News
Does Boston Hate Satellite TV?
By Swanni Washington, D.C. (June 11, 2012) --
<article itemtype="http://nik.io/v1/schema/Article" itemscope=""> The Boston City Council last week passed legislation that would ban new satellite dish installations on walls facing the street unless the installer can prove there is no other place to receive a signal.
That's according to an article by Boston.com.
The legislation, which is expected to be signed by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, would require dishes to be installed on roofs or in the rear or side of buildings. It also would require landlords to remove all 'obsolete' dishes already installed by 2015.
The only silver lining for the satellite TV industry is that current dish owners will not have to move their dishes; they are "grandfathered" in the law.
However, the trade group that represents the satellite industry suggests the ordinance is targeted at satellite owners rather than an actual clean-up effort. Comcast, the nation's largest cable operator, serves the Boston area and has a strong lobbying influence in the city.
They single out satellite dishes for unfair treatment. It is hard to understand why a satellite dish is any more ‘aesthetically unpleasing’ than the jumbled mess of coaxial cable TV wires that stream down the front of buildings and homes throughout cities, or the multitude of air-conditioning boxes that stick out of windows,” the Satellite Broadcasting & Communications Association said in a statement, according to Boston.com.
The SBCA said the new rules could increase the cost of satellite TV because dish installation could get more expensive.
There are no reports of other cities considering similar legislation, but it's likely at least some will watch the Boston situation carefully. The SBCA, or the nation's top satcasters, DIRECTV or Dish Network, have yet to signal they will challenge the ordinance in court. </article>
Does Boston Hate Satellite TV?
By Swanni Washington, D.C. (June 11, 2012) --
<article itemtype="http://nik.io/v1/schema/Article" itemscope=""> The Boston City Council last week passed legislation that would ban new satellite dish installations on walls facing the street unless the installer can prove there is no other place to receive a signal.
That's according to an article by Boston.com.
The legislation, which is expected to be signed by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, would require dishes to be installed on roofs or in the rear or side of buildings. It also would require landlords to remove all 'obsolete' dishes already installed by 2015.
The only silver lining for the satellite TV industry is that current dish owners will not have to move their dishes; they are "grandfathered" in the law.
However, the trade group that represents the satellite industry suggests the ordinance is targeted at satellite owners rather than an actual clean-up effort. Comcast, the nation's largest cable operator, serves the Boston area and has a strong lobbying influence in the city.
They single out satellite dishes for unfair treatment. It is hard to understand why a satellite dish is any more ‘aesthetically unpleasing’ than the jumbled mess of coaxial cable TV wires that stream down the front of buildings and homes throughout cities, or the multitude of air-conditioning boxes that stick out of windows,” the Satellite Broadcasting & Communications Association said in a statement, according to Boston.com.
The SBCA said the new rules could increase the cost of satellite TV because dish installation could get more expensive.
There are no reports of other cities considering similar legislation, but it's likely at least some will watch the Boston situation carefully. The SBCA, or the nation's top satcasters, DIRECTV or Dish Network, have yet to signal they will challenge the ordinance in court. </article>
