Fox HD on D*

[rad]

hold on - I think this is 2 different things. I *thought* the non-O&O being close had to do with distants and/or granted waivers, and NOT if someone was in a DMA that's O&O. Am I wrong?

OK, here's my example.

I live in the Chicago DMA and get WBBM (CBS) via D* LIL package. When WCBS-DT became available I tried to add it since WBBM is a Viacom O&O station, which should be no problem. But the DecisionMark application that D* uses for qualification shows that the Milwaukee WI CBS affiliate, which is NOT and O&O can provide me a grade B signal. Since this is not a VIACOM O&O it's not covered by the blanket waiver that Viacom has given D* for their O&O's. So according to the SHIVA law I need a waiver from the Milwaukee CBS station in order to get the WCBS-DT channel turned on. Now someone the next town south of me is not in the grade B range of any other CBS station so thet would automatically get thw WCBS-DT feed.

The best thing to do is do the check http://directvdnseligibility.decisionmark.com/app/AddressEntry.asp and see what if any other stations D* says you can receive. Doesn't matter if you can or can't but what their system says is golden. Stinks but that's the process. Sorry.

 

[hancox]

Ah - maybe what I've heard is different because WCBS-DT is the one in my DMA (yes, I'm in the NYC DMA in CT). As long as D*/ E* use the NYC channels for their east coast feeds, I should be golden, yes?

 

[rad]

Ah - maybe what I've heard is different because WCBS-DT is the one in my DMA (yes, I'm in the NYC DMA in CT). As long as D*/ E* use the NYC channels for their east coast feeds, I should be golden, yes?

Then as far as I understand this garbage you should be golden to get it, as long as they use the NYC FOX station as the source of the FOX HD feed. If they did something different, like use the Chicago FOX stations as the source of the channel then you'd be in touble.

 

[hancox]

I know the feeling - isn't it amazing how far the NAB has gone to make it difficult to get a cable-competing product on DBS?

 

[rad]

I sent in an e-mail to D* asking them to sumbit a waiver for NBC-DT and as part of the canned response I got:

Thanks for writing. Beginning on September 16, DIRECTV will be offering
NBC-HD to customers in selected areas of the country where we have
permission from the local broadcasters. We also offer CBS-HD in select
markets, and we hope to have an agreement with FOX to offer their HDTV
broadcasts soon.

I thought the agreement with Fox was a done deal, guess I might have been mistaken on that one.

 

[Neutron]

I sent in an e-mail to D* asking them to sumbit a waiver for NBC-DT and as part of the canned response I got:

Thanks for writing. Beginning on September 16, DIRECTV will be offering
NBC-HD to customers in selected areas of the country where we have
permission from the local broadcasters. We also offer CBS-HD in select
markets, and we hope to have an agreement with FOX to offer their HDTV
broadcasts soon.

I thought the agreement with Fox was a done deal, guess I might have been mistaken on that one.

They shouldn't even have to get an agreement since News Corp owns both FOX and Directv.

 

[fredfa]

re hancox:
"I know the feeling - isn't it amazing how far the NAB has gone to make it difficult to get a cable-competing product on DBS?

Actually, the NAB hasn't been all that involved with this one.
It has been the cable companies fighting satellite: even though they can carry stations from two contiguous markets, they don't want DBS to have the same rights.

 

[Neutron]

If I was the station manager in a local station that couldn't be on satellite because of that rule but was on the cable system (my in-laws cable system comes to mind. They get both Dallas/Ft. Worth and Tyler Texas locals) I would be pushing to be allowed to be on the satellite as well.