Dish Network loses distant stations on Dec. 1
November 23rd, 2006Dish Network subscribers will lose access to distant broadcast channels on Dec. 1. The satellite TV company’s parent, EchoStar Communications, lost a last-minute appeal in federal court this week, sending an estimated 800,000 Dish customers scrambling to replace the distant network channels.
Kathy, a concerned reader, writes:
I asked Dish about getting a closer ABC channel. I get L.A. now, and they have one out of San Francisco. Dish said that no satellite company will be able to give us ABC.
Is this true? Or is it just Dish?
First, some background for other readers: Most direct-broadcast satellite (DBS) customers can order broadcast channels from their local TV market via satellite. Dish subscribers who receive local channels will continue to receive them.
Some satellite subscribers live in areas not served by a local station—places, typically rural, where broadcast reception is poor or nonexistent. Federal law makes provision for those customers to receive channels from distant cities. So, Kathy, if you happen to live in one of those unserved areas, you might be able to get help from Dish’s rival, DirecTV. (Before canceling Dish, I would call DirecTV to make sure.)
If, however, you live in an area where you could receive a local ABC station with an antenna, then DirecTV probably cannot provide a distant ABC channel, either. The courts found that Dish Network was delivering distant-network signals to households that weren’t eligible to receive them. (Naughty, naughty!) As of Dec. 1, Dish will be barred from providing distant channels, even to customers who would have been eligible. “In the limited areas where local channels are not available by satellite,” according to the Dish web site, “we intend to protect our customers by providing free off-air antennas and other alternatives.”
A Senate bill that would block the court ruling was introduced last week, but its prospects are unknown, and senators won’t return from their Thanksgiving break until Dec. 5.
Earlier:
• Dish Network must drop distant network stations, court says
• Links: Multichannel News, Rocky Mountain News, Dish
BJ says:
December 1st, 2006 at 1:28 am
I live in central California, where there is no local ABC channel. Therefore, I should be able to receive ABC network programs on DISH. However, to punish Dish for providing service to those who were not eligible, the courts have cut off those of us who have no other options. How does that punish Dish? Even if they drop $1.50 for ABC from my bill (and many others), they are making millions. I’m the one being punished. Like so many government decisions, this is illogical and unfair!
C. A. Massey-Crouch says:
December 2nd, 2006 at 4:38 pm
“First, some background for other readers: Most direct-broadcast satellite (DBS) customers can order broadcast channels from their local TV market via satellite. Dish subscribers who receive local channels will continue to receive them.”
Wow…totally ‘not so.’ Only 80% of Dish customers have access to their local networks. 20% do not, and we are part of that 20% that have absolutely no access to the local networks.
The third paragraph of this article is where the truth lies, “…if you happen to live in one of those unserved areas, you might be able to get help from Dish’s rival, DirecTV.”
Yeah–here it is. What does CEO Rupert Murdoch have to lose by suing EchoStar and Dish? Yet, he has a great deal to gain: a real-live monopoly on distant network channels. I’ve got to wonder why any judge in his right mind would cooperate in giving any company a monopoly in satellite television service when monopolies have been illegal since the late 1930s. Is our government going renegade on us and turning the other way instead of protecting its citizens? ‘Big Business’ rides rough-shod over the consumer once again. It does become tiresome.
C. A. Massey-Crouch
Berkshire, New York
Dean Zilmer says:
December 2nd, 2006 at 7:29 pm
Listen to this–I live about 16 miles from Tucson AZ but in the next county and have been getting the Tucson local stations until 12/1–(via satellite)–through experimentation I found that lo and behold I am now getting the (satellite) Phoenix channels. Phoenix is 100 miles north of Tucson!!! I guess that being in the next county is what makes the difference (or the different zip code maybe)–is this crazy or what????
Mary Ellen Bellimer says:
December 3rd, 2006 at 12:58 am
I live in a very rural area where a rooftop antenna will only let me get NBC and PBS. The only statewide NH channel is WMUR TV9 and after this circuit court ruling in Fla. I can no longer get the only NH stattion, which is 70 miles away but I can get an ABC station out of Plattsburgh NH over 120 miles away. I could care less about these VT and NY channels when what I was watching were Boston and NH. The cable subscribers in the closest town to us, 8 miles away get both the VT and NY, Boston and NH channels. Why should they be allowed to get all these channels and satellite TV subscribers, who also pay for the “priviledge” of receiving what are essentially free channels, off air,be blocked by the broadcasting industry. Let the people who are paying for the channels they want make the decisions, not some judge or other government agency. We will not go silently or accept these mandates. I have written my Congressman and both Senators to support house bill 4067 which will give us choice. Please do the same.
Amy Ratliff says:
December 3rd, 2006 at 4:42 pm
This is an outrage I live in a rural area and we do not have local stations. I think being that it is 2006 and we are forced to use antennas like it was 1950. Why can we not get what we want if we are willing to pay. Is this not america or at least it is supposed to be.
Chris Winking says:
December 4th, 2006 at 3:59 am
Dish (echostar) told me that directv would not be able to offer me abc. even though I have a waiver from ktvo (which is 95 miles away from where I live)
and when I called directv they said yes we can provide you with abc and fox. . I would think since at&t is affilated with dishnet ,they would have been able to keep distant networks where they aren’t available over the air. If this is applied to radio they could block out everything but local channels. and from now on I’m boycotting the Locals……. they’re censoring me from watching what I want. They’re a monopoly and need to be taken down.
Doug says:
December 6th, 2006 at 8:39 pm
Who determines what my local stations are? I am right on the border between Baltimore and DC and some pencil pushing geek arbitrarily decided that I am in the Baltimore market. Guess what, I prefer DC channels, especially since I’m a Redskins fan and cannot watch Redskins football via my crappy cable provider(Comcast). Someone please tell me why Comcast customers in northeastern MD get DC stations whilecentral MD customers do not.
As far as I’m concerned, you should be able to choose any one local channel package that you want, if it is offered in your geographic location. This “market” approach is bull, one more example of the entertainment industry running this country.
Screw congress and screw the telecommunications providers. May they all rot.
Steven Sande says:
December 7th, 2006 at 12:45 am
Indeed, wouldn’t it be nice if viewer choice counted for more in these matters.
Doug, for mandatory cable carriage requests by local stations, the FCC goes by the “designated market area” (DMA) used by Nielsen Media Research (though I believe they exercise some limited discretion to alter the boundaries in some cases). The whole regulatory scheme is kind of antiquated, in my opinion, because it’s still designed around where broadcast towers are located, and yet only about 15 percent of viewers even watch TV over the air (with an antenna) anymore. But they built this system decades ago, and broadcasters and cable companies plan their business around it, and it winds up being not necessarily what viewers would want.
Steven Sande says:
December 7th, 2006 at 12:45 am
For an update on Dish Network and distant stations, see this.
Scott Boehm says:
December 7th, 2006 at 5:22 pm
It’s about time that the satellite companies are legally allowed to start listening to their viewers and not the BIG BAD BROADCASTERS! Its a shame a hard working american family that happens to live across some imaginary line in a county can’t receive local channels, and someone 1 mile up the road can. For us that couldn’t we were content in getting distant networks to fix this, but now you take those away too! This is 2006 not 1956! Cable companies won’t spend the money to run cable 1 mile, broadcasters won’t give in, and NOBODY gives a damn about rural america. Where is freedom of choice? If someone wants something and is willing to pay for it then whats the problem? I’m tired of corporate america continuing to line their pockets and argue over who has a right to broadcast to a customer based on where he lives. Serve the customer by allowing these locals on our satellite or lose our business to someone that will! Thats how most sales work in the US, but I forgot that this is DIFFERENT! BROADCASTERS ARE IN CHARGE. IT DOESN”T MATTER WHO”S HEAD THEY STEP ON OR HOW IT AFFECTS OTHERS AS LONG AS IT DOESN”T AFFECT THEM! IT IS A LOAD OF CRAP AND A ONE WAY SYSTEM!
C. A. Massey-Crouch says:
December 8th, 2006 at 7:25 pm
Just in case you may have missed Steven Sande’s comment with a link to the “Dish Network customers weigh options for distant stations” article dated
December 6th, 2006,
http://dtvfacts.com/latest/367/dish-network-distant-networks-directv/
here’s a head’s up:
You can keep your Dish satellite service and get distant network channels through All American Direct. Just log on to:
http://www.mydistantnetworks.com
They’re pretty backlogged with the onslaught of folks who have lost their distant networks, but their price is comparable to Dish’s. Be careful when you keyboard your numbers on the application. They won’t be able to process it with typos, then it’s like pulling teeth to get it straightened out.
When we requested our distant networks, we had to obtain a waiver for every single station. Are there any families who did not? We don’t get ABC out here at all. We’re having a difficult time trying to figure out all the stations from whom we’re supposed to get the darned waivers from, since the networks are broadcast from two different cities far from where we live.
C. A. Massey-Crouch
Berkshire, (Upstate) New York
A Malone says:
December 9th, 2006 at 3:47 am
I signed up from all american direct and I only needed a waiver for one station, cbs. I like C.A. Massey-Crouch live in update new york, only a few miles from them. Luckily I am a few more miles away in the correct direction from the networks in Binghamton and Elmira so I only need one waiver. I found a site that explained why you need a waiver, if you are less than 70 miles from the signal tower you need a waiver. They don’t take into account mountains, or any other part of the atmosphere. Anyway, luckily I am only waiting for one waiver.
Steven Sande says:
December 9th, 2006 at 6:28 am
Here’s an FCC fact sheet [pdf] that covers distant-network eligibility under the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act of 2004 (SHVERA):
http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/shvera.pdf
C.A., if you’re trying to get a list of stations for your area, you might try TitanTV as a start:
http://titantv.com
Again, Nielsen “designated market areas” (DMAs) enter into the criteria. I don’t know of any free source of actual Nielsen DMA maps, but here’s a resource that lists TV markets that may be (I’m not really sure) roughly comparable:
http://www.truckads.com/licensed_affiliates1.asp#usamap
The “70-mile” thing may be some kind of rule of thumb — apparently it’s something DirecTV uses as part of their determinations, according to their web site — but I don’t think the FCC’s actual criteria say anything about 70 miles.
Dawn says:
December 14th, 2006 at 7:11 am
My Husband is a timber faller. He goes to bed at 7:00pm
way befor our local networks programing is on SHOWS.
He is up at 3:00.We have had distent network for 7 years.
We don’t know how we can do with out it .
Please let us know if there is a way to get our distant networks back. At this time we are with Dias network.
Thank You very much for any help you can give.
Mrs. Dawn Zirion Phone # 530-692-1108
Steven Sande says:
December 15th, 2006 at 1:11 am
Dawn, a household that can get local channels probably wouldn’t be eligible for distant channels. You could check with AllAmericanDirect.com, the company that is now offering distant networks to customers of Dish Network. You might also try DirecTV. For details, see this link.
One other option might be to get a digital video recorder (DVR) and use it to record your husband’s favorite shows (on local stations) for later playback. Dish Network and DirecTV offer newer receivers with built-in DVR capability.
James Taylor says:
December 15th, 2006 at 5:42 pm
I live in Arizona now, but grew up on the East Coast. I feel that as long as we subscribe to our local stations (Advertising Money) we should be able to receive channels from other cities to keep up with what’s going on back in our hometowns.
Gary Darcy says:
December 20th, 2006 at 3:34 am
I think this whole court deal that came down on Dish Network is bogus. My personal feeling is that if Dish Network has the capabilty of delivering a service such as distant networks then by god let them. I don’t mind being required to subscribe to the locals to get the distant ones. I enjoyed the local news and locally produced shows that the distant network channels offer. It gave me a better view of our country. But then again, the Bush “crime family’s” best buddy Rupert Murdoch is the one profitting from the court decision, a decision that does not effect DirecTV. DirecTV continues to offer distant network channels in areas where Dish Network was told they cannot. DirecTV subscribers Santa Clarita, CA are a nice examples of this. I guess EchoStar/Dish Network just did not give as much money to the Republican political “war machine” during the ‘06 electionjs as Rupert Murdoch and his cronies at DirecTV did.
gregory carlson says:
February 12th, 2007 at 12:25 am
I just wanted to drop you a note to say 2 days ago i lost my local channel nbc and can not talk to anyone about it. If no one can tell me why i can switch to direct network. please let me know what is going on….. thank you greg carlson
George Alexander says:
February 17th, 2007 at 4:00 am
What is happening with the Distant Network situation? Has DISH given up? I think it is ridiculous the NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) can lobby to get things done their way. Why is it illegal to purchase out of market stations? Isn’t this America? On any street in America, one can buy an “out of market” newspaper. Here in Washington, D.C. I can buy a New York, Boston, Chicago, LA, Miami etc paper, and I don’t hear those companies squealing. Bottom line is that the local stations see their dominance slipping day by day and will do anything to keep it. Well it doesn’t work…I NEVER watch the local DC stations, there is too many other choices. If they think blocking the distant stations keeps me as a viewer, they have a big surprise. Where is Congress in all of this? This is supporting a monopoly and should be stopped. We should have the freedom to buy any TV signal we are willing to pay for. Write your local stations and tell them you are boycotting them and write Congress too!