Why can't rural areas get SLC HD locals?

[chewey]

My brother and friends live in Ely, NV, which is about 350 miles from Salt Lake City. They get the Salt Lake stations as their local market. Even though Directv carries the Salt Lake Locals in HD, and they show up on the guide info in Ely, they do not come in. Presumably his is do to the size of he spot beam So basically they can't watch network tv in HD.

So why doesn't Directv provide the Salt Lake networks in HD to this rural area, even when Ely is designated to be in that market area? It is pretty annoying that Directv would screw these customers out o enjoying HD programming, especially with the playoffs and Superbowl coming up. I'm sure this isn't the only area this happen. Is there any way to get around this or get a waiver to get the networks in HD?

Dish, on the other hand, does broadcast the SLC locals in HD to Ely, with the exception of ABC. So why can Dish do it and Directv not?

And the insult to injury is that he local television board has an extention to convert the OTA broadcast to digital, so who knows when they can get HD.

 

[ClemSole]

Have you or "They" called DirecTV and asked them?

 

[bateau980]

There is a third party company, of whose name I cannot recall, that dictates who gets what locals. This is why the voucher process is so painful for some. I would assume that for some reason they have decided to allow Dish to carry one thing, and D* another.

I also agree with ClemSole... someone needs to call D* and ask what's going on. As another option, are they able to get regular HD broadcasts? Could be an equipment setup issue.

 

[chewey]

They get all the national HD channels, just not the Salt Lake Locals. The Salt Lake local HD channels show up on the guide, but when you select the channel is says searching for satellite. Standard def local work fine. So I'm assuming is the spot beam for the HD locals.

 

[dgordo]

Does this page show that they should get them?

DIRECTV - Local Channels

 

[nv blu]

I went round and round with direct tv regarding HD locals in the Elko area. I spent countless hours on the phone, sent letters, did it all. Finally, in the end, they said that they never promised HD locals to me and to look at the website. Yes, I did do that and they had, since i signed up for them, added in red letters NO HD. The SOB's not only lied to me but stole, yes STOLE $230 from me when I left them.
I wouldnt use Direct TV if they were the only provider on earth. Rude and insulting they are.

 

[Jimbo]

I went round and round with direct tv regarding HD locals in the Elko area. I spent countless hours on the phone, sent letters, did it all. Finally, in the end, they said that they never promised HD locals to me and to look at the website. Yes, I did do that and they had, since i signed up for them, added in red letters NO HD. The SOB's not only lied to me but stole, yes STOLE $230 from me when I left them.
I wouldnt use Direct TV if they were the only provider on earth. Rude and insulting they are.

They stole the money that you were required to pay when you broke your contract ?

 

[Mr Tony]

in some cases the HD spotbeam is smaller than the SD one

I've seen that happen with Dish too

 

[Aurora]

I went round and round with direct tv regarding HD locals in the Elko area. I spent countless hours on the phone, sent letters, did it all. Finally, in the end, they said that they never promised HD locals to me and to look at the website. Yes, I did do that and they had, since i signed up for them, added in red letters NO HD. The SOB's not only lied to me but stole, yes STOLE $230 from me when I left them.
I wouldnt use Direct TV if they were the only provider on earth. Rude and insulting they are.

Way to resurrect a dead thread. So you broke contract right?

Also, I lived in Elko for 6 months, its a great place! Was there for the earthquake a year ago

 

[nv blu]

When I signed up to use Direct, it was under the stipulation that I would be provided with an HD package that included HD locals. In my mind, it was they that broke the contract with me by not providing what I had been paying for. They could not provide the HD signal that I had been paying for and had bought an expensive TV to watch.
If they would have been up front from the beginning, this would never have happened. They jerked me around for nearly 6 months, each time coming up with a new "talking voice" with a new excuse as to why they werent honoring their contract.
I look at it this way, I paid almost 10 months of thier contract. I returned their receiver, all in good faith. They did not show me good faith at all.

 

[nv blu]

One more thing....the reason they got so much money from me is that I am a sucker. I hate bills so when I get one, and it is a set amount for each month, I pay six months to a year in advance. That way, it's paid for the whole year. Dumb me on this one. If I hadn't of done that, they wouldn't have had my money.