The two commissioners of a Texas town voted Tuesday night to change its name to Dish to win free satellite-TV service from EchoStar Communications Corp. for its 130 residents.
A “Home of Free Satellite Network TV” sign was placed at the entrance to Clark, Texas, and a barbecue was thrown by Mayor Bill Merritt to celebrate after the vote.
“I think it’s a pretty name,” said Hazel Pennington, 74, next- door neighbor of L.E. Clark, the former mayor for whom the town was named five years ago. “Now I can get Dish for nothing. Clark left a bitter taste in people’s mouths.”
Clark, who opposed the name change, said he spent $6,000 to incorporate the 1-square-mile town near Fort Worth. Pennington and other residents voted for Merritt this year, ousting Clark. Merritt supported changing the town’s name to Dish.
Every household is now eligible for free Dish installation, a free digital video recorder and a 60-channel package of service worth $31.99 per month for the next 10 years, said Marc Lumpkin, a spokesman for Douglas County-based EchoStar Communications Corp. Any resident who moves in over the next decade can also get the free service.
It’s not the first time a town has changed its moniker in the name of advertising. Half.com, Ore., staked a claim to fame in 1999 before changing its name back to Halfway; and the former Hot Springs, N.M., became Truth or Consequences in 1950.
