The installers are independent contractors. Funny you keep mentioning disputes between DTV and networks. Dish does the same thing. Again, what do you think happened with AMC?. A friend thought he wasn't happy with DTV until he got Dish. Waited 30 days and went back to DTV.
I've been debating going to Dish for the last year since their last escapade. I'm on the older technology (though fairly stable) DVR with limited storage. I've lately been having issues with the DVR with performance. If I upgrade I have to pay (last time I checked). Could I twist their arm a bit....sure and get something off the bill. It seems these companies only do stuff for you if you strong arm them. I'm ready for a change. This action with viacom just pushed me over the top. Really, the biggest thing is BBCA HD. Directv doesn't offer that. As I am a big time watcher of that channel (who would have guessed?), that means a lot to me. As for AMC, I couldn't care less. It's not a channel I watch that much. FX on the other hand, would be a deal breaker.
I actually renewed my old Netflix subscription in the last couple of days. I have Amazon Prime and get quite a few shows but Netflix has more variety. I'm just streaming. We've got hooked on Poirot on Amazon. If you love Art Deco, then this is the show to watch. Such beautiful architecture and cinematography. Wanted to see season 2 and couldn't get it without paying and Netflix has it. No problem with the streaming. I dumped them about a year ago because of delivery issues with their DVDs and their streaming performance sucked, not to mention their price increases as well.
I guess the point of that is I could drop off the grid and not have either and just stream everything. It would be a lot cheaper.