When Will Dish Give Us Network Hdtv??

[rnesky]

Ota

If you can receive your locals of satellite quit complaining about getting them in HD. There are a lot more people who cannot get there regular channels off the satellite at all. I'm tired of a few bitching about getting them in HD! Give it a rest.

 

[Bruno]

If you can receive your locals of satellite quit complaining about getting them in HD. There are a lot more people who cannot get there regular channels off the satellite at all. I'm tired of a few bitching about getting them in HD! Give it a rest.

Well you must have DTV my friend if you dont have locals on Satellite or really live in the boonies.

 

[terry2f]

Does anyone know if I can receive ota hd networks in the west san fernando valley? I've got a 942 (which incidentally was upgraded from a 921 [but only after great aggrevation]) but like all of you, the only hd network I am getting is cbs. Dish even took away my locals in sd. (They made me choose between locals and distant.) The only way to make the 942 worth its cost is to get hds but they seem impossible to get.

 

[kb7oeb]

My local cable company includes local HD in the limited basic package. Has anyone who can't get ota looked into that route?

 

[dfergie]

My local cable company includes local HD in the limited basic package. Has anyone who can't get ota looked into that route?

You are lucky my local cable company barely does Sd...D* and E*'s Sd looks much better...(this on a Sd set...)

 

[jmcgee_jr]

You are lucky my local cable company barely does Sd...D* and E*'s Sd looks much better...(this on a Sd set...)

You hit the nail on the head..same with charter in Vermont.

 

[delanewf]

My original question was in regards to Network HDTV on DISH...not local HD. I couldn't care less about locals in HD. They don't originate that much broadcasting in HD. The prime time HD shows are all Network....

But I guess I got my answer. My chances on DISH seem to be slim....and none....

Glad I have OTA for now.

I use a silver sensor to get my OTA digital channels but network HD is what I want. Our local Fox station broadcasts a digital signal, so called, but it is not in HD. I keep emailing them to find out when they are going to HD but they don't respond. The funny thing about that is that the Fox channel is listed as one of the HD locals that are available on our local cable provider(Atlantic Broadband, terrible). Is it possible to provide the cable company with an HD feed but not have it OTA?

I can't get CBS because of geography and I am not putting up a monstrosity of an antenna to find out I can't get it anyway.

NBC is the only true HD I get locally. I want Network HD for college and pro football games. I am really ticked at our local fox station. BTW, when is Dish getting ESPN2 HD?

 

[mdonnelly]

... Is it possible to provide the cable company with an HD feed but not have it OTA?
...

No, I'm sure your cable company just has a digital feed. If the station isn't doing HD OTA, cable isn't getting HD from them either.

 

[M Sparks]

Our local Fox station broadcasts a digital signal, so called, but it is not in HD.

See, that's exactly what's wrong with the current system. They like to talk about how digital signals reach 80%-90% of the US, but that doesn't mean we get HD! (Or all the networks)

I do not qualify for ANY distant networks, yet I don't receive most of them OTA either. I get a digital NBC station that does not broadcast in HD, a digital spanish station, and very fuzzy analog signals from Fox and UPN. That's it. And that's with a 10' antenna, 15' in the air, and 2 signal amps inline. If I take out either amp, I lose the digital signals. (Oh, and the NBC station only has sound on the left channel.)

The last time I watched network TV regularly was when I had PrimeTime24 on DirecTV. After they pulled the plug on that, I had no access to ABC or CBS (or PBS), and a poor picture on Fox. I watched "The Simpsons" through the snow, and a few shows on NBC, but I just got out of the habit. Later, when LIL came in, it was nice to have local news again, but I still never watched CBS or ABC for many years, because I just never thought of it. I didn't know what was on those channels! Occasionaly, I would watch an awards show on CBS, and watching the promos was like watching TV in a foreign country...I had never heard of any of it aside from "60 Minutes". (I stumbled upon "Lost" while in a hotel last year and got interested for a few months, but lost interest over the summer.)

Even if I do try to watch something via LIL, the compression is so bad, I ususally can't stand it unless it's a really good program. And most of it's not that good.

Now that Digital TV is here to save network television...well it's even worse. I get a wonderful SD picture (and horrible sound) on NBC, but on the few shows I watch, I just think about how I'm not getting them in HD. Eventually, the Fox translator will go digital, but based on the lousy analog signal I get, it will probably just vanish when that happens. It's unlikely that I will ever get any other networks in digital OTA, let alone HD.

The networks and affiliates should be helping to foot the bill for all this extra bandwidth and MPEG-4 equipment. Unless they change the rules for distant networks, HD-LIL is the only thing that might theoretically bring me back to network TV. (Although, if I had DirecTV, I would qualify for a distant Fox, because my Fox affiliate is O&O. I assume the same thing would happen if DISH ever turns the distant HD signals on.)

 

[BigFella]

My local cable company includes local HD in the limited basic package. Has anyone who can't get ota looked into that route?

That's how I get my HD locals. No OTA available for me. I use a LG LST3410a HD PVR with QAM tuner for time shifting. Comcast Limited Basic ($15.00 per month) in north LA county.

 

[DISHDIVA]

it will take awhile before all dma go hd. for now your best source is ota antenna..besides ..you don't have to pay for that.

 

[DISHDIVA]

in response to m sparks

currently dish only offers cbs out of la or ny (hd).

 

[waltinvt]

No, I'm sure your cable company just has a digital feed. If the station isn't doing HD OTA, cable isn't getting HD from them either.

Not sure what cable co & affiliate you're talking about but I know of at least one here in Vermont that's supplying one of the local cable companies with a HD feed but NOT providing it OTA.

WCAX, the local CBS affiliate in Burlington, Vt provides an exclusive (and even advertises it that way) HD feed to Adelphia cable but does not provide it OTA nor to any other cable company.

Given that the industry is "supposed" to be moving towards a "speedy" digital transition, I'd think this sort of thing would be frowned on by the FCC but apparently it isn't.

 

[mdonnelly]

 

[M Sparks]

currently dish only offers cbs out of la or ny (hd).

I'm not sure why this is "in response to" my post...I just said IF Dish ever turns on Distant HD for the other networks (it's already uplinked), I SHOULD be able to get Fox, because I qualify under DirecTVs system.

To rehash my point for the millionth time...HD-LIL is the only way I would ever be able to receive NBC, ABC or CBS in HD, unless the laws are changed for distant HD networks. Which is why some of us in rural areas get ticked off when people say "HD-LIL is a waste of bandwidth" or "just get an antenna." I don't qualify for distants, and I don't receive HD OTA. Period. And we're also annoyed that the first places to get HD-LIL will be metro areas that already have HD Locals on cable and strong OTA signals.

If the affiliates refuse to offer me an HD signal OTA, then I should be allowed to get it elsewhere.

 

[M Sparks]

WCAX, the local CBS affiliate in Burlington, Vt provides an exclusive (and even advertises it that way) HD feed to Adelphia cable but does not provide it OTA nor to any other cable company.

Given that the industry is "supposed" to be moving towards a "speedy" digital transition, I'd think this sort of thing would be frowned on by the FCC but apparently it isn't.

That's odd. I used to work for an affiliate that couldn't afford to transmit HD. Most of the expense was in the receiving/encoding equipment. They HAD to have a digital transmitter, but there were no HD signals to send to it.

If fact, the way the digital station worked is this: the standard analog signal was microwaved to the tower. Then the signal was split to both transmitters, passing through a digital encoder located AT the transmitter. It's the absolute cheapest way to provide a digital signal, because you don't even need a new route (microwave, fiber optics, ect) to the transmitter. There were zero changes at the station itself. There wasn't even a remote control for the encoder...if it crashed, the engineer needed to drive up the mountain and reboot it.

It's possible that WCAX has upgraded the station, but not added a new path to the transmitter. Cable companies often have their own direct fiber line from each station. I can see my station doing that, because most of their viewers still receive them by cable.

It could also be a power issue. Most small digital stations still operate at very low power. Maybe the signal is too weak to carry a reliable HD signal. (I don't know the technical specifics of that.)

The digital transition has nothing to do with HD, it's just a nice side effect if you live in the right market.

 

[jmcgee_jr]

It is from the uplink to the tower on mt mansfield walt. I talked to a engineer of thiers. They are running new fiber to the mt top that all 6 stations that want to broadcast from up there can use. Thats why they are only sending it to adelphia. They could either do analog on the mt top or digital with the single microwave transponder they have up there.

 

[Scomikey]

jmcgee jr, what does this mean..that soon the will have the ability to beam it up?, do they have anywhere to put the signal?

I really would rather have dish than direct, but this is the biggest point holding me back is my access to hd-nationals.

 

[jmcgee_jr]

Umm scomikey are you from vermont? This is only for HD locals that are OTA here in Vermont. I have no clue/idea about uplink capabilities for our DMA to dish/directv. Now on a side note why cant stupid dish or directv offer everyone the network HD feeds and when its time to go to commercial cut to the local's SD feed??? that would make me happy hehe.

 

[waltinvt]

WCAX must already have the encode / decode equipment at the station or they wouldn't be able to pass CBS's HD signal through to Adelphia. The Fiber will get that signal to the Mt but it's the towers themselves (or lack thereof) that will keep it from going OTA for the forseeable future (I think they're still only working on access roads).

With the new "hard date" for analog shutoff being extended 3 more years, I'm betting there won't be any OTA digital coming from Mt Mansfield until at least '07 - maybe even '08.

Had the FCC defined the "digital white" areas like they were supposed to by now, the "Burlington 4" would not have the luxurery of "oh-huming" every little obstacle and set-back......we'd all have access to the national HD feeds by now and the affiliates would be crying over lost "market share". But as long as the NAB is running congress and congress dictates to the FCC, there will not be a true "digital white area".

So meanwhile WCAX can probably make more money supplying an exclusive feed to Adelphia than by offering it to all the cable companies.

I'm hoping WPTZ (which is already supplying an NBC HD feed to WNNE's Mt Ascutney facilities) will also provide it's HD feed to multiple cable companies and competition will force WCAX to be more forthcoming with it's signal plus maybe get the local ABC & Fox to get their's going too.

This would also force cable companies that don't even do HD yet (like Charter) to improve their offerings.

It's really simple. The whole tv network industry is supported by advertisers presenting their product to consumers. Without us, the whole system goes away. Yet the consumer's satisfaction is the absolute last consideration given by any venue in the process.