LaPlata County receives market modification

[towerdude]

La Plata County has been in the New Mexico DMA. Their county petitioned the FCC for a market modification so they could receive in-state Colorado broadcast via satellite. They can now receive the four major networks from Denver if they wish.

https://www.fcc.gov/document/mb-grants-la-plata-colo-petitions-mods-denver-stations-dbs-markets


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[comfortably_numb]

Now the question is, will any provider actually carry those channels... I suppose those would be considered "significantly viewed local stations," correct? I know DirectTV is pretty good about carrying those, but I don't think Dish is..

 

[towerdude]

DirecTV and Dishnetwork have said that they can provide the four major networks from Denver to LaPlata county.


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[Rolling Joe]

DirecTV and Dishnetwork have said that they can provide the four major networks from Denver to LaPlata county.

In SD. If they loose access to New Mexico stations with this order, subscribers in La Plata County will have a nasty surprise in a few months.

DISH Network LLC (“DISH”) has filed a certification indicating that carriage of all of the
Stations into La Plata in standard definition (SD) is feasible, and AT&T/DIRECTV, LLC (“DIRECTV”)
has filed a certification indicating that SD carriage of all of the Stations into La Plata is feasible at this
time, and high definition (HD) carriage is feasible in a portion of the community.

http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2017/db0301/DA-17-204A1.pdf

 

[comfortably_numb]

That area is well within the spot beam for Denver, so why can't Dish provide them in HD?

 

[Rolling Joe]

That area is well within the spot beam for Denver, so why can't Dish provide them in HD?

DISH or DTV?

DTV claims that they will retire the satellite that carries the spot beam. From the order I linked above:

DIRECTV’s certification explains that: SD service to the county is feasible for the time being, but that the satellite carrying the relevant spot
beam is scheduled to be removed from service within the next three years; and HD service is infeasible in seven ZIP codes in La Plata
(reflecting the majority of the area of the county) due to insufficient spot beam coverage.

 

[comfortably_numb]

DISH or DTV?

DTV claims that they will retire the satellite that carries the spot beam. From the order I linked above:

Sorry, I should have listed that the image is Dish's WA spot beam. There's no technical reason for them not providing those locals in HD, unless the New Mexico locals are on EA and they dont want to move all those people to WA

 

[Rolling Joe]

Sorry, I should have listed that the image is Dish's WA spot beam. There's no technical reason for them not providing those locals in HD, unless the New Mexico locals are on EA and they dont want to move all those people to WA

Yeah, makes sense. The real question is does the order force Dish and Dtv to drop the Albuquerque stations or can they carry both? Base on my reading of the order, it looks like a full DMA switch, especially since it's based on the STELAR modification Congress passed in 2004, well before anyone (in Congress, anyway) would have thought about HD versus SD.

 

[harshness]

That area is well within the spot beam for Denver, so why can't Dish provide them in HD?

They probably will at some point.

Prior to this waiver, the DBS providers would independently choose a Nielsen DMA map and stick with it until they chose a different Nielsen DMA map. IIRC they have their choice of the DMA maps for the last five years. This helps them cover themselves when the latest DMA map puts them in a bad position in terms of spot beam coverage.

If the comment about "in a portion of the community" is to be believed, I'd guess that DIRECTV's Denver spot doesn't cover the entirety of the new area (since your picture shows that DISH's appears to). Montezuma County would be a different story.

In looking at the Denver spotbeam for DIRECTV (DIRECTV 10/12 spot A2BA?), it seems to have coverage but I'm not sure how "confined" the beam is. Ka drops off much faster.

 

[towerdude]

I believe that they will have both Albuquerque and Denver, part of it due to the fact CBS has a quasi-full power in Durango and NBC has a quasi-full power in Farmington New Mexico just across the border from La Plata County. The FCC order only lists ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox.


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[N5XZS]

Funny, I away go to Denver twice a year and still not allow to get Denver local channels in Albuquerque. Sad thanks to DMA censorship.....

 

[harshness]

I believe that they will have both Albuquerque and Denver, part of it due to the fact CBS has a quasi-full power in Durango and NBC has a quasi-full power in Farmington New Mexico just across the border from La Plata County.

I'm thinking that they're playing the in-state card. We have a city in Eastern Oregon, Ontario, that has often fancied itself as part if Idaho.

"Other" networks are probably something they didn't want to do battle with or they don't offer much local either way.