Cruel AMC Tortures Dish Subscribers By Allowing Them To Stream Premiere Of Breaking Bad
Oh, AMC. I knew you made really good television, but I didn’t know you were this deliciously vicious. Recently, a dispute between AMC Networks and Dish Network Corp. led to the content provider dropping AMC from the package held by its 14 million subscribers. This means that those subscribers won’t get to see the new season of Breaking Bad, arguably the best show on TV. If that weren’t painful enough, AMC is twisting the knife further by allowing those Dish subscribers to stream the show…for one episode.
Like some kind of television network equivalent of Miss Havisham, AMC will bring Dish customers in by having them register this Friday so that they can stream Breaking Bad‘s Sunday premiere as it airs. Then, once the poor fools have fallen in love with Breaking Bad‘s extreme suspense and brilliant acting, AMC execs (probably wearing decades old wedding gowns somewhere), will break their hearts, pulling the show away before the second episode.
While taking a breath from all their cackling, AMC released a statement:
“Every cable, phone and satellite company other than Dish carries AMC and its popular programming, including Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead and Mad Men, in their basic package. AMC wants its loyal Dish viewers to experience the excitement of the Breaking Bad premiere at the same time as their friends and neighbors, and we want to give Dish customers an extra week to switch providers so they can enjoy the rest of the season.”
Maybe so. I would certainly be considering the switch if I was stuck with an AMC-less Dish. But you have to wonder if just maybe AMC is getting some perverse sadistic pleasure from this torture?
I mean, after all, doesn’t that explain The Killing?
(h/t Soup)
This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.
