So I jus got off a discussion with A Dish Representative who I asked to remove Fox, Newsmax

[kimbutgar]

Last edited Thu May 19, 2022, 02:24 PM - Edit history (1)

Bannon’s channel from my package.

I wrote:
I want an alacarte package
I don’t want my money supporting these hateful channels. the last straw for me was Buffalo.
I guess I’ve got to start signing those petitions to get Dish to listen to its customers.

They wrote back
:
I can definitely understand that, and there are many customers that feel the same way. A la carte programming is one of our most requested options, and so we have been working with all of our providers behind the scenes to make something like that possible in the future. Based on the current model that we have to follow for our programming, it is taking time to finalize the terms and set up the requirements for it, but we are hopeful to be able to offer it at some point in the future, hopefully sooner rather than later.

I said: Direct TV got rid of OANN why can’t Dish or allow me to opt out and not pay for these hateful racist channels

Dish wrote back:

Depending on the circumstances, we have been known to remove channels from our programming entirely like that, yes. The most recent instance of this was the RN network for Russian News. When the situation in Ukraine began, DISH removed that station within a few days. The station itself no longer exists in America at all, but we were able to make that change first. Something like that may also occur with these other channels you've mentioned, but that is up to our legal teams to decide so that in can be done in a way that protects our customers and does not cause any legal issues with our existing contracts. Word of those changes is not made public or provided to agents until the final decision is made and confirmed, to prevent the spread of false or outdated information.

Me: Hopefully if more of us start a dialogue with our cable and satellite providers we might get them to let us do alacarte to NOT pay for these channels. I am committed to sign any petition that comes my way to not pay for any these channels on my tv packages.

[SWBTATTReg]

1. Thanks for trying, maybe you'll be successful. I've always wanted to be able to 100% select every

one of the channels that I receive via any of the cable package choices that my cable company offered us, but I never had any choice in the selection, other than an overall, pick one choice that had your particular passion, and then you get choices x, y, and z which you have no desire to have. Part of their packaging they say. And I get frustrated being that it's all digital, it can be all controlled literally w/ a switch of a button, so in essence, why can't we as customers truly get what we want, what we only want?

[kimbutgar]

3. Yes there are channels I watch all the time and other never

And don’t get me started on those Christian channels. I accidentally hit the wrong number recently and this” supposed “ Christian channel had a minister bashing President Biden. I was shocked at the venom this so called “man of god” ( lower case on purpose) was pushing so much hate.

[AllTooEasy]

36. Dish Users: Video for customizing your list of channels

I hope this helps:

Similar videos are online for Dish, DirecTV, and other providers. I removed about 200 channels from my Favorite Channels List.

Happy Watching!

[LiberalFighter]

45. DirecTv provides the ability to press a button to bring up

a 3x3 selection of preferences. For 9 total. The default is the middle which I hold for Local Station.

Still, would like to stations in specific order in the Guide. With most watch at the beginning so I don't have to scan thru when I don't want to lose the primary station watching.

[hunter]

2. Or you can just quit them if your internet is up for it. That sends a bigger message.

It was painless for me and my wife since we don't watch television news or sports.

I've noticed that cable, satellite, and broadcast television simply don't exist in the world of our adult children and their cousins. They stream everything they watch or listen to. The only thing they care about is their internet connections.

[kimbutgar]

4. I really like my satellite and when I do stream it gets choppy and I also like to DVR shows to

Watch later. We stream Netflix, HBO and Disney and there are many hiccups. My internet sucks and the choices aren’t that great in my area.

[Silver Gaia]

34. Hulu Live comes with cloud DVR service, so you can record shows.

You can also just add them to "My Stuff" and find them later that way. We used to DVR everything we liked for later viewing, too, when we had cable, but this works just as well.

I think your main problem with streaming is, like you said, the quality of your internet connection. With a better connection, the choppiness you mentioned would go away. I'm sorry you are stuck with few choices. We are, too, even in an urban area, but at least one of them is a good choice.

[certainot]

35. that's why republicans don't like free high speed internet. only way their bullshit can 'compete' is

to force it.

only way rw radio can get enough advertisers is to monopolize so radio advertisers don't have choice or force advertisers on budget to accept rw radio as part of discounted packages and get shuffled around etc

[cilla4progress]

5. I wonder if you can get NFL games same day, streaming?

Also - MSNBC shows. Though i often podcast them a couple hours later, anyway.

[hunter]

15. Maybe the NFL and MSNBC will notice they're losing viewers as people quit cable and satellite.

One of the reasons I quit Comcast so many years ago was the cost. It was approaching $50 a month to get anything my wife and I thought worth watching. It also irritated me that some of that money was going to channels like Fox News.

For a few years we were watching mostly DVDs, some we bought new, some we rented, some I found in thrift stores. Then one of our children, home from college, set us up with basic Netflix.

A lot of young people these days, and people living on fixed incomes, simply can't afford cable or satellite television. Once they've paid the rent, their grocery, cell phone, and the rest of their bills there's nothing left.

Maybe the sponsors of NFL football and MSNBC don't care. People without spending money are not their customers. But that's short term thinking. Once people stop watching traditional television they don't go back. And people who have never watched traditional television don't start.

[LiberalFighter]

46. I think DirecTv is offering NFL free this season.

[IronLionZion]

23. There are live streaming services online

you can check to see if Hulu has what you want. That's how I watch MSNBC and use an antenna for live sports on network tv.

There are other live services like Sling

The Best NFL Streaming Services for 2022
https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-nfl-streaming-services

[CloudWatcher]

27. Sling

I was happy with Sling (for MSNBC access) until they added Fox to my base package.

After they said they couldn't remove it for me, I canceled their service.

[Silver Gaia]

38. Yes, you can.

Take a look at what Hulu Live offers. You can add the MSNBC shows you like to your "My Stuff" list and watch them later, or record them.

[rurallib]

24. We just dumped Dish and went with youtubetv streaming

it works great - no more 500 channels of which we may watch 20. No more contracts.

One of the happiest days recently.

And I had so much fun with the guy begging me to stay.

[TxGuitar]

28. If you have something like a Hulu+ subscrption

You can watch most ahows when you want.they usually only have the most recent episodes but they so have a surface feature.
Watching sports can be problematic, especially baseball.

[AllTooEasy]

39. STREAM! STREAM! STREAM!

STREAM! In my family, one person has FIOS's full service. Every (~10) direct family member logs into her FIOS account from around the country to access each cable/dish channel's (TNT, HBO, Peacock/NBC, ESPN, etc.) app via our individual streaming/internet service. Ofcourse, we also pitch in a few dollars every month to her FIOS account (In fact, she might be making a profit of us. Hmmm). Oh well, the savings are enormous, which allowed me to up my internet service and be selected regarding which channels that I watch.

[keithbvadu2]

6. The deleted the RN Russian station but kept the Fox Russian station.

The deleted the RN Russian station but kept the Fox Russian station.

[Carlitos Brigante]

7. I like your style! nt

[BComplex]

8. I want to know when our tax dollars are going to QUIT playing Fux Nooz

to all the prisoners in federal prison, and on all these military bases. That's what so fucking pisses me off!!

[TexLaProgressive]

9. I have never liked the bundle schemes of cable and satellite.

We don’t have cable where we live so it would be Dish or Direct TV. When I would look at their packages, only the top tier would have the channels we want, along with a lot of right wing, faux Christian, and an infinity of sports channels. So we never bought in.

Except for news channels we would like, we do pretty well with a rural Wi-Fi subscribing to Prime, BritBox and Acorn.

Years ago I subscribed to Serius radio for Air America. Well they dropped Air America and the on progressive channel left was really crappy. They had several right wing wacko channels but the straw that broke me was a new right wing channel called Patriot. I consider myself a patriot but not a nationalist.

I was able to listen and watch CNN and MSNBC on my computer for free, but the two sites I used now want money. I’m retired and tend to count pennies.

[ancianita]

10. Very activist, what you did. Keeping the pressure on for profit tv provider is important! Thanks

for your post about your efforts. You make the world a better place by doing this.

[hvn_nbr_2]

11. Another way these providers favor wingnut channels

Based on the info in the almost daily (but that's another rant) junk mail from them, they often include Fox "News" in a cheaper basic package but if you want MSNBC, you have to pay more for a bigger package.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

12. I understand your emotions, but an a la carte cable package is NOT something we want

It would be ridiculously more expensive.

[MichMan]

16. I guess there are always those would pay an extra $25 per month..

in order to not be able to watch channels they don't watch anyway.

Seems easier to just remove them from your channel guide, so their not visible, but to each his own I guess.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

19. I guess. Seems easier to me, too, to just remove it.

I cut cable a while ago, but we are creeping up on a similar cost now with everyone wanting their own app.

[hunter]

22. It's like everything else. I don't buy bacon or milk so I don't care how much they cost.

There's no "package deal" on foods at the grocery store that could possibly satisfy me.

I suppose Netflix is some kind of package deal, but it's only ten dollars a month, there's no commercials, and I can usually find something there that entertains me when I'm feeling lazy and just want to watch some television.

I will confess my wife and I spend most of our "entertainment dollars" on books.

We still haven't decided what to do about the new Star Trek "Strange New Worlds" series, having enjoyed the first episode for free. ParamontPlus is $9.99 a month or $99 a year. I'm not sure there's anything else on ParamontPlus I'd sit down to watch.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

32. I'm not on cable either.

They will have deals on ParamountPlus. I am currently in a 3 month for $2 a month deal on ParamountPlus. Just wait them out. I'm going to do that with AMC+ this summer once Walking Dead has all the episodes out for last season.

[Silver Gaia]

40. Star Trek Discovery and Picard are both really good, too!

[EX500rider]

41. I got Amazon to add P+ with limited commercials for $5.99 a month

So I can watch Picard, Discovery & StrangeNewWorlds, plus all the CBS sit comms I like like Ghosts, Bob Hearts Abishola etc

[ProfessorGAC]

42. It Doesn't Have To Be

The carriage fees are what they are, excepting, naturally, over the air channels. Fox entertainment networks don't give a discount in fees because we have ESPN or Discovery networks. We pay the same, either way.
With everything being digital, and the boxes being internet active, there is actually minimal cost to the service provider to do a la carte.
That belief has mostly been fomented by the cable industry, although it's not been true for at least 15 years.
The guy who ran sound for the band is a Comcast head end senior tech near Atlanta.
He says it's been a 2 minute job to set it up for a customer for at least 10 years.
They just won't do it.

[keep_left]

13. Unfortunately, Direct TV could only get rid of ONAN...er...OANN because...

...they had a direct contractual relationship with them, and not just the usual vendor-type of contract where they pay for services/programming. Direct TV (owned by AT&T) funded something like 95% of OANN's budget. That gave them a lot of leverage.

It turned out that the only reason they funded OANN was that they were getting screwed by Fox; they wanted a lower price. Apparently Fox charges fees which are really excessive, which is how they have been able to insulate themselves from advertising boycotts. They learned that lesson with the whole Glenn Beck debacle.

[texasfiddler]

14. I think Dish lied to you about RT.

Direct TV took RT off immediately. I called dish and I told them I would switch to Direct TV if RT remained on their network. I was about to switch and RT shut down on its own. Changing carriers is a pain so I still have dish, but I am very skeptical that they removed RT prior to it shutting down.

[roamer65]

17. I really missed History when I put my Dish in "park" till next CFB season.

I found a small streaming service for $9 a month with History.

Perfect!

There is one way to get rid of Faux and OANN on Dish.

The Flex Pack.

[Hekate]

18. Now that's the way to do it. Excellent. Hope others follow your example.

[Wounded Bear]

20. Many of the channels they force us to take in their bundles wouldn't make it on their own...

So most providers figure they'll lose revenue if they don't force people to take them.

I'm pretty used to surfing around them, but it is kind of annoying to think that I actually watch less than 25% or what is "available" on my feed. It's good advertising to brag about their 100's of channels, yet most of that is just chaff to most of us.

[LymphocyteLover]

21. Nice! I need to do this!

[Cheezoholic]

25. I cut the cord 10 years ago

Cost for TV (OTA and "cable" when using either smart TV apps or from a laptop-PC), internet via my phone data plan(unlimited capped at 200GB through my phone running through a hard VPN) and 2 phones is 75 a month.

Add a couple movie services etc(we change when we want as they are month to month) we try and keep at 40 a month or less. The hard VPN is a little complex but once setup we can watch many things you cant with a US IP address plus a lot of foreign content, and remain fairly anonymous.

Our "tech, entertainment and communications" bill runs between 100-125 a month for both of us.

Thats what our DTV bill alone was 10 years ago.

I'm an IT professional so it wasn't that hard for me to set up, but anyone can do it, there are excellent guides out there. My brothers total "tech" bill for his household was over 400 a month. We cut his in half going this route 5 years ago.

[keep_left]

31. What kind of VPN is that? (n/t)

[JohnnyRingo]

26. Please watch what you wish for. That's been in the works

..and people aren't going to like it.

As it is, we see much programming moving to special streaming channels that does or will require a monthly payment. HBOMAX, NBCPeacock, MotorTrend+ Paramount+. All have exclusive programming at extra cost. No one can afford them all, but everyone can pay the maximum they can afford.

You want to pull the plug on Fox, but how will you like to know cable news programs will cost your choice $5 a month each? Do you like sitcoms? They'll have a package for that at an affordable $9.99 per network for shows unavailable on regular TV. If you're a sports fan you don't even want to know what that will cost you.

Remember when Net Neutrality failed? We're staring the Supreme Court decision right in the face with all this ala carte programming.
The telemarketers said "as long as no one abuses it, it'll be fine".

[hunter]

44. Unlike say, clean tap water, television isn't a necessity.

I think the old farts of television are killing the goose who laid the golden egg.

What happens when people decide they just don't need subscription or broadcast television of any kind?

As I said, to my own adult children and their cousins "traditional" television and radio simply don't exist in their universe.

[MichMan]

48. Neither are newspapers anymore

[Traildogbob]

29. Good for you

Maybe remove the 100’s of 24/7 preaching, especially preachers that committed adultery or robbed donors blind, ie the Jim boys, Swaggert and Bakker. And ole Frankie Graham. The biggest thief, Olsteen. AND Treasonous assholes like Pillow man. Freaking 24/7 broadcasting of him, while he promotes insurrection, in the name of Gawld.

[NullTuples]

30. So what he's saying is they signed contracts.

Makes me wonder how those bundles are sold to them, and by whom.

[AllaN01Bear]

33. i quit comcast tv a while back as they priced me out of the market.

cant get antenna tv as i am in a bowl , ie 4000 feet altitude .

[Callmecrazy]

37. Do you have a Fire Stick from Amazon?

I installed an app on it called Dexter TV.
iT HAS THOUSANDS OF CHANNELS.
Local news from several cities.
ALL of the channels you get on cable; including the premium channels.
Live stream of all the professional sporting events, plus NFL Red Zone.
Channels from several foreign countries like Great Britain, Australia, Poland, Germany Pakistan, Mexico, the Middle East...
Pay Per View events for free.
Even channels of your favorite shows.
It's a little glitchy sometimes, but overall it's a fantastic App.
I have two Fire Sticks for my two TV's. You can even install it on your Android phone.

All for the low, low price of $25.00 per month!

Customer service is fast.
And now I'm saving over $200 a month.
You can find YouTube videos on how to install it on your devices, including a laptop.
Check it out.

[Emile]

43. Good thing you wrote instead of calling. You would still be on hold waiting

for someone who speaks clearly good English.

[ecstatic]

47. Hmmm... I'm going to have to research if any of those are in my YouTube TV package

I have no idea.