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DISH’s Free Channel Previews: How and When To Watch
Last updated on October 14th, 2024 by George Levint
Aside from those 30-min long string of previews at the movie theater, who doesn’t dig a free preview? With DISH, it’s a no-risk, no-cost way to get a taste of a channel…and decide if it’s worth the additional cost to add to your lineup. Most previews last for a weekend to 2 months and while active, there are almost always no restrictions – watch however and whenever you like. All of DISH’s plans come with a free 3 month preview of premium movie channels (Showtime, STARZ, etc.) and during the life of your subscription, there’ll be various promotional and seasonal previews as well. FYI, all these preview offers are part of DISH’s customer care bonuses, called “DISH Perks.” They’re not widely advertised, so make sure you stay in the know to get the most out of your subscription.
Current Previews
As of publication, these are the free previews currently available on DISH. Note that some coincide with a national marketing push for that particular channel and thus are available to all subscribers. Others are a standard part of the sign-up process (which you can opt in or out of). They’re grouped accordingly below…
Available to all customers
These free channel previews come and go throughout the year. Most aren’t available as individual channel add-ons, so you’ll either have to upgrade to the first available DISH plan that includes it or – even better – if it’s a part of a themed add-on pack, add it to your account for a month or two and see how it fits.
Mostly premium movie offers that last for 3 months, these will only get added to your account if you manually add them while ordering online (or via phone). Keep in mind that these WILL renew at the regular pricing if you don’t cancel before the 3 months are up. So, if you want to keep the channel, do nothing. If it’s not worth the extra cost, make sure to cancel early or leave yourself a reminder (it’s easy to forget, been there a few times :/).
Preview
Offer
Regular Price
Showtime
8 channels free for 3 mths
$10/month
STARZ
7 channels free for 3 mths
$10/month
DISH Movie Pack (Epix, HDNET Movies, etc)
15 channels free for 3 mths
$10/month
Dog TV (channel for dogs)
1 channel free for 1 mth
$4.99/month
Finally, DISH is also offering military discounts (active or retired) as well as bonuses for customers over 55+. The biggest perks are a free subscription to the 9-channel Stars and Stripes Pack and one free pay-per-view movie per month. Keep that in mind as you strategize with the previews above.
About the author
George Levint
George is the senior editor at DigitalFind and an expert in how technology at home impacts our lives. From funky analog radios to AI devices that try to out-think you, he's usually unfairly critical until proven otherwise. He also enjoys spending the occasional weekend off-grid to keep Skynet guessing.
Hi Allison — DISH typically negotiates these previews days or weeks before the start of each month so it’s usually tough to get them earlier. Every so often, they’ll have previews that span two different calendar months. Those will definitely appear in the table above during both months. Hope that helps.
The exact time it switches on usually depends on the network (Showtime). Midnight makes the most sense but they usually wait until the afternoon, especially for weekend previews. If it’s not on by late aft, I’d buzz Dish customer service (in rare cases, they have to DVR push the update).
The guide is not working on all the the Showtime channels for the free preview. Also, I have tried to set up recordings for selected movies on the free preview channels and it says I am no longer subscribed. And even trying to watch on demand things Showtime wants to charge me. Is this supposed to be happening?
Not only have I lost my local ABC channel for months here in central Fl. and I can’t afford another way to get it so have missed my news and ABC shows now the Free Previews are gone but your monthly bill went higher. Your service is poor and am considering dropping Dish and putting the money into another service to get my T.V Very disappointing.
get yourself a hd antenna to get all your local channel and more..be sure to scan your tv channels feature to get all the benefits of this…also look into roku…etc…for many things you like…and much cheaper
I read the comments and didn’t see a single answer to the most asked question, what happened to the monthly line up that was on Ch 103 forever? Is it no longer available or on another Channel? I don’t use FacePlant and would think there’s an empty slot on Dish somewhere it would fit. Send me a channel number or an answer of some sort.
Since DISH hasn’t fully restored all their systems yet, my guess is channel 103 is still being worked on (sounds like it’ll take a few more weeks to get everything restored).
Free Movie each month for seniors: HOW do you get code without calling a rep? NO way to know how to access. Do I rent 1st movie & it’s automatically free??
Tony & Barbara: On most Hopper DVRs, channel 103 (Free Preview Showcase) has been moved to channel 100. Channel 103 is now Dishscapes or Hopper How-to. Most non-Hopper DVRs won’t have a Preview Showcase on any channel. Hopefully that changes soon.
how do I get the free one movie a month pay per view? I’m 72 years old and never knew that we had this, could there be something you could do to compensate? we’ve been customer’s for over 20 years. thanks
You’ll need to call up DISH and ask to be included in the Senior program: 800-333-3474 (online chat support won’t be able to help you so be sure to call). After it’s added and you pick a PPV movie, under payment options choose “PPV certificate” to redeem it. If you run into problems, let us know. Enjoy :).
DISH took from us our weather interactive channel (213), and when we called DISH, they told us that we had to “upgrade” our receiver to “The Hopper.” But we don’t want to do that because, for one thing, that upgrade would cost us more money. Sure, it would be an upgrade with more perks; I get it. But we simply don’t have the readily available cash currently for such a thing, so why are we being punished for this fact?
Why did DISH take this channel away from us? Is it because we’re being forced INTO The Hopper? We were told that our receiver was “too old.” Sure, it’s over a decade old, but it still works. We get most other channels, except you guys took away our Sundance channel, which I don’t understand either. Sure, they added a couple of channels, but we never requested that action. So why did that also happen?
We would REALLY like our weather interactive channel back because we live in a high-fire area and the summer months can get over 110 degrees at times. So that feature helped us plan our upcoming days and weeks. Thanks in advance.
Aside from those 30-min long string of previews at the movie theater, who doesn’t dig a free preview? With DISH, it’s a no-risk, no-cost way to get a taste of a channel…and decide if it’s worth the additional cost to add to your lineup. Most previews last for a weekend to 2 months and while active, there are almost always no restrictions – watch however and whenever you like. All of DISH’s plans come with a free 3 month preview of premium movie channels (Showtime, STARZ, etc.) and during the life of your subscription, there’ll be various promotional and seasonal previews as well. FYI, all these preview offers are part of DISH’s customer care bonuses, called “DISH Perks.” They’re not widely advertised, so make sure you stay in the know to get the most out of your subscription.
Is there a place I can find the upcoming previews before the 1st of each month?
Hi Allison — DISH typically negotiates these previews days or weeks before the start of each month so it’s usually tough to get them earlier. Every so often, they’ll have previews that span two different calendar months. Those will definitely appear in the table above during both months. Hope that helps.
It’s 7:42 am 12/9/2022 and Showtime perk is not up. What up?
The exact time it switches on usually depends on the network (Showtime). Midnight makes the most sense but they usually wait until the afternoon, especially for weekend previews. If it’s not on by late aft, I’d buzz Dish customer service (in rare cases, they have to DVR push the update).
The guide is not working on all the the Showtime channels for the free preview. Also, I have tried to set up recordings for selected movies on the free preview channels and it says I am no longer subscribed. And even trying to watch on demand things Showtime wants to charge me. Is this supposed to be happening?
Where is the free previews for march
Not only have I lost my local ABC channel for months here in central Fl. and I can’t afford another way to get it so have missed my news and ABC shows now the Free Previews are gone but your monthly bill went higher. Your service is poor and am considering dropping Dish and putting the money into another service to get my T.V Very disappointing.
Probably not ready yet.
I am not getting channel 103 anymore, where would I find the monthly free previews
I’m not getting channel 103 either. Weather channel is messed up too. It’s showing the same weather report for 2 days now.
I am not getting channel 103 anymore, where would I find the monthly free previews?
get yourself a hd antenna to get all your local channel and more..be sure to scan your tv channels feature to get all the benefits of this…also look into roku…etc…for many things you like…and much cheaper
https://fb.watch/jajuWKwIuV/
Free dish march previews can be found on their Facebook page
Thank you!
Where is the “Preview channel?”
Dish in my area is previewing Showtime and TMC this weekend. Maybe longer but it doesn’t say.
I read the comments and didn’t see a single answer to the most asked question, what happened to the monthly line up that was on Ch 103 forever? Is it no longer available or on another Channel? I don’t use FacePlant and would think there’s an empty slot on Dish somewhere it would fit. Send me a channel number or an answer of some sort.
Since DISH hasn’t fully restored all their systems yet, my guess is channel 103 is still being worked on (sounds like it’ll take a few more weeks to get everything restored).
Please cancel the movie channels that are free for 3 months. I don’t watch movies and I don’t want these even though they are free for 3 months.
Thank you,
Sueann Walz
Hi Sueann,
We’re not affiliated with DISH, please call their customer service at 800-333-3474 to cancel your premium movie trial.
Free Movie each month for seniors: HOW do you get code without calling a rep? NO way to know how to access. Do I rent 1st movie & it’s automatically free??
I pay for 103 and I don’t get it. When are you going to restore the free preview channel
What happened to the channel 103 with the free previews did you move it and why do you not have an explanation for these issues when they do happen?
Tony & Barbara: On most Hopper DVRs, channel 103 (Free Preview Showcase) has been moved to channel 100. Channel 103 is now Dishscapes or Hopper How-to. Most non-Hopper DVRs won’t have a Preview Showcase on any channel. Hopefully that changes soon.
When will DISH be getting METV back!
how do I get the free one movie a month pay per view? I’m 72 years old and never knew that we had this, could there be something you could do to compensate? we’ve been customer’s for over 20 years. thanks
Hi Janet,
You’ll need to call up DISH and ask to be included in the Senior program: 800-333-3474 (online chat support won’t be able to help you so be sure to call). After it’s added and you pick a PPV movie, under payment options choose “PPV certificate” to redeem it. If you run into problems, let us know. Enjoy :).
DISH took from us our weather interactive channel (213), and when we called DISH, they told us that we had to “upgrade” our receiver to “The Hopper.” But we don’t want to do that because, for one thing, that upgrade would cost us more money. Sure, it would be an upgrade with more perks; I get it. But we simply don’t have the readily available cash currently for such a thing, so why are we being punished for this fact?
Why did DISH take this channel away from us? Is it because we’re being forced INTO The Hopper? We were told that our receiver was “too old.” Sure, it’s over a decade old, but it still works. We get most other channels, except you guys took away our Sundance channel, which I don’t understand either. Sure, they added a couple of channels, but we never requested that action. So why did that also happen?
We would REALLY like our weather interactive channel back because we live in a high-fire area and the summer months can get over 110 degrees at times. So that feature helped us plan our upcoming days and weeks. Thanks in advance.