Viewing Regions - Who decided College Station Tx was part of the Waco Market?

[mfoster711]

If you are not familiar with College Station, Tx, click here to see a map.

Who decided that College Station, Tx should be grouped with Waco and Temple to form a TV market? I assure you, not many people in College Station really care what's going on in Waco or Temple. College Station is really more like a distant NW suburb of Houston. I actually know many people that commute between College Station and Houston. But for what ever reason, we are grouped with Waco and Temple and get stuck with all their local channels.

Up until recently, we did not have all the major networks in HD so I pretended to live in Houston so I could get Houston channels. But recently Dish added the one College Station network in HD so I switched my service address to match my real address.

Now I am discovering the other big problem this causes. I now get mostly Dallas sports teams instead of Houston sports teams. Dallas is twice as far away as Houston and you have more Dallas haters than fans in College Station. But, because we are in that Waco and Temple market, and because Waco and Temple are closer to Dallas, we end up getting all the Dallas sports.

So who decides this stuff? I realize it is not Dish because the same is true for Direct and Cable. I could put up with Waco and Temple news but I don't want to watch the Dallas Cowgirls all year. Is there any possibility of ever getting this changed or is my only solution to pretend to live in Houston again?

Edit:
When I asked "Is there any possibility of ever getting this changed", I am not expecting to make a single phone call and get it changed. I realize there is something bigger here and was actually wondering if there was a way our City could come together and lobby somebody about it.

 

[Mr Tony]

Nielsen Ratings chose the market and yes "moving" is the easiest way

 

[whatchel1]

It won't change so if you a Houston fan then you will just have to move back to your fake address and get the College Station TV stations OTA.

 

[mfoster711]

Well I emailed the General Manager for our one local TV station and got a better explanation regarding the Texans games and here is his response.

The Houston Texans decided to pull the pre-season games from KBTX and CW because KCEN in Waco agreed to carry one of the games in prime time in the Waco area. The rest of the available pre-season games they gave to the digital channel for KCEN known as "My Texas." I believe it is on channel 118 if you have the upper tier with Suddenlink. I was even confused because the program guide was not changed for that station and shows that "Robo-cop" is playing. In addition, the game is not in High-Def. We will do what we can to get this back next year, but we were blind-sided with the decision. As far as what we will carry - we are designated as a "secondary home market" for the Texans, meaning that when the Texans play on CBS, we will carry their games, regardless of what other choices we may have during that same time, i.e. should the Colts play the Broncos at the same time, we will stick with the Texans per the CBS agreement with the NFL.

Since only 2 Texans games will be on FOX, I know I will be able to watch at least 14 of the games. I might still get the other 2 games on FOX since there is not a Cowboys game at the same time.

 

[Mr Tony]

one note on that quote from the GM...
If they are a secondary market they are REQUIRED to show the road games. The home games that can decide to show them....or not (and blackout rules apply)

 

[odbrv]

Why can't Dish use the significantly viewed law and send both the Temple /waco and Houston DMAs locals to College Station customers. Cable in many parts of the country have multiple DMA stations. I have stayed at many hotels in many parts of the country and had 2 sets of local networks. When I lived on the NH/Mass border, I received Boston, NH, and Maine locals on cable. I thought the new laws allowed Satellite companies to choose to do the same.

 

[Bobby]

No, the new satellite laws do not allow the satellite company to give you more than one set of locals, provided those locals are available. Cable and satellite rules are different, even today...

 

[odbrv]

Well just another reason to fire my congressman.