You have to remember, these weren’t meant for us to see. They’re for the cable companies to get the signal. SHVIA was inputted because the NAB and the locals whined “oh, we don’t want you watching out of market locals. We want you to watch OUR local locals so you see local commercials”. In some cases, that’s bull because most viewers don’t shop at those places. A perfect example is Minneapolis. The DMA for satellite stretches from one border (by Iowa) almost to the Canadian border. The farthest county in the DMA is over 200 miles away from Minneapolis. Do you think people in Bemidji (some 200 miles away from Mpls) shop at Luther Buick in Minneapolis for a car? Heck no
But back to the question….think of the FTA stuff as gravy. Its stuff that we can get via a sweet little box, a 30” dish and a KU band LNB. I live in the Minneapolis area. I couldn’t get out of market locals unless I “move” my system (which I did). Waivers would be useless because the locals here are powerful (Fox, NBC & CBS are owned by the Network). FTA locals give me the extra things.
-College FB games from the west coast. I’m sick of seeing Michigan, Ohio State & Wisco every week.
-timeshift if I miss a show
-different news