What is the % of market that HAS to rely on Dish for Locals ?

[gbjbany]

I was wondering if anybody knows the current Local channels dish market share that dish has captured and what the potential is. (HD and non-HD)

I see very often someone who get's the locals OTA, espcially HD, comment and the discussion loses some energy

Anyway would be interested in numbers if anybody has them.

 

[dodge]

Dish % of Locals

If I were to Guess Dish can get locals to 75% of the population of the usa. Dish Has locals in over 100 markets, and there are 210 dma's. I heard something that close to 50% of the us population is in the top 50 dma's. This is all just an educated guess. I know New york is 1 LA is 2 and CHicago near where I am is 3 and there is about 2.9 million people in the city alone ( not counting the subarbs).

 

[rad]

Well, D* says that they do 92% of the nations TV households and I would think that E* might do a bit more since they have more LIL markets then D*.

 

[SimpleSimon]

But to answer the question as phrased in the title:
"What is the % of market that HAS to rely on Dish for Locals ?"

I read that as being how many people can NOT get OTA or cable.

And the answer to that is likely to be around 10 milliopn households - maybe less.

 

[KE4EST]

Yes and growing as more stations are cutting back power or going sat/cable up-link only

 

[goaliebob99]

if i remember right dish claims 98%

 

[RIRWIN1983]

Yes and growing as more stations are cutting back power or going sat/cable up-link only

isent that illegal, i thought the FCC mandates OTA for the simple fact that they would be forcing people to get a dish, but maybe that provider cant/dosent offer locals, or that they cant get cable tv.

 

[Barry Erick]

Yes and growing as more stations are cutting back power or going sat/cable up-link only

Huh? Where did you get that. Stations can't legally do that without a filing and I have not seen filings in my daily email from the FCC.

 

[waltinvt]

But to answer the question as phrased in the title:
"What is the % of market that HAS to rely on Dish for Locals ?"

I read that as being how many people can NOT get OTA or cable.

And the answer to that is likely to be around 10 milliopn households - maybe less.

I'm glad to see someone else can read here.

It's amazing how one can misread a post, reply and the whole thread takes off on a tangent.

 

[rad]

I'm glad to see someone else can read here.

It's amazing how one can misread a post, reply and the whole thread takes off on a tangent.

I read the title that way also but then the first sentence wasn't as clear as to what he was looking for.

 

[gbjbany]

Sorry for the confusion, but yes i am looking to understand what % of households must rely on dish to get locals.
The reason i am asking is two fold.
1. i am trying to understand why dish, and i guess the gov, supplies locals for the markets that can get OTA, as opposed to the markets that cant. Well that's my interpretation of the recent HD first 5 (?) markets.
2. I am someone who cant get HD OTA, and it seems whenever there is an interesting discussion around getting locals, it sort of dies when someone throws in, well i don't need it or care coz OTA is the answer. It's not if you cant get OTA and so that made me wonder if i was in the minority.
Anyway good discussion so far thanks

 

[Mr Tony]

The numbers may be skewed in some areas in terms of who MUST rely on Dish for locals and who prefers them.

Good example is the Minneapolis DMA. It extends from the Iowa border all the way up to the Canadian border (OK..maybe one county to it) which is a good 300 miles total. There are areas in the DMA who have no OTA whatsoever, but there are lots of areas who have partial OTA via translator stations (which are low powered) and satellite stations (which are full power). They may be able to pick up a clean signal for 1 or 2 of the 4 networks and the rest may be fuzzy or non existent.

Where our cabin is, (about 150 miles from Mpls), yes I can get all 4 networks & PBS with an antenna. But PBS and CBS are full powered stations whereas NBC, ABC & Fox are translator stations (low powered) so they are somewhat fuzzy. So we prefer the locals from Dish (even through they are compressed) over the antenna. HD is non existent where we are : )

 

[M Sparks]

Phoenix DMA is another good example. It covers the entire state of Arizona except for a half million people in Tucson, and a few thousand in Yuma (which shares with El Centro, CA). But the OTA coverage is weak at best across the state, and digital signals are nearly non-existant. Even in the other metro areas covered by this DMA (Flagstaff and Prescott), there is no HD OTA coverage.

I personally live 20 miles west of Flagstaff. I get NBC and Telefutura on both digital and analog signals, neither broadcast anything in HD. I can sort of get Fox and UPN via an analog translator, because they are at the low end of the UHF band. All other networks are between 40-68 and don't come in. This is with a 10' antenna 15 feet in the air and two signal amps.

As a percentage of the state, it's not that much, because about 90% of the state's population lives in the Phoenix or Tucson metro area. But in my town, there is close to 100% DBS penetration.

That's why DMA# is not the only factor to consider. Phoenix was one of the original LIL markets on DirecTV, although it was DMA #17 at the time. (Now #14 or #15). There was greater penetration potential than most other markets. There may be more people in other markets, but more of them live in apartments and have access to excellent cable systems. Even in Phoenix, which has good cable, there are more detached houses than apartments and condos which may not allow DBS installations.

 

[SimpleSimon]

Well, if we're talking DMAs, how about Colorado. 3 (I think). Denver, Colo. Spgs., Grand Junction. Denver has at least 75% of the entire state, and almost none of it is served OTA.

I think this was done because of the now defunct Denver-5 C-Band set. Back in the early days, little cable companies around Colorado (and OTHER mountain states!) would pick them up. There was NO other choice to get the big 5.

Now, instead of being official white areas, we're stuck.

 

[Mr Tony]

so true Simon
I've seen maps of the Denver DMA....all the way into Northern Wyoming & Western Nebraska

 

[Dish Dude]

the reason some are going the satellite only way is smaller towns, for example the town 50 miles west of here, shut down their cable service, which was owned by the town, we have 80% of the households in that town now. some places cannot receive OTA, due to locations not getting a useable signal, etc. Smaller towns are consistently closing down their cable systems, due to cost. Gold mines for retailers who know this is happening and can go door to door and setup the town