HD Locals Methodology

[kaman]

Does anyone know how/why DISH network decides to roll out HD Locals? I see, for instance, Spokane, WA will be broadcast within a week or so, but Cincinnati is not, but is scheduled to be sometime in 2006. Why Spokane now, but not Cincy now? Both are slated to be carried by DISH. How does DISH determine the order on which to roll out HD locals? Obviously, it is not the size of the DMA that is a determining factor.

I just realized this post should've been in the DISH HD forum, sorry.

 

[mike123abc]

There are several factors besides just the market size:

1. Satellite capacity... Is there a satellite with space to provide good coverage for this city

2. Local station cooperation. Dish has to make a deal with the local stations to be able to uplink their signals. Some stations want other "favors" in exchange

3. Fiber link ability. Once they have the cooperation and satellite space figured out they have to get a fiber line from the market to the uplink center. The availability varies from location to location.

Plus there are probably a ton of other factors Dish/DIRECTV considers...

 

[M Sparks]

Mike, Mike, Mike...you can't just going around posting sensible information on this topic!

The answer is, of course, "DISH is stupid, they don't do logical, Sponake Sux, Cininatty rulez."

 

[Paradox-SJ]

Humm...this post reads very familiar

 

[rinkerr]

4. As far as Spokane goes, because one of the uplink centers is there? (Makes me happy since this is my DMA!)

Don't mean to push this thread off topic, but why would they put the uplink center in Spokane? Again, it's good for me, but it isn't really on the way to anywhere (we actually like it that way most of the time!) How do the local feeds get here in the first place, so they can be uplinked?

Thanks. First post - have enjoyed "lurking" for several weeks

- Bob

 

[mike123abc]

Just like spot beams from the satellite reusing downlink signals, Dish uses multiple antennas pointed to different locations around the US on the satellite to reuse the same frequencies on the uplink signals. Each satellite TP frequency (in DBS case they are numbered 1-32) has a corresponding uplink frequency allocated. For example Dish has 29 downlink TP frequencies at 110. This means they also have 29 uplink frequencies. They use spot beams to reuse the downlink frequencies over and over again around the country. To get all the different signals they need to reuse the uplink frequencies over and over again too.

 

[kaman]

Mike, the fiber link issue is something i hadn't thought of. Are u saying that DISH is also in the business of laying fiber optic cables (at least to their uplink center)?

I also would assume that when DISH contracts with the local stations, they would already have provisions on handling their HD programming built in the original contract, and not have to go back and do additional negotiations for HD. Am I wrong on this?

 

[mike123abc]

Mike, the fiber link issue is something i hadn't thought of. Are u saying that DISH is also in the business of laying fiber optic cables (at least to their uplink center)?

Dish would not be laying new fiber but they have to contract out to lease existing fiber from somewhere. The issue is that there can be multiple companies involved. Many companies are very backed up in fiber provisioning requests.

 

[jerryez]

How many paying subscribers they have in an area is a contibuting factor. Some bigger DMAs may not have as many Dish subscribers as a smaller DMA.

 

[Tahoerob]

4. As far as Spokane goes, because one of the uplink centers is there? (Makes me happy since this is my DMA!)

Don't mean to push this thread off topic, but why would they put the uplink center in Spokane? Again, it's good for me, but it isn't really on the way to anywhere (we actually like it that way most of the time!) How do the local feeds get here in the first place, so they can be uplinked?

Thanks. First post - have enjoyed "lurking" for several weeks

- Bob

Yea! for Spokane HD. I can now dump Adelphia!!! I live in N. Idaho. I guess the fiber lines are tucked underneath I-90!!

 

[burtrom]

Yea! for Spokane HD. I can now dump Adelphia!!! I live in N. Idaho. I guess the fiber lines are tucked underneath I-90!!

Well, if I were to hedge a guess, they are probably doing fiber to Liberty Lake. LLIX (Liberty Lake Internet Exchange) has a ton of fiber leading in from everywhere and has many of the national Internet/data players such as Level3, 360 and Verio. They are probably doing national bandwidth deals with many of the national players. You can move a hell of a lot of data when all of the providers meet in a single point such as LLIX.

The REAL question is why Liberty Lake, Washington?

Anyway, as of today, HDTV for Spokane is live. I was watching LOST and noticed it was in widescreen. I looked over at my audio receiver and it was in Dolby Digital.

Hell yea.

TB

 

[JPointerWI]

I would guess E* looks at the topography of an area to see how many customers can/can not receive OTA HD. Cities on flat land can get signal much further then a city in the mountains.
Here in Milwaukee, WI the all the towers are north of downtown. Thats great for north/downtown/south side near the lake, but if you get a little west of downtown you run into a large valley or ridge depending where u are. The western half of the metro area has a tough time receiving OTA without putting up a huge antenna outside. Until you get to the suburbs that is, they are way above the city, so they get great reception.

 

[Tahoerob]

..................

The REAL question is why Liberty Lake, Washington?

................

TB

This area does have a low incidence of natural disasters!!

 

[Tower Guy]

The REAL question is why Liberty Lake, Washington?

TB

I'd guess that the low rainfall minimizes rain fades on the uplink signal. Add that to good fiber connectivity, reasonable land values, affordable housing, and the need for uplinks in multiple areas to light up the spot beams and you're a winner!

 

[Leardc]

Well I just got back from deployment and am happy to see Spokane locals :up

 

[Tahoerob]

Well I just got back from deployment and am happy to see Spokane locals :up

Welcome back