Because it sounds great to have 1200 channels even if 1195 channels are nothing but infomercials, most people like me think wow I will have so many movies to watch I might have to record 5 while I watch 1 but after you get your 1200 channels you realize most every movie you would like to see can only be viewed if you pay an extra rental fee, another huge disadvantage to satellite tv is the frequency of commercials and the time the commercials are shown, regular tv used to be a 2 minute commercial break, dish network and directv have over 5 minute commercial breaks

To make you think you're getting a great deal. It's called bait and switch. They bait you, you buy then you can't switch because you're under a 2 year contract...