Ergen Talks Some Trash About AMC, His Own Customers > Context.. not like anyone cares.

Context.. not like anyone cares.

"We have data, real data from our customers," Mr. Ergen said. "And for whatever reason our customers don't watch some of those ... at the level that we read about in the paper, perhaps because we skew a bit more rural or whatever."

"Short term, we clearly will lose some customers and perhaps in the future there'll be some customers who might want that channel who won't subscribe to our service, but we think that's more than made up by two factors," Mr. Ergen said. "One is the improved cost structure in terms of not paying for programming that we have available on other channels. And second, on a retail basis, we're several dollars lower than our competition who are carrying those channels."

AMC has been campaigning to get Dish subscribers to speak out against Dish, most recently starting a contest asking subscribers to create videos talking about why they miss AMC. The network previously sent actors dressed as "Walking Dead" zombies to the streets of New York, ultimately creating a video with the tagline, "Zombies don't belong here. Put them back on TV." The clip has gone viral on YouTube.

But Dish customers aren't thinking about zombies stunts in New York City, Mr. Ergen said during the call. "They live in farms and ranches," he said. "They have no clue about zombies and New York."