Whatever happened to the HD 'Locals' from a few years ago?

[JonUrban]

Wasn't there a big push by Dish to get more local networks in HD on the Dish? I'd love to dump my cable company once and for all, but because of the stupid idiotic out-of-date "protection" deals that local stations get, I lost my distant networks 3 years ago, and now I have no HD locals available.

Is there any hope on this, or was that just something to talk about last year?

 

[Voyager6]

The emphasis is on National HD Channels right now. IF E11 and AMC14 get launched in the next 6 - 8 months, E* will have the capacity to launch more HD locals. When these two sats are launched and operational, E* will be realigning into separate mpeg2 and mpeg4 services (that's what the big cheese says is planned). There should be plenty of capacity for National and Local HD. Further launch delays will probably push these plans back to 2009.

 

[dodge]

Wasn't there a big push by Dish to get more local networks in HD on the Dish? I'd love to dump my cable company once and for all, but because of the stupid idiotic out-of-date "protection" deals that local stations get, I lost my distant networks 3 years ago, and now I have no HD locals available.

Is there any hope on this, or was that just something to talk about last year?

Can you get HD locals OTA??

 

[waltinvt]

IMHO they've made a business decision to only launch the cities they had to and hope most of their other customers would "move" to one of those locations. That's why it's so easy to get away with. and Dish saves a bundle.

Think about it, they still collect the LiL fees without the cost of launching more locations and can save the BW for national channels. Will it come back to bite them in the butt - probably but by then it won't matter.

 

[Smoky]

Where's the Greenville-Spartanburg,SC-Asheville,NC (#35) HD locals that were due last year! I did not think that DirecTV would beat Dish to this market, but I was wrong. If I could get WLOS OTA I would move to Atlanta. I believed that BS about we'll have them up by Xmas 2006 crap. I've been with Dish for a long time, I should have knew better.

 

[aperry]

My DMA is 102 or thereabouts ... so I figure in 10 years or so, I should get HD on Dish.

 

[digitalartifact]

Gosh you all should move up here...

I get a whole 1 channel via digital... (and its just up converted sd until spring/summer of next year)...

The other stations in my DMA do broadcast some digital... and even some HD... but way to many hills/trees in the way for me to hope of getting any reception... The one cable company that does carry the channels in HD has a fiber ran from the head (about 75 miles south) to their local branch office here. Just to provide lil HD/Digital... (and they do not serve my house...) got to love the government regulated monopolies!

 

[Smoky]

I get zero digital/HD local channels OTA, mountains in the way. I guess I'll have to depend on Dish for HD locals or switch to DirecTV. If I could just get that one local channel OTA, digital or not, I would move. Its our only local station (I just need the news) in our DMA that covers Western NC. The other stations in our DMA covers upstate SC.

 

[digiblur]

IMHO they've made a business decision to only launch the cities they had to and hope most of their other customers would "move" to one of those locations. That's why it's so easy to get away with. and Dish saves a bundle.

Think about it, they still collect the LiL fees without the cost of launching more locations and can save the BW for national channels. Will it come back to bite them in the butt - probably but by then it won't matter.

Excellent answer.. if you can't get all of your networks via OTA then do what you've got to do to fill in the blanks.