it cable airs though).  Worse case scenario I would just buy the seasons from amazon if it wasn't.  Outside of sports I have no use for even a playstation vue like subscription.  The only thing you miss is the water cooler talk, but that is so far gone with so many big shows being stream only anyways.

[immortal13 4059]

4 hours ago, Liquor and Poker said:

I had Dish for almost 2 decades.  At the end I was paying like $230 a month for 4 DVRs and one non-DVR on America’s Everything.   Resisted cutting the cord due to inertia, the PITA of teaching the wife, fears about reliability, no DVR, etc.

I have DTVN now on 2 Rokus (both in the TV firmware) and 2 AppleTVs.  Got one of those Apple TVs free with my DTVN. So I am out $150 on hardware.   

I have DTVN GoBig with HBO, Sho and Starz.  Got a one year promo rate for $75 all in. In short, I get every channel I ever watched plus a bunch except Epix. And it’s 4k instead of 1080i/1080p.  And I can watch it on my phone, Ipad, work PC, etc. with no hassle.  If DTVN now pisses me off, a switch to Sling or PSVue is one click on a web page away.   Never think about Dish at all other than how smart I feel for dropping them and how dumb I feel for waiting so long to do it.

Just drop Dish.

 

 

I guess I am still where you were on resisting the pita of changing. I have had DISH for many years and I am just about to reach the breaking point due to this new HBO bullshit. For one thing, it wasn't HBO that pulled the channels off Dish, as they are telling their customers. It was Dish who pulled the channels. Now I can't even use my HBOgo app. If they don't resolve this shit soon, I'm cutting their shit off.

[hornbri 1396]

4 hours ago, Liquor and Poker said:

And it’s 4k instead of 1080i/1080p.

What channels is DTVN sending in 4k? I could not find it on their website. 

[Drew 2403]

Yeah I'm in the same boat...just can't get the wife to agree with me about cutting Dish off.  Would save us about $100 a month.

[RPM 26316]

I wonder if this is a power play by AT&T? They own HBO now. Cutting off a big rival from prime content can only drive subscribers to one of AT&T's subsidiaries.

[Kennythetiger 9375]

RPM, I don't think so.  They (Dish) pulled my ABC channel several months ago which didn't affect me until college football season.  Now I can't watch any game on ABC.  From what I've read Dish is blaming HBO but all of the fingers seem to point back at Dish.  

[RPM 26316]

It's a pretty common tactic when they want rate hikes. They usually run screen crawls before it happens asking you to call (whatever channel) and tell them you don't want a rate hike. Never works. I just wonder if this was a normal end of contract negotiation tool, or just AT&T being a tool because they control the content now.

[Js1 85275]

4 hours ago, hornbri said:

What channels is DTVN sending in 4k? I could not find it on their website. 

Nothing yet I don’t think 

[mr. sunshine 2824]

We’ve streamed DirecTV Now for almost 9 months. We split 3 screens between New Braunfels and Southeast Texas, where I still work. A whopping $70 a month including HBO, Skinemax all the Starz etc.

Edited November 13, 2018 by mr. sunshine

[JimmyHoffa 1188]

14 hours ago, mr. sunshine said:

We’ve streamed DirecTV Now for almost 9 months. We split 3 screens between New Braunfels and Southeast Texas, where I still work. A whopping $70 a month including HBO, Skinemax all the Starz etc.

 

Yeah this is the route we need to go I am just dreading having to train my wife and kids on how everything works all over again. 

[Prepuce of Doom 21053]

I hate DirecTV with the burning anger of a thousand gonorrheas, and I'm looking forward to canceling those fuckers when I move soon, but I don't have the interest, patience, or time to deal with an entirely new patchwork of interfaces, so I was planning on switching to Dish. 

I had no real expectations that I wouldn't eventually grow ti hate them too, but this thread doesn't make me too thrilled. 

[CooterBrown 18003]

YouTube TV is $40/mo and has all the sports channels and an unlimited cloud based DVR. I only know one person with it but he swears by it.

[HornOnTheBayou 8905]

2 minutes ago, CooterBrown said:

YouTube TV is $40/mo and has all the sports channels and an unlimited cloud based DVR. I only know one person with it but he swears by it.

Almost all the sports channels. No NFL Network, Longhorn Network, or the station the Astros are on (can't remember the name). 

[ou97cpa 3]

I hate DirecTV with the burning anger of a thousand gonorrheas, and I'm looking forward to canceling those fuckers when I move soon, but I don't have the interest, patience, or time to deal with an entirely new patchwork of interfaces, so I was planning on switching to Dish. 
I had no real expectations that I wouldn't eventually grow ti hate them too, but this thread doesn't make me too thrilled. 

FWIW, I just switched from Directv to Dish after 22 years (wife factors made cutting the cord a no-go.)

Coming from DTV, I’m very impressed with Dish. 16 tuners, 4K 4-screen mode for football games, and Dish Anywhere lets my daughter watch anything live or recorded on her laptop or phone.


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