Well, we just went through the drop of CNN from Dish. That has been "temporarily" resolved, with feed until sometime in mid January I think. Now, it's Fox News going off the air.
I like Dish and have had it for many years. These contract negotiations are normal business activity and they occur on all carriers. DirecTV is not immune. Switching carriers is a short-term fix. Like some, I called and got some perks when CNN was dropped. They gave me a free upgrade to the Hopper DVR, $5 off for some months and free pay channels for 90 days. I may call and try to get some more over the Fox issue.
While I miss the channels, they will eventually come back. In the meantime, I appreciate that Dish doesn't just whip out the checkbook and pay whatever these networks are demanding. Those costs will find their way to subscribers.