This may have been asked before, so I'm sorry if it has, but why does DISH charges $4.99 per month for local channels? DirecTV has them included into their packages, hell, I could buy an antenna and get the channels for free. Why does DISH charge extra?
Why does Dish Charge for locals?
- Thread starter mike752
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You are paying for the locals with Directv too, they just have the fees built in to the packages. You can certainly get the locals free OTA, however if you want the locals integrated in your Dish Tuner you must sub to a local package with Dish.
About 5 years ago both companies offered packages with nearly identical channel line ups and the were priced about the same. Both companies charged for locals which was fair since locals were not available in all markets. Local market availability expanded faster for Direc than it did for Dish, so Direc added the local fee to their packages and raised rates about $5 higher than Dish.
They used to be bundled in your package, but Dish had a price increase a couple of years back, and in in order to disguise the price increase, they de-bundled the locals.
So basically along w/ what everyone else is saying is Dish gives you the choice.
Do you wanna go OTA and save $5?
or
Do you want to subscribe thru Dish?
You decide.
Do you wanna go OTA and save $5?
or
Do you want to subscribe thru Dish?
You decide.
I've had DISH for 9 years and always paid separately for locals....actually, I don't now, because NOW they are bundled into DVR Advantage. Even when I had the "Everything Pack", there was an extra charge for locals.
There may have been some package in the past that had it included like DVR Advantage does, but I never had it. They did not "de-bundle" a damn thing.
DISH has to invest in infrastructure to carry your locals. It costs them money. They offer you the option to pay for it or not. Why is this a problem for anyone?
What sort of infrastructure does it take to get the locals out of the local area and up to the sats for sending on to subscribers? Am assuming there is cost involved there.
Yes they did. I work for them. We had a meeting when they changed the package, and they told us how to explain it to the customer, when we went to a job and they asked about it. "We now give you the option to not have your locals if you want to get them over the air. Why pay for something you don't want?" Even though you could always have them removed, that was the spin.
You have to pay the broadcaster.
You have to pay to transport the video to the uplink site.
You have to pay for the compression/multiplexing equipment.
You have to pay for the uplink earthstation.
You have to pay for the satellite capacity.
You have to pay "Joe" in India to take your order.
The D*/E* differance appears to be that D* spreads the cost over all the customers while E* charges the individual subscriber.
Really then the cost doesnt bother me much, though HD would be nice on the locals that come over the sat, in the end i pay 5 bucks for the convenience of using DIshs equipment to record locals.
And actually until recently, you were NOT required to take locals w/D* & they reduced the price of their base packages by $3 accordingly. Now, new customers are required to take locals, UNLESS they are NOT in an area where D* carries locals, which then they will still take $3 off the base price.
That's weird. I've had Dish since 97 and when I could finally get locals, they have always been an add-on, never included in any package available to me.
In addition to all those costs they had to research, design, and build entirely new satellites with spot beams on them for local-into-local. Echostar X was launched, in part, to satisfy the "no-split-locals" requirement that forbids satellite broadcasters from requiring an optional "wing dish" for locals in an area where the major locals are on the main satellite.
If it weren't for the local-into-local laws being put into effect I don't think the satellite companies would have been prepared for all the bandwidth required for HD like they are today. They have an astonishing amount of bandwidth available today that I don't think would have been as impressive if local-into-local didn't happen and they were just starting out working with spot-beams today. There certainly wouldn't be a WildBlue, which has a staggering number of spot beams.
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If it weren't for the local-into-local laws being put into effect I don't think the satellite companies would have been prepared for all the bandwidth required for HD like they are today. They have an astonishing amount of bandwidth available today that I don't think would have been as impressive if local-into-local didn't happen and they were just starting out working with spot-beams today. There certainly wouldn't be a WildBlue, which has a staggering number of spot beams.
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I do not think locals are a big profit center for either provider. They probably charge enough to cover costs, as mentioned above there are huge costs that could be avoided if they did not provide locals.
But, the biggest seller of DBS is locals. Both providers know that most customers will not sign up without locals being available. Yes people out in the middle of no where have no choice when DBS is the only choice. But, when they want to compete with cable they have to have locals.
But, the biggest seller of DBS is locals. Both providers know that most customers will not sign up without locals being available. Yes people out in the middle of no where have no choice when DBS is the only choice. But, when they want to compete with cable they have to have locals.
This is the same silly thing that you see in car commercials. "Buy this car and you get all these features standard!" Well, we all know you have to look at the total price of everything you want no matter if they are included in the standard price or include extras.
I'm all for as many things as possible being optional. I don't like paying for things I don't need.
I'm all for as many things as possible being optional. I don't like paying for things I don't need.
Same here. I've had it my locals and superstation package since 2002 and it's always been a separate charge on my bill - the grandfathered $8.99, as opposed to the higher price now. When I signed up, I took the $8.99 deal (rather than the $5 locals only), and every bill I've received since then (I actually do check even though it's auto-pay) has always showed the $8.99 as a separate charge from my package. That is one thing that has been consistent over the years, despite the price increases in my AT250 package - the $8.99 charge has never changed and has always been there.
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