DISH is back with (west) distant networks

[pattykay]

Our local CBS likes to cut in sometimes even if someone sneezes wrong. I would like to tune in a distant station when that happens.

That brings back memories of growing up being able to watch both Cleveland and Columbus locals on Adelphia Cable. Whenever a Cleveland station would cut in for a weather alert about a thunderstorm that wasn't affecting our area (for example) I could just channel up to get to the Columbus affiliate and continue watching my show. I miss that, and it is one of the reasons why I support the full implementation of the Significantly Viewed List wherever possible. Even if we had all of the Significantly Viewed out-of-market channels for our county, we still wouldn't have as many Columbus stations as the cable company used to carry. However, it would be a start in the right direction, and it would be better than nothing.

 

[JTBenson]

Sports
Local news cutting in
RV's or Truckers who want the same station wherever they are, partly for recording.
Because we should have the ability to get them anyway for a fee or some other compensation to the locals.
Same reason I have the Superstations - live newscasts from other areas, syndicated shows not being shown by my local channels.....
Did I mention just because we should be able to get them?

Sports - pretty much any sports are available anywhere
Local news - pretty much any local news is available anywhere

Local stations cutting in - Everything is available on Hulu or CBS All Access without interruptions for about 1/5 the cost of Dish Network.

Regardless of the fact that you say that you should be able to get them, my point is that you can get pretty much everything that is available on a distant network.

For me, it cost a lot less to get what I want without having dish and distant networks.

I understand why people want them. I just think you can get everything on them from other sources, so they aren't really needed to view everything you want to view.

 

[Tampa8]

Sports - pretty much any sports are available anywhere
Local news - pretty much any local news is available anywhere

Local stations cutting in - Everything is available on Hulu or CBS All Access without interruptions for about 1/5 the cost of Dish Network.

Regardless of the fact that you say that you should be able to get them, my point is that you can get pretty much everything that is available on a distant network.

For me, it cost a lot less to get what I want without having dish and distant networks.

I understand why people want them. I just think you can get everything on them from other sources, so they aren't really needed to view everything you want to view.

Not quite like you portray it.
How can most watch the Patriots each week in Tampa. Or how can someone from Tampa watch the Bucs in Connecticut. Because if you are going to tell me to subscribe to a satellite provider I don't want to and then pay big bucks on top of needing to switch to watch them I think i won that point. It could be done with a Slingbox but that needs you to have somewhere in the city you want with access. I happen to have that ability most will not.

Local news is hit and miss depending on the station, city etc online and the timeliness of it being available. When there is breaking news many want to see it first hand as it is being reported in an area they grew up in etc... What could be easier than to simply change the channel to see it. If I was from LA KTLA would be a great channel to have as I do with DISH and Superstations. I watch breaking news from LA even not being from there on KTLA.

And from my post as I said there are stations that carry shows your area may not. That's were WPIX as an example is great for the Honeymooners and some others. Most importantly, why not? In the age we live in where it is easily feasible to do why not have a system to have a choice of a city or area for another set of locals...
Your argument about cost is not valid. There are people that would and did in the past pay to have another city of their choice. This is about choice. And even if some of what I want is available somewhere else, that somewhere else is not as convenient as changing a channel and I am willing to pay to be able to do that.

 

[NYDutch]

You and I might be willing to pay for a choice of locals, but our congress critters have been well compensated by the media industry lobbyists to ensure we don't have that choice.

 

[cpalmer2k]

Were they on "The List" before? I think that "The List" has not been updated since June, and according to the post you quoted earlier, the Distant Network Service started on July 6.

It appears they have the CONUS LA network stations set as a separate Tier that is only authorized with the RV waiver :-(. It seems like a waste of resources. They could easily use the CONUS feeds for the Big 4 like DirecTV does.

 

[NYDutch]

It appears they have the CONUS LA network stations set as a separate Tier that is only authorized with the RV waiver :-(. It seems like a waste of resources. They could easily use the CONUS feeds for the Big 4 like DirecTV does.

Dish can only legally offer the "Distant Networks" package to RV'ers and truckers. How does Direct handle that limitation?

 

[Bobby]

They could easily use the CONUS feeds for the Big 4 like DirecTV does.

They once did, but then they got caught by the Feds over looking the other way when they didn't follow the rules and gave everybody the option of adding the distant networks. Part of the penalty was that they no longer could provide distants at all except with RV waivers. I once had my San Francisco locals along with LA and NY.

 

[cpalmer2k]

Dish can only legally offer the "Distant Networks" package to RV'ers and truckers. How does Direct handle that limitation?

Sorry I wasn’t specific enough. The question was if you “moved” to Los Angeles would you have access to the Distant Network versions of the Big Four Dish has on 119 now as opposed to just their spot beamed versions. The answer appears to be no. For some reason it left that part off the message I quoted

If you “moved”to LA with DirecTV however you would because their Big 4 from NY/LA use the existing CONUS feeds they offer to DNS customers. They don’t waste satellite space to duplicate whereas Dish does

 

[Bobby]

Sorry I wasn’t specific enough. The question was if you “moved” to Los Angeles would you have access to the Distant Network versions of the Big Four Dish has on 119 now as opposed to just their spot beamed versions. The answer appears to be no. For some reason it left that part off the message I quoted

If you “moved”to LA with DirecTV however you would because their Big 4 from NY/LA use the existing CONUS feeds they offer to DNS customers. They don’t waste satellite space to duplicate whereas Dish does

No, you would only get the spot beam channels.

 

[cpalmer2k]

No, you would only get the spot beam channels.

On Dish you are correct, but DirecTV doesn’t spot beam the “Big 4” from NY and LA. They rely on the CONUS feeds for those. They only spot beam the other local stations (WPIX, WWOR, etc)

 

[NYDutch]

Sorry I wasn’t specific enough. The question was if you “moved” to Los Angeles would you have access to the Distant Network versions of the Big Four Dish has on 119 now as opposed to just their spot beamed versions. The answer appears to be no. For some reason it left that part off the message I quoted

If you “moved”to LA with DirecTV however you would because their Big 4 from NY/LA use the existing CONUS feeds they offer to DNS customers. They don’t waste satellite space to duplicate whereas Dish does

I assume Dish wants to ensure they stay on the right side of the rules for their Distant Networks package this time. The NYC locals are available on CONUS feeds though, along with a number of other DMA's that don't require an RV/truck waiver.

 

[comfortably_numb]

along with a number of other DMA's that don't require an RV/truck waiver.

Only if you can see the 77 degree easten arc bird, right? I can’t think of any other CONUS locals available to everyone besides those

 

[NYDutch]

Only if you can see the 77 degree easten arc bird, right?

Of the 14 DMA's on CONUS I'm aware of, NYC is on 119 and Ft Wayne, IN is on 61.5, while the other 12 are on 77. All but NYC are in HD.

 

[odbrv]

With Dish anywhere you can get your locals anywhere you are. So if I live in Texas and travel to , say, NH, I get my Texas locals . So they are like distant networks.I see Texas Locals on Dish Anywhere and NH locals on the TV service available where I am visiting in NH. So internet delivered networks have different rules than Satellite delivered networks. Just another proof of complete incompetence of our FCC rule makers.

For those of you who have "moved" to get different networks, what do you get with the OTA module? How does the receiver guide rectify the differences?

 

[MikeD-C05]

I "moved" to Houston,Tx and use my ota module for Beaumont, Port Arthur ,Tx Locals where I actually live 90 miles away . I get two different city locals and the guide information for my ota locals are the same as if I subbed to that city. I have had my own sat locals in the past and there is no difference in the guide information .

 

[Bobby]

With Dish anywhere you can get your locals anywhere you are. So if I live in Texas and travel to , say, NH, I get my Texas locals . So they are like distant networks.I see Texas Locals on Dish Anywhere and NH locals on the TV service available where I am visiting in NH. So internet delivered networks have different rules than Satellite delivered networks. Just another proof of complete incompetence of our FCC rule makers.

Dish Anywhere uses your Dish receiver to provide the signal over the internet. You can see any channel your Dish receiver sees and watch any recording you might have on it. It's apples and oranges when you add in satellite delivered channels.

 

[NYDutch]

With Dish anywhere you can get your locals anywhere you are. So if I live in Texas and travel to , say, NH, I get my Texas locals . So they are like distant networks.I see Texas Locals on Dish Anywhere and NH locals on the TV service available where I am visiting in NH. So internet delivered networks have different rules than Satellite delivered networks. Just another proof of complete incompetence of our FCC rule makers.

For those of you who have "moved" to get different networks, what do you get with the OTA module? How does the receiver guide rectify the differences?

The FCC rules say your receiver gets the locals for the DMA where your service address is located. They don't address the remote viewing that DishAnywhere supports, since your satellite reception is still back in TX where your receiver is located. If you were streaming the locals directly, that would be a different situation. If you took your sat receiver to NH, you would not get the TX locals, or any sat locals for that matter. Unless you changed your service address...

When we've been out of our service address DMA but still within the spot beam, the EPG listing for the OTA locals have been correct for where we are.

 

[pattykay]

For those of you who have "moved" to get different networks, what do you get with the OTA module? How does the receiver guide rectify the differences?

Slightly off-topic, but I will speak for those who "DX" (use an antenna to receive distant stations in addition to the local OTA stations) to get different network channels OTA. When two different stations map to the same OTA channel number, the results can be a mixed bag. Sometimes, one station will completely remove the other station from the guide until the distant signal fades away and you re-scan to get the local station back. Other times, one station will show up on the virtual channel number (what the station brands itself as) while the other station will show up on its actual frequency channel number, labeled "DTV" (instead of the call letters) but otherwise with the correct guide information if Dish provides the OTA guide for that station. Of course, there can also be conflicts between the actual frequency channel number of one station and the virtual channel number of another station, which the receiver would also have to resolve.

 

[pattykay]

For those who want to "move" to get west coast feeds, see my post in another thread: 4K Events Discussion Thread

 

[cpalmer2k]

Honestly that would be really cool if they stayed there.. and if they were in HD