I use DirecTV and I, too, am wondering if it is going to continue to be in my future. I will say this, if the satellite providers (which would also include Dish) would do just one thing then I would stay with them for at least a few more years. That one thing would be to allow me to choose my own channel line up and price my service accordingly.
I pay for a buttload of channels that I have never watched and never will watch and the only reason I pay for them is that the satellite (and cable) companies make me. I resent that. A lot. It is a variation of "the customer is always wrong" philosophy (Amy's Baking Company) and there is a pretty reliable history of what happens to companies that treat their customers poorly. Burger King used to be able to say that their customers could "have it their way" and they still can but it's not unique anymore. McDonalds and all of the other fast food outfits adapted their "this is the way we make it and if you don't like it you can pull the stuff off that you don't want" attitude many years ago. They all survived. But in the world of cable and satellite television you have to take what they are serving on take nothing at all.
The thing is, they know they are losing marketshare and they still will not change this stupid business plan. It is infuriating to the consumer but they do not care. So really, it is only a matter of time before I, too, give up on them as so many others have already. Roku or something similar is going to be a bigger part of my television experience in the future.
And the Downton Abbey thing is what it is. Americans are apparently starved for something other than what we are continually force fed from the usual sources. I tried to find a YouTube clip (but couldn't) on the Downton Abbey joke that was inserted into Ironman 3. That's a heck of a pop culture validation check right there.
