Back in 97 when we first got DISH , we had east/west coast locals + Super stations for 5 supers for like $7.00 a month. We could watch one live show on east coast and record one show by vcr . Then do the same on West coast for one live and one recorded. We were able to do a rough simulation of Primetime anytime , sort of. We also has UPN for Star Trek Voyager -the whole reason why I wanted DISH in the first place. I only used my ota antenna for local news on an A/B switch so I could watch on A switch ota rabbit ears for local news and on B switch satellite. The only thing I need locals for is for local news & weather at 12:00pm ,6:00pm and at 10:00pm. The network shows could easily come from a national network and it would matter less to me if it was local or not.
All they need is just national versions of ABC,CBS,NBC,FOX & CW & PBS to give you their programming. Then it would be nice is if a national news channel like CNN could have one affiliate in each dma, that could then show their local news segments during those same times that most people watch local news and weather. Then there would no longer be a need for networks and affiliates to be duplicated across the country. You could also do away with broadcast channels too. It is an antiquated system left from the 1950s and is no longer needed.