Dish Network's Pain Is Your Gain

Even in the deepest recession in eight decades, there's one non-necessity Americans refuse to give up: television.

We're addicted to entertainment, whether it's the NBA playoffs or "American Idol." And if getting more channels means paying more money, most of us are willing to fork over the cash. Although cable-TV bills increased 7.5% in the second half of 2008, according to research firm Centris, 81% of respondents in a recent survey said they were "not at all likely" to cancel their service.

That's good news for the pay-TV business, right? The bad news is that it's a brutally competitive field. While cable operators such as Comcast(CMCSA Quote) and AT&T(T Quote) have been adding customers, Dish Network(DISH Quote) has been losing them. ...