On the heels of a relatively awful quarter for subscriber additions, Dish Network has unveiled a new skinny bundle it hopes will appeal to "cord trimmers" -- or those looking to scale down to a more flexible and economical cable bundle. According to a company announcement, Dish's new "Flex Pack" skinny bundle costs $40 a month, and includes a core package of programming consisting of more than 50 channels and the choice of one of eight themed channel packs.

"Our customers are frustrated with having to pay for hundreds of channels, most of which they never watch," Dish said of the offer. "Flex Pack provides a level of flexibility and control that brings our customers closer to the ideal of fully tailoring their channel lineup."

Dish's subscriber totals have taken a beating as the company has taken tougher-than-industry standard positions on demands for higher programming rates from broadcasters. This has quite often resulted in users losing access to channels they pay for. Thanks to an ongoing dispute between Dish and Tribune Broadcasting, for example, Dish customers have been unable to access 42 local Tribune channels in 33 markets across 34 states and the District of Columbia since mid June.