Has anyone else received a letter like this from Direct?

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Well just got off the phone with the FCC again, this time she tried to tell me that the East Coast was later than the West Coast....sigh. Anyway she said that DirecTV was under no obligation to give us two network feeds for DNS, so that they could not force them to give us both.

I asked again if the letter was quoting the law correclty, and she said she is not sure. She said she was concerned about part of the letter, and would give it to some lawyers at the FCC to look over tomorrow. Not expecting much, but I let people know if something happens. I will probably give a call to D* tomorrow as well. If anyone has any better luck with D* or the FCC with this please let me know. Let your voice be heard about this....
 
I have not yet received my letter. I am grandfathered to receive both NY & LA stations since I do not get local channels. Does these conditions apply to anyone else that has received that letter?
 
Oh well, thanks for the info Dfergie. I never got the post card to reinforce the distant networks in the Spring and had to call them to have my choice. They have my address, I get their bills. At least I have an HD Tivo and can record and time shift.
 
For those interested, here is the response I got from D* after I wrote them an e-mail threatening to drop their service if they "forced" me to pay them more money to get the local channels that I DO NOT want in order to keep getting the distant HD feeds from the western time zone I DO NOT want, and drop the distant HD channels from the eastern time zone I DO want. On top of that they will force me to spend even more money to buy a frikin HD DVR if I want to continue my TV viewing habits I have had for nearly 15 years starting on the BIG dish. It clarifies a few things, but leaves many questions still without answers and still does not give me what I want and for what I currently pay. Seems like I catch a wiff of the makings of a class action law suit there somewhere.............?
______________________________________________________________________

Thank you for writing. I truly apologize for any frustration this issue has caused. Please know that the rules of the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act (SHVERA) have been revised to say that in areas where we offer local channels, we can only provide the digital (HD) CBS, NBC, ABC, or Fox feeds if the customer subscribes to local channels. We also, can now only provide the digital (HD) feeds from a customer's own time zone or the adjacent one.

Please understand that we must abide by the rules set. We would need to hear of your decision of whether or not to subscribe to local channels by Aug 24, 2005 or the digital (HD) network services will be in danger of disconnection. Please reply to this message if you would like us to add the service to your account or you can do so by going to DIRECTV.com and signing into your online account.

As you may have heard, we are getting ready to offer HD programming from local channels in select cities. We expect to be serving at least 12 cities by the end of this year, and then gradually expanding our coverage to more and more cities across the country over the next two years.

The first 12 cities are Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Tampa and Washington, D.C. Additional cities will be announced at a future date. The channels we offer will carry a mix of digital standard-definition and HD programming.

Our goal is eventually to offer HD programming from local channels to nearly every home we serve in the United States. And that’s not all. We will also be adding the capacity to carry more than 150 national HD channels as they become available.

To accomplish this, we're launching four new satellites (the first one launched in late April). When the first two satellites are fully deployed later this year, they will allow us to deliver programming using a new transmission standard, which is the most advanced in the world. Customers will need a new HD receiver and satellite dish, compatible with the new transmission standard, to receive HD programming from local channels and other enhanced services. We don’t have purchase or upgrade offer details for the new equipment at this time, but look for more details in the mail or on DIRECTV.com/HDTV as we get closer to launching local programming in HD in your city.

Thanks again for writing and stay tuned to DIRECTV.com/HDTV for the latest news and announcements as they become available.

Sincerely,

Karen S
DIRECTV Customer Service
 
loss of DNS

Congress.. not D made these changes with the SHERVA act.
If lcl's are avail in your area you must make the choice on which to keep
Downgrading to a lower price package does NOT break your commitment... only if you disconect service b4 the end of commitment
 
Side note Detroit MI is the first market that D will roll out hd lcl's in.
If all goes smoothly the other 11 will roll out quickly
also from D. I was told that anyone that has hd or hd dvr mpeg 2 equip will get FREE replacement of there Equipment when MPEG 4 rolls out
 
So does this apply to non-HD subscribers who fall under the Grandfather clause.
My parents got that card in the mail last year asking them to choose East coast channels or local channels. Of course they took the East coast channels. So now they will not get them anymore after the 25th?
 
I got my letter today. I receive the NY & LA SD (since 1997) & HD feeds currently. Local channels are available from Reno. In the Spring, I opted to continue with the LA & NY SD feeds. Today, I called Directv and was told by CSR (after she talked to her supervisor) that I can choose to get the Reno locals and I would lose the SD feeds from LA & NY. If I do nothing, I would continue to receive the HD & SD feeds from LA & NY. This is contrary to what I have read in these posts. Just to make sure and not to lose my HD feeds, I have written an email to D* to reclarify. I will post the response when I get it. :confused:
 
:( This is their reply...
"Thank you for writing. I apologize for any confusion this matter may have caused you. Recent changes to the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act state that in local channel areas, we can only provide the digital (HD) CBS, NBC, ABC, or Fox feeds if the customer subscribes to local channels. Additionally, we can only provide the digital (HD) feeds from a customer's own time zone or the adjacent one.

What that means is that you can either keep the standard definition NY and LA stations but lose the HD feeds, or you can drop the standard definition NY and LA stations, add your local channels and continue to receive the LA feeds in HD."

So to continue to receive 1 set of HD feeds, one must get rid of the NY & LA SD feeds and subscribe to local channels package. That is fairly clear. :mad:
 
:) On 8/23 I added the Local channels so that I would not lose the HD feeds from LA. To my pleasant surprise, I DID NOT lose the network affiliates in HD or SD (80,81,82,83,86,87,88,89,380,381,382,383,386,387,388 or 389). Maybe the HD networks from NY will disappear on 8/25, but I thought I would lose the SD networks and I did not. :D :hatsoff:
 
Heads up for Western viewers that received this letter ( I am one) this should be our last day(Maybe next to last day) of East feeds so set timers accordingly for future viewing... Conversely same for Eastern viewers with the west feeds...
 
Still Confused

I`m still not clear. I live in the Pacific time zone (California), and have waivers for the 4 NY feeds. I get them in SD & HD. Will I lose just the HD or both HD & SD?????
 
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