750,000 customers list

DTV doesn't drop channels either the channel went bankrupt or the owner decided to remove it or they can't reach an agreement to carry it.  The content providers package their channels to DTV and all other providers and don't change the price when they lose channels so how can DTV.  DTV has always charged you for shipping a replacement receiver.

As mentioned in your main thread, you got a bad agent trying to scam an upgrade when you needed a warranty replacement instead.

DirecTV doesn't charge for channels they do not have. And they haven't dropped anything since one 'specialty' channel in the last few years.

However, when carriage negotiations come up some network owners (primarily local affiliate owners like Nexstar, Mission, Tegna, etc.) threaten to pull their feed (as is their right) if a new agreement is not reached by the current one's deadline. In recent years this affilate owners have more commonly pulled the feed to leverage customers to get TV providers (not just DirecTV) to cave to higher costs. People complain about higher rates these days, but imagine how much higher they would be if they TV providers just gave in to the demands instead of trying to minimize costs. Not saying this is for the benefit of customers, but as their operating costs go up so do our bills, so it is in our best interest that the TV provider gets a better deal than the network owner.

Regarding local channels, I highly suggest for those that can to just use a regular antenna. No matter what negotiation is going on, no matter what provider, it does not affect the free traditional broadcast. Depending where you live you might even pull in sub-channels that DirecTV doesn't carry or channels from a nearby area they aren't allowed to provide you.