HD Locals: E* Going In Wrong Direction

[kstuart]

I have been reading threads lately about which dishes and satellites are needed for various HD channels (in preparation for an eventual upgrade to HD).

One statement I kept reading was "You won't need a dish for that satellite because you can get your HD locals OTA".

It struck me that the people who want to get HD Locals from Dish Network are the people in the bottom half of the DMA list.

When E* was uplinking SD Locals, it was for the purpose of allowing people to change from cable to DBS. So, the bigger the DMA, the more effective it was for E* to uplink the locals. None of those people wanted OTA analog locals - they suck.

BUT, when E* is adding HD Locals, the people who want them the most are the people who do not have OTA HD Locals. These are people in the smaller DMAs.

Now you may say "But people in the smaller DMAs can get their HD Locals via OTA just as easily" - but that is not true. For example, in Los Angeles, OTA is broadcast from a huge cluster of towers on the top of the biggest mountain in town (Mt. Wilson). There is line of sight to just about anyone who is in the legal DMA area.

In contrast, the small DMAs are those that are sparsely populated - because they cover a large area of rural terrain. People in those DMAs often have geographical obstacles or are distant from the OTA tower.

As a result, HD Locals from E* are available for people who are more likely to already have an OTA antenna for HD, and not available for the rural customers who have no good source of HD locals at all.

 

[bytre]

There are lots of areas in LA that don't have a direct LOS to mt. wilson, and thus get rather poor reception bounced off another hill or building.

I still think its a crappy idea to put HD locals on satellites, but spotbeams make them less wasteful.

 

[Jordan420]

Large DMA's are going to have more E* customers in them that are willing to subscribe to HD than smaller DMA's

At this time the smaller the DMA the less likely the TV stations in the market even are broadcasting in HD

 

[mike123abc]

People hate to put up antennas. Big city people may be able to get an HD signal better than rural markets with antennas, but that does not mean they want to put up an antenna. So, putting up a DMA with millions of potential subs is far better than a DMA with only a few hundred thousand. In fact the total number of subs in a big DMA that would have problems getting OTA HD could easily outnumber the people having trouble in a smaller DMA.

 

[Mr Tony]

Now you may say "But people in the smaller DMAs can get their HD Locals via OTA just as easily" - but that is not true. For example, in Los Angeles, OTA is broadcast from a huge cluster of towers on the top of the biggest mountain in town (Mt. Wilson). There is line of sight to just about anyone who is in the legal DMA area.

tell that to someone in the Mpls DMA that isn't in the Twin Cities. The DMA is huge and all the towers are in one spot (in Anoka County) but anyone outside of the Twin Cities can't really pick it up analog...much less digital

 

[osu1991]

It is the same way for people in western Oklahoma, not me thankfully, but OKC claims the entire western part of the state and you are very lucky to even get a sniff of a signal out there.

 

[Aqualung812]

Or, you have Indianapolis. It has a "higher" DMA (23rd to 26th highest, depending who you ask) than some others that are getting HD locals. Also, many people in that DMA live far enough away that 40' towers are common for people that need to get OTA. With both a high number of potental subs AND poor OTA, there is still no news on Indy even though it was promised in 2006.

 

[Jim5506]

Indianapolis is not getting HD via satellite because the TV satations want a ransom for their signal.

Complain to the station, not Dish.

 

[waltinvt]

<snip>...
As a result, HD Locals from E* are available for people who are more likely to already have an OTA antenna for HD, and not available for the rural customers who have no good source of HD locals at all.

Contrary to what Dish says ("Better TV for ALL"), it's not, nor has it ever been about "all".

You're only part of the "all" if you're part of a demographic that represents getting the most $$ return for the least investment.

If congress really cared more about disenfranchised satellite customers than where they get their campaign $$ and airtime, they'd put real teeth in the next update to SHVERA.

It's about time they (providers AND affiliate stations) started giving back.

Basically we need legislation that requires anyone in the business of selling television signals (Cable, DBS, Fios, etc) to provide, in the minimum package, to ALL customers, the unaltered, digital feed of each major network in that customers DMA.

Along with that, any station that wants a broadcast permit MUST make that feed available to ALL carriers, FREE OF CHARGE. Supposedly they want their signal to reach as many viewers as possible. That's what advertisers pay for. Therefore they shouldn't be charging carriers for that signal. Neither should carriers be charging customers extra for that signal.

There's plenty of room for competition in the non-network channels.

 

[DISH_NC]

I agree with the statement above... E* will provide HD Locals based on two priorities. First, they will target the largest DMA's in order to maximize the return on Transponder space (which is still somewhat limited today) and also, for marketing purposes (Local HD to 'xx%' of the DISH customers). Second, they will provide based on carriage agreements they have. They will have a harder time with Affiliates than Network O&O stations, IMO...

Just like in our area, the Network O&O stations are available on DISH but the Affiliates are wanting either too much $$$ or other conditions (possibly the sub-channel carriage) that's keeping them off of DISH. (D* doesn't have them either in our DMA). When I wrote the station, all they said was that negotiation were still underway but that we could get a superior OTA signal and even sent me a free OTA antenna.

 

[ISO perfect HDTV]

I'm also in the L.A. area and I have an antenna on the roof for locals SD & HD, and I have a question if you people don't mind....... for the past couple of months I have been also getting the TV guide for the locals on my Vip211 but recently it's gone and E* told me that it's not their fault but the TV guide signal comes from the broadcasters , is that true?

 

[Jim5506]

I believe TV guide comes through PBS stations OTA.