Is Dish heading towards dropping locals?

[comfortably_numb]

As a rural Dish Welcome Pac subscriber... No locals => No Dish. It's really that simple.

I'm in a rural area and 45+ miles from my OTA towers, but lucky enough that most of them are 1000 kW and receivable with an attic antenna and preamp. If that weren't the case, I'd probably still sub to Welcome Pack. The drawback (and it is a BIG drawback) is no guide data on subchannels.

 

[dishdude]

When I first went with Dish in 1999, there was only East/West nets, no locals. Also the Super Stations were available. At the time people seemed to be satisfied with that. But if a station wants to serve an area, they should do what the Portland stations have done, put up a lot of translators all over the state. According to the Portland locals (2-6-8-10-12-49) which has local translators. It pays with the advertising as people from the coast drive into Portland to buy cars, trucks, furniture.

Man I sure do miss those days, I loved having the East/West feeds!

But you kind of made my point, Portland stations invested in repeaters so their entire DMA could receive their signal! Other DMAs are getting paid by satellite and cable providers because they refuse to cover their entire area in signal coverage!

 

[Brussam]

"Man I sure do miss those days, I loved having the East/West feeds!"

But they we SD only. I prefer HD Locals

 

[TheKrell]

The drawback (and it is a BIG drawback) is no guide data on subchannels.

I've got guide data on my subchannels. Where are you?

 

[comfortably_numb]

I've got guide data on my subchannels. Where are you?

Kansas City DMA. Only a couple subchannels here have guide data

 

[HipKat]

I've got guide data on my subchannels. Where are you?

Consider yourself lucky, because I don't

 

[Tampa8]

Man I sure do miss those days, I loved having the East/West feeds!

 

[edisonprime]

Dish is never going to drop locals as long as people are willing to pay for them as well as the networks being reasonable in contract negotiations. People who cannot receive off-air and "movers" will never stop subscribing to their locals.

 

[edisonprime]

I'm in a rural area and 45+ miles from my OTA towers, but lucky enough that most of them are 1000 kW and receivable with an attic antenna and preamp. If that weren't the case, I'd probably still sub to Welcome Pack. The drawback (and it is a BIG drawback) is no guide data on subchannels.

Get a TiVo or Tablo device and you'll have guide info on your subchannels.

 

[Claude Greiner]

It really very simple, once you get past your obvious bias. Dish wants better negotiating power over the OTA stations. If they get the close by subs to go OTA instead of satellite for locals the only subs left are those that live too far away to get a decent OTA signal. With that Dish can tell the stations that you can't reach these people and we have a way to get it there. Your reach to those viewers will now cost you instead of the other way around. Or at the least, it won't be as expensive for Dish and therefore for their subs...

Are they going to provide 8 million free antennas?

If they wanted power over the broadcasters they should have been including an antenna install for every new customer 15 years ago and making an OTA tuner standard in all their HD receivers.

Installing a few free antennas here and there isn’t going to make a dent in negotiations.

If let’s say 80% of the customers could get OTA locals, dish could probably negotiate the retrans agreements super cheap.

No bias against dish. But it doesn’t cost $13 per customer to provide locals unless they are counting satellite transponder space

 

[Juan]

Not antennas...charlie is some kind of contributor to an app called locast...free locals over the internet..integrated into the hopper

Are they going to provide 8 million free antennas?

If they wanted power over the broadcasters they should have been including an antenna install for every new customer 15 years ago and making an OTA tuner standard in all their HD receivers.

Installing a few free antennas here and there isn’t going to make a dent in negotiations.

If let’s say 80% of the customers could get OTA locals, dish could probably negotiate the retrans agreements super cheap.

No bias against dish. But it doesn’t cost $13 per customer to provide locals unless they are counting satellite transponder space

Sent from my SM-G950U using the SatelliteGuys app!

 

[NYDutch]

No bias against dish. But it doesn’t cost $13 per customer to provide locals unless they are counting satellite transponder space

Dish locals are $12, not $13. Is Dish getting rich from the locals charge? I don't think so...

"ACA, long an opponent of retrans regulations, surveyed its own membership and found that on average, they paid about $11 per month per subscriber in retransmission consent fees in 2017. That amount is expected to rise to $19 per subscriber per month by 2020."

https://www.multichannel.com/news/aca-members-believe-retrans-fees-will-rise-88-2020-418199

 

[comfortably_numb]

Get a TiVo or Tablo device and you'll have guide info on your subchannels.

I have an AirTV and also an FTA STB and both pull in PSIP guide data, so I'm good.

 

[Juan]

No worries..it will be 13 + soon enough

Dish locals are $12, not $13. Is Dish getting rich from the locals charge? I don't think so...

"ACA, long an opponent of retrans regulations, surveyed its own membership and found that on average, they paid about $11 per month per subscriber in retransmission consent fees in 2017. That amount is expected to rise to $19 per subscriber per month by 2020."

https://www.multichannel.com/news/aca-members-believe-retrans-fees-will-rise-88-2020-418199

Sent from my SM-G950U using the SatelliteGuys app!

 

[NYDutch]

No worries..it will be 13 + soon enough

Sent from my SM-G950U using the SatelliteGuys app!

That's certainly possible given how much the locals are attempting to extort from the carriers.

 

[Juan]

Which is where locast comes in

That's certainly possible given how much the locals are attempting to extort from the carriers.

Sent from my SM-G950U using the SatelliteGuys app!

 

[jackson85]

As a rural Dish Welcome Pac subscriber... No locals => No Dish. It's really that simple.

Like I said, I live about 45 Miles away from my Local Channels. I also live in town. I think it is an option for those who want an OTA, who can get strong reception through that OTA. If there is a way, that I could have both, just to compare which is stronger in terms of reception, then I would think about it, but I would have to stick with just getting them from Dish. And I know, what the opinion from my wife would be, Why fix something if it is not broken. She has way to many shows from CBS, Fox, and NBC that she enjoys watching and relying on an OTA would be a gamble with her.

 

[The Fat Man]

Which is where locast comes in

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Only in the handful of markets where it's available.

 

[Juan]

For now but constantly expanding

Only in the handful of markets where it's available.

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[comfortably_numb]

For now but constantly expanding

Sent from my SM-G950U using the SatelliteGuys app!

Constantly? They're still in the same 9 markets they were in before Christmas.