DISH losing a channel seems routine - at least if you ask those who like to bash DISH.
Seriously, the home page posts are generally made by a mod who notices something that they believe to be newsworthy. We, being human, probably miss a story from time to time. I usually notice when there is a press release or major change - something that needs to be brought to the attention of everyone visiting the site.
As you noted, people are discussing the BTN issue ... and have been for several weeks. It is a continuing story that started weeks ago that has already received the attention of the people it affects.
I mentioned the GolTV issue (which is the loss of a HD channel on DirecTV even if people can pay for the Spanish pack to get the SD version) to note that not everything makes the front page. We didn't have Front Page News when many (most?) local TV markets went out on DirecTV earlier this week and it took a while to restore them. We probably should have as people coming to the site wondering where their locals were would have been directed to the appropriate thread. I'm sure there are other things that could be on the Front Page but don't show up there.
Try not to over think it.