MADISON, Wis. -- It's a mad dash for the dish, as thousands of Green Bay Packers fans are doing all they can to get access to the NFL Network before Thursday's big game in Dallas.

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Local dish installation companies said they've been working around the clock to get residents and businesses hooked up to Direct TV and the Dish Network. This because cable TV provider Charter Cable doesn't carry the NFL Network -- and that is the only channel you'll be able to see Thursday's game on, WISC-TV reported.

It's hard to catch a moment when Adam Grander, of Capital Satellite & HDTV, isn't on the phone. For the last week, he's been taking calls from customers who want to switch to the dish -- and the calls just keep coming.

"It's been call after call right now, all in regards to the NFL Network," Grander said. "Charter does not offer it, and so we're looking at options -- 'what do you have?' is the question." And almost immediately, the next question is, "How soon can I get it?"

Al Darkow is one of those customers. His restaurant in Monona, the Pizza Oven, is a former satellite customer. They switched to Charter a few years ago, and said he talked to Grander Monday about switching back to dish because his customers are demanding it.

"You don't want to tell them no, but at the same time if you don't carry it," Darkow said, "you're losing a lot of customers there. So that's when we decided we had to get it."

And they're taking a hit for it -- The Pizza Oven is currently contracted with Charter for another year of cable. So they'll be paying for that, while they're using their new dish service.

"We get a lot of requests for it, so it's definitely the right choice for us to make," Darkow said.

And it's a choice being made by a lot of Packers fans this week. Grander just hopes he'll be able to get to them all before Thursday night.

"At this point, we're doing everything we can do accommodate the Thursday night game, and have been bringing in extra staff to accommodate that," Grander said.

WISC-TV reported earlier this month about a decrease in cable subscriptions -- Charter Cable has seen a 14 percent decrease in customers this year. A representative from Charter said there has been no measurable decline attributed to the NFL Network.