How is local programming delivered to Dish's uplink center?
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NO They are sent via fiber. Some are taken direct from the stations via fiber and some are taken OTA then sent on fiber. NONE are sent to dish via satellite. It's E's fiber network as far as I know. I've been told that they have one of the biggest in the conus. AT&T has I think the largest. As far as D* yes they get allot of their signals via fiber also but they I think use AT&T's network to deliver to there uplinks. I've worked in stations that had the E* or D* fiber tied direct to the output of the station at the same point as the STL or transmitter link.
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I find this question a good one,sometimes a local station's signal goes out over the air because of transmitter problems.That's when having locals coming off the satellite really shines because they are getting the signal right from the station.
still haven't seen anything that says Dish, Echostar, or even Hughs owns fiber. In fact every place I've gone and seen only references their satellite holdings.. even Echostar's own (where I got that quote) doesn't show them as owning fiber.
So if the 129 satellite issue could happen ... they could loose just about anything on "their" fiber network too because it seems they don't own or maintain the fiber ... just use it (like the 129 satellite)
So if the 129 satellite issue could happen ... they could loose just about anything on "their" fiber network too because it seems they don't own or maintain the fiber ... just use it (like the 129 satellite)
I agree about Dish *not* necessarily owning the interconnecting fiber. Having a POP in a city is one thing. Owning the fiber between them is another. They most likely lease dedicated "lines" from ATT, Level3, etc, etc.
Also, the OP asked if stations use their own satellites (dishes) to uplink to Dish. Correct me if I'm wrong, but 99% of the time, local stations only RECEIVE via satellite, not transmit. Is that right ?
Also, the OP asked if stations use their own satellites (dishes) to uplink to Dish. Correct me if I'm wrong, but 99% of the time, local stations only RECEIVE via satellite, not transmit. Is that right ?
First of all, let me just confirm that most local programming is picked up over the air. Recently in Cleveland, a local PBS (WEAO) station lost it's transmitter for a time, and service was knocked out on Dish, Directv, and all local cable operators (although many were able to quickly switch to the WNEO simulcast of the same programming). WEAO/49 Outage Update « Ohio Media Watch That said, some do come straight from the station. For instance, here in Cleveland, the local NBC affiliate sits on a Level 3 fiber line, and I have heard they transmit straight to Dish with it, although that may be mistaken.
A lot of fiber was put down in the late 90s during the dot com boom that sat dormant for a long time, so getting fiber was likely not as expensive as you might think. They are also constantly developing new and better ways to multiplex on fiber.
Also, Dish has so many uplinks because you need them for spots. While they let you reuse frequencies multiple times on the downlink, the uplink centers can only use the 32 TPs once. So, they make highly directional receive antennas for the sat, and uplink from a great many places.
A lot of fiber was put down in the late 90s during the dot com boom that sat dormant for a long time, so getting fiber was likely not as expensive as you might think. They are also constantly developing new and better ways to multiplex on fiber.
Also, Dish has so many uplinks because you need them for spots. While they let you reuse frequencies multiple times on the downlink, the uplink centers can only use the 32 TPs once. So, they make highly directional receive antennas for the sat, and uplink from a great many places.
Dish probably does own most of their fiber. When companies lay fiber down they lay a bunch of strands down and sell the "dark" fiber to third parties. Dish has probably bought a bunch of this dark fiber and made their own network. They probably contract out the maintenance. Level 3 probably sold Dish a strand of fiber throughout their network.
I have been told that DISH Network has the largest fiber network in the USA. However I dont know who owns that network...
I would not be surprised if Comcast didn't have a larger network. Not only do they have to bring all the locals to their headends they also have fiber out to the nodes in every neighborhood for delivering their video, data and telephone service. NBC (owned by Comcast ) also probably uses fiber in addition to satellites to move programming around.
Comcast is said to be the largest telephone company in the US so they probably have fiber to back haul their long distance traffic.
Comcast is said to be the largest telephone company in the US so they probably have fiber to back haul their long distance traffic.
According to this E* owns their on world wide fiber network. EchoStar Satellite Services - Teleports & Facilities
I've worked at TV stations that had their own uplink. It is not common but there are 2 in the town where I live (1 is med center & other a Fox station) and one that is 120 miles to the N (CBS affiliate) where I used to work. I put the downlink in for the med center at the same time they were putting in the uplink. I walked in that 10 meter dish when they were building it and serviced it once since then.
Yeah.. but many companies when they do that, would start setting up resale of their extra bandwidth to make money on the unused portion, its very lucrative if done properly..
Back in the day when locals where first offered, Dish Network would install an OTA antenna in the city they wanted to offer locals in and then uplink the locals back Via satellite on Galexy10.
Over the years, as Dish had to start negotiations with local channels for carriage, the satellite uplinks where replaced with direct fiber feeds.
Over the years, as Dish had to start negotiations with local channels for carriage, the satellite uplinks where replaced with direct fiber feeds.
Here in Nebraska the stations use the local telco companies who then sends the signals by fiber optics.
When you look at statistics for fiber you need to be sure you are comparing like numbers.
Telcos like to talk about fiber miles. A telco would then count a 92 pair cable 1 mile long as 92 fiber miles even though it is just 1 route mile.
Comcast carries many more local channels than Dish. They can't get buy carrying just 1 ABC, 1 NBC, etc. in a local market. Depending on the signal profile of the off air stations they could end up with 20 - 30 local stations in a major metropolitan area. all these station's signals would need to be picked up and carried to the system's headend for insertion. The Chicago market served by Comcast includes Northern Indiana, NE Illinois and as far north as the Wisconsin state line.
In addition Comcast uses fiber to distribute it in house programming and channels such as Versus.
With 23 million subscribers in large clusters throughout the US Comcast has lots of fiber. The fiber made it possible for cable companies to offer and dominate the internet market. RBOCs with their reliance on twisted copper pairs for providing DSL service had a hard time competing.
Telcos like to talk about fiber miles. A telco would then count a 92 pair cable 1 mile long as 92 fiber miles even though it is just 1 route mile.
Comcast carries many more local channels than Dish. They can't get buy carrying just 1 ABC, 1 NBC, etc. in a local market. Depending on the signal profile of the off air stations they could end up with 20 - 30 local stations in a major metropolitan area. all these station's signals would need to be picked up and carried to the system's headend for insertion. The Chicago market served by Comcast includes Northern Indiana, NE Illinois and as far north as the Wisconsin state line.
In addition Comcast uses fiber to distribute it in house programming and channels such as Versus.
With 23 million subscribers in large clusters throughout the US Comcast has lots of fiber. The fiber made it possible for cable companies to offer and dominate the internet market. RBOCs with their reliance on twisted copper pairs for providing DSL service had a hard time competing.
The local signals are received off-air and then transmitted (I thought through a satellite uplink, but by fiber makes sense now). The off-air locations are KHAS-TV (Hastings) for the Lincoln market, KMTV-TV (southwest Omaha) for the Omaha market, and -- I think -- KNOP-TV (North Platte) for North Platte.
