Network BS & other info

[PMKS]

Ok, I live in the sticks, 154 miles from Houston Texas. Been a DirecTv subscriber since 1994, HD since last month. I'm eligible for Houston analog locals and ABC & FOX HD NY feeds. When I went HD, DirecTv applied for waivers for ABC & FOX HD. FOX HD was on this morning, just in time for the Super Bowl. A call to DirecTv revealed that my ABC waiver had been denied???

A call to the Houston ABC station resolved nothing, lady had no idea what I was talking about. Another call to DirecTv revealed that the waiver was denied not by the Houston local, but by a small fry low-power ABC UHF station 2 counties over??? If I'm in the Houston local area, why does this waiver have to be signed by this UHF station that don't even broadcast in HD?

On a lighter note, the DirecTv tech on the 2nd call revealed that the area I'm in is not claimed by any CBS or NBC station as far as HD is concerned. He also said that as soon as their HD network software was upgraded, that I would get CBS and NBC NY feeds. I guess this means that the "digital white" areas are being formed?

 

[paulyme]

who ever thought that getting tv reception was so complicated. Remember the 60's 4 channels!

 

[MikeD-C05]

In the 60's we only had ABC/
CBS/NBC. There was no Fox till the 80's. But in St.Louis when I was a boy ,we had an independent channel 30 uhf, which was like the Sci - Fi channel today. Nothing but old shows like Lost in Space, Star Trek, Ultra Man, Johhny Socko and his flying Robot. On Fridays and Saturdays it was "Shock Theater" with B movie horror classics. I was in Heaven. I really wouldn't want to go back to the 3 or 4 channels we had back then. But then again I really don't watch all the channels I have with AEP.

 

[NVBlue]

And PBS makes 4.

 

[MikeD-C05]

In the area I live today , Beaumont, Texas which is 90 miles from Houston, we still only have about 4 channels. ABC/CBS/NBC and a low powered Fox station which is only in analog and I can't even get good reception and I am 9 miles away from the transmitter. Oh , we get a religious station on 34 too, which is analog . No ota Pbs. We are like number 137 or 138 in the dmas but Dish is supposed to finally add us by next fall. That is if they keep adding analog locals and don't just switch to digital hd locals like Directv does.