How to get ABC-E, ABC-W, etc.

[fsutaylor31]

I live in Colorado and someone told me that you can get ABC-W, ABC-E, etc. - but I have no idea how.

Is that true? Is it possible to get these turned on without paying extra?

 

[jcrandall]

You can apply for them if you don't have locals in your area. The local stations would decide if you are eligible. The govt rules on this is kinda difficult to explain. Generally, if you can get locals, you can't get "distant networks".

WELCOME to Satelliteguys!

 

[iwc5893]

IIRC, if you do get them, you will pay extra for them

 

[charper1]

If your local affiliates SAY that you can receive them via OTA they will generally deny waivers; unless they are very nice or owned and operated by the network. So basically ask but don't expect.

 

[jdspencer]

And those would be the SD versions. The HD channels will be the LA versions.

 

[teevee]

Can you get both East and West HD channels? Or just one or the other?

 

[armymp30]

The HD distant Networks are free with your base package, you will have to pay extra for the SD channels.

 

[titanman100]

you only get one set of the HD channels it would be the west for you

 

[ab0nf]

I live in Colorado and someone told me that you can get ABC-W, ABC-E, etc. - but I have no idea how.

Is that true? Is it possible to get these turned on without paying extra?

I live in Castle Rock, Colorado and get both E / W network feeds (I don't have HDTV). I've had them for many years now. And they aren't free, and not particularly cheap. About $4 for each E/W network. But worth it to me.

From the sounds of it if I upgrade to HDTV that will come to a sudden and abrupt end and I'll be stuck with the locals from Denver, which I really don't like. At any rate, I'm pretty sure that someday I'll turn my TV on and they'll be off.

 

[MikeinBaja]

I live in Castle Rock, Colorado and get both E / W network feeds (I don't have HDTV). I've had them for many years now. And they aren't free, and not particularly cheap. About $4 for each E/W network. But worth it to me.

From the sounds of it if I upgrade to HDTV that will come to a sudden and abrupt end and I'll be stuck with the locals from Denver, which I really don't like. At any rate, I'm pretty sure that someday I'll turn my TV on and they'll be off.

Not true. I've had the E & W network feeds (as well as locals) for years now and they did NOT go away when I upgraded to HD last year. True I don't get the distant feeds in HD format, but I do still get them.

 

[ab0nf]

Not true. I've had the E & W network feeds (as well as locals) for years now and they did NOT go away when I upgraded to HD last year. True I don't get the distant feeds in HD format, but I do still get them.

This makes my day!

 

[ltahoe7195]

My attempt was shot down by all 4 networks

This makes my day!

I tried to add the Distant Networks, but all 4 networks here in the SF Bay Area (ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX) said NO. I was more than willing to pay extra for this. Previous posters are correct, if D* carries your locals, and in my case they do out of SF, then in all likelihood your chances of getting them added are slim to none.

 

[NGeorge]

Everyone is pretty much right... if you have them, you get to keep them. In my case I had all E & W SD from the beginning before SD locals, and HD West from back before they offered Seattle HD locals (since I already had all the SD's, they also gave me all the HD's)...

Since the HD ones were free and I wanted to save some money and didn't particularly need the East feeds, I dropped all the SD ones except FOX since I still wanted their SD East channel. They said that since I had all the HD distants, I would have no problem getting back the SD ones in the future if I wanted them turned back on.

WELL, needless to say, I added another SD TV and I wanted the distant SD feeds back for that room... Sure enough, I couldn't just add them back so easily... I had to go through the whole waiver thing, even though I have all of them in HD. I already had FOX since it has never been turned off since I got it in 1998, but only NBC said yes to me getting back SD distants (since back in 1998 only FOX needed a waiver which they granted--I was outside Grade B for all the others--which doesn't matter anymore).

SO, I have NBC and FOX SD, and all four for HD distants + Seattle locals... basically if you get them, don't touch them!! I would love to get the Washington DC CW station since they are starting up local news from there, but don't want to risk even asking.

--Nat

 

[mike752]

I am in Hartford, CT DMA and get WCBS, WNBC and WNYW (FOX) out of NY for free in SD (they are my Neighboring Channels). Should I be getting the HD versions (Channel 80, 82, 86, and 88) for free? I'm kinda confused.

 

[jdspencer]

I think if you pay for the HD pack then you'll get the HD versions. So not really free.